First day of SXSW Music, Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Austin Texas
Eating breakfast at 24 Diner while the folks next door get the Waterloo Records stage ready has become a yearly tradition for me at SXSW. The breakfasts at 24 Diner are great, and there’s always great music on the Waterloo stage. March 14, 2012.
During SXSW, bands don’t need venues. This one set up on the sidewalk at 6th and Brazos at 2AM.
Collective Status Boutique is Austin’s latest hip-hop shop, directly on Sixth Street downtown. On Tuesday, March 13, 2012, during SXSW, it featured a live DJ and was open (and crowded) at 1:30 AM.
If you’re hungry after a SXSW showcase, it’s no big deal, because food trucks are everywhere in downtown Austin, and they’re open late. I mean some of them as late as 3 AM.
Cities Aviv is arguably the most important new Memphis hip-hop artist to emerge in several years, and he took SXSW by storm, performing at least four times in as many days in Austin. This performance at the Swan Dive was his first of the week, Tuesday, March 13, 2012
12th Street, East Austin, SXSW
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.
Madgods Temporary Hip-Hop Shop at SXSW 2012
Madgods, an Austin-based hip-hop clothing line, had this temporary store between Sixth Street and the Hilton hotel. There were some really cool designs, but, unfortunately, they didn’t have the shirt I liked in my size.
Sixth Street, SXSW, Austin, March 13, 2012