So, another SXSW is in the books. It was a great one on many levels.. I had a great Saturday night. After seeing the fine film Downloaded, which chronicled the history of Napster in detail, I saw some great acts. I finally caught a Capital Cities set. They are an extremely high energy band. I see the disco trend growing with the kids. Then for a change of pace, I stopped by ACL Live to catch the True Believers reunion. This is a group of Austin legends, including Alejandro Escovedo and Jon Dee Graham, who played together a few decades ago. Big fun.
I decided to close out my night by seeing a couple more local acts, including SPEAK, who seem to be more rockin’ than pop these days. They have really matured since the last time I saw them, and I see big things in their future. My last set of the festival was with my buds from Quiet Company, who were great, always a good time. They had a big crowd for the 1am show at Buffalo Billiards.
Lots of people got tickets to special shows. SXSW let badge holders enter multiple lotteries this year for tix for Green Day, Depeche Mode, the Sound City show, Prince and Justin Timberlake, among others. I entered all these drawings and was 0 for 5, giving you a sense of the luck I’ve had lately. Very frustrating. I am extremely jealous of all who got to see these shows, particularly Sound City, Prince and JT. Those are once in a lifetime events. But I had a great couple weeks. It’s going to take some time to come down, process and assimilate all that I have experienced across SXSWEDU, Interactive and Music. Until next year, folks!
