Things have been pretty quiet around here at Noise Damage during this cold, snowy Minnesotan winter. Things are thawing out though and that means there’s a blast of imagery coming your way! First, though, SXSW – the biggest event of my photographical year – has come and gone. This calls for a quick retrospective and, as the days move on, full posts of notable performances. Check out some vital stats, some commentary and a list of my coverage for City Pages after the jump.

SXSW 2011: Six Days of Insanity

Here are some important stats from my 2011 SXSW experience:

• Bands photographed: 64
• Frames Captured: 13079
• Miles biked:23.91
• Kicks to the head from crowd surfers: 8
• Free breakfasts, lunches or dinners acquired: 5
• Round trip drive time: 45 hours
• Time I spent driving: 32 hours
• Average sleep per day: 2.83 hours
• Time lost to line-waiting: 6 hours
• Sets of ER-20 earplugs lost: 3
• Best Wurst visits: 6

So, all in all, how was SXSW 2011? It was full of memorable experiences, a humbling experience in sleep deprivation and a crash-course in festival logistics. On arrival I had been behind the wheel for close to 16 hours and hadn’t slept well during the hours another driver took over. Originally I had planned to arrive Tuesday night to get some of the early shows. This plan worked but my lack of sleep made it exceedingly difficult to document anything that night. This year will go down as the year of zero sleep, which cost me visits to several dozen shows in the end. Next year I’m taking three people that are all willing to drive or I’m flying down with my bike. Lesson learned!

That said, even through the fog of sleeplessness I was able to document a lot. 64 bands in 5 days is pretty amazing, when I look back on it. Some of those performances – like Fishbone and Wu Tang at the Village Voice party, Dead Milkmen at MWTX, Yoko Ono and the Plastic Ono Band at Elysium on the last night – will be forever memorable. The friends I made, the Minnesota crew I ran into down there and the overall vibe of the place were immensely awesome. I’m getting a bit misty-eyed just thinking about it right now.

This year’s SXSW is the first I’ve attended specifically to cover for a publication – the City Pages alt-weekly here in Minneapolis. I was still going as a freelancer though, so none of my expenses were covered. The costs weren’t balanced out by the income but it was great to do work for the good people at City Pages. More importantly, it was great to spend time doing work for and with friends in a land far, far away.

With all of that out of the way, here’s a rundown of my coverage posted online at City Pages! There are even a few images in print this week so if you’re in Minneapolis you should run out and get your copy today. :)

Article Images:

SXSW 2011: Five nights in Austin
http://www.citypages.com/2011-03-23/music/sxsw-2011-five-nights-in-austin/

Village Voice Showdown recap:
http://blogs.citypages.com/gimmenoise/2011/03/wu-tang_wild_fl.php

Gimme Noise & First Avenue day party recap:
http://blogs.citypages.com/gimmenoise/2011/03/gimme_noise_and_3.php

Plastic Ono Band show review:
http://blogs.citypages.com/gimmenoise/2011/03/yoko_ono_and_th.php

Beauty Bar DFA1979 reunion riot:
http://blogs.citypages.com/gimmenoise/2011/03/sxsw_death_from_above_riot.php

Slideshows:

SXSW 2011 Tuesday/Wednesday:

Doomtree’s SXSW 2011 Showcase:

SXSW 2011 Village Voice Media Showdown with Wu Tang, Fishbone, Yelawolf, Trae the Truth, Wild Flag and more:

Gimme Noise / First Avenue’s SXSW Day Party with Tapes N Tapes, Jeremy Messersmith, Marijuana Deathsquads, The Goondas and more:

SXSW 2011 Friday with Gayngs, Noah & The Whale, Black Lips and more:

SXSW 2011 Saturday with Yoko Ono, Dead Milkmen, !!!, A Place to Bury Strangers, Asobi Seksu, Hollerado and more:

So that’s it! Next year I’ve got a much better idea of how I want things to go down. I learned a lot about shooting for a publication, meeting deadlines, and how (and how not) to travel. Just about 350 days or so to go until the next SXSW and I’m looking forward to it. Thanks to the crew at City Pages for sending me on a magical, mostly open-ended journey to document SXSW on my own terms. You all rock.