SXSW Wristband Details

Mr.Wizard

Mr.Wizard

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SXSW wristbands for sale soon (sort of)

By Joe Gross | Wednesday, February 13, 2008, 09:22 PM

Details are out on the local sale of South by Southwest wristbands.

The only advance wristband sale is via an online drawing for area residents. Four thousand wristbands will be sold at the discounted price of $139, which includes tax and service charge, from 9 a.m. Feb. 21 to 9 a.m. Feb. 25. (There’s no advantage to entering early.)

All entries must use a credit card with a local billing address, and the name on the card must match the name of the wristband recipient. Each entrant may purchase up to two wristbands but must provide the companion’s name at the time of entry. Submitting an order enters you into the drawing but does not guarantee eligibility to purchase wristbands.

Entries will be drawn at random until orders for 4,000 wristbands have been filled. Credit cards will be billed at the time of the drawing, and entrants will be notified if their order cannot be filled.

Each person picking up a wristband at SXSW must provide photo ID; wristbands cannot be picked up for friends. This will be the only advance sale; a small number of wristbands will go on sale the week of the event for $180.

Check outThe Link for more, and get full SXSW coverage at austin360.com.
The Link
 
SXSW 2008 Wristband Sales Summary (fine print details follow)

* This year, the only advance wristband sale is via an online drawing.
* 4000 wristbands will be put on sale to area residents only, at the discounted price of $139 (includes tax and service charge).
* Submit an order online from 9am, Feb. 21- 9am, Feb 25, for one or two wristbands. Submitting an order enters you into the drawing but does not guarantee eligibility to purchase wristbands.
* Entries will be drawn at random, orders for 4,000 wristbands will be filled, and your credit card billed at that time. You'll be notified if your order could not be filled.
* You will pick up your wristband at the event, and will need to place it on your wrist at the time of pick-up.
* All entries must use a credit card with a local billing address. The name on the card must be the recipient of one of the wristband.
* You can only enter once, but you can buy one for a friend whose name you must provide at time of entry. When purchasing 2 wristbands, the authorized purchaser must be one of the wristband recipients.
* There's no advantage to entering early.


Rules For Wristband Pick-up:

1. Each individual must pick up his or her own wristband and will need to present a drivers license or valid government-issued photo ID to claim his or her SXSW wristband.
2. The wristband will be fastened on an individual's wrist at time of pick up and may not be removed until the festival is over.
3. An individual may not pick up a wristband for someone else.
 
Phone call back east. Free wristbands.
yippee.gif
 
I think I paid $125 last year...and while it was fun, most of the bands I was interested in played free day shows. I didn't feel like my $125 investment was worth it...especially considering a lot of the shows were "badge only".
 
SXSW wristbands are the biggest rip-off. As the above poster mentioned, most of the big shows are badge only, and for those that aren't, wristband holders have to wait in line for at least an hour. Pretty much any show at Stubb's, LZR, the Music Hall, etc. will either be badge only or an hour plus wait. You can get into most of the shows that don't have a long line for wristbands by paying a cover; depending on the show it's between $10-$20.

Also, there are a ton of day/night parties going on all week, many with free alcohol, so you will be able to see some of the smaller bands for free.

SXSW officials are really starting to piss me off. They openly state that SXSW is not designed for locals; they shut down a lot of the bigger unaffiliated parties last year; and now you can't share wristbands and have to put them on at the point of pickup.
 
When would the $180 bands go on sale if you don't get drawn in the lottery? This is easily my favorite week of the year and I agree that the wrist bands are well worth the money.
 
Last year was my first year and I must say I didn't think it was worth it for a wristband. I saw a ton of day shows and went out each night Wed-Sat. The lines formed early and trying to hop from venue to venue to catch a band at each was virtually impossible. (Not to mention the distance between venues. Going from LZR to Mohawk will cause you to miss an entire set.)

We ended up picking a good showcase, getting there early, and watching all the bands. This worked great for Wed.-Friday. Saturday was St. Patricks day so we mistakenly hung out with friends early and missed out on getting to a venue early. By this time all the venues were full and even badge holders couldn't get into shows.

I'm paying cash at the door Wed.-Friday and making a gameday decision on Saturday night.
 
by the way, how can anyone see 30+ showcases at SXSW? I believe there are typically 6 bands that play each venue each night. If you stay at one venue each night you can catch a total of 24 bands over the 4 nights. If you try to go from venue to venue you inevitably will deal with distance and/or lines and miss a few bands in between.

