Members BlueStrat Posted March 16, 2006 Members Posted March 16, 2006 Originally posted by MrKnobs I hate to say this, but I'd go with your last statement. It's really just all about making money for Louis Black & Co., not that there's anything wrong with that. When the price for a full access pass reaches its current level of $875, something is seriously wrong. Add that on top of the many thousands of bands that apply for the very limited slots, each one paying a hefty application fee, and you start talking about some serious money. I guess you'd have to see it to understand. Austin is turned into a complete zoo every March as tens of thousands of people roll into town to see or be in the show. The standard slot is a 20 minute "showcase" that pretty much does no one any justice. The gear rental places are cleaned out to the bare walls before the first note is played, every deaf or beginning soundman is fully employed for a week, and the cops struggle with the crowds and the truly horrible load in / load out problems. Most of the bands are really, really bad. I have no idea why some of them were chosen, it's mind boggling. The name bands are great, but good luck getting in to see one of them. Your $875 gives you about the same shot as a lottery ticket. I do end up playing either "inside" or "outside" SXSW every year, but my heart isn't in it. It's just too crowded and conditions are terrible for the listeners. I *was* pretty excited the first year I got in, but that's because I hadn't experienced it yet and I bought into the naive thought that we might actually be "discovered." Truth is, there's no one looking. The label guys who are there have already scouted out their bands of interest (if not pulled strings to get them in), and seem to spend most of the time in the bars drinking, from my experience. Still, if you suspend your disbelief, it's quite an adventure for a young musician from out of state, might be worth experiencing once. Terry D. I have heard this same story almost word for word about 4 times now, all from different people.
Members vanlatte Posted March 16, 2006 Members Posted March 16, 2006 Originally posted by BlueStrat I have heard this same story almost word for word about 4 times now, all from different people. /voice of denialYea but...but...but...*MY* Band is different!/voice of denialI had forgotten about this whole thing, but the descriptions of it in this thread reminded me that this was on our list of things to do in order to get "discovered" .Glad I dodged that bullet. $875 *shudder*
Members Nighthawkdude Posted March 16, 2006 Members Posted March 16, 2006 If it weren't for the fact that we were asked to play by the club, plus they're providing all of the backline gear so we just have to plug in and go, I wouldn't bother. It's a hoot to do once; I drank beer with Julian Lennon one year and chatted with Lyle Lovett another year. I've seen some pretty decent bands, but they mostly suck. All of the ones I've played with bands we were asked to play; we never paid any fee. I don't do "pay to play", period. Never have and never will.
Members 2180 Posted March 17, 2006 Members Posted March 17, 2006 We did our gig @ Starbucks on S. Congress last night and had a few people show-up or stop by as they were heading to where the action was farther down the street.Yesterday afternoon I went to check things out at Starbucks and they had a promotions van out front with a canopy booth set-up. They were giving away coffee and water and stuff. Anyway there was a dude taking PA stuff from inside the store after a gig.Well it turned-out to be a 17 yo girl named Sonja Kitchell that had played and the van was there for her promotional debut @ SXSW as she is on the StarBucks label! And a local TV news team is covering her during SXSW. So anyway, when we show-up all that stuff is outta-there, they didn't even leave the damn canopy set-up and there was a chance of rain. I had actually gone and spent close to $100.00 for a canopy so we wouldn't get rained-on, because we had to deal with a situation where a storm came in just before we started playing at the same location.Whomever this chick is, she's definetly got some serious cash backing her career and thats much of the way it works for this whole event, you really can't expect to do well unless you're already with a label and they are out there shoving money into someone's pockets and getting mucho press, etc.Sad, but true - I need a beer now, make that a 6-pack
Moderators MrKnobs Posted March 17, 2006 Moderators Posted March 17, 2006 Originally posted by 2180 Whomever this chick is, she's definetly got some serious cash backing her career and thats much of the way it works for this whole event, you really can't expect to do well unless you're already with a label and they are out there shoving money into someone's pockets and getting mucho press, etc. So very true. And the really sad thing is, it's almost a certainty that nothing will come out of it for her either. Terry D.
Members Lee Flier Posted March 17, 2006 Members Posted March 17, 2006 Yep, 'tis very true that no one should go to SXSW with the expectation that they might get "discovered." So far as I know there's only been one band "discovered" by having been at SXSW. Know who it was? Hanson. Yeah, the little kids. Mind you, they weren't even selected to play. They just showed up, and hung out on the street corner outside where the conferences were being held, singing a capella. And that got the attention of some of the industry folks in attendance and well... the rest was history. That said, if you just go to meet people, see some other bands that you might not otherwise, and hang out, you might have a good time. I played it a couple of times in the late 80's-early 90's, and have attended several other times without playing, and I've always had fun and seen some great shows. I just don't expect anything other than that from it, and certainly would never shell out the dough for a badge... sheeesh. I'm sure if you actually live in Austin it's nothing but a big pain in the ass.
Moderators MrKnobs Posted March 17, 2006 Moderators Posted March 17, 2006 Originally posted by Lee Flier I'm sure if you actually live in Austin it's nothing but a big pain in the ass. You've got that right. I can't believe I agreed to do a show Sat. night, right in the damn thick of it on 6th Street. What the hell was I thinking? I wonder if there's still a helicopter available to drop us in to the gig, so we won't have to hike several miles through the gangs carrying our gear. Terry D.
