We land around 11:15 p.m., Texas time, and our cab driver is an older chap of West African descent. Before we see any fun, we have to infiltrate the heart of the mess—200,000 visitors are in Austin this year—to get a key to a half-empty apartment. (The owner was moving out and gracious enough to let us stay there.) While idling illegally across the street from the bar Red 7 while a friend runs out to get the key, the cab driver, who despite being jovial is not a very good listener, complains that the police “don’t play around down here.” He worries about getting a ticket. We get the key, and we have to inch through throngs of people to get back to open road. People curse at our cabbie. Just out of the thick, we pass by three scrawny young women, and he leans out the window. “If you hit me, I will marry you,” he says with a grin. “Fuck you, nigger!” one yells back. The cabbie just laughs. “Did you hear what she said? That doesn’t bother me at all! What she doesn’t know is, I’m also part Irish and a Jew!” Minutes later, he will say what you always hear people say about Austin. “It’s the most liberal city in the South.”
“Don’t call it anything else, or you’ll sound like an idiot,” a friend says to me early on. Bar employees wear shirts that say things like “Thanks So Much, Now Go Home” or “Don’t Move Here.” That’s great, disgruntled bar employees, but last year this festival brought $113 million to your city. Buck up.
I make it downtown, get my badge, and am lucky to meet up with Abe. He first takes me to an area called the Eastside (he equates it with Seattle’s Capitol Hill), and we have a few rounds at a lovely joint called the Brixton. From there, it’s a modest walk through a residential neighborhood of junk-filled backyards, barking dogs, and spray-painted Mayan symbolism to the re-relocated SiiickXSW party, put on by
CMRTYZ and the Highfives and Handshakes fellows. We’re in a far-flung neighborhood because plans for this show have already been busted up by the fuzz twice.
When we finally echolocate the place, Fungi Girls are on. They fly through a set of catchy garage rock in the backyard of a nondescript house while kids mill about with backpacks full of beer. The going rumor proves true when, after the Fungi Girls, John Dwyer et al. start loading in. The neighbors to one side—a middle-aged Hispanic couple with two pit bulls and a giant bag of sunflower seeds—look on from lawn chairs in the adjacent backyard, clearly ready and in full approval.
I’ve seen Thee Oh Sees a number of times, and they’re one of my all-time favorite bands to watch live, but when they launch into this set, the stuff seems brand-new again. Maybe it’s the locale, maybe it’s the work it took to find the place, but Dwyer’s vocals and guitar tones ring out like he’s re-created the band’s enthralling material in a new but equally pleasing vision. On the porch behind them sits Dwyer’s usual array of amps—piled in a pillar—surrounded by the band’s ample arsenal. Down on the grass, with no barrier between band and crowd, Thee Oh Sees again vanquish any possible nonbelievers’ doubts. People shake, dance, buzz—there is not a frown in the yard. Twenty-five minutes and two encores later, it’s done, and even the neighbors in the next yard are cheering for more. This would never happen in Seattle.
There are many drinks and many bars before the next show, which happens to be Astronautalis from our very own town (I skip Wu-Tang for this, as I’m told it will be worth it). Andy Bothwell delivers like FedEx could only dream of. “Give me 10 subjects to freestyle on,” he says toward the end of an absolutely electrifying set. Topics range from nuclear power to someone’s grandmother named Gloria. He freestyles seamlessly, measure after measure, before breaking into a chorus that sounds like a hybrid of Bruce Springsteen and Tom Waits. Without question, this is a man to watch.
As mentioned earlier, people who estimate this type of shit estimated 200,000 visitors showed up this year for South By. One direct result: You cannot get a cab to save your life. Yellow Cab in Austin has a web form, it has a smartphone form, it has a phone number for Luddites. None of these work during South By. I walk more than 30 blocks from downtown back to 39th and Guadalupe. By the early 20s, I have given up on a cab and start giving all cars the middle finger as they pass me. An Escalade full of bleary revelers passes by, blasting 50 Cent with the windows down. Its inhabitants slow and lob a half-empty (half-full) beer can at me (they miss).
