The thing about South by Southwest is that there is so much going on all across the entire city it is difficult to plan for anything; hence, our new vow to go with the flow. We’ve read several “What you need to know about SXSW” tips and heard from veterans of the event, and they all tell you to give up on whatever you’re planning. However, we didn’t realize the truth of this until Wednesday.
Basically, you have eight hours to maximize your phone battery and the most important time to have it available is between 1:00 and 5:00 a.m. It’s every man or woman for themselves.
The greatest part about not being able to plan though, is that you often stumble into something fantastic. Our first bout of luck came to us at the Spotify house, which we originally went to for the free drinks and photo booth pictures. However, New Zealand artist Kimbra soon treated us to an intimate, solo lawn concert. Don’t let her tiny size fool you, this girl has got a set of pipes and both of us now have insane crushes on her.
Next up, we ventured to the Hype Hotel to catch part of Blitzen Trapper’s set. They played great sit-down-and-have-a-beer music, but it didn’t seem to be the right time of day to enjoy it.
We did a lot of running around trying to find people (NEVER AGAIN) and—more good fortune for us—snagged some free Korean barbeque tacos. They were dank.
Upon suggestion from our friends we then headed over to the French showcase to see Anoraak, who works closely with College, an '80s-inspired DJ whose music you may recognize from the soundtrack to “Drive.” They were simultaneously dance-y yet still maintained artistic integrity as they created beats worthy of a club mixer while using a full-band setup. Nous aimons Anoraak.
After this, by some miracle, we waltzed into Stubbs for the NPR showcase in the midst of Dan Deacon’s set. At first we had trouble differentiating his talent from that of similar DJs, but he soon proved to us his fame is well-earned. He instructed the crowd to form a giant circle, wherein he orchestrated a mass dance-off before everyone could no longer contain themselves and burst into a frenzied dance mob.
We stayed at this venue for the rest of the evening and next we saw the Alabama Shakes. Their lead singer kicked major ass. We have never seen that much soul in one human body. The guitar riffs made us feel like we were sitting on the front porch of a lonely Louisiana estate, wailing the blues over a lost love.
The night ended in a wonderful climax when Andrew Bird took the stage. Although it appeared he had a case of the sniffles, Bird rocked the headlining spot. His wily charms were not lost in the performance, complete with whistling and violin loops.
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—Riley Beggin and Jaime Brackeen
