Could SXSW work in Philly?

**y.lama** · 04-04-2011, 10:54 PM

Unfortunately I've never been to SXSW so I've only heard about it. I guess because I've been thinking about PIFA event in town and reading news about this year's SXSW make me wonder if a SXSW like event could work in Philly.

Of course Philly has a ton of music venues but are they are much more spread out than how I picture SXSW.

**LedZep2147** · 04-05-2011, 07:45 AM

Doubtful. Mostly because of the worthless politicians in this town would want their sizable cut of the profits, or as it's called "donation to the neighborhood improvement organization" (shore house/boat fund).

Also the labor unions would bleed it dry. Can't have some scab fill up buckets of water, you need a union plumber to do it, and make $30.00/hour to sleep in their trucks. That's hard work!!

**Brooke** · 04-05-2011, 08:09 AM

My boyfriend just got back. No...for a bunch of different reasons. Austin is a super liberal enclave within a red state. It's a relatively small community that is in essence a music town. Its population is not super large and there aren't a ton of industries around. It seems pretty musically cohesive in that regard and all its residents want to "keep Austin weird".

Seems like Austin does what it does really well and we are much more of a multi-faceted city.

**BarryG** · 04-05-2011, 10:46 PM

Originally Posted by Brooke

My boyfriend just got back. No...for a bunch of different reasons. Austin is a super liberal enclave within a red state. It's a relatively small community that is in essence a music town. Its population is not super large and there aren't a ton of industries around. It seems pretty musically cohesive in that regard and all its residents want to "keep Austin weird".

Seems like Austin does what it does really well and we are much more of a multi-faceted city.

I don't know that this is totally true... after all, it is the capital of Texas and contains UT. So you have plenty of stereotypical Texans around, as well as the state college type crowd. This is in addition to the "creative class" of artists, technology startups, etc. that you'd typically associate with SXSW. It is multifaceted city but it is also much smaller.

**John Goodman** · 06-02-2011, 12:41 PM

Of course it would work here. We are in the middle of the most densely populated part of America. Bring all those bands to town, make it an event and people would come.

**Max America** · 06-02-2011, 12:56 PM

Wouldn't be able to call it SXSW though, it would have to be NXNE

**Ho Chi Minh** · 06-02-2011, 01:07 PM

Originally Posted by BarryG

I don't know that this is totally true... after all, it is the capital of Texas and contains UT. So you have plenty of stereotypical Texans around, as well as the state college type crowd. This is in addition to the "creative class" of artists, technology startups, etc. that you'd typically associate with SXSW. It is multifaceted city but it is also much smaller.

Summed up by the Big Boys, an Austin band, in this 1980 masterpiece.

YouTube - ‪Big Boys - Frat Cars‬&rlm;

**Gladys** · 06-02-2011, 01:13 PM

ok i'll bite - what is SXSW.

**desolate** · 06-02-2011, 02:20 PM

Originally Posted by Gladys

ok i'll bite - what is SXSW.

It's a hipster party for several thousand.

**Gladys** · 06-02-2011, 02:29 PM

Originally Posted by desolate

It's a hipster party for several thousand.

didn't even occur to me to google it.... i thought it was just some kind of net short hand.

SXSW.com

damn now i've surely lost my hipster street cred....

**mixiboi** · 06-02-2011, 08:01 PM

Well,seeing that we had two sucessful Live 8 events in Philly....It can happen..We just need an visionary....

Bu in my opinion, I thing we as a city have ENOUGH events year round, for everyone...Not saying that we don't need another, just saying that the events we have aren't to be put down like they aren't equals to these "other" cities...

**BarryG** · 06-02-2011, 10:43 PM

Originally Posted by mixiboi

Well,seeing that we had two sucessful Live 8 events in Philly....It can happen..We just need an visionary....

Bu in my opinion, I thing we as a city have ENOUGH events year round, for everyone...Not saying that we don't need another, just saying that the events we have aren't to be put down like they aren't equals to these "other" cities...

A few years ago the idea was floated to have a big music festival centered around Belmont Plateau. I forget what happened to that one, it may have shrunk and became the Popped festival?

