SXSW RECAP

Itinerary Each Day
Thursday-Drove down, checked in, Fader! Nightlife was Shakes and Blind Pig
Friday-Fader, Pure Volume, a couple random bars and then the Library
Saturday-Perez Hilton line to get our bands, Fader, Perez Hilton party.


So I've been putting off this recap of SXSW because I was trying to figure out exactly how I felt about the experience. I've been going to SXSW since 2008 and it's become an important part of my year. I enjoy the atmosphere, music, people, fashion, and fun that the festival offers. SXSW has been around for a couple of decades now so it's not a new thing by any means but it's definitely gotten a bit more popular as the years have gone by. What used to be a fun music festival where you could hear a bunch of bands that are kind of on the brink of being discovered by the masses has turned into a bit of a spectacle. I think that's part of the reason I put off doing this review. I'm not used to having a less than stellar opinion on SXSW and I kind of felt like I was being disloyal to a friend by having some of the feelings I had about SXSW. Anyway, I've come to terms with my feelings and am now ready to do this recap. I think the easiest way to do it will be to do the recap in two posts.

This post will focus on what I experienced at SXSW. The music, events, people, things, etc... I experienced while there. I will do my next post on more of the issues I had with the overall experience. I swear it's like I'm breaking up with someone. I feel like SXSW and I have been dating for the past 4 years and now we're broken up!

"WE WERE ON A BREAK!!!"

It's really causing me a lot of strife people! Anyway, I will occasionally refer to things that I shall discuss in the next post by saying "more on that later". So I suppose there's nothing left to do but get to it, so let's do this people!

We arrived at SXSW on Thursday afternoon and immediately went to the hotel to check in and then to the Fader Fort on 4th to get our wrist bands. For those of you that don't know The Fader is a music magazine and they also have shows/concerts/parties for certain events. I'm not sure how long they've been going to SXSW but since I've been going they've been there. You RSVP before SXSW and then you get a wristband that gets you into the fort (as long as they aren't at capacity) every day of SXSW. It's a really cool experience because it's free music all day long, they have shows about every half hour, and free alcohol. It really is a win/win situation. Anyway, after getting our bands we went into the Fader and it was AWESOME! What I didn't realize then but I see now in retrospect is that Thursday reminded me of the good old days of SXSW. There were a lot of people but not too many and it was just the right amount for it to be fun but not overwhelming.

Thursday was actually the best day at the Fader in my opinion. Good music, good bartenders, and not too many people. They also had some big name people that day including Mac Miller and Wiz Khalifa so there was an interesting crowd of people there. I like being around lots of different people with different tastes in music and some of the boys there were HOT!!! Actually, 95% of the boys there were hot; hot, tall, giants! I was in boy heaven I tell you, BOY, HEAVEN! So after listening to all the music and hanging in The Fader until it closed we decided to head to the hotel to change then head out to 6th. Once we got to 6th we ended up at The Blind Pig listening to some random Minneapolis hip hop group and a band that sings r&b tunes. It is also the place where I met the love my life! I guess it's story time now!

How I Met My Future Husband!

So I saw this random kid dancing around at the show and I was like he's hot. After psyching myself up with a glass of liquid courage I decided I was going to try and talk to him next time I saw him. Well after about 10 minutes of searching I was like where is this kid? I looked around and couldn't find him anywhere then I happen to glance up on stage when they were introducing the next band and guess who it was!?!? My future husband! He played the bass in the random R&B/pop band! As my friend's boyfriend said they were "like Maroon5 but not Maroon5" ha! That perfectly summed them up. Anyway after lusting after him all during their set I grabbed a friend and found him off stage. We shared some moments and I gave him my number because his phone was dead. Unfortunately we never got to hangout because he was leaving Friday at 11 but in my mind he's my soul mate. We shall meet again!

*now back to our regularly scheduled program*


The people that were out Thursday were just so chill and it was also my best day musically. I really liked all the people I saw perform on Thursday and it was also my favorite day of the festival. We ended the night at Shakespeares which was just so fitting. I saw some old friends, met some new friends, got some free shots, and was told I'm beautiful (The grandiose compliments boys in Austin give girls are wonderful). All in all a good night.

Inside The Fader


So Friday we started the day at The Fader. Honestly, that's just what you do at SXSW. They have all the free alcohol you can drink and free shows so why wouldn't you start there? I must take this opportunity to say that my moccasins were a BIG hit at SXSW this year! I've had moccasins for about 6 years now. No really, I got them my sophmore year of college so 04/05 and I love them because they're comfy. I'm always shocked when people comment on them because I don't really dress for other people so I appreciate it when I get compliments. However, people were in love with my moccasins and it made my day! I even had one girl tell me she loved "my whole look" and I looked like Pocahontas. Ha! That's one of the many things I love about Austin. People there have a bigger respect for the anything goes type of fashion and I like that.



