SXSW '08: Getting Faded At The Fader Fort
Wednesday was day one of South By Southwest--the key word being "day." See, SXSW isn't really about the evening's sanctioned showcases; it's all about the daytime parties that occur all over downtown Austin. Seriously, it's practically impossible to walk two feet down 6th Street without stumbling over a loaded barbeque grill, an overflowing keg of Shiner Bock brew, or a next-big-thing band with perfect Lego hair and impossibly high cheekbones.
Yes, by the time the sun actually sets, conventioneers have already spent so many hours gorging on beer, BBQ, and bands, bands, bands, that the regular evening SXSW shows almost seem anti-climactic.
The Wednesday plane conveying the Yahoo! Music staffers deep in to the heart of Texas was unfortunately delayed, but luckily with daylight savings time now in effect, we were still able to take advantage of a couple crucial party hours in the Southern sunshine. (FYI, the pic above is of me and Dan Martin, the Brit music scribe who pens Yahoo!'s bloody great NME Blog, trying not to act embarrassed that we both showed up to the first party of the waning afternoon clad in almost identical acid-yellow T-shirts.)
The party where Dan and I made our fashion faux pas was the otherwise fashionable bash at the Levi's Fader Fort, an invite-only paradise of complimentary Soco Lime cocktails, Levi's/Puma/Ray-Ban gifting suites, and clever marketing devised to convince even the indie-est indie kid that wearing Levi's jeans is just about THE coolest thing he/she could ever do.
Check out some pics of corporate branding at its coolest and cleverest, below:
Providing the entertainment to the newly-bluejeaned hipster masses were English electro-rock agitators Does It Offend You, Yeah? (they got their name from Ricky Gervais, so you KNOW they're cool). With their ironic shoutouts to estranged it-couple Britney & K-Fed, a cowbell solo, and some impromptu backup-vocals by audience member and fellow U.K. sensation Joe Lean (of the also confusingly named band Joe Lean & Jing Jang Jong), DIOYY? were definitely the right band to get the SXSW party started.
Scroll down to enjoy some almost wholly inoffensive photos of Does It Offend You, Yeah? in action (that's Joe Lean singing in the top one):
