SXSW: Part I: Myths and Truths

So,

Today is Sunday and SXSW: Music is over. I am currently sitting in my hotel room remembering all the truths and myths I heard from the festival.

1. You won't find all the venues: MYTH: I found all my venues and they weren't hard to find either. Perhaps if you have no sense of direction, the venues would be hard to find. But frankly 92% of the venues are all on one street. I could see you getting lost if you didn't plan or use an online map, but here at SXSW not finding a location, kinda sad........

2. Wear good footwear: TRUE: I followed this advice to the best of my ability and my feet still hurt. Why? the answer is simple. It isn't really the walking around that gets you, it's the constant standing in one location. I stood on Wednesday for about 12 hours. That's a long time. That's a really long time. I stand a lot at my job, but this totally took it to another level. My feet/legs/back hurt so much I actually didn't even want to stand on friday. At the day party. I sat down on the ground. This pain well exceeded that time on the KVR re: the bike seat issue......oh and open shoes is a bad idea, esp with jumping people and liquor spillages. EW that was one mistake I won't make again.

3. A Badge is the only way to go: TRUE/MYTH: this really depends who you are. I needed a badge because I was paying for the full meal deal. If you have a place to stay for free or you live close, I can see you take your chances. I met a number of people that just paid per venue. That said, each venue cost them between 8 - 30$ (depending on the night and venue), they couldn't go to any day parties, and they (unlike me) aren't really guaranteed any entrance. If the venue fills up with badgies and wristbandies they are SOL. That said, I I lived in austin, I would likely get the platnium pass: interactive, film and music: hello.........

4. The badge get you lots of "free" stuff: TRUE: okay I know my badge wasn't free but for my badge price I got: tons of free gifts like frisbees and t-shirts and pens, about 20 magazines, 28 CD's to sample new stuff, a pack of guitar strings to try out, free food at every day party I went to and beverages. I hear that in the past this free stuff has been more abound and that this year there wasn't as much, but lets be honest I also got to see a ton of bands. So it was well worth it for me.

5. Get to the venue early: MYTH: everyone said get there early, but I never had a problem getting in to any venue at any time. It might be because I had a badge. Or because there was just one of me. I also had no problem with standing in the front. Which was great for my eyes.

6. earplugs are a must: TRUE: nuff said.

7. Believe the rumors you hear: DEPENDS: If you heard it from a Badgie, usually true; from a wristbandie, parts of it might be true and if you hear it from a random local, no chance in hell. ie: Metallica is playing at Stubb's for a VIP private party: The badgie knows this, the wristbandie thinks he/she can get in and waits outside the venue only to be disapointed, and the common person on the street thinks they will move the concert to the park so everyone can see it. I just went to see Shiny Toy Guns/Camera Obscura/GlasVegas/Primal Scream instead of wasting my time with that business.


Stay tuned for part II: The Recap of my festival experience.

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