As if everything else weren't good enough, as if the endless slew of party announcements didn't provide you with a veritable smorgasbord/plethora of options, as if you were still wondering how on earth you'd find something to do next Friday and Saturday, along comes this: the same people who've brought us such sweetness as FYFest and FFFFEST are now bringing to E. 6th the fourth annual Mess with Texas Party, which is a lot like Fun Fun Fun Fest except in March, and apparently involving messes as opposed to cubed iterations of the word "fun." more ›

They brought all their usual tricks to Waterloo Park for Mess With Texas 3 on Saturday the 21st, disrobing and parting the crowd in half right off the bat. Singer Ami Shalev then jumped into the open space in the middle of the audience, rolling around on the grass with his fellow band mates much to everyone’s amusement (or was it bemusement). more ›

All week long, Austinist is giving away tickets and guestlist spots to some of the hottest private, unofficial parties taking place during the annual SXSW Festival. Contests will be posted throughout the day and run for a few hours apiece, so check back frequently for your best chance to win. more ›

The F Yeah Fest, along with Transmission Entertainment, presents the third annual Mess With Texas on Saturday the 21st at Waterloo Park. This is the ultimate spot for Saturday -- the last day of day show mania -- a shindig where you can fill in the blanks in your list of must-see-acts this SXSW by meandering around the park all day. The Black Lips, Akron/Family, King Khan & The Shrines, Vivian Girls, Circle Jerks, Cursive, The Thermals, Monotonix, Jason Lytle, Vetiver…the list is endless -- catch ‘em all between 11:30 a.m. and 9 p.m. This could easily be called a one day Fun Fest! more ›

Saturday Saturday Saturday! It's a bounty of goodness unlike anything most people of privilege (or non-privilege) have seen, seeming that it is filled not only with SXSW's usual wealth of day-funs and joys and diversities, but that it is also privy to the wonderment that is Mess With Texas 2, a noon-to-ten cornucopia of music and comedy at Waterloo Park. It's sort of like a day of Fun Fun Fun Fest plus comedy minus the price plus the knowledge that there's great stuff going on everywhere else as well. So let's get to it, and all the other great stuff going on EVERYWHERE, shall we? Mess With Texas 2 @ Waterloo Park At this event, it's almost ridiculous what a wide range of musics you'll be able to see, from electro-folk to softcore-punk to anti-pop to alterna-world to whatever-other-hyphenated-genre-you-could-possibly-fabricate. Headlining are the Kim Deal-led Breeders and late-nineties punk-stars NOFX, but they are just icing on the cake of a day that features acts as intriguing as the inimitable Islands and the ever-so-subtle Atlas Sound. And, take a deep breath, because also lining up on one of the three stages is rise-from-the-ashes-via-Juno story Kimya Dawson, the mysteriously-spelled Wooden Shjips, hype-machine Simian Mobile Disco, quick risers Yeasayer, Monotonix, and No Age. And in case you haven't already caught them, this may be a convenient time to check out local respectables Shearwater and White Denim. Seriously, though, that's a ridiculous list already, and it's really just the beginning. And it's free, for God's sake! And there was some comedy at this Mess With Texas thing, too, right? Yeah, you can expect some laughs from the likes of Janeane Garofalo, Brian Posehn, Todd Barry, and Eugene Mirman, among a veritable slew of others. Make sure to get there before the sun goes down if you want to check that out, though, because we all know humor goes best with some sunshine. more ›

Mess With Texas during SXSW last year was a huge hit in the cozy confines of Red 7 and MWT2 promises to be an even bigger bash with a wide variety of musical acts and comedians on tap. Waterloo Park is the host this year and this year’s free, all ages show kicks off at noon on Saturday the 15th. But of course there are so many other day shows, parties, and what not going on in the town that the sponsors (including Forcefield PR, Record Store Day, JetBlue Entertainment, Fuel TV, SuperDeluxe.com, and Garnier Fructis) want to give you V.I.P. treatment if you can write a witty piece of prose. As has been the case with other stellar Waterloo Park shows, local entity Transmission Entertainment has helped organize this brouhaha. more ›

Item: The organizers at SXSW have responded to years of complaints about long lines and short notice by dramatically revising the wristband system for the 2008 festival. 4,000 wristbands priced at $139 are reserved exclusively for Austinites and will be distributed via an online lottery system that commences at 9am on Thursday, February 21st. There is a four-day period for sign-up, then the festival will let the winners know they've been selected shortly thereafter. All registrants must live in the Austin area - a credit card with an Austin metro area billing zip code will be required (this generously stretches as far as San Marcos, Georgetown, and Taylor). One can purchase two wristbands, but one of them must be for the purchaser...and the recipient of the second one must be named when placing an order. more ›

Roy Spence, the Austin advertising legend and co-founder of the GSD&M ad agency, has recently taken a more prominent role in the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton. more ›

"Don't Mess With Texas," the anti-littering slogan launched over two decades ago, officially became the top ad slogan today in a national contest held as part of Advertising Week. Besting the likes of "Take a Bite Out of Crime!" and "A Diamond is Forever," the famous phrase is now to be plastered along Madison Avenue and has also earned a spot in the not-yet-open Advertising Icon Museum. In total, over 400,000 people voted for... more ›

You are a Texan, travelling abroad throughout the remote expanse of Eastern Europe. There are no signs of Americanization anywhere. You are wearing cowboy boots. All of the sudden, a young boy comes up to you wearing a Def Leppard t-shirt, jams and white Kaepa high tops. He grins at your boots and exclaims with glee after taking a bendy-straw sip from a can of Coke: “Hey, you are American? And you are from Texas, yes?" You knod affirmatively. "Hey, that’s way cool, my friend! Hey, ride ‘em cowboy! Bang-bang (making finger-guns)! Yeah! You have gun and horse? Hey, don’t mess with Texas! All right!” You roll your eyes. Behold! The power of good advertising. more ›

Is it a coincidence that one day after The University of Texas is named #1 Party School In The Nation, the school offers a campaign aimed at tackling drunk and inappropriate fan behavior? more ›

Sampaist is on the scene in São Paulo beginning this week, becomin the only Ist south of the Equator. Editor Leandro M. Pinto leads the paulistanos down there. You can protest someone at his office, sure, but when the whistle blows at the end of the day can you follow him home? D.C. has sports fans, apparently, and elephants aren't really cut out for zoos. There's this trick where you can read information from a... more ›

The Don't Mess With Texas slogan, created in 1986 for the Texas Department of Transportation, is a candidate for Advertising Week's Favorite Slogan award. The ad campaign, created by Austin design agency GSD&M, was developed to help reduce littering on the roadways of Texas. Although popular within Texas, we'll have to wait and see how popular it is nationwide once voting is completed on September 29th. Others in the running include: “It Takes a... more ›

The Gourds and The Grassy Knoll Boys will play a free concert tonight at Scholz Garten to benefit the Texas Music Project . The event is part of Don’t Mess With Texas Music – Live, a series produced by KGSR and Milam & Company that runs through September. The summer of music benefits the Texas Music Project , a non-profit organization founded by Bruce Orr that raises money to advance music education in our public schools – a cause Austinist finds to be of extreme importance. more ›