The following night, I am struck on the way to an afterparty by the sudden and undeniable need for sleep. I march up to 8th Street—which I’ve been repeatedly told is the best place to catch a cab—and spend the next 50 minutes waving my arms frantically. Others try to run and grab the doors of moving cabs as passersby look on and laugh. Eventually, a limo stops and honks its horn. My sprint across the street finds me at its door along with a small crowd—one part frat kid and two parts sorority girl. We’re all headed uptown and split the fare. “Show us your titties,” frat keeps saying to one part sorority, until she throws herself into his lap with a gasp of feigned exasperation.
I turn on the local news just to see if it’s any worse than Seattle’s. Breathless reports exclaim, “South by Southwest: bigger, but is it any better?” and the like on every local news channel. In succession, we see the type of clips that the local news loves, a video of Ben Weasel punching some woman in the face and the words “Ben Weasel, of the band Screeching Weasel, punches woman in the face” on the screen. There is a report of a riot at Beauty Bar for the recently reunited band Death from Above 1979, even though the incident consists of less than five people trying to climb over the chain-link fence in the back area. Owner: “It’s good publicity, obviously.”
It could be the weather, or it could be the lack of pretension in Austin, but HOLY SHIT ARE THERE BEAUTIFUL WOMEN EVERYWHERE in that damn town. Even the women I see who have relocated to Austin from Seattle seem to have multiplied their attractiveness rating by like 10 to 90 percent. I fall in love with a girl who used to live here (hi, Leah). Seattle women, please: Take note of whatever they’re doing down there.
Fred (all the names have been changed, BTW) looks skinny but happy. He drives us straight to Ruth’s Chris Steak House in a rented Escalade. The valet disposes of the eyesore/eye candy, and we enter in T-shirts and hirsute faces. My steak would be mouthwateringly delicious if not for the Red Sea quantity of salt on top. Abe leaves us after the meal to go visit his girlfriend, and Fred and I take the eyesore/eye candy back to his rented house, only it’s not a house, it’s a fucking mansion with a view of the Austin high-rise skyline. Police are standing guard at the entrance to the neighborhood, but they remember Fred and let us right in. As we walk inside, a guy and girl lazily shuffle upstairs. “Who is that?” I ask. Fred doesn’t know. We move past stacks of unopened cases of beer to the back porch for a cigarette. Fred’s company was supposed to throw a showcase at the house, but it got canceled/moved at the last minute. “The owner saw that there were 700 RSVPs on Facebook and freaked out.” Through the window I see the couple walk into the upstairs bathroom.
We call the car service so Fred can stop driving and we can get back downtown. “Do you know where we can get drugs?” someone asks Fred. “Just wait for the driver,” Fred answers. Minutes later, Pablo picks us up. “I can get you seven grams,” Pablo says. Fred and the others balk. “Is that too much money?” Pablo asks. “That’s too much cocaine,” Fred answers. But as almost always happens with cocaine, minds change within minutes, and Pablo calls someone on his cell phone and starts speaking in Spanish. The next minute, we are pulling into a parking lot behind a convenience store, and Pablo puts his Lincoln in park and jumps into the car idling next to us. One minute and he is back in the car with seven grams of cocaine for $200. “I will do the first taste if you don’t trust it,” he says. Fred grabs the bag out of his hand and tells him that won’t be necessary. Some must be done, though. It is late and we are drunk. In no time, Pablo has three giant lines laid out on a Julio Iglesias CD case.
Dear Austin,
I REALLY love almost everything you do. But for Christ’s sake, can you take better fucking care of the pissers in your bars? Emo’s only inside shitter was “out of order,” which I assume just meant that they didn’t want anyone doing coke in there, but what about maybe just clearing the garbage and detritus out of the urine trough once a day? I know SXSW is a captive audience, but for the love of god, show some respect. Your town would pretty much just about dry up into a tumbleweed if it weren’t for this dubious music festival and your goddamn Longhorns.
The UT tower gunman story that anyone over the age of 45 remembers is looming every time I walk past the university. “There are still bullet holes in the wall of a barber shop, if you’re weird enough to look for them,” Abe tells me. I consider myself pretty weird, but I never go look.
