'It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times...'

Alright, that is perhaps an exaggeration and I certainly mean NO OFFENSE to any band mentioned in this post. I also don't mean to sound ungrateful. Don't get me wrong, we saw some AWESOME AND AMAZINGLY TALENTED musical acts, but it was not the SXSW I was hoping for. From shuttle problems to logistical issues, missed meals to irate females, the entire week was one big roller coaster ride of highs and lows.

Always one of my favorite sights of SXSW

Our five days of FUN! began by waiting for our hotel room to be ready... the hotel room I booked way back in September 2013. After finally getting checked in we went down to catch the shuttle to the convention center. Little did we know that you could no longer ride the shuttle downtown and buy your pass at the convention center. After waiting for an hour we were informed upon the shuttle's arrival that we needed to have already purchased our passes prior to boarding. So, we missed the bus. Literally. This year they did not have ticket lotteries available to enter on-line and there was a 6pm deadline to enter the raffle for the JayZ/Kanye show. So, we hurriedly hoofed it the roughly 3 miles down to the convention center on foot. (By this time we had purchased our $80/pp 5-day shuttle pass, but we knew we didn't have time to waste waiting for it to come back around).

Fortunately our journey paid off when we later received not 1 but 3! messages stating we each were 'winners' and 'guaranteed entry' to this sure-to-be-a-hit-of-the-festival event.

Since we had not planned to be downtown Tuesday night we then tried to proceed with our original plans. However, by the time we had hiked back over to SoCo, the stores I most wanted to visit were closed for the evening. So, we continued on back to our hotel room (on foot) and managed to never ride the shuttle at all that day.

Wednesday morning found us missing the shuttle once again. So much for the QCode app. We had to cross a highway to a neighboring hotel in hopes of hitting it as it came back downtown. Freezing cold and no time for coffee, we finally made our way downtown bright and early and were able to snag some breakfast before Low Cut Connie's set at noon. Considering they'd had a 1am show the night before, I don't know who was worse for wear but you'd never know it by their high-energy, full-on performance. 

Click Photo to watch 'Brand New Cadillac'

As it was my first time to see them Live & In Person, I was tremendously curious to see what all of the fuss has been about. I was surprised to learn that not only do they travel with their own piano, but Adam is just as entertaining in person as he is on paper.

Click Photo to watch 'Boozophilia'

 The Connie Boys left quite an impression and set a high standard for the rest of the Fest's acts to live up to.

On to Lime Cordiale, another fantastic band I was super curious to hear in person. Caught up with these Aussie boys for a quick interview after their first set of SXSW. Infectious, upbeat tunes brought to life by beautiful boys with accents- yes, please.

Click Photo to watch an Exclusive Video Interview with Oli & Louis from Lime Cordiale

That afternoon we hit the SXSW Session with Blondie. An informative hour where band mates Debbie Harry, Clem Burke and Chris Stein discussed what it was like to explore different genres in the context of Blondie and how the lines have blurred so much now between bands and audiences 'you can't make a big enough fool of yourself.' (A point repeatedly enforced all week by the 'Keynote' speaker, Lady Gaga).

After that we grabbed a sandwich and went to wait in line for Kanye/Jay Z! Four hours later we were 4 persons short of actually entering the building as Kanye started up inside the venue. Despite being 'guaranteed entry' with our winning wristbands (a detail which was enforced via megaphone several times throughout the hours we spent waiting in line), fire marshals had deemed the venue at capacity and we went to one in/one out rules. Eventually we did make it in from the cold and caught the majority of the duo's insanely tight set.

Now I don't want to piss Mr. West off by saying that his cube on the floor of the venue was ultimately the reason several hundred other folks were eventually turned away, but I'm pretty sure it was his cube on the floor that took up that space where those people could have been standing. Nevertheless, it was pretty mind blowing when he came up through the top of the cube mid-show and performed 'Runaway' and 'Stronger' on top of it.

Click Photo to watch a snippet of 'Stronger'.

Sadly, we returned to our hotel that night to learn of the accident that had befallen a crowd of unsuspecting Fest attendees when a drunk driver being chased by Austin police from a DUI checkpoint ran through barricades and into them. Two persons died and over 20 others were injured in this horrific event that cast a pall over the rest of the festival.

Thursday we attended an afternoon SXSW session 'Marketing Band Perception' with BP Fallon, Bob Gruen, and a few other well-known rock photog's.

What, overall, was a very interesting and informative look at the in's and out's of photographing musicians and bands unraveled in the last five minutes when one of the panel members took offense to my man's question regarding album cover art work. She proceeded to unload on him in front of a crowd full of people about how 'offended' she was that he would ask a question like that. And although she later apologized to him via email, her outburst was unwarranted, unprofessional and certainly unexpected in that setting.

