How is SXSW for someone under 21?

January 12, 2005 8:46 AM

A friend and I are hoping to go to SXSW's music portion this year. I am 22, but my friend will only be 20. Will we have trouble getting into a lot of the shows? Will the whole SXSW experience not be fun for us? Is all the fun to be had 21 and over? And uh... How well will a fake ID work down there?
posted by lotsofno to sports, hobbies, & recreation (4 answers total)

Yep, your friend will have trouble.

As for the fake ID, it worked for Jenna Bush (for a while).
posted by mudpuppie at 8:58 AM on January 12, 2005

Looking at a pdf of last year's music venues, about 30 of the 53 venues are 21 and up. Your friend probably won't be able to get in to a lot of the shows he wants to. However, he will still be able to see more great music than he can take in over a 4 day period. A lot of the best clubs (especially for punk, indie rock, etc) are all ages, like Emo's. But some cool ones like Room 710 and Beerland are 21+.

The biggest venues where the best known acts play - Music Hall, Stubb's, La Zona Rosa are all ages.

There's also a ton of non-official SXSW events which are basically all ages, from day parties to "anti-SXSW" events all over town. Bottom line, you will both leave town exhausted having seen a ton of great bands, but you will not be let in to some shows that you had wanted to see.

A fake id won't work at all and could get your friend detained by the club to be presented to the police.
posted by kongg at 9:07 AM on January 12, 2005

You are certainly limited as to the venues you can get into, but you can definitely still have a great time every night. Unless your friend is an attractive female, a fake ID will most likely not work -- TABC puts a lot of pressure on local venues to crack down on underage, especially after the Jenna incident embarrassed them a couple years ago.
posted by fourstar at 11:49 AM on January 12, 2005

i had no problem at all: went with a film pass turned sideways w/new hole punched, someone else's i.d., and was 19 at the time. one trick i learned was to wear it under my outer layer and flash it only when i needed to.

also, act like you know what you are doing... works like a charm at concerts
posted by mdpc98 at 8:38 PM on January 12, 2005