One of the best and biggest festivals in the country, South By Southwest, (SXSW) is officially underway in Austin, Texas.
From now until March 20th, thousands of industry insiders and fans head to the Lone Star State to take in the newest and coolest in the world of film, interactive technology, conferences and of course, music. Over 2,000 artists rock over 90 different venues around downtown Austin for more than four days.
Tons of free music, epic performances and collaborations culminate in some of the most talked about moments in music for the whole year.
SXSW is known as the epicenter of the fest, featuring the newest and hippest up and coming musical talent in hip-hop and indie rock. If you don’t have a badge for the actual fest, there are the sponsored parties that only require RSVP.
GlobalGrind has all of the coolest SXSW shows to catch, parties to attend and places to eat and drink in Austin, so check back each day until the end of the fest for the scoop on what’s happening.
Tonight’s big party is the BET Showcase at Kiss and Fly at 404 Colorado Street. Kiss and Fly touts itself as the only gay nightclub in Austin, but tonight is all about the music. Big Sean, Miguel, Melanie Fiona, Marsha Ambrosius, J. Cole, B.o.B and DJ Premier are all hitting the stage starting at 9pm. Check it out with a SXSW pass.
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Kanye West‘s lineup at the VEVO Power event on Saturday has been announced. Kanye will be joined by a bunch of his G.O.O.D. Music family members — John Legend, Common, Kid Cudi, Pusha T, Mr. Hudson, Cyhi The Prynce, Big Sean, and Mos Def. The performance will be on Vevo on April 22, which is Good Friday!
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Over at the FADER Fort, Tinie Tempah, Esben & the Witch, Mac Miller and Wiz Khalifa hold it down over at 1101 East 5th Street. You need to RSVP and space is limited according to the venue. But this is a show not to miss!
Check Wiz performing at SXSW last year in our fav venue, Emo’s.
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If you wanna catch the rock side of the fest’s bands, go the Neon route. More specifically, Neon Trees at Rusty Spurs Saloon on East 7th Street. You know Neon Trees from their hit radio song “Animal.” If that’s not enough Neon for you, go see Neon Hitch at the Dot Com Day Stage at 4pm. The English dance pop artist is gorgeous, has sang backup for Ke$ha and 3OH!3 and is looking to blow up big time.
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Today it’s time for pizza and Backspace Pizza on 507 San Jacinto Blvd is where it’s at. This place serves authentic Neapolitan pizza, tons of toppings and antipasti. The space only holds 30 diners in its 130 year old and newly renovated building, so get there early!
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Nikon kicked off its SXSW activation with “The Chase,” powered by Ashton Kutcher and Foursquare. Nikon teamed up with @aplusk for a Foursquare scavenger hunt to locate him throughout Austin on Sunday, March 13th. Nikon and Ashton fans followed Ashton’s Twitter and Facebook clues to Nikon branded hot spots located throughout Austin and checked into Foursquare to win prizes and VIP Tickets to the Nikon/Vimeo “Light after Dark” party. The first five people that checked into Foursquare at a Nikon locations won Nikon COOLPIX cameras.
The Nikon Light after Dark party featured Eclectic Method and Diplo who shut the Austin Seaholm Power Plant down! Guests also got the opportunity to shoot with Nikon DSLR’s to capture memorable shots of Diplo and Eclectic Method. Light after Dark was a huge success and one of the most talked about parties at SXSW with over 2,000 attendees.
Nikon has made a commitment to reach out to the music, film and tech community in town for SXSW to celebrate artistic expression. Anyone with a DSLR and a cool vision can easily tell their stories via film.
To see more photos of the event CLICK HERE.
