Do we actually have to go back to London now?
It’s our last day. I think I could sum this up well from what some band managers/ SXSW veterans we know from London said when they said it takes several trips here to actually get your head around the event, it’s just so vast and chaotic.
Looking at the festival line up, it’s clear I’ve missed some really exciting new music, but the thing is I’ve fallen in love with Austin’s people and their whole approach to life, it’s just seemed impossible to walk 50 metres down the street without making new friends. If that sounds weird, you have to come here and find out what that means.
Of course SXSW is by no means a cheap trip away, for punter or band, so I have made a little DIY guide for you if you can’t afford to get over here to roughly recreate what it’s like in the comfort of your own home:
1. Go and seek out some Texan beer, like Lone Star or Firemans, or failing that some Budweiser.
2.Get some Google images of Austin, print them off and post them all over you’re flat. Invite your friends, and the friendliest American tourists you can find – go to Picadilly Circus, Windsor Castle or Legoland for that.
3. Turn up the heating and put on a couple of woolly jumpers – or sit outside in a bad English winter if you want to know what it was like here on Saturday.
4. Get on MySpace with a plate of tex-mex food, some enchiladas or tacos.
5. Start getting really drunk and just go through bands on myspace with the sound up high – you might want to get a good P.A. for this. Eat the mexican food, and get some vodka in the mix, maybe even a load of Red Bull. Do that all night, get up as early as you can and repeat for 5 days.
But obviously get out here if you can. At the end of my trip, I sit out in the yard in the Austin night, finish some red wine and it all suddenly hits me – I climb the 5 steps back to the flat like a mountain climber, just absolutely physically smashed, but very content. If this blogs seems rambled or don’t make much sense, that’s basically the reason.
Right, that’s it, we’re going to clean up our flat now, get our equipment back to DHL and head home. If you read this and know me, please be good and try to help me adjust to life back in London.
Massive thanks to everyone out here who has been so good to us in Austin – Rose, Ian, Matt & Simon @ Clash Mag, Vanda, Nick, Halle, Scott Chasserot for all the great shots, Paul Jeff and Lynden from Domino Publishing, Morgan, Heath and Lyndsey at TIGI, Liz, John, Geoff, Russel, Samantha, Erin, Jenny, Laura from the Obscure Magpie Party, Treasure Mammal, Dave at Music Lab, Chase & Robyn, Eric and everyone at Sonic Bids for the 1000 dollar check, Jolene, Jools from PRS, Allison, Jay, Gail, Jodie & Craig at Ted Baker, Glen Danny and Simon @ Cato for the gear. There are many more, if we’ve forgotten you here get in touch, and we’ll see you next year!
