The Officially Awesome Unofficial SXSW Showcase! This massive 12-hour party will take place Saturday March 20 at Chupacabra Cantina. Sure we’re a little late to the whole “free SXSW party” thing, but be sure to not miss this one. The lineup is stacked, the venue is right on 6th street, and best of all it’s FREE.
RethinkPopMusic and TwoGroove wil lock down Chupacabra Cantina all day and night. We’ve got DJs up front, bands out back, and a whole lotta booze in between. Be on the lookout for giveaways from Yak Pak, TwoGroove, and RethinkPopMusic as well as the famous Trevor Ray Thompson photobooth!
RSVP here for free entry. Badges and wristbands get in free as well. $3 cover at the door if you don’t RSVP so get to it!
Check out the fliers and lineup below. Local heroes Rook, Frantic Clam, Whitman, and STEREO IS A LIE will be performing in addition to some killer bands from all over the US.
Show some love! Here’s the Facebook and Do512 links!
Day Bands
2pm Random Ninjas (Los Angeles, CA)
2:45 Jessie Torrisi & the Please, Please Me (Austin, TX)
3:15 Rook (Austin, TX)
4:00 The Yes Way (NYC)
4:45 The Static Jacks (NYC)
5:15 Ambassadors (NYC)
Day DJs
2pm – Greg Poneris (Eat Sugar)
4pm – Jeremy Lloyd (Laissez Faire Club London)
Night Bands
8:00 Whitman (Austin, TX)
8:45 The Vanguard (NYC)
9:30 Frantic Clam (Austin, TX)
10:15 The Aviation Orange (NYC)
11:00 The Factory Party (Houston, TX)
11:45 Eat Sugar (Cincinnati, OH)
12:30am STEREO IS A LIE (Austin, TX)
1:15am Heypenny (Nashville)
Night DJs
8pm – POSR
9pm – Jeremy Lloyd (Laissez Faire Club London)
10 pm DJ Scorpio (EZ Action! Austin)
11 pm Revered Of Rock and DJ B. Wonder Jones (Seattle)
12 am DJ Verse (Seattle)
1 am Kadeejah Streets (Seattle, Innerflight, Black Neon)
Here is what’s going to happen: I’m going to rant a little bit about pay for play during SXSW. I’ll get all high and mighty, my arms will be flailing (as much as is possible while typing), and I’ll probably use one or two big words that I’m not completely confident that I know the meaning of. All of this will be done to get across one simple point: Bands shouldn’t EVER pay for a SXSW show. That’s it.
So, here’s the background info: TwoGroove has been working to put together a little showcase (more info on that shortly!). In doing that, I’ve talked with a lot of bands about their schedules and what their plans for SXSW are. From those conversations and anecdotes from other promoters I started to hear about people paying to play unofficial SXSW showcases and to be on compilation CDs. At best, it’s not worth the hundreds of dollars for one show. At worst, it’s a outright scam.
One of the main offenders is a “radio station” called Radio RNR. I highly suggest you read this first hand experience from the band Conflict in the Sky. However, there are smaller examples where bands are asked to sell presale tickets or pay a fee. Yes, this happens outside of SXSW as well. It just seems more pronounced when some bands are able to get on 10 shows during the week without paying a single cent. No legitimate promoter will ever ask you to pay a fee to play a show (with tour buy-ins and co-promotion deals being notable exceptions), and shows are plentiful during SXSW.
And that’s the secondary point of this post: You can get a SXSW show if you do your homework. Everyone and their dog wants to throw a SXSW party. Those people need bands and DJs to play. The opportunity is there if you ask around early enough. Case in point, Random Ninjas heard about the TwoGroove party through Twitter and asked if we had set the lineup. We hadn’t, I offered them a slot, and now they are playing the show. You just need to keep apprised of what’s going on and be willing to reach out to promoters/blogs/whoever is possibly throwing a show.
Finally, if you’re late to the game just go ahead and chalk it up as a loss. You probably won’t find a worthwhile gig 2 weeks before SXSW starts. Either figure out some creative ways to promote your band (guerrilla shows on 6th street are always fun) or just go enjoy the festivities.
TwoGroove is teaming up with whitesiren to host A Local Show For Local People tonight at Ghost Room. Doors are nice and early at 8pm and the lineup is stacked! Take this opportunity to put your SXSW planning, negotiations, and bribing on hold for a few hours and hang out with your fellow locals.
At 8pm, TwoGroove will open a bar tab which you are free to use until it’s gone. I’m not made of money, so you better get to it quick! Once I’m tapped out, there just might be another tab opened by the white siren herself.
You want them? We got them. A pair of tickets to each night of Portugal. The Man at The Parish. It’s a two night event with the Alaska indie trio, with The Dig and Port O’ Brien as a supporting cast.
The guys just released their latest album, American Ghetto, yesterday and are currently touring. This is something like their sixth release in five years. Go over to the blog Music Under Fire for a free download of “People Say”.
Now, on to the tickets! This time you have options. Leave a comment on this post, send us a tweet, comment/message on Facebook, etc. Basically, use your social media outlet of choice (expect MySpace. Screw MySpace) to let me know you want the tickets (and which night you want to attend). But hurry, you only have until 3pm today! I’ll pick a winner at random…or the person that seems to want it the most.
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