Interactive has come and gone and all the geeks have departed. The difference in mood here is immediate and palpable. Gone are the iPad-wielding, phone-crouched, ageny-type crowd - What you now see are a whole lot more flannel shirts, tattoos, and ironic facial hair.
Yet, I'm still here, and I'm not quite sure where I fit in, in all of this..
I promise to do my day 4 & 5 write ups for Interactive at a later date, but for now I wanted to do a quick review of the last 2 days here for SXSW Music.
Bands. Bands everywhere. In 2 days, I have seen some 25 of them, and I have only just scratched the surface with something like 1,000 acts in town.
During the day, it is about lining up and getting into various parties put on by brands, blogs, labels, agencies, etc etc. Generally, you can get in to the bars along Red River Rd fairly easily, and that has been my plan of attack.
At night, you have to be really strategic with which showcases you want to go to. There are literally 30 or 40 different venues at any given time with their own nightly programs that go until 2am. However, I have been way to tired by around 11pm both days, and today I'm going to try something different by not getting into town by 3. Need that staying power!
Highlights so far
- Twin Shadow and Givers at Mohawk
- Seeing Michael Sera on the bass for his band Mr Heavenly
- Beach Fossils at Emo's Annex
- James Blake at Stubb's
- Menomena at Swan Dive
- Cults in a church
- Beach Fossils
Yes, I really liked Beach Fossils.