Recap of Music, Movies, Tech and More From SXSW

Last week I wrote about the beginning of South by Southwest (SXSW) music, film, and tech festival. Well the festival is wrapping up today so I figured I would bring you an update!

While I wasn’t able to go to SXSW I followed it all week through various blogs, news reports, and even artist tweets. There was quite a bit of news to come out of SXSW so lets start with the tech news.

Usually during SXSW Interactive (the tech portion) there is usually more of a presence of new software of hardware. SXSW is were social messaging and social discovery software have gotten big pushes over the last few years. This year however, Hardware seemed to take the center stage. Of course on of the big items that everyone was talking about was Google Class. There has been a lot of talk in the last few months about the uses of Google Glass. They have even caused such a stir that some places have banned them and they aren’t even out yet. Another big mover at SXSW Interactive was 3-D printing. 3-D printing has been around for a while, but there are companies that are trying to bring it down to a level that is easy for the everyday consumer to use and understand. While there were several consumer models shown at SWSX Interactive, I feel that it will still be a while before it will take hold. One non-hardware item that I read about really got me going as a comic geek. Marvel announced their Project Gamma. Project Gamma is audio for comic books. Think of it as a sound track to the comic. It works with digital comics and the music follows each panel you are on. Not sure if this will take off with traditional comic readers, but I think it is something that could be great for a new set of comic readers.

SXSW Music had an incredible list of performers for this year. SXSW Music is one of my favorite parts, hearing about the unique performances, panels, and keynotes. It is almost something you have to hear rather than read about (no pun intended). Artists like Green Day and Depeche Mode used the venue as a way to reconnect and announce new projects. One of the coolest things I heard about (still looking for video of this) was the extended concert performed by Prince. Everything I have heard just points to it being an epic performance! There was also a very insightful keynote address from Dave Grohl. He talked about his musical journey and even gave his thoughts on the pop music of today.

SXSW Film is always something to look forward to. There are usually several big premiers and several more that have been released, but still not ready for release. Somewhat like SXSW Music, SXSW Film is something you have to see to get a feel for it. I can however give you a list of movies that were at SXSW that received rave reviews. The biggest noisemaker from what I have read is “Before Midnight”. Another big buzz was around the movies “Mud” and “Drinking Buddies”.

I really enjoyed the info from SXSW and hope you did as well! Maybe one of these years I will be able to make it to the festival!