​SXSW scales back

Annual festival still provides many memorable moments

After years of complaints that SXSW was getting too big and a tragic accident that lead to four deaths in 2014, the 2015 annual music, film and interactive festival in Austin, Texas attempted to go back to its roots of artist development and discovery with a more scaled-back feel.

While there was still plenty of opportunities for free booze parties, there wasn’t as much as in recent years. Sure, corporate sponsorship was still prevalent, but even that got some backlash pre-festival with McDonald’s being forced to pay bands playing its festival food truck area after indie band Ex Cops called them out for being asked to play for free. Why McDonald’s was sponsoring the festival or having a food truck is a whole other story. But unlike last year when Subway logos were plastered everywhere, aside from driving by McDonald’s lot, I wasn’t constantly reminded that they were a sponsor. I will confess to using its cell phone charging station at the Austin Convention Center. Beggars can’t be choosers when you are away from your lodging for 12 to 16 hours at a time with nowhere to plug in.

This was my second year covering SXSW for HPR and the eighth year I’ve attended. It has always been a festival that people seem to love or hate. It’s easy to go online and find people complaining about one aspect of it or another. A frequent complaint has been the lack of pay for a lot of the acts, but what they don’t receive in money, they get back in press coverage and attention from concert promoters. To me, a lot of it is in the attitude you have. I try to see and take in as much as I can. There are a lot of opportunities to see many great things in a short amount of time if you get up early every day and stay out late every night. I am by no means complaining, but it is a lot of work. You can be on your feet for 15 hours a day walking all over downtown Austin and frequently waiting in line to get in somewhere. Point being, it’s not for everyone. If you are impatient or easily fatigued or annoyed by crowds, SXSW is not the place for you.

I’ve always enjoyed how, unlike other festivals where 30,000 people watch a few acts at once, SXSW features acts at clubs and theatres with everyone spread around in smaller capacity rooms. This can make it tough to get into some places. Festivalgoers’ biggest problem at SXSW is deciding what to do with so many options, often at the same time.

This year, there was no Lady Gaga, Kanye West or Jay-Z. And while some big pop stars did attend (Wiz Khalifa, Iggy Azalea, John Legend and Snoop Dogg, to name a few), none were on the level of the huge acts that have played smaller-than-their-normal venues at the festival. Miley Cyrus did make a special appearance for one song, but it was unannounced and no one knew in advance. This year, headliners like Spoon, The War on Drugs, Best Coast and TV On The Radio all played multiple times, providing festivalgoers a better chance to see them. We caught the latter two at a Rolling Stone party. Both appeared poised to restore their places in the rock world after couple-year hiatuses with a great new record and a tremendous live show.

We kicked off our week with the SXSW Film Festival, where films are debuted and world premiered, and stars, big and small, frequently make appearances. In fact, two of my top 10 festival highlights this year were from the film side. One was the world premiere screening of the 30th anniversary of “The Breakfast Club,” which was preceded by a Q-and-A with two of the stars, Ally Sheedy and Molly Ringwald. Among the tidbits revealed were how the late director John Hughes told each of the actors in the high school-based comedy drama that he related to their character the most. Only later did they all find out he said that to them all. The restored version of The Breakfast Club will be in theaters later this month.

Another highlight was the screening of “Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck,” an HBO documentary film that features never before seen home movies and personal audio journal recordings from the late Nirvana singer. As a Nirvana fan for over 20 years, I had an emotional viewing experience. I almost felt like, “Should I be seeing some of this?” His tragic story was intimately presented and featured many private moments. The documentary was produced by his daughter Frances Bean, who seems to have a good notion of her father’s legacy and how to showcase it in a non-exploitative fashion.

Other film highlights included seeing comedian Neil Hamburger’s first major acting role in a film called “Entertainment,” a dark look at the life of an entertainer. Another highlight was “Welcome to Leith,” a documentary that had unprecedented access to the lives of the citizens of Leith and white supremacist Craig Cobb as he sought to purchase land and take over the little North Dakotan town. It received rave reviews at the festival.

