Looking for some SXSW fun but don’t have a wristband? Don’t fret. There are lots of great free shows to check out.

One of my favorite free-show venues is Auditorium Shores. It’s pretty amazing to sit on the shores of Ladybird Lake and watch a live performance with downtown Austin as a backdrop. Here’s a photo from SXSW 2006:

Last year was pretty memorable with Public Enemy & Flavor Flav celebrating his 40th Birthday. I believe in 2006 I saw Rosanne Cash, among others. They usually have a nice variety of bands.

In any case, the line up this year looks like a lot of fun, and the weather should be very nice. This year the free shows at Auditorium Shores are Thursday through Saturday (3/13-3/15), with multiple bands each night. Here is the full schedule:

Thursday, March 13 (gates at 5:00 pm)
6:00pm Grupo Fantasma
7:00pm Del The Funky Homosapien
8:00pm Spoon

Friday March 14 (gates at 5:00 pm)
6:00pm The Sadies
7:00pm Eliza Gilkyson
8:00pm The BoDeans

Saturday March 15 (gates at Noon)

1:00pm Super Pal Universe
1:45pm Rachel Trachtenburg Morning Show
3:30pm Christian Scott
4:30pm Lyrics Born
5:30pm Strong Arm Steady
6:15pm Jean Grae
7:00pm Talib Kweli
Microsoft Silverlight
8:00pm Ice Cube

For full details and venue information visit - SXSW Auditorium Shores Lineup

My advice - arrive early to avoid a long line at the gate. Find a good place to stand/sit and get comfortable. Bring cash if you want drinks, turkey leg, funnel cakes, etc. See the Auditorium Shores Venue Information for parking advice.

Have a great weekend! See you at the show.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 13th, 2008 at 12:13 pm and is filed under Austin, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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