SXSW 2009: I have no copies, but I have a plan …

This year will be the first time in a long time I am not attending SXSW. (I didn’t in 1998, but back then, I didn’t know what the hell it was.)

That doesn’t mean I won’t be participating in the madness. The way the festival takes over this town, it’s tough to avoid. So this year marks the first time I’ll be siphoning off the free shows all over town. I’ve even made a schedule:

  • Wednesday, March 18, 2009: I’m catching Natchuu at a Cheapo’s Discs in-store at 12:50 p.m. on my lunch break. Yeah, I still need to head into the office. The spending cash for my Japan trip in November — the reason I’m skipping SXSW — won’t earn itself.

  • Thursday, March 19, 2009: I will take a half-day from work. At 2 p.m., I’m catching Department of Eagles at a Waterloo in-store performance. Then I’m heading to the Creekside Lounge to catch the rest of Japan Preview. If I feel really adventurous, I might check out the free show of Hawaiian artists at Whole Foods in downtown that evening. Most likely, I’ll head home early because, yeah, I have to go to the office the next day.

  • Friday, March 20, 2009: It’s the two-hour series finale of Battlestar Galactica. I want to know how this frakking show ends. It’s a good thing the Japan Nite showcases this year don’t really interst me.

  • Saturday, March 21, 2009: At noon, Gentleman Reg performs at Home Slice Pizza. I’ve never been to Home Slice yet, and I’ve been curious about Gentleman Reg since reading about him in Out magazine. The albums he has up on eMusic, however, haven’t quite sold me to get them. Then at 8 p.m., Explosions in the Sky takes to Auditorium Shores. Never did the Auditorium Shores thing before, so I have no idea how I’m going to navigate parking.

Even though I didn’t sink $100+ on a wristband, I fully expect to be buying up a lot of alcohol and merchandise. In short, I’ll be doing my part to sink cash back into the Austin economy. Probably not as much cash as I would attending four of the five nights of the festival, but I’m not going to be miserly this week either.

Maybe this year will wean me from my wristband dependency? Doubt it.