Not taking into account all the free food and alcohol I have been treated to since South by Southwest kicked off this past weekend, my personal way of enjoying the full experience is witnessing music acts that I completely adore, and ones I have never heard of before. I have walked miles around my city of Austin in my Steve Madden spiked boots and laid eyes on things you would only see here. They don't say "Keep Austin Weird" for nothing.
Venturing downtown for my first day of SXSW on Monday, I stopped at a free event put on by Conduit. Don't ask me what that is, I still have no idea. Anyway, after spotting multi-billionaire, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban in the same tent as me, I noticed little 13 and 14-year old girls waiting in line outside of this 21+ event. Little did I know the man standing next to Cuban was none other than Justin Bieber's manager Scooter Braun, who looks a little like Enrique Inglesias from the profile view. After that drama died down, American Idol contestant Tori Kelly put on a well-received, small set which consisted of a Michael Jackson cover and tracks from her latest EP. Keep your eye out on her, I sense big things soon.
Tuesday was pretty much a bust for me. After waiting for three hours trying to get into a supposedly free show put on by VH1 and MTV to see the incredible ZZ Ward, I spent much of the day chowing down on free burgers, sipping some free vodka provided by the wonderful folks over at Tito's and actually experience the historic 6th Street in the daytime, which does not happen that often. The following day must be the highlight of my SXSW week so far. Canadian sister duo Tegan and Sara are SXSW darlings, performing almost every year. This year they have already put on countless shows including one outside Waterloo Records which I got to experience for myself. They performed mostly songs off their latest smash album, Heartthrob, to a crowd that stretched around corners and across streets. SXSW knows how to show them love. I was even given the opportunity to write about the show in my first post for EQ Music. Yay for me!
Yesterday, Canadian act Diamond Rings serenaded me with some wonderful 80s inspired pop music. Please check out his songs "A to Z" and "Day & Night", both infectiously good. Following a stop to get some free Taco Bell and more Tito's, at about 2pm, I made my way to the Converse and Fader Magazine fort where Beyoncé's little sis Solange tore the roof off with performances of songs from her latest release. It looked like Solonge could even give B a run for her money. I smell a sibling competition on the horizon.
Today and Saturday will be filled with seeing a performance from American Idol's Blake Lewis, another attempt at seeing Miss ZZ Ward and attending Perez Hilton's One Night in Austin event where Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Wynter Gordon, and Foxes will all take the stage. More details on that will come very soon. I promise you. If you are in Austin, congrats to you. If not, I suggest you fork out the money to buy a badge or brave the crowds to experience all the free stuff the festival has to offer.
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