This year, rather than opt for my traditional Festival Diaries format for SXSW, I went for a more straight forward approach, with a series of reviews on ground at the event. But there was the odd experience that I couldn’t quite elaborate into its own article. So here now are all the leftovers of my experiences over ten days at SXSW 2013 in a Festival Diary special!
WARNER BROS. TELEVISION PARTIES ft. AMANDA PALMER
If you were following us on Instagram or Twitter during the festival, you might have seen our photo of Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer playing and canoodling – in a pool of balls. In case you missed it, the picture can be found HERE. So I thought I better let you in on what that was all about… basically, Amanda and Neil were guests at an event for the release of a new book from Chuck Lorre, creator of Two and a Half Men. One thing led to another and Neil and Amanda jumped in the ball pool that had been, for one reason or another, stationed in the middle of the room. I’m guessing it had something to do with the book, accompanying the artwork that surrounded it.
Later in the evening, as pictured above, Amanda surprised guests by jumping up on a table with her Ukulele to sing two songs. One, an ode to Lady Gaga and Pop Music entitled “Gaga, Palmer and Madonna” and her cover of Radiohead’s “Creep”. It was one of those “only at SXSW” sort of moments. The following night at the same venue, we got to hang with Ian Somerhalder from The Vampire Diaries. Here’s a photo of him standing in front of a 3D photo of himself. Ladies, you may swoon.
LOVES HER GUN
I had the opportunity to go a shooting range for the very first time when I was in Austin, thanks to the folks behind the film Loves Her Gun. I didn’t get to see the film, but am being sent a review stream so expect some more content on the Award Winning feature soon, that was filmed in and around Austin. As for the experience at the gun range itself, it was absolutely terrifying at first. At my heart, I’m against this sort of thing, and bar one experience in my early teens with a rifle (long story), have never shot a gun.
The recoil is something you expect but still takes you by surprise, and the skill to it is something more refined than you’d expect thanks to said recoil and the weight of the weapon. But once you get a few rounds out and ignore the fact that you’re holding a deadly weapon that’s shooting out shells way too close to your face, it’s actually rather enjoyable. This makes me more manly now, right?
FUTURE CLASSIC THROW A PARTY
It’s not often that an Australian label throws a party at SXSW, but thanks to a seemingly odd partnership with an electronic cigarette company, Future Classic had the opportunity this year to cram out a massive dance party that featured artists like Bicep, Mitzi and, naturally, Flume. I spent little more than 20 minutes at the party, but both Bicep and Flume had the crowd dancing while I was there, and by the time I left it was clear that people were running from all corners to check out Flume, with a line around the block. He seemed exhausted when I caught up with him before he hit the stage, but in the short portion of the set I caught, it looked like he was killing it – and indeed plenty were talking about him around town. Seems that the future is looking bright for him in the US! Here’s a photo of him on stage at the event:
MUSIC FOR THE GAMERS
UK group Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls (pictured in header) were literally performing on a stage under an overpass that I happened to stumble upon on my way to see a film. It was part of the first ever SXSW Gaming Expo which took place alongside the interactive portion of the event. The band, who will be in Australia this week for Bluesfest in Byron Bay, were KILLER live. Solid performers, tight and with great songs to boot.
I managed to catch quite a few songs including the phenomenal single “The Road”, as well as “Recovery” and “Glory Hallelujah”. In the last one, with lyrics like “there is no God”, I imagine it’s a risky song to play in the American South (though I’m sure that’s not so much an issue in Austin). As I left the venue to make the film, I was halfway across the fields opposite the stage and I could still hear “Reasons Not to Be an Idiot” ringing over me crystal clear. It was a fantastic moment, and a great reminder that that best of SXSW was yet to come…
THEN THERE WAS THE PAYPAL PARTY…
Paypal threw a party the same night at Mohawk’s, and I made it just in time as the rain started pouring to get under cover and enjoy the last few tracks from Man Man, a fantastic band from Philadelphia – just in case you’re unfamiliar. The leader of the group, who calls himself Honus Honus, was pouring water over himself when I arrived, and I think they were playing “Dark Arts”, but I’m not entirely sure. It was getting pretty weird. And that’s what I absolutely love about this band. With two drummers, two keys and one guitar, you never know what you’re going to get when you go to a Man Man show.
Their set was followed by a very strange faux wresting tournament that pitted a midget superman against an overweight Captain America… and it was at this point that I called it a night.
ATLAS GENIUS MAKING WAVES
A lot of press have been pushed towards the talents and success of Atlas Genius, an Adelaide group who have had more success abroad than at home. While at the MTVu Awards, the Woodies, I spoke to a lot of people there who were already established fans of the band. It doesn’t seem like they’ve actually come out of nowhere at all – at least not over here. Here’s a photo of them at the event:
At the awards they performed tracks like “Symptoms” off their EP and played their take on fun indie pop rock, that definitely seemed to go down a treat in front of the massive crowd. Check out our interview with the band HERE.
Performing after Atlas Genius at the awards was local rapper Travis Scott, who had plenty of fans, but really got the crowd up in a frenzy when he welcomed special surprise guest T.I. onto the stage. I think I’ve said it a few times already in this article, but you never know what you’re going to witness at SXSW…
WHICH DAY PARTY HAD THE BEST FREE FOOD?
This year that title easily goes to the Duma Taiwan party. The organisers had cooked up a delicious cross-section of their cuisine, and it was one of the most satisfying meals I had at the event. The fact that it wasn’t Brisket or Mexican food, like most other parties, probably helped separate it from the rest. We hope to see you again next year! Here is a photo of the wonderful Peggy Hsu from the event, by Johnny Au:
INTRODUCING THE SONOS STUDIOS AT SXSW
There are plenty of branded “Forts”, “houses” or “studios” that float around SXSW, during both the music and interactive portions. One of our favourites this year were the Sonos studios, which mixed music, film and interactive audiences all into one massive week long event. Deadmau5 popped in for a visit, and brought Kat Von D along. You can check out the gallery HERE. We almost got to meet Rob Zombie, who was throwing an official premiere party for his new film Lords of Salam, but all we got was this picture of someone who we thought might be Rob Zombie:
Is that Rob Zombie? I think it might be. Anywho…
Also a big thanks to both the Turner Lounge and the Fast Company Grill for proving us with some great food and fantastic networking opportunities. And also thank you to WIRED Magazine for having us along to their Brunch. Those omelettes were delicious.
As you can see from the above and all the other content from SXSW this year, between the film, music and interactive portions of the event, there really is a ridiculous amount of ways one can fill up their day. If you haven’t done SXSW before, all I can recommend is to go with the flow and enjoy the ride…
