This was year 6 of volunteering my way to platinum. I have been on vacation for the past 2 weeks and living at M’s house.

(You should go back and read the daily recaps. I put this stuff out on the internet for you, little readers)

Total # of bands: ~24  ( City Riots, Best Coast, the DJs from the Hood Internet, Le Loup,  Typefighter, Sondre Lerche, Vivian Girls, Death Set,  :papercutz,  Oh Snap!, Rogue Wave, Miike Snow, Fucked Up, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings,  Hole,  Frightened Rabbit, Minor Mishap Marching Band , Mayer Hawthorn & the Country, Passion Pit (DJ set) , The Pains of Being Pure at Heart,  Broken Bells, Ezra Furman and the Harpoons ,Everybody was in the French Resistance…Now!, and  Diplo.)

Total # of movies: 6 (The Runaways, Tiny Furniture, Canal Street Madam, Barry Munday, the Freebie, Kick Ass)

Total $ spent: ~$115 In comparison to last year, I spent more money and came home with less loot (Recessioned!).

Things that vastly improved this year’s SXSW experience:

• Being a Crewchief: (Thanks to the Real Jew) I worked a ton of pre-conference hours and was done by Sunday afternoon of SXSWi
• New sidekicks
• Nap time

With the bikes downtown, and bad weather for walking around (cold and windy), M and I decided to take the bus ($1). We headed to the Brooklyn Vegan/M for Montreal Showcase at Galaxy but left when we couldn’t find a posted schedule.  The next stop was Maggie Mae’s for the Aussie BBQ.  Plenty of food for opportunivores but not vegetarians.  I had a beer and we stayed for City Riots and Best Coast.

M and I braved the cold and headed to LoveJoys for the DC does TX showcase.  They were supposed to have free beer and Le Loup was on at 3.  By the time we got there, the beer was gone.   We decided to stick around anyway.  The music was good and we were out of the cold.   Yenta showed up at the end of the set by the band we don’t have a name for [edit 3/22: The name of the band is Typefighter.  They were a last minute sub for Title Tracks.].  We stayed for Le Loup and weren’t that impressed (it was Saturday, maybe they were tired)

After the show, Yenta headed to a movie and M and I made an attempt to see Thurston Moore at the Mog Show.  The line was wrapped around the building so we opted to hit the Under the Radar/Jansport Party. No beer but it was warm.  I stayed for Sondre Lerche [singer/songwriter, did the Dan in Real Life Soundtrack] and Vivian Girls [imagine what it would sound like if Au Revoir Simone rocked out]  M left to meet up with the Jew at the Hypemachine party.  My the time I got there Death Set still hadn’t hit the stage.   Once they got started, I wasn’t impressed.  I decided to bail and head over to PureVolume to see who the Special Guest was.

We aren’t sure if the random girl from OK was the Special Guest.  We hoped it wasn’t.  But at the same time, we couldn’t stand there to find out.   M, the Jew, and I decided to grab fancy dinner at Annie’s around the corner.  The food was ok.  A bit overpriced (I think we were paying for location). I had Arugula and Lemon Chevre with a glass of Prosecco.  We ordered 2 carafes of the house red (they were out so they gave us the Cabernet).  They have one veggie entree listed.  I probably could have asked them to make me something off menu but since it was SXSW, I decided on the Vegetable Risotto (they made it with caramelized onions, asparagus and a balsamic reduction.  The three of us split the ginger creme brulee for dessert.

After dinner, M and I decided that our wine drunk selves should go to Prague to check out :papercutz.  Sadly, the soundguy didn’t do them justice.   We left 5 minutes into the set and headed for Karma Lounge to dance it out to  The Hood Internet.  We got there early and caught Oh Snap! They made our SXSW 2010 highlight reel with their performances of “Rich Kids” and “I’m too fat to be a hipster”

After the shows, we decided it was too cold to walk/bike and decided to hail a cab.  We tried for over 30 minutes and had no luck.  We were close to the Stephen F. Austin Hotel, so we asked the valet to hail us a cab.  They worked their magic and we were in a cab home in about 5 minutes.

