I'll be rather transparent here: A year or more ago, I thought everyone who was anyone had to go to SXSW if they wanted to be taken seriously in music, film, and/or new media. Fast forward to today, and I'm wondering if that's true or if the adage should be that everyone who wants to be someone goes to SXSW. I might be telling myself that because I didn't get an all-expenses paid trip out to Austin, a city I've been dying to visit for ages. Maybe I'm a hater. Get Kanye over here so I can make him stronger. Mind you, I'm very happy for all those Baltimore bands who got to play a showcase (go on with your bad selves, Payola Reserve, Death Set, Ecstatic Sunshine, Ponytail), but it just wasn't for me in 2008. Bands like Cassettes Won't Listen don't do it for me that much right now. There's a buzz that forms somewhere between the true indie labels and the indie imprints of the majors that makes me very skeptical about these bands that pop up from nowhere (I'm talking about you, Vampire Weekend) and turns me off right away.

But seriously, SXSW has gotten huge. Crazy huge. I just saw that Jamey Jasta got his forty minutes, and it's been out there for a while that Lou Reed was the keynote. Too many hipsters in one place for me who don't realize or don't care that "SXSW brought to you by Dell and Miller Lite" is corporate and disgusting. What's more, Southwest Airlines is grounding airplanes, and I can't fly any airline with a reserved seat, that's too classy for my kind.

So did any of you out there go, or not go, and have anything to share? Am I right in thinking it's become nothing but people trying too hard not to try at all?

Tags: Austin, Baltimore, Ecstatic Sunshine, Jamey Jasta, Lou Reed, Ponytail, SXSW, the death set, The Payola Reserve