By Daniel Rigney
Austin, Texas has been called the easternmost city in California. I’m here today to enjoy its most celebrated annual event, the South By Southwest film, music and electric culture festival, or SXSW.
“South By” is putting Austin near the center of the American cultural map during these ten days in early March. Jimmy Kimmel is broadcasting his late show from here this week, and everyone from Lady Gaga and Lena Dunham to Willie Nelson and Edward Snowden (via simulcast from Russia) is in town to celebrate free expression and artistic vitality. I rode the dawn Megabus from Houston Wednesday morning to capture a few images of the day.
Whatever conventional stereotypes people may have of Texas go out the window in unconventional Austin, a blue oasis of progressivism in an otherwise red sea. While Governor Rick Perry and the Texas legislature mar the beauty of this fair city, the decidedly more liberal University of Texas and its students give the town a youthful, creative, friendly and laid back vibe that few other places can match.
Downtown's 6th Street and its environs are where most of the music happens.
This week the street has become a pedestrian and pedal mall, with foot and bike traffic flowing easily for several blocks past small music bars, cafes and shops. The only motorized vehicles on the street are the occasional beer and food delivery trucks, parked amid a multitude of pedestrians, bicyclists, tricyclists in their pedicabs, and the odd stilt-walker or unicyclist.
The pedicab shown below could be on its way to a world premiere of one of the many new indie film showing around the corner at the Paramount or State Theaters.
A statue of Angelina Eberly, Austin's Joan of Arc, oversees the festivities. In 1842, Eberly and the town cannon repelled a contingent of agents sent from Houston to steal the state’s official records and restore Houston to its former glory as the capital of the Republic of Texas. The villains went home empty-handed thanks to Angelina and her communication skills.
Today musicians walk the same streets she did, their stringed instruments hung rakishly across their backs, joined by loyal human and canine fans.
This young woman and her pup take a curbside seat to enjoy the passing parade of festival goers.
Admission badges to attend official events are pricey, starting at around $600. That’s too rich for my blood, but there’s plenty of free rock and rhythm to be had on the streets and sidewalks outside the open-fronted music clubs.
More than 2,000 bands are playing on 100+ stages this week, including more than 40 groups from the UK performing at the popular British Music Embassy.
This doorman at one club cards me and turns me away. Says I'm too old. He's one to talk.
Jamaicanware is on sale at this peddler’s cart outside Esther’s Follies, a locally legendary comedy club on 6th.
Hula hoops are big this year.
So is street football, though it can't compete for popularity with the city’s professional football team, the University of Texas Longhorns.
And then there’s the Olympic sport of mechanical bull riding.
After you're thrown from the mechanical bull, you may be in need of a free hug.
This typical Austinite is selling something “better than snowcones.” Is that legal yet?
Here’s a vintage scene from downtown Austin as it might have looked in 2013.
And finally, an unintentional selfie of the author, reflected in the windshield of a retro truck delivering well-aged artisanal bread to a nearby hotel.
I spent eight of my best years in Austin a few ages ago. It's still weird after all these years, and that's a good thing.
I'll be back.
Danagram
All photos taken unprofessionally by the author.
P.S.: Soon after I arrived back in Houston, I learned that a pall had been cast over the festival when an allegedly drunk driver plowed through a crowded nearby street on Wednesday night, killing two and injuring many more. Some of the world's music died that night. RIP
Austin, Texas has been called the easternmost city in California. I’m here today to enjoy its most celebrated annual event, the South By Southwest film, music and electric culture festival, or SXSW.
“South By” is putting Austin near the center of the American cultural map during these ten days in early March. Jimmy Kimmel is broadcasting his late show from here this week, and everyone from Lady Gaga and Lena Dunham to Willie Nelson and Edward Snowden (via simulcast from Russia) is in town to celebrate free expression and artistic vitality. I rode the dawn Megabus from Houston Wednesday morning to capture a few images of the day.
Whatever conventional stereotypes people may have of Texas go out the window in unconventional Austin, a blue oasis of progressivism in an otherwise red sea. While Governor Rick Perry and the Texas legislature mar the beauty of this fair city, the decidedly more liberal University of Texas and its students give the town a youthful, creative, friendly and laid back vibe that few other places can match.
Downtown's 6th Street and its environs are where most of the music happens.
This week the street has become a pedestrian and pedal mall, with foot and bike traffic flowing easily for several blocks past small music bars, cafes and shops. The only motorized vehicles on the street are the occasional beer and food delivery trucks, parked amid a multitude of pedestrians, bicyclists, tricyclists in their pedicabs, and the odd stilt-walker or unicyclist.
The pedicab shown below could be on its way to a world premiere of one of the many new indie film showing around the corner at the Paramount or State Theaters.
A statue of Angelina Eberly, Austin's Joan of Arc, oversees the festivities. In 1842, Eberly and the town cannon repelled a contingent of agents sent from Houston to steal the state’s official records and restore Houston to its former glory as the capital of the Republic of Texas. The villains went home empty-handed thanks to Angelina and her communication skills.
Today musicians walk the same streets she did, their stringed instruments hung rakishly across their backs, joined by loyal human and canine fans.
This young woman and her pup take a curbside seat to enjoy the passing parade of festival goers.
Admission badges to attend official events are pricey, starting at around $600. That’s too rich for my blood, but there’s plenty of free rock and rhythm to be had on the streets and sidewalks outside the open-fronted music clubs.
More than 2,000 bands are playing on 100+ stages this week, including more than 40 groups from the UK performing at the popular British Music Embassy.
This doorman at one club cards me and turns me away. Says I'm too old. He's one to talk.
Jamaicanware is on sale at this peddler’s cart outside Esther’s Follies, a locally legendary comedy club on 6th.
Hula hoops are big this year.
So is street football, though it can't compete for popularity with the city’s professional football team, the University of Texas Longhorns.
And then there’s the Olympic sport of mechanical bull riding.
After you're thrown from the mechanical bull, you may be in need of a free hug.
This typical Austinite is selling something “better than snowcones.” Is that legal yet?
Here’s a vintage scene from downtown Austin as it might have looked in 2013.
And finally, an unintentional selfie of the author, reflected in the windshield of a retro truck delivering well-aged artisanal bread to a nearby hotel.
I spent eight of my best years in Austin a few ages ago. It's still weird after all these years, and that's a good thing.
I'll be back.
Danagram
All photos taken unprofessionally by the author.
P.S.: Soon after I arrived back in Houston, I learned that a pall had been cast over the festival when an allegedly drunk driver plowed through a crowded nearby street on Wednesday night, killing two and injuring many more. Some of the world's music died that night. RIP
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