At last, the SXSW recap, part 1

[NOTE: In the interest of ever posting this damn thing, I'm going to put it up in segments. As I've noted to some of you, it's kind of turning into a Rolling Stone article. Here's my introduction and a recap of Day 1 (Wednesday). More to follow. . . .]

So, it may be a few weeks late, but here, finally, is my summary of what went down this year at the SXSW music festival. I'm not sure how interesting all of this is to people who've never been, but allow me to tempt you with some highlights:

*I met Frodo! Yes, I actually met Elijah Wood, and had a (very brief) conversation with him.
*I chatted with the lead singer of Vampire Weekend while he was scrounging through the remains of a greasy buffet that had been sitting out for several hours.
*I randomly met or ran into about 20 people from C'bus--kinda crazy.
*I discovered a new, unknown band that I really dig and have been listening to a lot since I got back. What band, you ask? Read on and see!

So yes, a few weeks ago I once again headed to Austin for South by Southwest. This was my third year, and the first time without my BFF and partner in crime Christine, who is taking a trip to Amsterdam in May and couldn't do both. (Hi Chris! I missed you!) Another thing that made this year quite different from previous years was that I had an "in"--a person I met there last year who has become a very good friend and whose job in the industry allows him certain privileges, which he kindly shared with me. (We also hung out quite a bit--I'll call him "S.") The thing about SXSW is, it's becoming so huge that even after dishing out $500 for a music badge, you often still can't get into some of the bigger shows--you have to have a special pass or be on the guest list. So, there were several shows I would not have been able to see, even with the badge, were it not for him--thanks so much, again, S!

Another thing that struck me about this year was how much easier it was to navigate everything, now that I'm pretty familiar with the lay of the land. Something you should know about SXSW is that the navigation of it is a skill that can only be truly honed by going there and doing it. There are so many web sites now describing the whole festival in detail, providing maps, and offering tips and tricks on what to do and where to go, but you really have to experience it to understand how everything works.

The best thing I have to say about this year: I've gotten a lot better at finding the right balance between planning and going with the flow, which is the key to getting the most enjoyment possible out of the whole thing. I've also gotten better at taking notes. And after going over them, I find that this year, there were around 12 solid bands that provided an in-some-way-transcendental experience for me. I know that that might not seem like much from a multi-day festival featuring over 1700 bands, who played from 11:00 a.m. until ??? in the morning, but believe me, that's a lot of music to feel that strongly about, considering the environment from which one has to pare it down. I wandered in and out of a lot of venues over the course of four days, and I saw many bits and pieces of bands I'd never heard of and don't remember now. Some of it was quite good, and a lot of it was truly awful, which is actually the best part of the festival for me--the adventurousness of it. Anymore, I like to spend my time about 50-50, with half the time spent at shows I'd planned to see and the other half spent either wandering around looking for new stuff or checking out stuff that had been recommended to me by others. And this year, that's pretty much what I did. It worked out well. (I did make one major logistical error, which I'll discuss later.)

Another thing that struck me this year--I think I finally have a solid appreciation of what the bands who play SXSW have to deal with. First off, going in, they have both an advantage and a disadvantage. The advantage is that it's a huge party, with the inherent party atmosphere--lots of drinking, lots of people determined to have a good time . . . and this is a great thing, especially for the lesser-known bands who may find themselves playing in front of a larger (and drunker, more appreciative) audience than they've ever had before. Conversely, they may be playing for, like, three people who aren't even all that interested. And then, for the bigger or more hyped bands, it may be the case that a lot of people have arranged their whole schedule around seeing them, and sometimes these people have waited in the same venue for several hours, or sometimes all day, to see them. Big-time pressure, and rightly so, from a fan's standpoint--after all that, it better be a damn good show! So, it can be a difficult field for the bands to navigate as well.

Anyway, on to the breakdown of What Actually Happened:

Wednesday
My first day in Austin started off slow. I wandered around in the morning, getting reacquainted with the city, or at least the part of the city that hosts most of the SXSW goings-on, that being Sixth Street and surrounds. I also took the opportunity to get a good solid brunch in my tummy, in preparation for the day's festivities. (Believe it or not, one of the most difficult things to do at SXSW is to find the time and place to eat properly. I actually ate two hot dogs over the course of four days, out of desperation and necessity . . . I DO NOT eat hot dogs. Usually.)

I almost missed my first show, the Evangelicals, completely. (Wow, they've got some freaky looking album covers. I didn't know that until I found their MySpace page--I've only ever downloaded their MP3s.) Right off the bat, I got my venues mixed up, and so I wound up watching some other band and not realizing until about two or three songs in that it wasn't the Evagelicals. (This is a somewhat annoying feature of SXSW--the names of the bands aren't usually indicated anywhere in the venue. You have to know what the band looks like to know if you're at the right spot.) I did manage to eventually make it to the right venue . . . in time for exactly two songs, and I was so far away from the stage that I couldn't really enjoy the show. So, that was a bust.

