The Most Important SXSW Moments Ever

heavily to think , but true : the annual South by Southwest fete was once a very small , laid - back event . In 1987 , the festival touted 15 panels , 15 venue , and 177 showcasing creative person . Small stuff .

In 2016 , SXSW will swash euphony , movies , TV , sports , and technology programming , more than a hundred venues , and over 72,000 attendees . Key and Peelewill debut a film . Charli XCX will debut a raw EP . There will be tattoo art and lucha fighting . President Barack Obamadelivered this twelvemonth ’s keynote actor’s line . How far the fest has come . How did it get here ? permit ’s depend back at the festival ’s biggest milestones .

1990: SXSW hosts hip-hop showcases for the first time

It ’s hard to imagine a major euphony fete without rap and hip - hops in the present day . But in its 4th year , SXSW was still a small regional festival , and coxa - hops was poking through to the mainstream civilisation . Groups such asDef IVandthe Ultramagnetic MC’schanged the festival forever .

1994: Johnny Cash delivers a musical keynote speech

In the current state of SXSW Music , this does n’t sound like such a bighearted deal . But the Man in Black showing up to a local music fest take SXSW to a whole unexampled level of legitimacy in the optic of the industry and the general public . Also on the bill that day at Emo’s : a little - known one - humankind striation named Beck .

1995: Film and Multimedia (later Interactive) split into two separate festivals

In 1994 , SXSW added a " film and multimedia system " festival to its exist regional euphony programing . It was a modest achiever – with 600 attendees – but even Hugh Forrest ( still conductor of Interactive to this day ) admits ina recent unwritten history , " I was designate to manoeuvre this multimedia system thing but did n’t have any musical theme what we meant by the Good Book ' multimedia . ' " A yr later , the decision was made to split this festival into two new events , with Interactive spotlight the convergency of metier and technology , a ticket often have-to doe with to as " oddball spring break . "

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1997: The Flaming Lips Parking Lot Experiment #4

What are now called the Parking Lot Experiments begin 1996 , in the parking garage of an Oklahoma City mall . Wayne Coyne , lead vocaliser and main originative judgement behind The Flaming Lips , gave each person a unique magnetic tape and ask them all to encounter them in the tape decks of their cars at the same time . Coyne bring this same experimentation to SXSW in 1997 , holler it " Parking Lot Experiment # 4 . " This particular parking flock experiment consisted of 30 cars and more than 1,000 onlookers . This character of strange performance art became a basic of the ring ’s concert style , and signalize a turn point in their sound , evidenced by their return performance at SXSW 2006 .

1997: Alamo Downtown opens early to be part of the festival

Once upon a time , the Alamo Drafthouse was a lowly , unassuming venture in Austin , TX . Its first location was a one - blind family on fourth and Colorado St dubbed " the Alamo Downtown . " building was n’t quite completed in March of 1997 , but owners Tim and Karrie League still want to be part of the SXSW military action . So , they made the place as ready as it could be – a covert and seating area being antecedence – to squeeze in as an prescribed locale of the plastic film fete . Today , it ’s hard to imagine SXSW without the Alamo . Three of its location are venue , and the Alamo jut staff lends its services to every official film venue .

2002: First outdoor stage performances at Auditorium Shores

In the raw millenary , SXSW was no longer just a regional medicine festival . There were 1,035 showcasing artist , 63 panels , and 49 venues and stages . Auditorium Shores , a tumid discussion section of Town Lake Park on the shore of Lady Bird Lake , quickly became a prized spot . This common alone is used to host entire small music festivals , so its espousal meant major creative person were going to be a even thing at the annual case . The Shins , Spoon , Coheed and Cambria , The Flaming Lips , and The Strokes have all played Auditorium Shores since its fest - changing debut .

2005: Mumblecore is born

Austin ’s filmmaking scene grew in bicycle-built-for-two with SXSW , even birthing its own musical style . " Mumblecore , " a genre known for low production note value , an emphasis on dialogue over plot , and naturalistic acting , commence as a final result of a group of very talented filmmakers who converged at SXSW 2005 . Joe Swanberg , Andrew Bujalski , Jay & Mark Duplass – now run an indie empire with deals at HBO , Netflix , and several movie studio – all had film in the fete which were link up by this typical style .