Have you guys heard about this genre called bounce? It basically consists of Big Freedia, Katey Red, and Vockah Redu and the Cru—and if Vockah Redu and the Cru’s show Sunday night at Beerland is any indication, it’s the best goddamn thing you will see last year. Are you a gay man or a straight woman? Vockah Redu has like 40 dudes with athletic asses wearing tight jeans and dancing in unison with his razor-sharp vocal barrage. Are you a straight man? Prepare to be converted or not care one way or another as this entourage blows away any preconceived notions. Best live show you’ve ever seen since the best live show you’ve ever seen.
“I am a big fan of systems that make things happen. It’s like scaffolding around a building. If the scaffolding is not strong, the building will fall.”
“The fact is, TV is evolving. And the fact that you can watch YouTube on your TV now means everything. People these days just want to know, and they just watch the same shows as their friends.”
“The Head and the Heart are just amazing”—this from an older man, talking about what he’s seen in Austin. They’re from Vancouver, Washington. His wife confirms everything he says as she’s falling asleep. He orders a sandwich for himself and a glass of red wine and a fruit and cheese platter for her, even though she’s out. I order one glass of whiskey on the rocks and another glass of red wine, drink them as fast as I can, and pass out before he says anything more. 
Grant, just to clarify, “bounce” isn’t necessarily new, or what you are referring to. It’s “sissy bounce”, a queer-infused take on bounce music, which has been around since the 1990s.
For more specifics, see http://blog.seanbonner.com/2010/03/29/si…
Aaaaaw Vockah’s current hair situation is just wonderful. Here’s from last year…
http://vimeo.com/10067846
Thanks bookworm. It’s all new to me, but I love it.
Bullshit is right. This article is another piece of shit, waste of space. Oh my god, you do cocaine!?
True story: when you do coke in a different city, it alleviates you from the guilt that people are having their head cut off right now for you to have a brief good time. What a relief!
Your town would pretty much just about dry up into a tumbleweed if it weren’t for this dubious music festival and your goddamn Longhorns.
Except Austin is also the capital of Texas, the 15th largest economy in the world. And, of course, it is ranked as the second-fastest growing city in the nation and the #1 city for jobs. And oh yeah, all the tech companies located there… Not to mention is is a huge cultural and artistic hub that brings lots of neat things to the table year-round, not just during SXSW.
Otherwise, you’re right. Tumbleweed.
This is fun. Sharing with all my fellow austinites now. (Transplant from SF a couple years ago, and already feel pretty austiny).
God damn I hate the RSVP “system.” Here’s the rules:
Consumers:
* RSVP for every event you can possibly find
Producers:
* Deny/charge entry to people not on the RSVP list, regardless of how many folks have or will actually show up.
Did you test that cocaine for levamisole?
“Austin Women Have Seattle Women Beat”
Just about every city’s women have Seattle’s beat. Travel to different cities and find out for yourselves. Green hair, too many tats and piercings, PC feminist or too cool for you attitudes of Seattle’s female population is why.
7 grams for $200? Fuck Seattle I’m moving to Austin.
xxxSTEVExxx, obviously is a sufferer of manchild syndrome, gynephobia, hurtbuttness and possibly suffering from poor fashion sense.
@1 is right, “Bounce” was a hip hop sub genre in the 90s, Juvenile is often credited with inventing/popularizing it in his pre-cash money days.
@13: I rest my case.
Ugh. I hate it when people call it “South By.” It’s the same people who walk around with their f’ing badge on all day.
Austin vs Seattle ladies
It’s probably because less clothes are needed and they don’t need to weather the winter doom. That and everyone looks a little cuter with a kiss from the sun.
There’s also the novelty factor. Everyone is more beautiful when you don’t have to partake in their day-to-day ups and downs.
@11: science has proven that feminists have better sex. just fyi.
I lived in Austin for 17 of the last 20 years, although I haven’t been to SXSW for umpteen years and don’t know any locals who have either. But there is nothing wrong with calling it SXSW. “South by” sounds really foolish. Stupid hipster.
