The 2011 Texas Rock Fest (TRF) was an overwhelming success! This annual indie music festival is a free music oasis (minors $10.00/day pass), that offers a welcome respite from standing in lines that are too long and overcrowded night clubs and bars, while attending Austin's SXSW Music Festival. Truly organic since its inception in 1999, TRF continues to offer up some of the best indie band performances that Austin, and beyond, can offer. Strategically planned to coincide with SXSW, TRF allows hundreds of bands to take advantage of the proximity of the much larger festival, by providing both indoor and outdoor stage opportunities.
From March 16-20, 2011, Texas Rock Fest bands took to the stages at Austin venues: Blue Moon, Roial, Dorm Room, Pure, Fuel, Red Fez, Sugar’s and the Cedar Door. Over 80 acts took advantage of exposure offered on two outdoor stages located in downtown Austin,at 5th and Colorado. This prime location placed bands in the direct path of thousands of SXSW music industry professionals as they struggled from one "official" SXSW music venue to another.
Stellar lineups, that included acts such as Send The Sages (members of Alien Ant Farm), Lotus Crush ( members of Candlebox), Broken Teeth, One-Eyed Doll, Dead Earth Politics, Vallejo, Eyes Burn Electric, Rachel Ray's The Cringe, Gooding, Yayo, Powderburn, and Say Hello to the Angels, graced the outdoor stage. The experience came complete with a vendor village that offered numerous food options, artisans, as well as full liquor and beer/wine selections. A special St. Patrick's Day Shamrockfest was featured on March 17, with a rousing evening of celtic punk from the Bloody Irish Boys and others.
"The location at 5th and Colorado was the toast of downtown," enthuses TRF promoter Adam Brewer. "The magnificent production, which included two gigantic stages and pro sound, clearly set TRF apart from any other music event in the downtown area," he exclaims, "every night, I saw record exec's and management from all different levels, in the crowd."
As we recap Texas Rock Fest 2011, a comment on some of the incidents that went down during the event bear explaining. Much has been said about the unfortunate cancelling of a limited number of showcasing bands, of which our most sincerest apologizes are among the loudest. The factors that triggered this unprecedented mishap (over 3000 bands have successfully performed during the past decade of TRF events), are directly related to this year's overcrowding at the very corporate music industry event that the Texas Rock Fest takes advantage of.
"Due to the increased popularity of SXSW, coupled with traffic congestion, not to mention increased police presence and street blockages, made 2011 the most difficult year for both bands and fans to get to their desired locations," explained Brewer, “SXSW overcrowding reached the tipping point in some instances and two days into our festival, two venues participating in TRF (Fuel and Dorm Room), decided to stop live music, causing acts at those venues to be cancelled. In a few instances, backline also came up missing, and while replaced as quickly as possible, it contributed to disappointing additional bands.”
"This is the first time TRF has experienced problems of this nature," adds Brewer, "and can be directly attributed to the critical mass of rock fans and bands alike." As this KXAN news story cites, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HYF284VX8Y], the main problem at this year's SXSW festival was too many people, with an estimated crowd exceeding 200,000 -- a 40 percent jump from last year. Also, "SXSW Music 2011 -- was this year's festival-cursed?" reads headlines from The Atlantic, see link [http://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2011/03/sxsw-music-2011-was-this-years-festival-cursed/72837/]
"Of the 250+ bands involved in this year's TRF, less than 5% were unable to play due to either lost or stolen backline and the irrational decision of two club owners to cut the evening performances short," explains Brewer, "All bands involved have been reimbursed their application and backline fees and offered free slots at next year's festival. Texas Rock Fest will live on forever, and as always, gives thanks to the people that keep it alive."
The Heart of Texas Quadruple Bypass Music Festival (Texas Rock Fest for short), features the best in unsigned talent that Austin and the surrounding southwest region have to offer, as well as some of the best indie artists from across America and beyond. The first Heart of Texas Quadruple Bypass Music Festival started humbly with one venue and sixteen bands in downtown Austin. Headed into its 13th year, the 2012 Texas Rock Fest will host hundreds of indie acts.
Texas Rock Fest was selected as “Best Music Festival in Austin in 2008, 2009, and 2010,” in the Austin American-Statesman’s A-List online reader’s poll. Motivated by the desire to support and promote the best yet-to-be discovered talent rising from the burgeoning Texas alternative rock scene, the event is strategically scheduled to coincide with Austin's annual South bySouthwest (SXSW) Interactive Media, Film and Music Festival.
For more information, contact Adam Brewer at adam@texasrockfest.com
