March is definitely one month I always look forward to, and I contribute that entirely to SXSWeek - Austin's favorite time to show some love to film, music and technology. Buried into that schedule are four days dedicated to music, and I'm sure I speak for a lot of people when I say it makes for one hell of a week. SXSW ’11 goes into the books as being yet another awesome festival year - the weather was awesome, the venues were packed and the music was louder than ever. Summed up, this was my South By…
Brad's SXSW 2011 Recap
Friday saw me
in the cramped, covered alleyway space of Flamingo Cantina
and braving the unbearable heat and claustrophobic
conditions proved well worth it. We were hot. We were tired.
We were aching. Okkervil River showed us to never mind all
of that and brought about a passionate set driven by a
racuous audience. To a setlist of classics, we found an
untapped energy in ourselves and helped to power a show of
handclaps, sing-alongs and absolute fanaticism.
As Peelander
Yellow surely knows, there’s no better way to kick off your
South By than with a good ole’ concussion. In the dark pit
of Elysium, Peelander-Z took to the stage with their usual
Peelander ways. I had always thought there was no way this
band could get by with their stage antics and never have an
injury, and as this thought completed, Peelander Yellow dove
off the stage head first onto the Elysium floor. The thing
to really gasp at though is his recovery. As I’m sure it’s
the norm for them, he simply jumped back on stage and
continued rocking. As for other things that got hurt and
damaged? One concertgoer’s digital camera crashing on the
floor, a drumstick to someone’s face as we drummed to Mad
Tiger and the usual things that happen with moshing.
The adrenaline
that allowed me to crash through my South By marathon wall
was Casiokids. This Norwegian hodgepodge made a mess of the
audience as we danced about. Mind you this was the last day,
and everyone, I’m sure, was tired as hell. Tired people
dancing is not a pretty sight. In fact, the visual is akin
to an epileptic zombie horde.
Held on the
second floor of a parking garage was MTV’s day party, and it
was at this event that I feared for my life the most. When I
first heard where this event was taking place, I knew it was
going to be unsafe. You see, Texas doesn’t really know about
earthquakes, but with sets by some of the most energetic
bands offered at this year’s South By, an earthquake of an
event was set to test the limit of a parking garage that
sees most of it’s action occur across the street at Stubb’s.
I would have placed trust that MTV knew that we’d be
alright, but the fact that they brought on Matt And Kim, a
band not even listed for South By this year, made me realize
they had every intention of bringing that place down. Noted
by every performer, felt by every concertgoer was the fact
that the concrete floor bounced up and down a good few
inches as we danced and partied. Thanks for endangering my
life, MTV. Truly, I mean it - thanks.
- Brad Benedict Corteza -
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