No way you can see 30+ bands at night with a wristband unless you camp out at one venue. Cheaper to pay $20 cover each night.
 
I saw 47 bands last year with nothing but a wristband, and was only shut out of one showcase that I wanted to see. If you take advantage of what the wristband gets you, then it is well worth it.
 
mynametaken

You absolutely can catch over 30 shows.

I don't ever go to a showcase and stay there all night. You give the Mohawk to LZR as an example. Not all venues are that far away, that was an extreme example. There are dozens of venues between those two.

I go to shows that aren't packed for the most part. I'm not at SXSW to see the big name established acts (although I will catch a few). I go to SXSW to see bands I've read about in blogs and through word of mouth. Bands that aren't on the radar yet.

I've walked in on bands that I never would have known about othwerise and experienced one hell of a show. That's the beauty of this festival.
 
I pass the big names, REM @ Stubb's, you will not have a chance.

Go to sxsw.com, check the band list, pick out names you do not know, listen to the samples, you will find great stuff.

Some of the best showcases I have seen are in clubs with 15-20 other people, the worst were super packed and too much chatter over the music.

Day shows are indeed great, but the showcases have plenty of gems.
 
Let's do the math: 47 bands in 4 nights equals roughly 12 bands a night. Showcases start at 8 and end at 2= 6 hours. Bands typically play a 45 minute set on the hour. How do you watch 12 bands in 6 hours and have time to run from venue to venue?

This assumes all the showcases have quick entry with no waiting and you arrive at 8pm and stay until 2am despite going to day parties and then having time to eat dinner before 8pm. Oh, and you don't watch any March Madness. More power to you if you accomplish that but it doesn't sound like my idea of a good time.
 
myname, it's really not that difficult. unpainted and I saw 7-9 bands in one night last year when I was with him.

and, yes, this festival is special. we were in the back parking lot of Beauty Bar last year and saw Tilly and the Wall, The Pipettes and Tokyo Police Club. In a parking lot. Under a tent. With, like 50 people.

Great times.
 
Now I know you're full of it. I was also at that Beauty Bar parking lot for Pipettes. The tent was overfcrowded with people and there was a huge line of badgeholders trying to get in. The sign at the entrance said "Badgeholders only". I watched outside the fence along with a ton of other people, including Ethan from Lost. He was standing outside along with the rest of us. I have his picture on my camera phone from that night.

50 people my a**.
 
yeah, I made it up. who is this guy?

like unpainted said. get there early. i walked in when there were about 50 people. i didn't bother turning around to look at you standing in line, I was having too much fun. and I only had a wristband.
 
Partying noon to midnight while watching great music for 4-5 days straight is my exact idea of a good time. I do all of the day parties as well as the official stuff, and I start on Tuesday with the pre-parties which are usually free. Obviously you don't need a wristband for all of that, but it's still worth having.
 
I don't want to get into a he said/she said conversation. The whole point of this thread was to discuss whether wristbands were worth it. I stated that it was too hard to jump from place to place and you might as well pick a good showcase, get there early, and enjoy the show. Everybody else claims it's no problem to hop from venue to venue with ease. My experience last year was the opposite despite the stature of the bands playing.

If the people that went to the Beauty Bar and arrived early when there were only 50 people there and stuck around for 3 bands they were proving my point. I tried to hop around but got shut out, even with a wristband. This was for the Pipettes, not the Stooges.
 
Not to mention I was drinking beer with unpainted at the patio right before that and he had to grease the bouncer to get in through the back.
 
I think a lot of the decision is whether you want to plan out your nights and stick to some sort of schedule, which i am assuming is how unpainted does it, or just bounce around and party. I'd rather bounce and do whatever comes my way.

Over the past few years SXSW has changed quite a bit. I'd say a few years ago it got too big, and now it has gotten a critical mass so that the week is becoming bigger than the festival. This really scares SXSW, and how they manage this extra-territorial growth will define their future. Judging from their actions last year (working with APD to shut down a lot of the unaffiliated parties, revoking and refunding badges for Revolver magazine because they had their own party with the Cult) interviews I've read and conversations with SXSW employees, it seems they are looking to control most of the "content" during the week. I think this will ultimately prove to be impossible: since there are so many people and bands that come in town, there will always be a captive audience for sponsors and organizers.
 
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