Wall Street is in the Dumpster and unemployment is rising faster than a hit song climbing the charts, but don’t tell that to the thousands flocking to the 23rd annual South by Southwest Music Festival, starting Wednesday in Austin, Texas.
Festival promoters won’t know the score until after the last note plays, but hotel bookings are up in host city Austin, the self-proclaimed “Live Music Capitol of the World,” where almost 2,000 bands from 52 countries will perform during the next few days, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Last year about 13,000 answered SXSW’s siren call for a week of music from both new and established artists. Up-and-comers play SXSW for exposure, some looking to reach a wider audience while others just want a chance to be heard outside their hometowns for the very first time.
“There's a lot of hype around SXSW. The underlying idea among all the bands is an opportunity to possibly get discovered,” said Austin jazz singer Kat Edmonson. “Most of all, it's an opportunity to really be heard by people that would never hear you otherwise.”
There’s plenty of music for festival-goers, along with a film festival, panel discussions and interactive media events, with the whole enchilada costing about $700 for an all-access pass. Just there for the music? $165 gets you a wristband good for all performances.
But that’s just for shows bearing the official SXSW stamp. There are also plenty of unofficial performances by bands and artists hoping to capture some of the festival’s overflow as well as free shows, like Cold War Kids and Joe McDermott playing on the shores of Lady Bird Lake.
SXSW also means a big economic shot-in-the-arm for Austin; a festival this size raises all boats with its monetary high tide, and just about every tourist-based business stands to clean up this week.
“There is really nothing bigger," said Rose Reyes, music marketing director for the city convention bureau. “It is Christmas for cab drivers, restaurant owners, for hotels, for businesses all around the city.”
Although the city has experienced economic problems along with the rest of the country, SXSW represents a recession-free zone, where music, films and celebs rule the day and the global financial plummet is happening somewhere other than Austin. At least this week.
“In the midst of everything going on financially around the world it's pretty nice to go play shows and still have people showing up and there's few cities that could still be happening in,” said Austin-based performer Drew Smith, who plays at Momo’s this Saturday. “It's still a pretty great town to be an artist in.”
Click here for The Houston Chronicle article.
Click here for the SXSW Web site.