SXSW 2011 (a century later)
DAY 1 - FRIDAY 3/11
We were so ready.
Hit up the premiere of…
…and ogled Jake Gyllenhaal.
iPad 2 crazies.
Philly D! Mellor & I ran like maniacs and reached him after he had already jumped into a taxi, but dude was nice enough to get out and take photos. His response after Mellor apologized for us not being hot Asian girls: “You guys are better than hot Asian girls.”
DAY 2 - SATURDAY 3/12
The one week when drinking alcohol before 5 o’clock is suitable.
DWIGHT!
Haaaahahahaaa
DAY 3 - SUNDAY 3/13
Awww yehhhh
Xtranormal bears!
Headed over to IFC House…free beer…what else is new?
Only during SxSw can you run into three people like this in less than a few hours. Mike Tyson, Nick Frost, Dane Cook, not photographed: Simon Pegg.
DAY 4 - MONDAY 3/14
Started the day by cruising down Lamar blasting Machu Picchu, and spotted what Pooneh described as a “shit Banksy.” 
Hung out at Pepsi Max lot the entire afternoon. Four square, ping pong, a photobooth, and an unhealthy amount of free alcohol. A text Leni sent Mellor perfectly summed up how much we enjoyed that place: “I’m dink to muc poen bar.”
Peelander-Z…they’re hard to miss.
Chilled at Cedar Door and still feeling the effects of the afternoon, some of us started to lose consciousness. 
The Kills. Alison sporting some interesting brows.
Back at Cedar Door for Diplo. This party turned out to be more eventful than I could’ve ever imagined. Hosted by Blackberry (BB > iPhone, forever) and having yet another open bar that was serving some blue concoction, we were well on our way. 
Judging by the 20+ blurry cell phone pics I took, it’s safe to say we had some good times. I don’t even know what the heck happened with this photo…
…but luckily, the flash went off on my regular camera. DIPLO BLOWING FACES OFF.
Almost got entangled in a fight that broke out and lost my Atlantic Rec hoodie when Diplo crowd surfed…all worth it. Photo by 4ELEVEN Images.
Back home, safe and sound. Leon gave me permission to post this. 
DAY 5 - TUESDAY 3/15
Pooneh being the Man Man fan that she is, ran into Honus at the convention center & stopped to say Hello. This might not seem that interesting aside from the fact that MICHAEL CERA WAS WITH HIM. Adorned with his ‘prancing cera’ red beanie, gave him a quick glance and smile which he reciprocated but the hallway being so quiet & everyone walking around with a professional demeanor, it didn’t seem right to do or say anything else. After all, the only proper thing to do when you’re a 22yo female and Michael Cera is standing right in front of you is to weep & ask him to spend the rest of his life with you right? When we tried to rationalize how oblivious we acted, we decided that since he must be getting bombarded everywhere he goes, it was best we played it cool. So Mike, I hope we made you feel normal for that brief moment!
Ice Cream Man!
Then a surprise show is announced by none other than Mister Heavenly, and I’m given a second opportunity to be face to face with Juno’s baby daddy. Hurray for settings where it’s completely acceptable to stare, and stare I did, and heavenly it was.
Stopped by the premiere of a film about….
…but not really a fan, which explains why I didn’t even stand when one of their members walked out. Dave Grohl, where were you? 
Had my first photo pit experience that night. Shot Bad Veins, Royal Bangs, 
and Two Door Cinema Club for my girl Caitlin. Check out her write up of the show!
Ran into the one and only Daniel Glass and he was just as nice as his roster of artists.
DAY 6 - WEDNESDAY 3/16
First official day of music, and already my body was giving up. Seeing this tweet a few days earlier…
…it was awesome to come across this when I got downtown. Too bad I missed Jack White’s surprise set a few hours later.
But I did get to experience John Maus in all his remarkable glory. Like him or not, his shows will stay with you!
Not that you’d want to, but no matter where you go, you can NOT escape music.
Hit up this later that night…
There you are Dave Grohl!
My favorite part of this whole event was when Pete Wentz was accepting the award for Left Field Woodie on behalf of Kanye and Lil B cut him off, snatched the mic away yelling “Y’all no offense, but Lil B had the best Left Field…” andclaimed the award as his own. Amazing.
Saw 2DCC perform again, and win the Breaking Woodie award.
Matt & Kim won Performing Woodie, and from personal experience, I’d say they definitely deserved it.
Sleigh Bells making me reminisce over my marching band days.
Odd Future.
DAY 7 - THURSDAY 3/17
The day I was probably most excited for was here: The Strokes @ Auditorium Shores! Got to the park a few hours early and already the line was pretty long. Couldn’t believe when the first guy in line said he arrived at 2:00am and slept there through the night. Luke Rathborne.
The 20,000+ crowd that would later try to murder me. 
Discovered the dance-party starting Twin Shadow. Shout out to funkysquaredance, who happened to recognize me via my previous tumblr posts…what a coincidence we ended up right next to each other. Tumblr peeps in the houuuuse.
What happens when The Strokes play a free spring break/sxsw show open to the public? Havoc wreaks. When they walked on stage, it was as if fire had started following from the sky and everyone tried bulldozing forward to seek cover…thought I was back at Warped Tour ‘05, only this crowd might’ve actually been worse than angry teenage punks. Apparently the show had reached capacity earlier, prompting hundreds who were turned away to riot and rush the gates, making for a tad less comfortable show. 
Regardless, they rocked the hell out of that park…one of the few bands that can provoke thousands to cheer/sing/dance and make it all seem so effortless. There’s a handful of artists whose music I can completely lose myself in, and The Strokes are definitely one of them. So naturally, when they began playing ‘Last Nite’ and fireworks started to go off, I was overcome with joy and thiiiiis close to shedding a tear. Because really, when is the next time The Strokes will play a free show afront the downtown Austin skyline as fireworks fly over Lady Bird Lake?
Performing ‘Under Control’, ‘Life Is Simple In The Moonlight’, ‘I Can’t Win’, ‘Reptilia’, ‘Taken For A Fool’, ‘Take It Or Leave It’ and ‘Last Nite’
Got home, and this was in my mailbox. Coincidences ftw.
DAY 8 - FRIDAY 3/18
Beat up from the previous night, or week for that matter, not sure how I managed to stand, let alone walk or make my way to a show. Caught Kitten at PureVolume House…
…but was more excited to see…
…especially after running into my girl Maja earlier in the week.
Killin’
Saw Nathan Williams at Fader Fort (sort of),
and this gentleman on 6th.
DAY 9 - SATURDAY 3/19
Went to this Italian girl’s party…
…and saw Bob Schneider, The Cringe, Tapes N’ Tapes, Free Sol, The Bravery…
…all while hanging out with lovely people. And it wouldn’t be a Rachael Ray party without all the free noms and drinks you can have. Btw Christy, remember the girl we quarrelled with who got thrown out? Good times. 
Highlight was seeing the queen of rockabilly herself, Mrs. Wanda Jacksooooon. I hope I’m as rock n’ roll as she is when I’m 73.
Stopped by Fader Fort where Trash Talk caused a rampage. Moshes/wild crowds are familiar territory for me, so I chilled & watched for a bit (munching on popcorn to be exact) until trashcans started flying…my cue to avoid injury and call it a day.
And there you have it. This year’s SouthBy was the craziest to date, but thankfully I survived! Can’t wait for 2012.
