SXSW Revisited

I know I've been slacking on blogging lately, but SXSW and school has taken over my life! Anyway, I've caught a break, so I wanted to revisit the events of South-by.

It turned out to be another successful year for the musicians, filmmakers, artists and audiences of SXSW.

I didn't go to too many concerts, but I did end up attending Flatstock (as I mentioned in my last post), as well as attending the Music Trade Show, also at the Convetion Center, and a few films.

It was amazing how many people were out and about in Austin, as well as the coverage the festival got nationwide.

The New York Times said, "While CD sales topple, and major and indie labels struggle, at this year’s 23rd annual SXSW people have been turned away from packed clubs where they are clamoring to see bands that are far from household names: Grizzly Bear, Peter Bjorn and John, St. Vincent. Full houses chanted along to indie hip-hop and pondered broken hearts and God to the picking of Americana bands. Those musicians draw their audiences from people who chase down music in the news media, in blogs and on noncommercial radio stations — or maybe from a friend’s recommendation or a giveaway on a music downloading site." Read more...

Minneapolis' Star Tribune had an article about Twin Cities bands just having fun at the festival. As Minneapolis rapper Omaur Bliss said, "This is like the Disney World of music ... you gotta come to have fun, or forget it." Read full article here.

It seems that like the Star Tribune, most papers were interested in local or near-local bands who had traveled here to play. The Seattle Times writer Jonathan Zwickel wrote, "Funny thing about flying 1,500 miles to Austin, Texas, last week for the South by Southwest music festival: I ended up seeing a lot of faces from around here." Read more from his SXSW article.

All in all I think it was a great year, and I'm sure I'm not the only one looking forward to next year.