SXSW Trip

From pictures with the famous imaginery creature the Jackalope to experiences with a huge yellow Britney Spears snake, this event has enough to make it worth your while. South by Southwest had so many things to take advantage of and while held in the awesome capital Austin in the great state of Texas, this music showcase further proves everything is greater/bigger/better in Texas.

South by Southwest (SXSW) started out as a tiny music festival in the Texas state capital. Now it is a massive gathering of music fans from all over the nation, where people discuss and showcase trends of music in the culture and media. South by Southwest is held in Austin, which is only about 76 miles from San Antonio, a quick hour drive. (With my driving it was more like a 45 minute drive!) SXSW showcases hundreds of musical acts from around the globe on over 80 stages in downtown Austin. Many bands spend tons of time, effort, and money into this showcase and for many, this is the time where their shows either make or break them. The harsh crowds are the judges who tell brands what they like and dont like and who should andshould not be signed.

SXSW is a very important event in that this is the place where many bands are either discovered or get their big break. Bands, such as Hellogoodbye, are found here and signed, to which the next year they have achieved thei lifelong dreams, to become a real rock band. Also, with televisions shows such as Real World Austin, it made the popularity and attendance of SXSW rise tremedously, which is a great promotion tactic. Although this blog is supposed to concentrate on the unique things you can participate in at Trinity, I thought it was interesting how many of my fellow students from Trinity I saw at the shows there. Many of them I didn't personally know, but I could point them out as people I had seen around campus. I even heard a group I recognized yell behind me and my roommates "Hey they go to Trinity too!"



One event we went to in Austin was the American Apparel Flea Market where they had swimsuits, tanks, tees, shorts, dresses, vintage sunglasses, and tons more with prices starting at $4 and there was nothing more than $20. Me and my roommates went crazy and splurged on all the great deals. I even bought 5 pairs of swim wear along with a couple other things and it only came out to $35! Music there was provided by a DJ from Viva Radio and was awesome. the DJ had great beats to get the shoppers in the mood to go crazy!

On 6th Street, there were many things to get into from clubs and bars to tattoo shops and cupcake vans. Yes, cupcake vans that sold every type of cupcake out of what looked like it used to be an ice cream truck, but was now turned into a cupcake van. There were also many bands shooting videos, playing on the streets, and walking around promoting their band. It was an awesome experience.

Here is the footage from a show we went to of a band called Explosions in the Sky. After their performance, they literally put explosions in the sky by shooting over a thousand dollars worth of fireworks for over 20 minutes straight.

IF YOU EVER GET A CHANCE TO GO TO SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST, NO MATTER WHAT KIND OF MUSIC YOU LIKE OR HOW MUCH MONEY YOU HAVE, TAKE THAT OPPORTUNITY TO GO. IT IS WORTH EVERY PENNY, EVERY MILE YOU DRIVE, AND EVERY BUSTED EAR DRUM! :) I LOVED IT.