2007: Twitter blows up at Interactive

Twitter ’s debut at Interactive is SXSW lore . It did n’t in reality happen ; formally , the social platform set in motion nine months prior to the annual technical school event . But as Twitter co - beginner Evan Williamsmuses , " SXSW just chose to blow it up . " The companionship spent serious money replete Austin Convention Center ’s many corridor flat - screen with demos of the now - omnipresent societal networking political program . These walkways are where jury-rigged meetings of necessity wind up . Twitter ’s choice to advertise in the hot spot paid off grown time .

2007:Knocked Upputs SX on the map as a place to bring adult comedies

SXSW render a big push to a moving picture directed by Judd Apatow , who had recently had a hit with his directorial debut , The 40 - Year - Old Virgin . This was before Seth Rogen , who had look in Apatow ’s cancelled TV show , Undeclared , was a genius , and before Apatow was considered a clowning master . Knocked Upplayed at the 1,200 - place Paramount Theatre , the festival ’s declamatory venue , to a packed crowd . It blew the cap off ( I was in attendance for this one , so I call I ’m not mythologizing ) . The Hollywood get put SXSW on the map as a place to unveiling and workshop major ( mostly roentgen - rated ) comedies . Post-2007 , SXSW has been the host to cinema such asForgetting Sarah Marshall , Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay , The Ten , Bridesmaids , 21 Jump Street , Trainwreck , and as of this week , Keanu .

2007: Amy Winehouse attends the fest in true Amy Winehouse fashion

As the previous two entries attest , 2007 was a big year all around for SXSW . One shine star of the international medicine panorama was Amy Winehouse . Still on the advance in March of that year , SXSW did its chip in propel the English singer to superstardom . See why in the above video .

2010: Lena Dunham rockets to stardom with the world premiere ofTiny Furniture

Certain talent become synonymous with the cinema fete where they bodge up . Kevin Smith will always be linked toClerksdebuting at Sundance . Robert De Niro require a New York indie haven , so he started Tribeca Film Festival . Lena Dunham is forever linked with SXSW in this manner . Her first film at the festival was the ( hardly ) feature film - length filmCreative Nonfiction , which played as part of the Emerging Visions section in 2009 . The next twelvemonth sawTiny Furniture , her full-grown breakthrough . She was awarded Best Narrative Feature and became a culture medium darling . Her HBO seriesGirlswould become of the festival ’s first television premiere .

2014: Edward Snowden Skypes into SXSW Interactive

One of the biggest international newsworthiness stories of 2013 was Edward Snowden leaking classified documents to WikiLeaks . Snowden ’s whistleblowing bring up the United States ' security standards , and the ever - shrinking impression of American seclusion . Snowden ( perhaps unknowingly ) sacrifice his ability to return freely to the US with his actions . That did n’t stop him from Skyping into a packed league hall at SX Interactive in 2014 . The promulgation of the board cue one Kansas congressman , Mike Pompeo , to indite to the organizers of the event and expect them to rescind the invitation .

2014: Kanye and Jay Z perform for 3,000 people

In 2014 , Kanye West and Jay Z , two of the big personality in the music world , teamed up to create an unforgettable night at SXSW . Performing atop a pair of 12ft - tall video cubes , a setup like to the one built for their 2011 - 2012Watch the Thronetour , the two whipped the crowd into a frenzy with their greatest smash from the album . The set include one rail done three sentence in a course , all the manner through . The 3,000 masses filling the shortly - to - be - demolished Austin Music Hall lose their minds .

2015: Interactive adds SXstyle

Interactive surpassed both Music and Film in attendance year ago , thanks to limitless tractableness . In 2015 , SXSW solidified way - focalise sports meeting - ups , a fest staple since 2010 , as SXstyle , a section exploring the relationship between the way industriousness , culture , artistic creation , and technology . It ’s part pf SXSW ’s Convergence Track , which also serve fans of food ( SouthBites ) , sports ( SXsports ) , and comedy ( SXcomedy ) . While some opine it strange for the style manufacture to become folded into the Interactive streamer rather than Music or Film , SXstyle has been a smashing success , featuring panels on modern conception , wearable technology , and fashion apps .

Stephanie Huettner is a regular contributor at Film Autonomy . Find her:@steps_huettner .

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