Hi, I’ll be in Austin and would love to check out the Showcase on Friday night. (Having just seen Fleet Foxes and Grand Arcives at the Troubadour in LA, I would love to see them again.) However, I’ll be in town with a group who is doing SXSW on an ad hoc basis (i.e., no wristbands). Any avenues we can pursue to snare tickets to the Showcase?

Hi, MDH—

SXSW is a weird beast, and I don’t believe that you can pre-purchase tickets anywhere but they do occasionally sell tickets day of show at the door if there’s room. Your best bet would be to arrive early and chat with one of the SXSW reps that will be at the door.
Good luck!

you cant buy tickets for any sxsw event. the only way to get into an evening showcase is with a wristband or badge, and that’s pretty much a first come first serve basis…HOWEVER, most of the venues do allow you to pay at the door if everyone with a wristband/badge has gone in and it’s not at capacity. (and there have been numerous occasions where the bouncers or doormen just let you in…no wristband no charge. that’s happen to me a few times :])

in my opinion the best shows are during the day, and most of the day showcases are free. the only thing you have to worry about is waking up early to get to these places. some of the places even give out free drinks and a crap load of other stuff like tshirts, cd’s, and really cool magazines. lots of cool things for free.

hope you get to see that show!

I know it’s a bitch to get into all the showcases and whatnot, but with these parties I know you can sometimes RSVP and whatnot. Is that the case for any of these parties?

Also, I’m having a hard time finding any info on the Handsome Furs party at this KEXP at ACL mainstage at KLRU on all the party lists I’ve been looking at. Could someone perhaps help me out a bit with this. I’d love to attend this gig. Cheers.

Hi, Mammal—
It seems that this is going to be at the Austin City Limits/KLRU television studios on the UT campus, but that’s about all I know about it. You might want to check the KEXP.org to see if you can get on a list or something.

The Handsome Furs is a taping not a party so there’s no RSVP. It works the same way an Austin City Limits taping does which means tickets are VERY hard to get. You have to line up outside the Communications building an hour before the show at least. They will let KEXP and other sponsor VIPs in and then whatever is left they will count off the line (likely only 200 people) and let those in.