Austinist: Post Mortem: SXSW Music News & Notes

Maribelly

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:28:40 -0600

I feel so lucky to have hosted 32 awesome bands such as Pete & the Pirates, Mae Shi and others without the fuss of parking, all at the Red House Pizzeria & Bar on Manor Rd. www.musicforlisteners.com/mflatredhouse.html outlines 4 days of bands.

sml2401

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:08:21 -0600

I'm surprised there's no story up about that EPIC Explosions in the Sky show Saturday night at Auditorium Shores, featuring a brilliant fireworks display at the end. There were supposedly 20,000+ people in attendance. Absolutely amazing.

super_nova

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 16:19:23 -0600

Agreed about Cedar St Ctyd., I'll also add Buffalo Billiards to the "staff didn't get what's going on" list. Nothing on the 1st entrance said you had to go to the 2nd and once gone all they way to the other side was told to double back out and come in the other entrance after walking through a crowd of people. I chose to go out that door and didn't look back. Venues have as much of an obligation not to waste attendees time and energy unnecessarily as attendees have to be respectful to staff and volunteers. Also, the splitting of Maggie Mays into 3 separate sections was a little dicey at first, but once everyone was on the same page it was fairly straightforward. On a positive note, Elysium had the easiest to understand signage on what to do - big banner with arrows and the rules. Simple, easy and profesh. Elysium staff should train other venues on how to be better organized for SXSW next year.

Chadio

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 13:25:55 -0600

I am not surprised about the scene outside Cedar Street on Friday night. We showed up to see the first band, which was Pete and the Pirates by the way, and found the scene to be chaotic 30 minutes before they were scheduled to go on. The venue staff got people into the respective lines but then they didn't even start letting badges in until Pete and the Pirates started! Even though we were only about 20 people into the wristband line, we had to listen to the first three songs from the line. We experienced similar chaos the previous night at Central Presbyterian Church. We chalked it all up to the "Grizzly Bear" effect because most people in the lines at both venues were there just for them.