M decided to ask the cabbie if he had any tips on nights like this for hailing a cab.

1. Taxis don’t like picking up large groups.  They will pick up one or two people over a group of 5.
2. Do not try and hail a cab when you are smoking or have food/drinks.  Cabbies don’t want to deal with that.
3. If possible, hold up cash.  Cabbies like paper, not plastic.

Cost for the day: $10 for cab,$1 for the bus, $4 for M’s beer, $50 for fancy dinner.

Free: 1 beer

For some strange reason (well not strange, the sun was out and the people from the City were destroying the sidewalk outside the house) I woke up early.  I ended up going back to my house to check on things and mow the lawn.

I made it back to the house by noon and M and I rode downtown with empty stomachs (we were hoping to find free breakfast).  We were running a little late so we went directly to the Spin Party.  UV Vodka was a sponsor.  The beverage of choice for the day was UV Pink Lemonade with a splash of soda water and lime.

We got to the party in time to see Rogue Wave.  We found a good spot up front (near the VIP food that we weren’t supposed to touch).  After Rogue Wave we grabbed another beverage and M managed to procure food.    After our snack we moved back to the front to get a spot front and center for Miike Snow. They played a good set,  for those of you who don’t know the band, think about what the Cut Copy remixes sound like, but better.

By this time M and a were feeling good.  We grabbed more drinks and found a safe spot to watch Fucked Up (we did not want to end up in the mud wallow/mosh pit).  We debated leaving to check out another show and decided to keep drinking vodka and stay for Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings.  I was impressed (and it was not the vodka).  Sharon was on fire and put on a “James Brown cape-worthy” performance [this lady does not need autotune].

This is where things get a little fuzzy (we were going the route of an LA housewife minus the prescription drugs).  I remember Twittering the following, ” Vodka. Thank you for making me impaired but not hungry.” It was around this time that M and I headed to the restroom and managed to get some free shirts and give  someone some whiskey from the flask.  We grabbed more booze and went back to the “safe area” to watch Hole.  By this time I think M and I were 7 to 5 on drinks.  As the day wore on, the drinks got stronger (this is what happens when you tip your bartenders).  We made some friends, took some photos, and rocked out to the hot mess that is Courtney Love [BTW. She introduced a new phrase, Shitfuckers].

After the show, we went to Sidebar to use their clean bathrooms.  M ordered another drink and we stuck around and listened to some random punk band.  By this time I was starving.  I had 2 pieces of white bread, some coleslaw so far.  I snacked on some sesame crackers that were stashed at the bottom of my bag (we always have snacks).

M and I decided it was time to head to Jackalope for a mountain of fries (and burgers). We were half finished when the Jew showed up. We finished our food and made the executive decision to call it a night and cab it home (we left the bikes downtown).

Cost for the day: ??? tips for bartender, ~$15 at Jackalope (per person), $8 cab

Free: I think I had at least 5 vodka sodas (it was vodka and orange juice towards the end.

Thursday means “Trick-or-Treating” with Lori.  I realize that we are in a recession, but seriously, we were in a recession last year and I came home with  more loot.  What have people been spending their stimulus money on?

We started the day at the Paste party and grabbed a few izzes.  We hit Clermont (they usually have good shirts), Maggie Maes (Gibson Guitar and Minnesota Music), and came up empty handed.  Lori had some BBQ but the veggie options were few and far between. After that, I stopped by the Spin/Myspace Music loft to pick up pick up the party passes that M won.  Four parties in we finally scored some loot at the GHS Unwound party (beer, bag, and shirt) .   Since it was a nice day out, we decided to go to Cedar Street to see what the line looked like for the Filter party.  It wasn’t good.

I had never been to the IFC house so we decided to stop by to see if there was any breakfast or free swag left (No breakfast, but there was still swag.  Apparently they serve coffee all day and snacks pop up periodically).  Lori was still hungry so we headed back to Maggie Mae’s.

