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Walking back downtown from East Austin, SXSW, March 14, 2012

East Austin during SXSW, Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Welcome to the East Side (East Austin during SXSW), Wednesday, March 14, 2012

East Austin becomes the scene of a lot of SXSW events, some official and many more unofficial. This year, I decided to investigate the East side of SXSW thoroughly, and the best way to do that was on foot, as parking is extremely limited on the eastside. Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Just as Austin is not a typical city, East Austin, traditionally the ‘hood, is not a typical ‘hood. Juke joints, food trucks, restaurants and coffee bars are thrown together in seeming disarray. Old heads in the neighborhood live next door to young hipster musicians or artists. Condominiums sit across the street from projects. Music drifts up the hill to 12th Street from clubs and events down on 6th. Brightly-colored murals adorn walls. The result is a virtual explosion of art and music. On Tuesday night, the seeming contradictions of East Austin were juxtaposed on one small block of 12th Street. Club 1808, a venue that had the look of a classic juke joint was hosting an official SXSW showcase, with mostly rock bands on both its mainstage and in its annex. Next door was Red’s Lounge, an authentic neighborhood juke that was sponsoring a birthday party, and whose crowd of locals had spilled out onto the street. The DJ there was playing good soul and blues music. In the next block was the legendary White Swan, but on this particular night, it was closed and dark.