How to choose which artists to see at sxsw: the 5 main strategies

March 21, 2011 | 2 notes

With over 2000 artists playing sxsw this year, the hardest thing is choosing who to see. These are the 5 main strategies:

1. See the big names/headliners
The kind of artists you will see:
the Foo Fighters
Duran Duran
Pros:
Getting up close to your heroes in a small venue
Boasting about it to your friends later
Cons:
Queuing up for hours to get in
Queuing up for hours to be told it is full and you are not getting in

2. See the artists you already know
The kind of artists you will see:
The Bravery
The Friendly Fires
Pros:
You know you like the music!
You can sing along to the songs
Cons:
You’ve seen them before
You could easily see them when they play your hometown again


3. See the artists the critics recommend
The kind of artists you will see:
Anna Calvi
Das Racist
Pros:
Being on-trend
Seeing new artists before your friends do
Cons:
Finding you don’t like the music
Queuing for ages as everyone has read the same recommendations


4. Get recommendations from friends/strangers on the bus
The kind of artists you will see:
Geographer
the Casio Kids
Pros:
Finding a new artist that you love
No queuing
Cons:
Finding you hate the music

5. Choose artists with an interesting name
The kind of artists you will see:
Tiger! Shit! Tiger! Tiger!
Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs
Pros:
Finding a new artist
Cons:
The name is the only interesting thing about them

- Lisa van Gelder