SXSW 2009 | Revisited » KAREN K. WANG PHOTOGRAPHY

So there was this very strange time in my life where I used to go to a million shows all the time and take pictures. It all started at the very young age of 15 when I used to go to at least 1-2 shows a week with my older sister–we spent a ton of money on tickets, CD’s, shirts, parking and gas. There were many times where we even drove 2.5 hours to another city to see one of our favorite bands on a school night. I remember one night I drove home around midnight from Austin and got into Houston around 3-4 a.m. for school the next morning. We didn’t care what it took–we just absolutely had to see these live shows, and sometimes…I would see the same band 7+ times, haha! Crazy, I know. These were seriously some of the best times of my life bonding with my sister and friends over the years; so fun…I lived for live music. I didn’t care how long I had to stand in line for or how much pain I’d be in during a pit, I just HAD to see these bands, haha. I had first attended this (what is now) giant music and film festival held in Austin, TX called South by Southwest in 2002. It was one of the coolest things to ever witness and attend. They have so many free shows that you never needed to buy a wristband or anything in order to have fun. Even just walking down 6th Street was entertaining enough. The only sad part was if you were under 21, you couldn’t get into a lot of the shows, haha! Thousands of people from all over the world come to the capital of Texas to attend this huge event. After my first SXSW, I went every year for the next 7 years and made it a routine to always go. One of the coolest things about this was that I had always ran into people I had met over the years who traveled a lot that I didn’t get to see often…but somehow we’d always bump into each other during this time! One of my most special and dearest friends that I have been able to run into was Miss Nadia. We loved catching up and telling each other about our many adventures on opposite sides of the country. My very last year attending SXSW was in 2009 during my very last semester in college. Because I worked for The University Star, we were able to get press credentials, and I had the honor of shooting and attending soooo many shows. Since the previous years I never purchased badges or wristbands, I wanted to do SXSW right that year (more shows and less booze) and actually set out a schedule and timeline. I made my own schedule of people I wanted to see according to times and locations and pretty much mapped everything out, so that I wouldn’t miss someone or had back up plans, haha! I carried my camera in my backpack and rode my bike all around downtown Austin hopping from venue to venue, all by myself. Here are some highlights of that year in photos below. Please keep in mind that these bands are either amazing, already broken up, or they just suck now. :) Hopefully, sometime within these next years I will be able to go again to the blistering hot piece of land called Texas. I also encourage anyone who hasn’t been or heard (yes, some people have never o_O) to experience it themselves at least once in their lifetime.

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