10 years at SXSW. Technically 2020 shut down and 2021 was online, but 10 years I’ve been enjoying a city filled with live music more dense, diverse, and good than anywhere in the world.
This was the first time I went to weekend one, which is the main attraction for the conference. It was informative. I got to see Ben Stiller talk Severance, the best show in the past 10 years, and something dear to my professional heart, Paramount CTO Phil Wiser talk about using LLMs with movie recommendations.
2025 was still all about the music showcase. For six years I’ve gone through every musician playing SXSW (usually around 1,000) and filtered it down to a manageable amount (usually around 5-10%) for a playlist to guide my schedule.
Tokyo night was my main attraction this year. I’ve seen a handful of Japanese performers at SXSW, but this year had a full roster. The music may not have won it, but the performances did. Chiaki Mayumura especially. She worked the crowd second only to Josh Lane of Thee Sacred Souls. She took a floatie, threw it in the crowd, and jumped on top, and performed floating over the people for the end of her set. Her vibrance made for a great photo op. Glimmering with joy. Which reminded me of another showcase and how different they can be.
While at the Balanced Breakfast unofficial showcase, I met one of the bands’ mothers while they were on stage. She was very proud of her son, which was adorable, but she also remarked that he needed to show more of himself up there. He was a bit shy. I love some boisterous personalities on stage, like Chiaki, but there is a spectrum that works, even the understated. It’s nerve racking to get comfortable performing for people, and I’m sure that’s what his mom was pointing out, but the kid had some good music and that’s what matters. His stage presence will come from the crowd over time the more it resonates.
I was getting a beer and brats at Banger’s when an older woman came up to my photo guy & I and asked if she could sit by us. She was eccentric and I love that. We chatted for a good 20 minutes when she pointed out how weird I wasn’t. I was a bit offended and said I was. She asked, how? I thought to myself, I’ve never had to prove my weird, usually the opposite. I told her because my 13 year old nephew said I was.