Our next stop was the Day Stage (BTW.  The Day Stage area is a nice place to hang out/nap.  There are bean bag chairs all over) at the Convention Center to see Frightened Rabbit.  Then went through the Trade Show to see if there was anything of interest.  We were also looking for more of the “skip to the front of the American Apparel Party line cards.”  M sent a text reminding me to check out the Banyan Branch party at the wine bar (free wine and snacks!).  we headed back to the Convention Center to use the restrooms and meet up with friends in the Trade Show.  We ended up making friends with a vendor and gave them advice on how to get into the shows at Stubb’s (FYI get in line early and bring a snack).   Pleasant surprise of the day: running into  the Minor Mishap Marching Band outside the Trade Show.

On the way to the Spain party Lori and I managed to score free cupcakes from Mad Cakes (all natural cuppy cakes, no HFCS).  We camped out at the Spain part for an hour or so (they had wine and food).  The plan was to hit the IFC house (for booze, snacks, loot, and cell phone charging stations) and then head to the Paramount for The Runaways (I wanted to see what they hype was all about). [The Runaways movie was not quite worth the hype.  I suggest netflix.  It was also a little weird seeing Dakota Fanning do drugs and get naked.]

I closed out the evening at the Converse Party. I met up with M and the Jew in time to see  Mayer Hawthorn & the Country, Passion Pit (DJ set) and a little bit of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart.  Before I got there the Jew informed me that M was drunk and talking to Passion Pit in the DJ booth.  When we got home, I found out that the Jew was the drunk one and M had promised to make dinner for Passion Pit when they came to town in June.

Cost for the day: tips for bartender

Free: 1 beer, 3 glasses of wine, 1 mixed whiskey drink, iphone case, 3 shirts, and a shot glass..

So the theme of today is Brand Loyalty/Customer Service)

M and I rode the bikes down to the AOL pop-up show featuring Broken Bells.  The staff managing the line didn’t get the message on providing customer service.   The event staff was bitchy and told us that we weren’t going to get in.  We stayed in line for the official door count.  We made the cut off but our dudes from Gowalla were right behind us and didn’t make it in.  M and I took issue with this.  Gowalla was a sponsor of the interactive festival (and they did us a solid, letting us into their party), they should have been treated better.

M had words with the event staff and started posting on the twitter to the event sponsors about the incident.  After a few free beers we ran into Denise with AOL.  She happened to be interviewing attendees.  M and I told her what happened  with Gowalla and went on to mention (on camera) the importance of brand loyalty.  M and I have been attending the festival for a while and there are parties that we go to every year regardless.  Some sponsors know how to treat their guests and many of them stay on top of the music scene to provide both big name bands and up and coming bands.

Broken Bells put on a great show (we will post the pictures later).  A short time into the show, we found out that the sponsors made an attempt to correct the actions of the event staff.  Based on the twitter posts, it doesn’t look like Gowalla made it in.

Gowalla did not get in to Broken Bells :(

After the show, we walked to Creekside to check the schedule for the Big Texas Jumpstart (and to get a free beer).  Then we were off to ACC to stroll through the tradeshow (we spotted Erik Estrada from Chips promoting the Starkey Hearing Foundation) and use the computers (I needed to up my texting plan).  Then we were off to the Purevolume House to pick up laminates (which I have yet to use). We made a few friends in line, then headed over to Creekside to catch Ezra Furman and the Harpoons and Everybody was in the French Resistance…Now!.

Since it was St. Patty’s day, M and I decided to go off the grid for the night.  SXSW was put on pause and we headed back to the house to tidy up and chill out.

Cost for the day: tips for bartender

Free: 1 beer.  I phone case.