**mixiboi** · 06-02-2011, 10:59 PM

Yeahfound it:

A phestival in Philly? «

let the festival wars begin!! - Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival Message Board

Nightlife Gay: Will Philadelphia host Philapalooza?

and

philebrity.com » Blog Archive » Rumors Of Popped Festival’s Screwed-Ness Greatly Exaggerated

Philadelphia Will Do « Tag » music festival to be held on Belmont Plateau next summer has been scrapped and moved to Vineland, New Jersey.

**londoner** · 06-03-2011, 12:15 PM

Originally Posted by y.lama

Unfortunately I've never been to SXSW so I've only heard about it. I guess because I've been thinking about PIFA event in town and reading news about this year's SXSW make me wonder if a SXSW like event could work in Philly.

Of course Philly has a ton of music venues but are they are much more spread out than how I picture SXSW.

i just noticed this thread. Remember SXSW is 3 events in 1 week--music fest, film fest, and a huge tech convention that draws a WHOLE crap ton of people. It's just a critical mass and it's hubbed at the Convention Center. Which means there's no reason it can't work here--it's just hard, and you need some luck. Most of it's been built over the years on reputation, great bands and films and innovations have launched from SXSW...so it spawns industry and creative respect. I've been for my film projects--the film fest is relatively new (15 years) but due to the success of projects from there, and the industry focused paid to it, it's become the 2nd most important film fest in the US.

I brought something like this up before, b/c Philly really does have an excellent indy arts and culture scene...there's already the Philadelphia Film Festival in October that draws a large number of people, ideally it could be around something like this that an equally large music fest emerges. Then boom, you have the Philadelphia Film and Music Fest, side-by-side...PIFA was a bit too eclectic for the masses. Keep it simple, great Films, great bands, 1 week--and then center it at a location like the convention center where people can interact, booths can be set up, things can be sold, etc.

The Roots have talked about making the July4th weekend into more of a music fest--a few days, outside, tons of great bands--wouldn't that make sense? We hvae this beautiful stage set up on the parkway, and we only use it for 3 bands for like 2 hours of concert before the fireworks? It should (and easily) could be a 2-day blow out with bands on multiple stages playing all day long (like a real music fest). it's a july 4th celebration, and Philly could really stake itself as THE place to be to celebrate that holiday. Instead, we spend all the money on the Goo Goo Dolls...it could be a real event that emerging bands WANT to play at for a nominal fee, just to get the opportunity to play in front of a huge, diverse crowd. I love the Roots but wouldn't it be great if they DeNiro'd it (ala Tribeca Film Fest) and started something like this using their reputation and respect in the industry to draw both talent and media?

**mixiboi** · 06-05-2011, 11:28 AM

That would be the best way of going about it, taking something that by birthright is ours, and making it bigger...

**londoner** · 06-10-2011, 11:24 AM

The Roots 4th of July Festival | Philadelphia Inquirer | 06/09/2011

Here ya go, hopefully they can continue to expand it...but it's definitely an exciting start.

**Zep** · 06-10-2011, 11:35 AM

Originally Posted by Brooke

My boyfriend just got back. No...for a bunch of different reasons. Austin is a super liberal enclave within a red state. It's a relatively small community that is in essence a music town. Its population is not super large and there aren't a ton of industries around. It seems pretty musically cohesive in that regard and all its residents want to "keep Austin weird".

Seems like Austin does what it does really well and we are much more of a multi-faceted city.

Yup.

**y.lama** · 06-13-2011, 09:54 AM

SXSW is more like a bunch of different bands playing at a bunch of different venues right? As opposed to Coachella, Bonnaroo which is one festival on the same piece of land (even though there are multiple stages on that land).

**y.lama** · 06-17-2011, 10:56 AM

**BarryG** · 06-21-2011, 07:43 PM

The Philly Film & Music Festival, starting tomorrow, is similar in structure and content to SXSW.

The second annual Philly F/M festival will take place over four days, Sept 22-25th, 2011, largely in the Fishtown / Northern Liberties neighborhoods of Philadelphia, which in recent years has become a cultural center for music and arts in the city. This year's festival will feature multiple indoor and outdoor venues and will host a wide variety of local, national and international independent artists and films.

Philly Film & Music Festival