Behind the scenes at a festival

If you want to know what goes into providing enough equipment during SXSW, this article will give you a look.

Gotta get the gear to the gig: "Since most of the foreign acts fly to SXSW, they usually travel with only guitars and drumsticks and have to rent drums, amps, keyboards and, in the case of Gang of Four last year, a microwave, which was used for percussion.

Also, the proliferation of daytime parties, which are often staged in places that don't have live music for 360 days out of the year, has added to the workload.

Five years ago, the Music Lab provided backline (drums and amplifiers) and a public address system for exactly one party. This year, they're doing 10 a day. ...

Last year, 27 trucks did the job of delivering the equipment to the venues. This year, the Music Lab had to rent an additional 17."

music festival
SXSW