12 Ways To Survive SXSW (And Possibly Get Puked On By Lady Gaga)

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SXSW Music Festival is a minefield of FOMO, margaritas, and 2000 bands all playing at the same time. If you’re planning on negotiating the week-long festivities in Austin, Texas next year, you’ll need some help… so here’s a SXSW hack from a SXSW first-timer. Now excuse me while I dry-clean the BBQ sauce out of my skinny jeans.

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1. Get a badge

Yes, at $795, it seems expensive. And yes, you can go to some parties and gigs without one. So why get a badge? First, the convenience: a badge allows you to skip lines, meaning that you can hop from gig to gig without waiting for hours to get into already-packed venues.

Secondly, you don’t need to RSVP to anything: the badge allows you to go to any party or gig at any time, and many of the high-demand gigs are often ‘badge only’ entry. This year, having a badge allowed me to ‘win’ a ticket to the hottest gig at the festival: Jay Z and Kanye as a double bill in a venue the size of Sydney’s Metro Theatre ( :o :o :o ). It paid for itself!

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2. Panels: Go to them

You will be hungover. You will be jetlagged. You will be wondering what day/century it is when you have to get up at 8am after going to bed at 4am. However, the SXSW panels are almost as amazing as the gigs. From rock legend Neil Young talking about the death of the album to St Vincent talking about anti-sexuality in music to Gaga explaining why she chose a vomit artist for her SXSW performance (um, yeah), this year the panels were star-studded and inspirational. As Bon Jovi says, I’ll sleep when I’m dead.

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3. Sign up to an RSVP service

If you’re not so keen on point #1 or you spent your entire South-By budget on a shitty motel charging $600 per night because everything else was sold out, it is still possible to have an awesome time at SXSW… but you need to prepare. Join an automatic service like RSVPster, and they will RSVP on your behalf to pretty much everything you can get into without a badge. This year, that included the Spotify House and Hype Hotel day parties, with bands like Real Estate and Vance Joy.

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4. Go to Butler Park concerts; they’re free and awesome

Some of the best bands I saw this year were at the free amphitheatre at Butler Park, across the river from the main SXSW gig venues. From Washed Out to Foster The People to Childish Gambino, it looked like a primo festival lineup without the ticket cost OR needing an RSVP. Plus, there were yard glasses of frozen margaritas and a heap of food trucks. Clearly win-win.

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5. See big bands in small venues

After making the hike all the way down south to Austin, most bands will play several gigs during SXSW at different venues — sometimes in the same night. Take my advice: plan to see your favourite bands at the smallest venue; it’s an amazing experience. I saw Kelis in a tiny backyard bar down off Rainey St, with only about 100 other people. At one point the sound cut out and she continued acapella. It was spine tingling, and exactly why you go all the way to SXSW.

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6. See bands you wouldn’t normally go to at home

It’s all free, so this isn’t the time to go see that band you’ve already seen five times. Think about which bands you’ve heard are great live, or you’ve been interested in seeing but haven’t had the chance to before. I’m not a huge Nas fan, but I’d heard he was amazing live, and after Tyler The Creator cancelled due to allegedly ‘inciting a riot’, I ended up down at Austin Concert Hall with a heaving crowd, getting crunk to Nas amazingness (I can totally use ‘crunk’ now that I’ve been to that concert, by the way).

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7. Support our own

Sure, you’ve come all this way to see bands you wouldn’t normally have access to in Oz, but it’s also a great time to support our own homegrown up-and-comers while they’re trying to make it in the US. Get patriotic and head to the Aussie BBQ: it’s a great event run by Sounds Australia at iconic 6th St venue, Maggie Mae’s. We spent a few hours watching The Preatures, Boy and Bear and more, all from the balcony overlooking 6th. Plus, BBQ.

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8. Some of the best bands are the obscure ones

In a hangover haze on Friday morning and looking for Kirin J Callinan’s set at a tiny bar on Red River, we stumbled upon a gender-bending Japanese punk band. Along with five other people, we probably saw one of the best small gigs of the festival, ending with the lead singer jumping into the empty audience and expertly thrashing his guitar around like nobody’s business. It was epic, and it was unplanned.

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9. Brands have the best parties

A lot of the biggest and best gigs and events at SXSW have been taken over by big brands with big budgets — this year, there was everything from Questlove at the MS Studio to Future Islands at Spotify House. If you wanted to see Lady Gaga be roasted on a spit and joined by a ‘vomit artist’ on stage, you had to engage in ‘brand activation’: tweeting a ‘bold’ moment using a promotional hashtag for the chance to win tickets. I won’t comment on how this is commercialising the festival, but LADY GAGA ON A SPIT AND A VOMIT ARTIST is worth the tweet.

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10. Starbucks has coffee and free WiFi

When you’re hungover, don’t expect to find good coffee in Austin. Sure, you could spend hours wandering around trying to find someone who makes a passable latte, or you could just park yourself at Starbucks and take advantage of the free WiFi while you get your venti vanilla latte soy mocha frappuccino with cinnamon sprinkles. When in Rome…

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11. Lines, lines, lines

Once again, see point #1. Don’t be disheartened, though — lines generally move pretty quickly. The key here is to not have a plan, lest your night turn into frustrating waits in line for an act you may never see. Personally, my plan was to focus on seeing one key act per night, arriving early, and just going with the flow. Follow Twitter accounts like @RSVPster and @SXSWhoa for real-time updates on line lengths and gigs nearing venue capacity.

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12. Stay safe

By now, you would have heard about the tragic accident at this year’s event. The minute’s silence employed before many of the gigs I attended at SXSW in memory of the three people who died and the others still in critical condition, it was a sober reminder to stay safe at such huge events. Drink responsibly, take public transport, and look after your mates.

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Bianca O’Neill is a music journalist who writes for Channel [V], Eventfinder and Time Out Melbourne, and who founded AlphabetPony.com.au. In her spare time, she posts her daily outfit for others to criticise on Instagram. 

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Check out more photos from SXSW Music here, and listen to our music picks here.