SXSW is always a great place to see a reunion or a band you had never expected to see live again, or ever. This year the festival got a British invasion from pop heroes The Zombies, who are in their 50th year of making music and still sound as amazing as ever. Also included were punk legends The Damned, and a film on their story, “The Damned: Don’t You Wish We Were Dead,” debuted at the festival. Their one and only festival live set started a bit rocky with sound problems but then kicked into gear as they ran through all their many hits.

Art punks The Pop Group and Gang of Four played back-to-back at an event curated by the Austin Psych Festival. Both acts took forever to get started, but The Pop Group made up for it by being pretty chaotic. Gang of Four featured only one original member, which made you feel like something was missing. We also caught a rare live set from The Residents, who are down to three members and also debuted a film at the festival called “Theory of Obscurity.” Their weirdness would entertain you even if they didn’t have costumes.

Minnesota was represented well at this year’s SXSW. Rhymesayers Entertainment marked their 20th anniversary with a showcase headlined by Atmosphere, which was free and open to anyone, provided they could get in. Doomtree was everywhere, playing three shows a day and also curating their own showcase, with solo sets from each of the members and two group sets as well. Minneapolis-based noise rock trio The Blind Shake also played a ton of shows all week and blew minds at parties for the likes of Third Man Records & Fun Fun Fun Fest. Rising Twin Cities teen indie act Hippo Campus earned an appearance on Conan O’Brien from their festival shows with only two days notice. Red Lake-based rapper Baby Shel, part of Rez Rap Records, won a contest at First Avenue that paid for his trip to SXSW and gave him a spot on a First Avenue-sponsored day party. We caught his set, where he made some new fans, most of whom had never heard of him. He ended up playing four shows during SXSW and was loving life when we saw him.

The festival downsized in more ways than one, foremost with less party permits issued by the city of Austin. Also, the number of bands officially performing decreased for the first time in years, and crowds didn’t seem quite as huge as in previous years, although rain on Friday and Saturday probably didn’t help. Many hope that SXSW becomes less about the secret show by “insert pop star here” and more about discovering interesting up-and-comers.

It was great to see recent Fargo visitors Moon Duo, The Twilight Sad, Speedy Ortiz (who answered Hannibal Buress’ call to play drums with a band, and watched him do just that during their appearance at the Pitchfork party) and Alvvays perform. These bands all appeared to have a breakthrough week, which unfortunately may result in them not coming back to Fargo anytime soon.

Among the acts we discovered that blew our minds this year were Irish art punks Girl Band, a noisy, fierce four-piece of young lads who pierce your ears in rhythmic start-and-stop fashion; Songhoy Blues, a bluesy sped-up African version of RL Burnside, featuring four guys who fled their native Mali to play music; and Ex-Cult, Memphis garage punks whose records don’t do their intense live show any justice. They caused a small room at Hotel Vegas to erupt in fury.

Australian songstress Courtney Barnett delivered on her pre-festival hype with a tight live show and appears to be headed for the big time, including an upcoming appearance at The Current’s annual party Rock the Garden. Viet Cong’s drummer broke his hand before the festival, with several shows scheduled; they managed to get through them all and still sounded as flawless and precise as they do on record. Run The Jewels proved once again why they are the best thing going in hip-hop. These are two rappers you are rooting for with a great message and phat beats.

All in all, SXSW 2015 wasn’t small by any means and had its special moments, even without the arena-sized platinum-sellers. But the drawdown was noticeable, and it seemed to please everyone who attended. Hopefully that’s a sign to festival organizers that they can have a really big deal that will get tons of press without a lot of the BS. Sure, there will be plenty of that around -- it’s never hard to find -- but somehow the good stuff always rises to the top. For me, every time I need a break from it all, I head over to Beer Land, where the beer is cheaper, the bands are louder, the crowds are smaller and there’s probably at least one time per week that The Spits are playing. It is all in what you make of it and the attitude you have.