By:

Dave
Park

No matter how many things you read or hear about South by Southwest, you can't truly understand what it's like until you've experienced it firsthand. I write this about eighteen hours after returning to New York from Austin; I've spent the past six hours sifting through film footage from this year's music/booze fest (held March 15-18) and my brain is weary and my memory is blurry. But I did come away with some observations:

• Not many
  Asian males attend the festival. I believe that when you're an outsider you
  either get hated or loved. SXSW is full of independent thinkers, so you�d think
  I'd be put on some type of pedestal. No dice on that.
• The music
  hierarchy was in full-effect. It begins at registration. No sooner had I picked
  up my press wristband than I saw
  people with press badges, which was
  immediately depressing -- not only because they could get into more things, but
  also because they were deemed worthy of more access than I was. That theme was
  prevalent all week, and it manifest itself when you would talk to people about
  what you do and who you work for or when you were trying to get in to certain
  events (obviously, lines didn�t exist for some people, depending on who they knew
  or who they were).
• With all
  the running around and the endless alcohol flowing, it's easy to forget to eat.
  I stayed up the whole night before I left because I didn�t want to miss my 6:30
  a.m. flight, and after I touched down in Austin and checked into my hotel, I
  spent the rest of the day listening to music and drinking booze -- and not
  eating. I was obliterated by nightfall.
• No one
  warned me about this: Austin�s 6th Street becomes a gigantic nightmare of a
  frat-party at night. Sometimes it was amusing, but on Saturday night -- Saint
  Patrick's Day -- it was mostly scary.
• The
  festival is like Groundhog Day in
  that every day is the same: Wake up after getting barely any sleep. Go to a
  show and drink. Go to another show and drink. Go to more shows that day than
  you normally go to all year, and drink at each one. Day turns to night. Go to
  shows and drink. Find out where the after-parties are. Learn that the
  after-party has been moved or shut down. Go to the hotel and sleep. Repeat.
• There's
  not enough dancing. That�s probably because the crowds are filled with industry
  people; they won�t dance, but they�ll drink like fishes. My best chance to try
  out my new moves was to watch the bands that reliably got the crowd going: the
  Faint, the Gossip, the Rapture. The only problem was negotiating the massive
  lines to see them.
• The best
  place to conduct meetings: Austin-Bergstrom International Airport on the Sunday
  after the festival. I got there a bit early, but regardless I ran into artists
  (Ghostface, Marissa Nadler), label people (Friendly Fire, K, Kill Rock Stars,
  Touch & Go), publicists (Cornerstone), people from other music publications
  (DIW, Stereogum, XXL) and our ad agency (Indieclick).
• SXSW is
  not a vacation (four days of watching shows twelve hours a day is not relaxing)
  and it is not reality. (I hardly remembered that the NCAA basketball tournament
  began. I hardly remembered basketball.)
• Given the enormity of the festival and the likelihood it will only get bigger, I'm already going to get planning on SXSW2008 by booking a hotel.
  

  ***

Amy Millan Emo's (Pics, Video)	Antibalas Habana Calle / NY2LON Party by Brooklyn Vegan (Pics, Video)	Apostle of Hustle Mohawk (Pics, Video)
A-Trak, Kid Sister Beauty Bar (Pics)	The Boggs Fader Fort (Pics, Video)	Bonde do Role Red's Scoot Inn (Pics, Video)
Datarock Fader Fort (Pics, Video)	David Vandervelde Saengerrunde Hall / Diesel U-Music Party (Pics, Video)	Devin the Dude Club Visions (Pics, Video)
Flosstradamus Red's Scoot Inn (Pics, Video)	Foreign Islands Beauty Bar (Video)	The Fratellis Fader Fort (Pics, Video)
Hot Club De Paris Fader Fort (Pics, Video)	Illinois Saengerrunde Hall/Diesel U-Music Party (Pics, Video)	Kenna Fader Fort (Pics, Video)
Marnie Stern Emo's Lounge (Pics, Video)	Matt & Kim Beauty Bar (Video)	Matt & Kim Saengerrunde Hall/Diesel U-Music Party (Pics, Video)
No Age Ms. Bea's (Pics, Video)	Old Time Relijun Emo's Lounge (Pics, Video)	Oxford Collapse Emo's Lounge (Pics, Video)
The Pipettes La Zona Rosa (Pics, Video)	Plastic Little Beauty Bar (Pics, Video)	The Rapture La Zona Rosa (Pics, Video)
Redman Fader Fort (Pics, Videos)	The Rub Fader Fort (Pics, Video)	Slim Moon & What Army Ms. Bea's / Todd P Showcase (Pics, Video)
Spank Rock & Amanda Blank Red's Scoot Inn (Pics, Video)	Spoon Stubb's (Pics, Video)	The Stooges Stubb's (Pics, Video)
Thunderbirds Are Now! Mohawk (Pics, Video)	Tiny Masters of Today Ms. Bea's (Pics, Video)	Tokyo Police Club Saengerrunde Hall/Diesel U-Music Party (Pics, Video)
Winterkids (Pics)	Yacht  Ms. Bea's / Todd P Showcase (Pics, Video)	Zach Galifianakis Cedar St. (Video)