Members elbow Posted March 18, 2006 Members Posted March 18, 2006 I have colleagues in Austin and they are hunkered down til it's over. I talked to one today and she said the city is full of sloooooow drivers that don't know where the f*ck they are going. Having never been there, I would like to see the chaos. I hafta someday. I flew from Los Angeles to Texas (not Austin) yesterday and the plane was about half full of young people headed for SXSW. The plane was packed and I sat next to 2 guys going there...both with spiders tattoo'd on their necks. WTF?Me: So, you're headed to Austin eh?Spiderneck: Yeah, it's real cool. Lotsa cool music, lotsa cool people. We're crashing at my step-mom's cousin's boyfriend's pool house (it really was something like that, I just can't remember exactly)Me: I thought you might be going there to play. You, eh, look like you might be in the business.Spiderneck: We tried, but didn't make the list.One thing though..... These kids are laid back and well mannered compared to the business travelers that would run up the back of their own mothers to get to their 1st class seats.
Members elbow Posted March 18, 2006 Members Posted March 18, 2006 Oh yeah.. and one more final touch on the conversation with me and Spiderneck.Me: Make sure you get to Touches on Sat between and 8 and 10. A guy named Terry will be playing there. Mention Harmony Central and he'll buy you a drink. Bring lotsa cool people.Spiderneck: (Writes Touches on his wrist) Cool
Moderators MrKnobs Posted March 18, 2006 Moderators Posted March 18, 2006 Originally posted by elbow Oh yeah.. and one more final touch on the conversation with me and Spiderneck. Me: Make sure you get to Touches on Sat between and 8 and 10. A guy named Terry will be playing there. Mention Harmony Central and he'll buy you a drink. Bring lotsa cool people. Spiderneck: (Writes Touches on his wrist) Cool I'm serious. I got $500 in my wallet, come get a free drink. Terry D.
Moderators MrKnobs Posted March 19, 2006 Moderators Posted March 19, 2006 Thanks to the two HC forumites I met tonight at the show (you know who you are). Don't feel too bad about those drinks, I got them at the "band rate." And if you happened to see that extremely drunk girl hanging on me, don't think that I encouraged her. You might have noticed she was all over Pebblestar after I got rid of her. To the rest of you: I really wish I'd brought a camera. The street was just covered in people, truly horrifying. Amazingly, we found a parking garage with a few empty spots just three blocks from the show, and were smart enough to bring a dolly and some bungee cords for the trek in.And amazingly - it wasn't raining.Show went pretty well, though we were strangely scheduled after an unbelievably loud metal band called "Storage 24." Highlight of the night for me was when we were dragging our stuff back to the parking garage I got cold cocked by the (dropping) parking barrier at the entrance. If that hadn't been a glancing blow I'd probably be dead right now. As it is I'm gonna have a really sore neck tomorrow. Anyway, that's rock 'n roll from the madness that is SXSW. Tomorrow we do it again. Terry D.
Members Lee Flier Posted March 19, 2006 Members Posted March 19, 2006 Well, glad you somewhat enjoyed the show anyhow, and got to meet some HC'ers!Just got back from seeing Ray Davies, myself. Killer show! I wasn't sure what to expect but I don't think I expected it to be as great as it was. I gotta go get his new record now.
Members elbow Posted March 19, 2006 Members Posted March 19, 2006 Knobs.. I was plugging you guys, sounds like a great time. I had a few folks from our Austin office as possibilities to get to your show too.... perhaps they made it.. I hope so.I wish I was there. Maybe next year we'll see if we can get our little band of West Texas mayhem down there.I've heard it's just chaos, but I gotta see it.
Moderators MrKnobs Posted March 19, 2006 Moderators Posted March 19, 2006 Originally posted by elbow Knobs.. I was plugging you guys, sounds like a great time. I had a few folks from our Austin office as possibilities to get to your show too.... perhaps they made it.. I hope so. I wish I was there. Maybe next year we'll see if we can get our little band of West Texas mayhem down there. I've heard it's just chaos, but I gotta see it. They only told me their HC monikers, I didn't even get their names. The ridiculous drunk girl was all over me and I think they thought she was with me or something. In any case, I was hurrying to hook up our electronics to the house PA. The band before us were definitely not from Austin, they took more than 30 minutes to tear down. We were off the stage in 5 after our show. By the way (shameless plug alert) we are also playing at Darwins tonight (Sunday) at 9. I'll be more than happy to meet some more HC'ers and spring for drinks. Terry D.
Members LiveMusic Posted March 20, 2006 Members Posted March 20, 2006 How does this thing work? I mean, who the hell would pay $875? This is just to see the bands? I'm serious, who pays this? What type of person? Can you get in for a day or whatever? What is the app fee for a band? Curious how much dough they're bringing in. Do the bands get paid? How much to see a big name act?
Members guitarmook Posted March 20, 2006 Members Posted March 20, 2006 The 875 is to get into the daytime 'conferences' and 'panel discussions' and the trade show... it also gets you into any SXSW club all weekend (Wednesday through Saturday).You can also buy a wristband (this year they were either $150 or $175) which only gets you into those clubs that aren't at capacity or near capacity (badges get in first)...If you want to go out just one night, the best (ONLY?) way to do it is get to that club early, and pay the cover charge... However, I've heard that some clubs are onto this particular scheme, and have cover charges of $20 or more... Then again, there are dozens (perhaps a hundred or more, even) clubs that aren't hosting official showcases, and have live music available - many for free...The bands get their choice - $175 (for the whole band) or ONE badge for them to work-out who gets to use when... No additional monies for travel, cartage, anything.There was a story on the local radio station here last week, and essentially, SXSW is a private corporation, so their income isn't made public... estimates are that the corporation makes on the order of 6 or 7 million dollars each year, and the 3 owners probably take home a minimum of $300,000 per year. I felt a little sick when I heard that... they have HUNDREDS of people who volunteer every year. And the bands of course... Lots of money made on the backs of people who get nothing...
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