SXSW, 2011
SXSW 2011
by Brianne Turner and Nick Chaivarlis
Our version of this year’s South By Southwest festival started off indie, energized and enthusiastic and ended with us feeling mainstream, exhausted and still just as enthusiastic. We began SXSW 2k11 by dropping in on BRAIDS at the Red 7, playing their shoegaze-y dream-pop and rounded it out by breaking general Audioholic Media format with Kanye West‘s all-star hip-hop/R&B lineup at an abandoned power plant. We attempted to stay true to our overall mission statement by trying our best to sort the shit from the gold and not judging a musician based solely on gold star ratings or pre-LP buzz or hype.
Between the tacos, the open bars and the severe exhaustion, we scoured the extensive South By lineup to present you with an abridged version of the best of Austin’s most popular music festival, complete with pictures and broken down by day:
Wednesday: Braids, Jonquil, Suuns, Nicole Atkins and the Sea, Stephen Kellogg
Thursday, Pt. 1: tUnE-yArDs, Khaira Arby, WILD FLAG, The Joy Formidable, The Antlers
Thursday, Pt. 2: The Deer Tracks, Yuck, Bobby Long, Suuns, Tony Lucca, Owen Pallett
Friday: Tony Lucca, Keaton Simons, Savoir Adore
Saturday: Millionyoung, Toro Y Moi, Tapes N Tapes, Kanye West