SXSW

During my spring break, I had the delight of going south the Austin, Texas, site of (for those who don't know) among many other things, the South by Southwest Music Festival. Basically, 100s of bands come, some famous (Spoon, Van Morrison, Del the Funkee Homosapien) ,and some not-so-much (The Gayblades, Princess Ladyfriend, The Stiletto Formal): but they all come to play their music for thousands of fans who stream into the city from everywhere. I was a naive first-timer at SXSW and I suppose a naive night-life attendee period, but my favorite part about my trip to Austin, music aside, were the sheer amounts of people!



It's not like a town-country thing where I'm a countrified bumpkin who's never seen a bunch of people in a city before, but I mean, people were everywhere: on foot, on bike, on anything rollable/pushable/rideable, just going places, heading to concerts, grabbing a bite to eat, stopping to rest, some playing music in the streets. It was a rare time of a collective human experience where one could feel a universal pulse of life beating through everyone.



Everyone who was out was there for the music, Austinite or out-of-towner. Austin is the city of music anyway, right? But everyone was there together, going about their business with a jovial air of shared humanity. It felt to me like what it must have felt like in Greenwich Village way back in the 60s-just that friendly, human community of collective doing. You know? It was a beautiful thing.





p.s. went to the Elephant Room, a jazz club downtown. saw AMAZING concerts from Raya Yarbrough and Alice Russell. If you like jazz/funk/blues/fantastic music, check either of them out.

rayayarbrough.com

alicerussell.com