Wore this with my moccasins on Friday


We spent a couple of hours inside The Fader but not as long as we did on Thursday because it was hot and because it was PACKED! Friday was when I began noticing that there were a TON of people EVERYWHERE. SXSW has gradually gotten popular in the last couple of years and that's a good and bad thing. I'm glad the festival is getting recognition and that a lot of brands want to come party (i.e. Red Bull, Candies, Vibe, Fader, Perez Hilton, etc...) BUT Austin is not big enough to handle all the traffic and people so it makes enjoying the experience a bit difficult. Friday was when I first started to get the feeling that I wasn't really loving the vibe of SXSW this year but we'll get to that later. So after some time in the Fader we headed over to Pure Volume, mainly to pick up our badges in case we wanted to go there later and to use a bathroom that's not a port-o-potty! That's the one bad thing about The Fader Fort, it is actually a fort. Ha! There are no bathrooms because there's not really an inside so you simply go in port-o-potties! Once we walked over to Pure Volume we decided to head back to the hotel and chill for an hour or two, grab some food, then get ready to go out again that night.

Friday night was what began the "I think I may be over SXSW" vibe I left the weekend with. There were just too many people everywhere and too many lines everywhere and too many text messages about the stupid Kanye West show on Saturday!(More on the Kanye show later) We started out at Side Bar where we patiently sat in front of a bartender for 15 minutes. I kid you not, 15 actual minutes, before finally asking if we could be helped. Once we asked for help the bartender flipped out and my friend ended up having to go off on him. Needless to say we left that place and then ended up trying to get into Beauty Bar which was badge only, so of course we couldn't get in. Here's the thing though, NO ONE WAS THERE!! Why was no one there you ask? Why, because MOST PEOPLE DON'T HAVE BADGES! So why not just let people in. I mean REALLY!!!! Finally after a couple brawls in the street that slowed us down, some minor drama about a place for my friend to stay, and masses upon masses of people we landed in The Library. I love that place (there's one in FTW too) because it's a nice chill good time. Once we settled in the real fun began and by fun I mean the stripping.

THE STRIPPER STORY


So everyone has been at a bar when a random girl finds a random pole and begins her version of pole dancing. It happens, it's amusing, whatever. This story does not involve that girl. No, this story, involves what I can only imagine was a real stripper who found a random beam inside The Library and began doing her thing! I mean homegirl had a crowd gathered around to witness what most people have to pay a cover charge and a two drink minimum for. She flung herself on the top of that pole and spun around, legs open for all the world to see her goodies, for a good half hour. People were taking pictures and recording her and she had NO shame in her game. I was so appalled but not for the reasons you may think. I don't care if you wanna spread your legs on a pole at a bar but if you're going to PLEASE wear cute undies. Homegirl had on big, giant, WHITE, panties! WHITE!!!!!! Why in the hell would you go to a bar in big giant white panties and then hop on a pole!? Then just as I was recovering from the great stripper incident of 2011 a ho walks down the stairs yells "HEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT'S MY BIRTHDAY" then takes her top off and flashes everyone. So needless to say it was an interesting night.


*We now return back to our regularly scheduled program*


So Friday night ended with a bang but also with all of us feeling a little "over" SXSW and we still had another day of partying! And all the big stuff was reserved for Saturday.



Some of the crew in line for Perez


Saturday we spent the early part of the day at the line for our wristbands for the Perez Hilton party, The Fader, running around Austin, and having a horrible dining experience at Champs. The Champs dining experience was truly one of the worst experiences I've ever had. The waiter was completely miserable and we were very aware of this the entire time he waited on us. That is completely unacceptable and drives me nuts. Aside from that the day was pretty relaxed and good. The Fader was still crazy but hey, free music + free booze = lots of people. I guess it was to be expected but it really did become annoying after a while. We ended Saturday night at the Perez Hilton party where I was introduced to an AMAZING new band called Kids of 88! If you don't know who they are you should check them out because they are fantastic.


I also saw The Pretty Reckless and was actually impressed. I knew they were performing but it never registered in my mind that it was Taylor Momson's band. I was actually surprised at how strong her vocals were. Not really my music scene but definitely better than I was expecting. She puts on quite the little slutty show.

All in all the party was pretty fun and I made some new friends while there. I enjoyed most of the performances and the drinks were strong as hell (they should have been since we had to pay for them!). Another cool thing was they had cell phone charging stations everywhere. Anyone that's ever been to SXSW or any event that lasts all day and night knows the importance of a charging station! Cool moment of the night for me was when I also was asked to pose for a girl's fashion blog because she loved my outfit! (Yeah I'm tooting my own horn, deal with it!) At the end of the night we all went our separate ways and then my core crew and I ended our night with some 6th street Wendy's and our beds.

I woke up Sunday not feeling my best so we just packed up our stuff and hit the road back to Dallas! So here are my grades for the experience: Music = A, Friends = +A, Boys = -A, Lines = D, RSVP scenarios = C all in all experience was a solid B. Not as fantastic as previous years but not horrible by any means. I do think I'm going to take next year off though. I say that now but who knows how I'll feel when SXSW time of year rolls around again. I just think SXSW has lost some of the things that made it so appealing and that makes me not want to go again for a while. We shall see though, we shall see...



*Stay tuned for part 2 of this post which will focus on some of my gripes and have more pics! I may be able to get my hands on the stripper video too! Ha!