South By Southwest returned to Austin, Texas this month with a 10-day conference and festival encompassing all the latest in culture, film, music, and technology. The festival, which had to be canceled in 2020 due to the rise of COVID-19, was held virtually in 2021, while this year’s event, which ran from March 11 to 20, saw the return to a live format for the first time in three years.
Uproxx’s Paul L. Carter was on the ground to capture the musical festivities, as well as the premiere of the black comedy Nicolas Cage vehicle The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent, which sees the cult favorite actor playing a heightened version of himself alongside Pedro Pascal as a superfan who pays him $1 million to appear at his birthday party.
Meanwhile, musical artists included Uproxx coverage mainstays like Jason Isbell, Pussy Riot, and Weyes Blood, as well as indie stars such as Particle Kid, Self Esteem, Charley Crockett, Surfbort, Sasami, Kaina, and Sunflower Bean, some of whom performed at Willie Nelson’s annual Luck Reunion mini-festival.
According to Austin 360, attendance at SXSW 2022 was “pretty close” to 2019’s numbers, exceeding the festival organizers’ expectations. The festival featured 1,500 showcasing artists — a small number than 2019’s roster of over 2,000, but impressive nonetheless.
Check out the photos below.