In an attempt to shed the bad juju of that public smack down, we sought out The Ghost Wolves show at The Owl Gallery. Quite a saunter from the convention center area, we passed the Texas State Cemetery which was pretty cool to see and finally made it to catch (literally) the last 30 seconds of their set. Apparently they weren't having the best time of it either as Carley had caught a cold and lost her voice, but I was able to pick up some of their vinyl which they so kindly signed for me.

On to The Strypes show, one of the most hyped (and deservedly so) acts of the Fest, these young men rocked our faces off, offering a somewhat welcome reprieve over the weird turn of our afternoon.

Click Photo to watch 'What the People Don't See'

Click Photo to watch live concert footage

A second dose of Lime Cordiale show capped off our evening. They appeared a bit more relaxed and were able to expand their set a bit, adding about 5 or 6 additional songs we hadn't heard on Wednesday.

Friday we (thankfully) skipped the Not-a-Keynote Q&A with Lady Gaga. After reading of the girl puking (as 'performance art') on her during the Thursday night Stubbs showcase, we were pretty over her antics and theatrics. And after learning John Norris (formerly of MTV) was the fan-boy host of the event, we were even more appreciative of the extra sleep we managed to get instead. Finally made it downtown (again, shuttle delays) and managed to grab a slice before heading over to the Dog & Duck to catch BP Fallon & The Ghost Wolves set. Saw a few other cool bands there including these guys...

 
Of course, didn't manage to catch their names but if anyone knows who they are please do tell.












Now this was actually my very first time to see BP in person so I was quite excited and he did not disappoint.

Click Photo to watch 'Increasingly Often'

Performing 'Fame #9/ I Believe in Elvis Presley', 'The War to Fight for Love' and signing off with 'Increasingly Often'- I was set. From the Dog & Duck we headed over to Waterloo (otherwise known as 'Heaven on Earth'). After drooling over vinyl for a bit we headed back down into the thick of it attempting to see The Grizzled Mighty, a band highly recommended to me by my good friend and new-to-me music advisor, Jen Hume Ludolf. Unfortunately, their set was majorly delayed and although we did witness some disturbing Steampunk Burlesque and a really great band called Bond & Bentley, I couldn't take the crowd and people anymore, so we went back to the solitude of our hotel to regroup. There's always one point during SXSW where we look at each other and are just DONE with it- this was that point.

Saturday we woke up to a steady, pounding Texas rain. And to word that our ride to Third Man Records SXSW Pop Up Store was no longer a go. After scrambling for several hours to find transportation over there (I HAD to see Pujol, we'd missed all of his other SXSW shows) we managed to bribe a different shuttle company driver to hitch us over there. A few tears and $50 later we were finally at Third Man. Well, the Austin version of Third Man. I know I give them a hard time over stuff (like selling in Whole Foods) but honestly, this was one of the best events we were at the entire time we were in Texas.

A full-on  pop up store complete with limited vinyl and goodies, free beer, a great line up of bands that started on time and had great sound. What more could you ask for?

Oh, and they were even selling ice cream and bacon-wrapped hot dogs in the parking lot! Ran into a lot of friends and had a great time overall.

Not only did we catch great performances from Pujol and Natural Child but also became acquainted with a new-to-me band, Blind Shake, who were AMAZING and a really surprising treat in Kelley Stoltz's set. Not only is he super talented and groovy, but his incredibly entertaining stories in between songs were really endearing. It made for a sweet end to our time at SXSW.

Click Photo to watch Kelley Stoltz perform 'I Remember You Were Wild'

Sunday we encountered the typical travel bullshit that makes you never want to leave your house again- flight delay, random TSA search, broken escalators, broken baggage carousels. Not to mention we found out Scott Asheton had passed away, and Wayne Knight had hoaxedly died. We finally made it home 4 hours later than planned to my sweet puppy dog who had a complete fucking break down upon our arrival. Ahhhhhhhhh.

So, unlike years' past I'm not already dreaming of next year's SXSW... and don't think it will happen for us in 2015. In fact, we've made a vow- Never.Again. Famous last words, I know. We'll see. The founder of the decades-old event passed away in 2012 and unfortunately I think we fell victim to some of the fall out of new organizers trying to effectively put on a Fest of this magnitude. Which, to be fair, is to be expected. There were many bands I wanted to see more of and we just couldn't make it to while we were there. If we didn't live so far away and had better transport while in Austin it wouldn't have been as big of a deal. But, as we are just normal folks dedicating our hard-earned vacation dollars to funding this adventure, it makes a difference to the overall experience. Next year I'm thinking... Beach.