Day 5 was rainy and cold (very much like today).  I decided to bundle up and hide out in the Drafthouse.  I saw Tiny Furniture (Meh) and Canal Street Madam (rent it!) back to back.  I decided to take advantage of the film shuttle and hitched a ride from South Lamar to the ACC.  I met up with TripLittle at the Registrants Lounge for Scotch (I love scotch. Scotch, scotch, scotch…  especially when it is free).   My Yenta joined us and got a free massage.

Yenta had the getaway car ready to go, so I hitched a ride back to the Drafthouse to catch Barry Munday (Awesome!).  It was time for food so we decided to grab dinner during the film.   After the Q&A (by a horrible interviewer), Yenta and I went to her house for wine and a recap of SXSW happenings.  The plan was to drop off a car and head downtown for the film party (free drinks).

Yenta is a connector (Gladwell).  She somehow remembers everyone worth knowing.  She catalogs them by birthday. We made a few new friends at the party.  We happened to see a woman in a great knit dress (fitted, longsleeve, maxi, with horizontal stripes).  Her husband was a film director and she is an event promoter. I have a feeling we will cross paths with these people again.

Cost for the day: $10 for food at the drafthouse

Free: scotch, 3 well shelf beverages, glass of wine

No more volunteering.  I still had to get up early though. I spent the morning with the realtor (I am selling my house so I need a new place to live).  I went on a lunch date at Cafe Mundi.  I took a little nap then headed back to the house to chill out for a bit.  We ate dinner at the house (back to the giant bowl of pasta and veggies) and headed off to the Gowalla party (on foot) to hear Diplo spin.  Good times were had at the party (even in the rain).  We were a bit far from Mexico (and M was tipsy) so we took a cab (we are still trying to figure out the origin of our cab driver’s accent).

Cost for the day: $10 for a cab and a few bucks for tips

Free: lunch, 4 or 5 top shelf beverages, a t-shirt and snacks

My volunteer gig didn’t start until noon, BUT I promised the hungover kids a ride to the convention center.  I wife’d up some coffee and breakfast tacos to go in 15 minutes.  There are more M stories but that will be part of her recap.

I biked to the convention center for my shift (after wife-ing up some of my own coffee and breakfast).  After my shift I biked home for food and to let out D.  I provided get away car service for M and Major Thom after their shift was over.

Sunday night was pretty low key.  We went to dinner at Hai Ky (we were getting tired of eating the mountain of pasta  with veggies in the fridge).  We hit the Google party and found out there were no more free drinks (FYI, if a party starts at 8, do NOT show up at 10 expecting free drinks).  We ended up leaving and hanging out at the Gingerman.  I ended up having some sort of strange allergy/nausea thing and ended up bailing and walking home.

M made a few friends while I was off sick. … more on that later.

No volunteering today.

I decided to run a few errands and head down to the Alamo South Lamar to check out the Freebie.  I went in with low expectations.  It was ok.  Nothing to write home about.  After the movie, I headed back to Mexico to let out D.  Then I biked downtown to check out Dorkbot.  After that we hit Emo’s (Fuck Yeah SXSW!),  Shangrila (Lame Book.  BTW, this event had a $3 cover), Frog Design Party, and the Happy Cog’aoke Party.

By the end of the night we had drank so much we had to walk the bikes home.

There are a few more tales to tell about Saturday night, but they are M’s stories to tell.

Cost of today: $8 (cover + Whiskey soda at Emo’s)

Free stuff: 2 beers at Dorkbot, Whiskey soda (Scoot)

Technically my 1st day of SXSW was on Tuesday  (pre-conference volunteering).  After a few days of making the internet, registration, and the connection centers happen, I was able to have some fun.

Friday night I caught the world premier of Kick Ass.  It was definitely worth standing in line for 1.5 hours (I also scored a bumper sticker and a key chain).  Seriously, a father daughter team of assassins and a classic tale of revenge,  it was a great way to kick off the film festival.

After the movie I stopped at Emo’s on the way home for the Patries and Pasties party.  By the time I got there, the alcohol was no longer free and there wasn’t a cupcake in sight.

Cost of today : $0

Free: whiskey soda (purchased for me by a friend)