[Editor's Note: Joran Oppelt — musician, marketing guru, mensch — dove deep into the heart of Austin, Texas and the multi-disciplinary circus that is South By Southwest. Here are a few of his favorite moments.]
1. Trixie Whitley. Seeing Trixie Whitley (daughter of blues legend Chris Whitley) perform was an emotional experience for me. She played a soulful, fragile and technically troubled set that brought me (and the whole room) closer to her, as well as the legacy and memory of her father, and left me in tears.
2. Howard Rheingold. Rheingold is the Timothy Leary of social media. He is responsible for many documents, drafted in the late '80s/early '90s and posted on message boards, that became the precursor to what we today call "Community Management." With a heavy emphasis on bringing "mindfulness" to the digital realm, Rheingold is truly a forefather of the Web, and if the Internet ever cobbles together its own Declaration of Independence, it will surely be based on his work.
3. Springsteen's keynote. The Boss told us all a story about his personal journey through music, which in essence turned out to be the history of rock and roll. His message — that the true artist keeps two contradictory ideas alive in his head and heart at all times (courage and fear, confidence and doubt, compassion and contempt) — and his parting words, "Stay hard. Stay hungry," will stick with me for a long time.
4. Ximena Sarinana. Hey, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez (The Mars Volta). I hung out with your girlfriend this weekend.
5. Santigold. A great performance from a great artist. Santigold's band and backup dancers put on an incredible show, packing three costume changes and a huge dancing horse into their hour-long set. And the sound at La Zona Rosa was flawless.
6. Dan the Automator (Pillowfight). Records by producer Dan ("the Automator") Nakamura just feel good. He's been involved in too many projects to count (i.e. Gorillaz, Handsome Boy Modeling School, Peeping Tom) and Pillowfight is his latest. An all-star band (including star DJ Kid Koala) joined him and vocalist Emily Wells for their set, and turned in a powerhouse performance that had heads bobbing and shoulders and asses shaking.
7. The Velvet Teen. This Santa Rosa-based indie/pop/rock quartet released an EP, No Star, in 2010 which remains firmly in my Top 10 of the decade and possibly of all time. The lyrics are straight up prog-rock — flowery, medieval and optimistic — the guitars and drums are a wailing, angular orchestra that you don't want to end. And it's only four songs. Luckily they played all four tracks from No Star, and some new material, during their set at Red 7.
8. Band of Skulls. Band of Skulls play really fucking loud blues-based hard rock. Their vocal harmonies are tight as shit, all the members of the band are good-looking, and one of them (the bass player, Emma) is a raven-haired knockout who also does the cover art for their records. If you haven't heard them yet, you know what, don't bother. These guys suck, anyway. Plus, it leaves more for the rest of us.
9. Thirsty Planet's Buckethead IPA/Longanisa Tater Tots. Two things went into my mouth at SXSW that I will never forget (while I was conscious anyway). And I will continue to lie awake thinking about them, as they’re unavailable here in Florida. One was Austin brewery Thirsty Planet's Buckethead IPA. It was the very first beer I had when I hit the ground, and the next 10 days became a quest to find bars that actually served it (surprisingly few, actually). The second thing was the Longanisa Tater Tots (tater tots, white cheese, Longanisa sausage, spicy plantain sauce, green onions) from the Be More Pacific food truck. I discovered these on the last night of the trip. Oh, the humanity.
10. The PBS party. Who knew that the Public Broadcasting System would throw the coolest party at SXSW? Not me. A nice video intro with clips from Mr. Rogers and Sesame Street, a meet-and-greet with Steven Moffat (writer for Doctor Who and Sherlock), someone who spoke into the mic on stage and actually told everyone what the fuck was going on, awesome catering from Beale Street, and free T-shirts that actually fit and that we’ll actually wear. @pbs FTW.
See Joran's full 10-day journal with videos and slideshows from all the bands at cltampa.com/sxsw2012.
This article appears in Mar 22-28, 2012.