My next endeavor was much more successful. I headed over to a day show hosted by donewaiting.com, a Columbus-based music blog run by a bunch of folks from--you guessed it!--Columbus. They hosted Joseph Arthur, and it was a great show. Not only did I get to meet a lot of people, I was standing about 15 feet away from J.A. during the whole gig, outside on a deck on a beautiful day with the sun shining down, drinking free PBRs. A proper kick-off, finally! After the show, I hooked up with some of the people I'd met and walked . . . man, I'm not even sure where we walked to, some far-away venue that I'd never been to before. They knew some guy who was doing a solo acoustic gig at this venue, but . . . he was awful. After about two songs, I claimed a prior engagement and ducked out.

Not actually having a prior engagement, I wandered around for a bit. I remember feeling extremely pleasant (and, O.K., a little buzzed) as I just kind of meandered from one venue to the next, slowly making my way back to the hotel with no real plan in mind. I know a lot of people wouldn't really enjoy this--wandering around by oneself through what is essentially the Mardi Gras of music--but I loved it. I felt very free, acutely aware of this sense of endless possibility. I like not knowing exactly what I'm going to do or what's going to happen. I didn't see any remarkable music during this particular meander, but it was very SXSWish and fun.

Eventually, I ran into a guy I'd met earlier and went for a BBQ dinner with him and his buddy. Then back to the hotel (solo again) to rest for a few minutes and change for the evening.

That evening was when I made my major logistical error, although I still contend that it wasn't really my fault. (I consider the Evangelicals mix-up a minor error.) One band I've really grown to dig over the past year or so is Okkervil River, and I was determined to see them even though they were playing at the Austin Music Hall, which requires a taxi ride to and from. Shows requiring taxi rides have to be considered carefully--is the extra travel time worth it? Will you be able to get a ride back? This can be tricky depending on where you're going and what time you're coming back--I've heard horror stories of people wandering around for hours looking for taxis or walking 10 miles back from a show at 3:00 in the morning. (I'm not stupid enough to get myself into a situation where I'm a single woman doing this! Stop worrying, Dad!) But I figured the Music Hall was safe--there would surely be plenty of taxis there on a busy night with a big show going on. So, off I went.

Just so no one freaks out, I'll let it be known right now that I had no trouble getting a taxi back. My logistical error was in going to the show in the first place. Unbeknownst to me, the Okkervil River set was only a small part of a much bigger event going on, some kind of awards show. I got in with no problem, but then I had to wait through some other crappy band, along with a bunch of speeches and promotional announcements, before Okkervil River finally came on and played . . . two songs. Yes, two songs, total. The rest of the night was a tribute to Roky Erickson, which quickly turned really campy and cheesy and annoying. So, back I went to Sixth Street, determined to somehow salvage the night.

My plan was to cap off the evening with the Lemonheads show. This would be a total nostalgia trip--they were one of my absolute favorite bands in the early '90s, and I'd never seen them live. In retrospect, I should have planned my night around making sure I saw this show . . . but it didn't work out that way. I got back to town and headed to Emo's, which in and of itself is a problem. Emo's actually has four venues, with two of them connected and the other two completely separate--hence, three different possible lines outside the shows. I thought the Lemonheads were playing at the connected venue, which was perfect--as it happens, I had a special VIP pass for Emo's that enabled me to get in the "secret alley door" of the connected venue. So, in I went, and immediately bumped into the guy I'd had dinner with earlier. (This wasn't a total coincidence--I had known he was going to be there. He'd lost his buddy at this point, although I'm not sure if that was accidental or he'd ditched his buddy on purpose because he wanted to hang out with me. At any rate, I wasn't interested in anything besides hanging out.) So, this guy (Eric, by the way) and I headed to the side of Emo's where we thought the Lemonheads were playing . . . and I had a moment of deja vu as I watched the band for a few moments and realized that this was not the Lemonheads. Bummer. Nor did we have the time wrong, unfortunately--once again, I was at the wrong venue. The Lemonheads were playing at the separate Emo's venue across the street. We went out and tried to get in, but they were at capacity, and my VIP pass didn't work at this venue. So, we stood outside and listened to a couple of songs (the venue was a tent, basically, so you could hear everything totally clearly from outside), but it just wasn't the same as being there, you know? So, back we went to the main Emo's, where my VIP pass allowed Eric and I to see the last couple songs of the Black Keys set, which was pretty cool. Thus concluded my first evening--I headed back to the hotel afterward, thoroughly exhausted.

To be continued. . . .