SXSW EDM Recap - All the EDM in Austin TX at SXSW 2016

SXSW ended last week and we just finished our bootstrap tour that went from Atlanta to Austin to Dallas to Austin to Tampa to Atlanta. Over 3500 miles and 12 days we finally decided to sleep and recap all the EDM that went down during SXSW. So this is what we consider the Ultimate SXSW EDM Recap of the Lit and Shit. If you sleep during South By your doing it wrong. Let’s get one thing out of the way…You DO NOT need a music badge to get into SXSW Music shows. If you hear people saying as such and you don’t want to squad up with them then let them believe whatever they want to. Now some shows will allow you to register on a guest pass site and slide in official. Remember it is ultimately up to the venue as to how closely they adhere to SXSW Music

rules…everything in life can be negotiated and there is a wild card called the doorman. Cash talks louder than any badge. You can get in. We did. And it doesn’t cost nearly as much as one would think. $5.00 got us into Keys n Krates and the next day there was no cover for Louis the Child since they were the last and best act. If you don’t want to see a whole show it’s a good idea to wait 10-15 mine after the headliner starts to easily get in.

Zedd’s Dead – Kingdom

Keys N Krates – Empire Control Room

SXSX Bassment Unofficial After Party…Midnight Tyrannosaurus

Empire Control Room – Louis The Child

Actually just making conversation with the doorman got us in. But I tipped just in case I would need special access again. Be sure to talk to people about why you are at SXSW. People love big ideas. The Zedd’s Dead show was easy to get into once all the badged attendees were let in. Lucky for us not a lot of SXSW music attendees like filthy ass bass. A $20 cover got us into Kindom. It’s a small club decent bass and lights ducked off in an alley. Nuff said. You can’t smoke inside which is good and the crowd is straight. The one thing about this club I noticed which also seemed like a trend among the establishments on 5th is how nice the doormen are. No douchery or meatheadness. Although there were a few of these in the line who thought they were going to be let in. It didn’t happen…lol. They had to pay like everyone else. SXSW doesn’t give a fuck who you are. The POTUS was here.-

The Keys N Krates show was fucking sick and one of my top SXSW memories. Empire Control Room is a large venue with a perfect setup with bone shaking bass from blocks away. I am attracted to bass like moths on photons. That’s how I actually found this show. Earlier in th night I was at Plush enjoying some really good drum and bass. Plush ATX is one of the top spots I found during SXSW. It’s on Red River and it was a club I really vibed with a completely underground feel. No pat downs or crazy bouncer action. Packed and still could get a drink in a reasonable amount of time. Very intimate feel and of course a good sound system with plenty of bass. In fact we threw down on their go fund me campaign and you should too. The light

show was better than Kingdom or any club outside of Empire Control room. In fact the sounds and lights surpassed all of the clubs we visited in Austin. Back to Keys N Krates. You can get a glimpse of what the show was like via the short video clip. Their set was on point and the venue/lights/sound were also on point. I was lucky and has a spreadsheet with a lot of networking events and shows. It was upon that sheet that I stumbled upon the SXSX Bassment Party at the Arcade bar on 6th. Midnight Tyrannosaurus a Tampa native was performing. I saw him kill it during the Gravity Tour at Amphitheatre in Ybor City…on of the top EDM spots in Tampa, FL. This was the lineup from 6pm – 5am:

The SXSX Unofficial Bassment party was setup above the Recess Arcade Bar. This was put on by DEAF the same crew putting on Euphoria. Since this isn’t a dedicated club the sounds system was decent but lacked low end. The light show was a bit 90ish glowstick style and dark. I didn’t mind this at all since were are going from 2am – 5pm to a crazy ass light show will keep me up past 5am. I may be a bit of an insomniac but so goes life. Once Midnight Ty came on he announced that the doors are closed and we are going until 5am…if you leave you’re not coming back in. Then the samples, drops, wobbles, saws and heavy dub filled up the room. This was a high energy show with essentially the entire floor raging with every track dropped. Our videos don’t do this place/energy/vibe justice. This is where the hardcore SXSW EDM fam came to turn down for what. This also went down on the second night as well with a different line up. The vibe was high energy and rage worthy. The was the official afterparty for those who knew about it. The clubs in Austin close at 2am which is early as fuck. Add in the fact that we sprang forward and some of us were looking for a way to get our time back on the floor….no not really we just really fucking like bass music and didn’t come to SXSW to sleep.
While at one of our founding venues in Austin we were discussing EDM show with a local who insisted that we hit up Barcelona. SO of course we did. Barcelona is on Dirty 6th and walking by you would never know that it is an EDM club. We walked past it on many occasions during and before SXSW never once did I pay it much attention. There is a red awning at the entrance ans once you walk in you immediately head sown some stairs giving it an instant underground feel. The music was good and there was a thick crowd for the time we arrived. 4:30pm on a Thursday. The drinks were stiff and there was a red glow about the place that made the vibe warm as a womb. We hit up Barcelona one more time during the day on Friday and it had a steady crowd and steady beats. We recommend checking out this venue when you are in Austin.

Ethics put on a pretty good rooftop party organized by Candy Rain and Soundpieces. In between networking events we stopped in to check it out and we were not disappointed. The lineup included:
TEKLIFE CREW: DJ Spinn, Taso, DJ Earl, Taye with The Era Footwork Crew – Chicago
Flinch – LA
21 Savage – Atlanta
Uniiqu3 – Newark, New Jersey
Darq E Freaker – UK
Dai Burger – Queens, NY
Sicko Mobb – Chicago
Conrank – China
Geno Cochino – LA
BOGL – SF / LA
VNDMG – SF
DJ Theory – SF
Segundo – SF

Ethics is a rooftop bar/club/lounge in the space once occupied by Lanai Rooftop. The space is nice. Vibe is chill. Beautiful people everywhere. Plenty of seating and VIP area. The view from 3 stories up was great for people watching during SXSW. There was also an unofficial SXSW Texas showcase featuring:

Andrei Morant (Scope, 4-track, Purring lion – Houston)
Bobby Blyss (Praia Urbana – Houston)
Deuce Parks (Shinocs, Lethal Script – ATX)
Jason Jenkins (Hypersonic Radio – ATX)
DJAlchemy (Hypersonic Radio, Chill Beats – ATX)
Steven Towers (Praia Urbana, Sync Radio – KPFT 90.1 FM – Houston)
Toddy B (Hypersonic Radio – ATX)

I can’t wait to stop in and how Ethics mature as a club and what type of shows they can bring in. They also had a unique and modern looking sound system. Void audio. I must admit it is loud and clear. You could easily hear the music clocks aways and it seems like the type of system that will draw in people that like what you are playing or complaints from neighbors who don’t. Once inside I was a bit disappointed at the low end for such nice looking speakers. But a few subs could really round out the sound.
Lastly there is Rio on west 6th street. And as you can see from the picture it was a fucking ghost town. Not sure why someone choose to build a Vegas style douchebro club in Austin, TX. But on a Saturday night during South By…no one was there.

SXSW Shazams – A Sample of all the music we heard.

VibeStream

Find Your Vibe

SXSW EDM Recap – All the EDM in Austin TX at SXSW 2016

Frozen Matter

District Atlanta

Ordinance One