As I walked into the lobby of the hotel, I passed this group of guys and thought, “these must be musicians.”
Then it hit me.
It was CeeLo Green – singer, produer, guest judge of The Voice and one-half of the Grammy Award winning soul duo Gnarls Barkley.
The past few weeks have been a blur.
I recently returned from a Spring Break trip to Austin, Texas where I went with a group of students from the University of Southern Mississippi to volunteer – and experience – South by Southwest (SXSW).
I’m not sure why it took me so long, but I had never been to Austin.
It was an amazing trip and I am still trying to recuperate.
For those out of the loop, SXSW is an enormous media festival that spans nine days (two weekends) and includes interactive media, film, art, keynote speakers, trade shows, a gaming expo, and music.
People come from all over the globe to take part in the festival.
Our class flew from New Orleans and arrived in Austin on March 7. We got set up at a very nice hotel just a few miles north of the downtown area and started to get acquainted with the town.
The first few days in Austin, we would park our van and walk everywhere. Someone in the group was counting steps and counted roughly nine miles in one day we walked.
As the week progressed and my feet got a little more tired, I decided to try my luck at scootering about town.
The sheer number of scooters in Austin is insane. Everywhere you walk, there’s a scooter.
Uber and Lyft have brands of scooters as well as Bird and Spin.
The scooter and app that worked best for me was Lime. I liked how tall and structurally sound they were.
The first weekend of SXSW is the interactive media and film festival. On the first full day of the festival, I went to see Brenè Brown speak in the big ballroom at the Austin Convention Center.
I devoted the rest of the day to waiting in line to see the new Jordan Peele movie, “Us.”
Watching a movie at SXSW was an experience like no other.
Little did I know that the director and cast would be in the same room watching with everyone and fielding questions after the showing.
I spent four nights in a row watching movies at the Paramount Theater and seeing movies that have not been released yet.
My friend, Madison, and I watched a movie called “Longshot” that starred Charlize Theron and Seth Rogen.
It was a hilarious romantic comedy that had me in stitches and during the Q&A my head nearly exploded.
Not only were Rogen and Theron there with the rest of the cast, but they had Boyz II Men come out and play two songs for us. What a moment!
Another movie I really enjoyed was a movie called “Booksmart.” Olivia Wilde directed it, and it stars Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever. It was very well written and directed. It might have been my favorite of all the movies I saw at SXSW.
I went to sessions at the Convention Center where I got to hear idols like Frank Oz (The Muppets Show, Star Wars, The Dark Crystal) and Al Jean (producer of The Simpsons, Gary Shandling Show, The Critic) talk about their work.
I went to a session with three Pixar animators who talked about their work as character designers, set designers, and graphic designers.
Later in the week during the big music festival, I went to a session and heard from Beastie Boys alums Adam “Ad Rock” Horovitz and Michael “Mike D” Diamond.
I ate great food from awesome food trucks. I had tacos, lobster rolls, bahn mi sandwiches, pizza, jerk chicken, dumplings, BBQ, and burgers.
Now that I mention it, I think it’s time for me to go on a diet.
During the music fest weekend, I spent more time working each night at a venue called Barracuda. I would help bands load their gear in and out of the venue and help get bands on and off stage during the breaks.
Working these shows introduced me to new music that I had never heard before.
I was enthralled by some of the talent I got to witness.
On my off day, I got to see Billy Strings perform bluegrass, Cedric Burnside perform hill-country blues, and De La Soul perform hip-hop – all in one night.
One night, I took a break from work to venture over to another local venue and dance with friends as Questlove DJ’d for us.
The sheer scale of SXSW is incomprehensible. The amount of money it brings to the city of Austin is astronomical. I imagine if Festival South could gear itself to a younger audience, then it might feel like a mini SXSW.
All in all, I had the experience of a lifetime and feel like I was gone for a month.
If you want to see some pictures of my trip, follow me on Instagram and Twitter @massivej.
I definitely recommend going to SXSW if you have the opportunity. It was amazing.
Massengale is a soon-to-be graduate of Southern Miss.