And I can assure you that anybody with a job outside of the bar, hotel or other hospitality industry hell hole doesn’t give a fuck about all the wonderful money you bring to town and spend on a few beers. Clean the fucking toilets yourselves, you fucking slobs. I doubt the bar staff gets much cash out of it either.
The Austin Chronicle would be out of business without SXSW. The rest of Austin wouldn’t really miss it so much, and I think it would be a good bargain to lose it. Traffic and parking are bad enough on normal weekends. SXSW just means you have to sit at home or go out of town because it’s not worth it to go anywhere near the action, and half the places you would have gone will be closed for a private event.
Is that how you act when you go to Mexico and Europe too, like they would cease to exist if it wasn’t for people like you and they should get down and beg for the opportunity to clean your dirty bunghole with their toungues? Thanks, you’re why everyone hates Americans. That’s pretty bad when you are a bigger asshole than the the native Texans. I wish I could throw a nice cold beer bottle at you myself. I’d even leave to cap on and the bottle for for ya.
Grant I’m glad you and Fred had a good time…
…Ed
I’ve always wanted to check it out but after this article, I’m not sure. Sounds lame.
That jussmbdy faggot needs to shut up
Fred sounds cool
So Seattle women get 10-90% less attractive when they move to Austin?
I left Seattle about 10 years ago. Since then, the only place i´ve been in the world with uglier women is Portland, Ore. Hell, the entire pac-nw is horrible on that score. Oh, well at least they all have bad attitudes to boot. Glad someone else noticed and isn´t afraid to say so.
You, like everyone else, were instructed to refer to it as “south by” to identify you as an idiot tourist. Your friends are mean.
Dear out of towners,
Stop acting like your 113 mil is the best thing we could have ever gotten. All it goes towards is shit condo towers that remain empty and make our skyline and traffic shit.
And if you’ve got a problem with the rest rooms, then maybe you shouldn’t be too drunk or high to show comon courtesy when using them eh? You’re fucking adults not junior high students, treat your toilets accordingly.
Agree ladies in TX are better lookin than in PNW (Although I find it comes with a price–high maintenance, bitchiness, etc.).
The weird thing is, the dudes are worse looking. Hot lady/fugly dude couples are all over the place down there.
xxxSTEVExxx apparently has no sense of irony.
Gentlemen, before you cast aspersions upon the women of the Pacific Northwest, perhaps look upon thine own selves!
Flabby, pasty, over-entitled, flannel clad, always trying to be some sort of rockstar.
YUK
Sweet. Maybe all the dumbfuck hipsters will move from seattle to austin. Man…what a beautiful world that would be.
Dear Austin:
Sorry for getting kicked out of a bar there five years ago. I don’t think I messed up any bathrooms. Also, thank you for the ground I slept on. It was very comfortable, and the grackles were very helpful in getting me to wake up in the morning. If I’m ever in a band that plays down there again, I will make sure to clean up after myself and my idiot bandmates. I promise.
-Idiot from the North
So, lemme get this straight: you go to SXSW for the very first time (see @16 for truth), ride around in a fucking Escalade, watch tv, eat at a national chain restaurant, see a band you’ve seen a bunch of times, and do blow with Seattle ex-pats.
Jesus Christ, Grant, you could have just stayed on Capitol Hill and saved the Stranger some money.
Probably the highest number of local bands to ever make the trek to Austin this year, yet you barely mention music in this piece. SXSW reported unheard of participant numbers. At the very least, you could have researched your topic, and perhaps determined what that unprecedented attendance means.
Come on. You can do better than this.
@28 I believe xxxSTEVExxx thinks I am a woman… apparently he can’t conceive of the idea of a man being a feminist.
xxxSTEVExxx after looking at your other posts you definitely don’t seem to get… well anything… your comments are the jokes of immature stature. Including your little ditty of despite how much Miley Cyrus annoys you, how you’d still “hit it” as if you would be doing HER the favor.
Your manchild syndrome is showing, I suggest you take your grow the fuck up medicine and learn how to be a big boy.
All the locals I met called it “south by.”
