SXSW 2016 was certainly one for the books, what with the President dropping by for tacos and such. We can safely say that it was one of the best festivals we’ve ever had. Crime was down by 50 percent over last year, no major accidents occurred, and almost everyone had a blast (save but for the SXSW Grinches among us).
While we wait for the real tale of the tape (I.E. the economic impact report, which won’t be out for a few months), let’s recap 10 of our favorite moments from this year’s festival…
23.) this welcome to Austin message
But, again, no need to move here. Thanks.
I asked a girl what her name was and she blew me a kiss and then asked me to get a smoothie with her. #keepAustinWeird
— AMANDA (@AmandaLMcMaster) March 16, 2016
22.) An apd fail
We’re really glad that the Austin Police Department members were much happier during SXSW this year, but maybe a little more alertness is in order. (Note: Video commentary is NSFW)
21.) We blame this guy
Hey, maybe he’s the reason everyone was moving a little slower this year.
Where’s the #weed? #KeepAustinWeird #sxsw pic.twitter.com/PlrSVxmuhs
— Bruce Sudano (@BruceSudano) March 18, 2016
20.) Whatever this is
Tricked out pedi cab? Mobile one-man-band unit? Whatever it is, we’re totally into it.
Austin, it’s been real! My home state never disappoints! #KeepAustinWeird @caitlin_confort pic.twitter.com/J3hhLqC72P
— Johanna Shandalow (@JShandalow) March 18, 2016
19.) The Empire vs APD
This Stormtrooper learned the hard way that we don’t take too kindly to clones-we’re all about the unique and weird in Austin. Unless that’s one of those newfangled, Episode VII TIE Fighters, in which case… Well, let’s hope he’s a traitor like our man Finn.
Parking for service vehicles only! #SXSW #stormtrooper #evilempire pic.twitter.com/jBFgu1y7CX
— K & K Mechanical (@KandKMechanical) March 13, 2016
18.) faces on tortillas because why tf not?
There’s nothing like getting to eat our favorite food (tacos, duh) with our faces grilled right into the flour tortilla. We’d also be happy eating Anthony Bourdain’s mug with some meats and cheeses.
Best way to remember your experience at #SXSW in 2016? Your face on a tortilla. ‘Nuf said. #KeepAustinWeird #OwnIt pic.twitter.com/5bXPfUk6xy
— Rick Schwenk (@rpschwenk) March 15, 2016
17.) bbq sauce portraits
Hungry for more face food? This guy’s got you covered. Or you could do something less fun like a logo or your kid’s name or something.
16.) this Weird fashion moment
15.) an unexpected bar patron
What did the horse say when he walked into the bar? Ouch. Or something along those lines. We should probably ask the folks at Stay Gold, where these oh-so-Austin moment happened.
14.) Unicorns on parade
If a horse isn’t good enough for you, how about a unicorn? Fairies and unicorns prancing through downtown may be pretty weird on any other day of the year, but it’s only moderately weird during SXSW.
13.) craig robinson turns four seasons bar into karaoke lounge
This moment seemed to go down in history for not only best SXSW moment ever, but also best life moment ever. It’s good to see Horatio Belvetine, one of Robinson’s alter ego from “Brooklyn 99,” make it off of that cruise ship and onto the shores of Town Lake Lady Bird Lake.
12.) DJ Mel livens up obama’s party
Austin’s DJ Mel took a pretty great photo from the DJ booth when he played during President Obama’s party at Austin Music Hall. No big.
11.) Operation Taco Drop
#optacodrop
Posted by Daniel Timmins on Friday, March 18, 2016
10.) This upside down CHURCH from AMC’s “Preacher”
I’m not going to lie, this is a pretty good idea. I mean it rained enough during SXSW, right? AMC probably wouldn’t be too into it, though.
Are we gonna set this on fire at the end of the week like burning man? https://t.co/zwwp73IYQy pic.twitter.com/EpQ5q7I6iL
— SQUIRT COBAIN (@sharks512) March 13, 2016
9.) This particular photo of George Strait
Our favorite Selena impersonator/George Strait fan nearly lost her head when Strait took the stage at Ray Benson’s birthday bash at GSD&M.
You have to be pretty in love with the man to get that close for a picture.
8.) Drake still can’t dance
Once of Austin’s queens of social media, Bianca Flores (she runs all of those Transmission accounts we love so much), managed to get this footage of Drake on stage… Filming, uh… His new exercise DVD or something? Let’s go with that.
Drake. 6️⃣?? #FADERFORTConverse @thefader #sxsw pic.twitter.com/3Fn7sXoFEn
— Bianca Fiesta Flores (@FiestaFlores) March 20, 2016
7.) Jazz Cartier hanging from the roof
Jazz Cartier apparently figured that since this was the last Illmore party to ever happen, he’d just take the roof off with him, and Avi Minkoff was there to capture it.
6.) celebrity scoops come at all times of the night
We’ll take ’em wherever we can get ’em!
Met Luke Wilson at a friends house party. He told me that he hopes his new show doesn’t go past season 1 because he’s lazy AF. ?
— jj (@jasonjermaine) March 21, 2016
The tweet has since been deleted. Ruh-roh! The show is Showtime’s “Roadies,” which actually sounds pretty interesting.
5.) The failed stagedive
Austin restaurateur CK Chin (Swift’s Attic, WuChow) had a LOT of fun tweeting during SX, putting together one of the best feeds of the week. His tweets included videos of shows, pics with music icons like Just Blaze, Steve Aoki, and retweets of shoutouts from Questlove, all from great on-stage locales that most of us can only dream of. We have to agree with him that of all the great videos he posted, this was the greatest SXSW video that he captured.
This might be the greatest #SXSW video I captured this year. #sxsw2016 #SXCK https://t.co/klsAWK6LOW pic.twitter.com/tk1vbau6Ke
— C.K. Chin (@seekaychin) March 21, 2016
4.) Iggy Pop and Josh Homme
They brought their special brand of weird to ACL Live at the Moody Theater with “Some Weird Sin.”
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVd5SxBZH2w&w=560&h=315]
3.) When it was finally over
ACL Live’s Happy Mercado sent the festival on its way with the obligatory cut wristbands and discarded passes photo, coupled with a mom joke. What better way to say goodbye?
2.) And we did a little yoga to calm our frazzled nerves
What better/weirder way to wind down from SXSW than by doing yoga with bunnies?
1.) then we finally got some sleep
Until next year, SX…
::mood:: after #SXSW2016 #SXCK pic.twitter.com/9pWve1Lj17
— C.K. Chin (@seekaychin) March 21, 2016
