I'm not sure what The 2009 South by Southwest Music Festival (SXSW) will be like, but it certainly won't be as busy and crowded and overflowing with bands as in previous years. In the face of a teetering economy looking frighteningly ready to to a Humpty Dumpty, many people have less money and job security, making it more difficult to take off the time required to make the trek to Texas. This is especially true for bands who mainly have to travel by auto, and who need to play in cities and towns along the way. No doubt many music lovering SXSW regulars will choose to sit this one out and catch bands when they come through their towns instead of trekking hundreds or thousands of miles to wander around the amazing scene that is 6th Street, Austin, during SXSW. Did I ever tell you that during festivals past walking along 6th street I ran into Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age)? J. Mascis (Dinosaur Jr.)? Kim Deal (The Breeders/Pixies)? The list goes on.The music portion of this, the 23rd edition of the festival, is cheduled for March 18 - 22, and organizers have announced the first round of bands selected to perform out of over 10,000 music applications. Of the 136 listed, the ones I'm most excited about are:
Akron/Family (Williamsport, PA)
Blaqstarr (Baltimore, MD)
Chris T-T (Brighton, ENGLAND)
Crystal Stilts (New York, NY)
Explosions in the Sky (Austin, TX)
Kid Sister (Chicago, IL)
Peter Bjorn & John (Stockholm, Sweden)
Port O'Brien (Cambria, CA)
Primal Scream (Glasgow, Scotland)
Ra Ra Riot (Syracuse, NY)
Tittsworth (Washington, DC)
White Lies (London, ENGLAND)
Check out the full list here.
