Farewell, SXSW 2010

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At the feet of giants: The Kashmere Alumni Stage Band from documentary Thunder Soul at the Austin Chronicle SXSW 2010 Film Party (Photo by Richard Whittaker)

If you haven't picked up this week's SXSW wrap-up issue of the Austin Chronicle (if only to remind yourself of what you missed or what you already forgot), then run for the news stands. Of course, there are always those little memorable moments that slipped through the cracks.

A big part of the appeal of SXSW is, of course, the parties, and the real secret is that no one parties like Interactive – as was proved by the Gawker/IO9 Time Bender shindig. Why was it so good? Well, bounty hunters, imperial stormtroopers and Dark Jedi (courtesy of the 501st Legion) help. Not that they were the only place the Empire deployed its forces: There was a good contingent at the opening of The People Versus George Lucas (read our review here.) However, IO9 had MC Frontalot. So, score.

One interesting observation about Interactive (which, judged solely on badge sales, is now the biggest part of the festival) is that the schwag at the trade show booths was much improved from last year, as was the sheer quality of the displays (dancing robot monkeys, anyone?) After last year's doom and gloom and buttons and stickers, there was a more genial mood on the floor, as firms were more prepared to spend a lot more cash and time on their promotional material. Of course, ingenuity still won the day, as shown by Louisiana Entertainment and the human hash tag.

Of course, the easy way to any attendee's heart was through their stomach, so the IFC Crossroads House made some big friends by supplying breakfast tacos from Pink Avocado. And, yes, there really was ice cream at Roky Erickson's 8th Annual Ice Cream Social (read our review here), plus they had now oddly-clean-cut Riverboat Gamblers front man Mike Wiebe risking life and limb on the roof of Threadgill's stage.

Special tribute must go to Tim League of the Alamo Drafthouse. When spotted at the always excellent Japan Nite on Friday (read our review here), he looked, well, as rough as we did. However, this man had taken as many risks as Wiebe when he engaged in a devil-may-care game of extreme tequila shots with the crew and audience for Serbian Film (reviewed here.)

So, see you in 342 days for SXSW 2011, then?