South by Southwest 2013

by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com

Ah SXSW, how I miss you so. The food, the frolic, those amazing days and nights of music music music, stumbling from one club to the next, hoping to catch a glimpse of one of tomorrow’s stars or yesterday’s has-beens, the constant search for a urinal or just a place to sit down, the endless lines, the long trek from one end of 6th St. to the other, the long treks to and from the hotel on the other side of Red River, the odd celebrity sightings, the late night bacchanal when 6th Street turns into a noise-orgy of drunks, drugged and angry young townies weaving through the crowds on single-gear dirt bikes.

Not this year. No money. No time. Goddamn you, American Dream.

Instead, like most of you, I’m stuck at home reading reports by the handful of friends who made the long journey to Austin. The biggest contingency of reporters comes from our very own Hear Nebraska reporters team. You can follow along at hearnebraska.org, though as of noon, we’re still waiting for their first report.

Somewhere out there in the middle of 6th Street is The Reader‘s Music Editor Chris Aponick, who is updating thereader.com daily with his SXSW updates. Here’s his first report.

The Omaha World-Herald‘s Kevin Coffey began his coverage yesterday. You can follow his exploits at his Rock Candy blog.

Want a perspective from outside of Omaha? Sure you do. Your best bet is austin360.com, who posted the best list of critics’ picks I’ve seen online, right here. Hopefully they’ll do this again next year when I return.

Strangely, if you go to pitchfork.com, you’ll see nary a word about SXSW. I guess they figure it competes with their own Pitchfork fest? Who knows.

So will the austin360 team head to The Parish tonight for Saddle Creek Record’s showcase. If I was going, I’d get that coverage out of the way on day one. While it’s interesting to see what kind of reaction Omaha bands get in Austin, there’s nothing more meaningless than traveling cross country to see the same bands perform who play here all the time. Check out the full schedule of Saddle Creek band SXSW performances right here.

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Meanwhile, back in Omaha, the only show going on tonight is yet another tribute / cover band at The Waiting Room. It’s understandable that there are no indie bands booked this week in town, this being SXSW week, but I can’t remember a longer stretch of time that Omaha has been without a decent touring indie show. Is One Percent / The Waiting Room losing interest in indie? The only indie show on their calendar this month (other than the two-night Tim Kasher gig at O’Leaver’s) is Wavves March 28. The kids at Slowburn are doing their best to pick up the slack. Things will (slowly) turn around in April…

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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2013 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.