SXSW ~ And why I despise it so much

I don't want to sound like I am on my soap box, but if I may step up for a bit here. South By South West, Austin's Devil Child of an international annual music conference held every middle of March has become so mainstream. The city of Austin Texas comes to a standstill and people from ALL OVER THE WORLD flood into the city by plane, train, or automobile. I have attended every year since 2001 and I can tell you that it's definitely NOT worth getting a wristband. If you must see all bands performing then you must get a badge which is like an ass magnet. I mean, men and women will be throw their actual asses at you and beg you to hang with them. SO for the best bang for your buck, GET A BADGE! It's like 800 bucks or something. I can remember the time when anyone could go and check out a show without a wristband. Now it's like even if you HAVE a wristband to get into a show, you are not guaranteed entrance. So it has become a waste of money. To make things even more complicated they have raised the cost on these wristbands and to be honest I rather save that money for other things like cool t-shirts and music demos. There has been quite a change in my itinerary. I choose to attend non-SXSW events throughout my venture in Austin during this conference. Now that Arcade Fire won album of the year at the Grammy's, the popularity of indie will increase TEN Fold and it will be even that much more difficult to get into anything. You may ask, why are you going if you hate it so much? Well, It's the best time to catch the most music you will ever endure within the span of 5 days and I absolutely LOVE NEW and fresh music. Unseen and Unfounded is my bag. I will be in Austin this year promoting my blog and passing out keepsakes as well as taking in TONS of media input (Video, Pics, Audio, Etc). The best shows are at the Moose Lodge in East Austin. You can't beat 5 stages, hundreds of bands and free food + cheap beer and coffee.