For anyone considering goin, there are really kind of two SXSW’s:
There’s the horrible annoying hipsters vomiting in the streets + crowds + lines + “celebrities” + music industry hype nightmare that the stranger’s staff apparently attended. This one sucks more than you can possibly imagine.
And there’s the moving performances in small spaces far away from the crowds + audiences that care about the music SXSW that I went to. This one is awesome.
@35 I had several of said “moving performances” this year in Austin.
(Note: Kimya Dawson w/ Aesop Rock, Quadron, Little Draon, Shannon & The Clams)
After a fair amount of schmoozing (you know…shaking babies, kissing hands) I prefer to roll Lone Wolf style, loose in the streets, racing toward the next face-melting / heart imploding musical experience.
Good times!
@24, “someone else…isn’t afraid to say so”?? Bitch, please.
The PNW ladies are pretty tired of hearing this old trope over and over again. Gimme a fuckin’ break. @29 has it right.
Steve is too stupid to be addressed any further than he already has been.
New t-shirt slogan:
“I went to SXSW and all I got was a glorified weekend in the Cha Cha bathroom.”
The last time I attended SxSw (lived in Austin) was 1998 and the “cool” factor had already started to fade – I can’t imagine attending now, not to mention going out of your way to FLY there for the week. The wristbands cost too much and every show we wanted to see was filled up with people who had “VIP” wristbands and/or press passes – regardless of how early we showed up. WTF is the point if you can’t actually GET IN to any of the venues?? I imagine there are a lot of amazing musical happenings throughout the week (house shows, back alleys and around the neighborhoods), but in reality, that’s Austin all year round. Like so many good things in life – SxSw has gone corporate.
These videos are usually tired, but this one made me laugh. Also, Hitler himself calls it “South By”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z66_RnVLO…
a more apt description of this would be “drug addict / alcoholic visits Austin”
I love it when gross drunks think they deserve hot girls.
#38 For the WIN! Eeeeexactly. Sweet fancy Moses, I am so sick of hearing about hipsters and their love of The Savior, Blow.
Hell, he could have left that part out, and it still would have been a glorified trip to the Cha Cha bathroom.
Kerri Harrop and Eric Grandy have hurt, lame pussies. Keep bitching. You sound more pathetic every time.
Concentrate on your own shit. Stop being “The Stranger Police”. You’ll thank me later.
Kerri – Eric, start your own paper. You can call it : WAAAAAAAAAAAAA.
Hey Kerri, you know what, YOU can do better. Oh wait, no you can’t.
Nah, southern California has the worst women around. sorry to insult any cool chicks who are from or live in so-cal but in all my travels/experience so-cal ranks the worst in romance. too many fake boobs, fake faces and fake personalities who are only interested in dating ken dolls. PNW ladies are not that bad.
kerri harrop
Thank you! at least someone had the balls to write it. This could have been bar event in Seattle.
As for SXSW, eh? and I love Texas, the hill country, West Texas, the swamp land. Yes, Texas is racist, with some of the most butt-ugly men in the world, with God-endowed awful attitudes. George Bush, hint, hint? Yet the country speaks to me.
Admittedly, it’s a huge generalization, and it’s been said various times. But seriously have you looked at the hair and clothes of women in Seattle? You need to get your hair done more than once a year, and rubber boots or Crocs are not appropriate for a decent restaurant.
The attitude for men and women is not to commit or be honest. So, that doesn’t really just fall on women here. There is not another major city where people don’t dance. Other places people drink and have fun.
@33: I know you’re a “male” but you’ve had all the masculinity beaten out of you by the PC, asexual Seattle Freeze climate here.
@18: “science has proven that feminists have better sex. just fyi.” Yeah. With each other. What good does that do me? And no, I’m not fantasizing about a 3some with you. Yeech!
@29: Point well taken.
@49: Yes! All my closest friends and relationships are with people from out of town. Now it’s not true that the womyn here only get their hair done once a year. Actually, they never “get it done” at all, they “cut it themselves”.
@28: It’s actually @33 that has no sense of irony. 😉
Jesus, 7 grams for $200? Living closer to the southern border has its perks, I guess.