And the list seems to grow by the hour. People are asking "how did you come up with this list". The majority of the artists on the confirmed list have either come from SxSW, the band's web site, the band's myspace, and pollstar. A few have been sent in by the bands, a few from publicists, and a few from very well connected friends. The artists on the rumored list are also divined by a variety of methods. Some are artists that have asked me not to be "confirmed" yet, most came from "secret sources".
The oddest rumor? Far and away Dolly Parton is the strangest rumor, yet it comes from one of my best sources.
The most unlikely rumor? That would be a toss up.
Lou Reed and John Cale don't get along so the chances of any sort of Velvet Underground reunion are slim, but at SXSW stranger things have happened. The Foo Fighters are also pretty unlikely but there is a week's gap in their tour schedule so the possibility exists. For all you Pearl Jam fans, there is a strong chance that either Pearl Jam or Eddie Vedder will play. Not only was the rumor given to me by a good source, Eddie did the soundtrack for one of the films premiering at SXSW and Pearl Jam has no tour schedule listed freeing them to play. As I have mentioned before, The Beastie Boys and Matisyahu have both played SXSW before recently, they are both playing the Langerado festival in Big Cypress the week before, the same one R.E.M. is headlining, and both of them have gaps in their tour schedules where SXSW would appear. The same could be said about Les Claypool, a repeat-returning SXSW veteran, also at Langerado, also with a blank space in his tour schedule.
New on the rumor list tonight? Deep Blue Something, who scored with the single "Breakfast At Tiffanies".
Joining R.E.M. as bands moved from the rumored to the confirmed list are The Frantic and All Time Low.
Just how big a band can play SxSW? Really, anyone could play at this point, and ruling out a band as being
"too big" for the festival would be a mistake. Huge bands play small clubs during SXSW but even if say
a Led Zeppelin announced a tour stop, between Zilker Park and Memorial Stadium we would surely have
a venue for them. Bands don't play SXSW for the money. They play for the buzz, the press, the experience.
SXSW really is the new Sundance, without all the snow. Movies, Internet, Music, SXSW is the one place where everything comes together. It's like an upscale Disneyland for adults for a week.
Click Here To Check Out The SXSW 2008 Band List!