Some Important Things To Note:
1. Make a schedule of every band you want to see. Try and see as many at similar showcases. Lines are a pain, and it's better to get in early and stay at some showcases all day than trying to hop from one to the other. For some packed houses, once you're outside the venue, you're back in line waiting. This means, you could have 20 bands you want to see in four days - maybe pick SIX you really want to see.
2. RSVP to
everything you can. Not gonna go? If you decide you all of a sudden do, you'll be on the list anyway when you happen to show up because you didn't want to wait in line any longer for that "special guest" announced over your Twitter feed at another showcase.
3. Cash is your friend. I'm not saying walk around with your bank account, but food vendors will be everywhere and they don't take plastic. Also, free drinks doesn't necessarily mean you have to be a jerk and not tip a $1. C'mon. Also, most bands DON'T get paid to come play, so SXSW is a great time to snag merch, there sometimes there is plenty of SXSW only editions of t-shirts and vinyl.
4. Bring your phone charger with you wherever you go. Your phone will undoubtedly die within a few hours because you'll be texting/calling/emailing constantly to meet up with friends.
5. A few must-have items for your trip - Emergen-C or something similar (trust me, you'll need some vitamins and stuff every morning to prevent death), insoles for your shoes (you'll be doing more walking here in a week than you probably do in a year normally) and some kind of bag to carry around with you at the shows (for the free swag being handed out on every corner).
Smaller Acts We're Stoked To Catch, Besides The Obvious Bigger Ones:
Indian Handcrafts, Bleeding Knees Club, Narrows, Chairlift, Doomtree, Marriages, Chelsea Wolfe, Braid, Purity Ring, Haim, Alabama Shakes, Blood Orange.
Parties That Look Fun (besides ours, duh!):
Topshelf Records,
Count Your Lucky Stars,
Shirts For a Cure,
Mightier Than Sword,
Sargent House,
Dummy Magazine,
Waynestock II,
Buzzbands LA,
Swinghouse/D'Addario.
(We're leaving out the easy ones like FADER Fort/Purevolume/Filter/Mess With Texas) etc
Parties AP Staff Members Are Involved In And Thus Shamelessly Promoting On Here:
notSXSW
day 1,
day 2,
day 3, and the
IAMSOUND/School Night showcase.
Food Carts: Kebabalicious, Best Wurst and El Chupacabra.
Vinyl: Waterloo Records and End of an Ear.
Last but very definitely not least, we expect to see everyone at the AP.net party Friday night at the PureVolume House. You can RSVP here, and make sure to say hi to Eda and I, who will be djing off and on.
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