SXSW 2007: Pete Townshend
The thing about having Pete Townshend as a keynote speaker for your music conference is that while he's talking, everyone is sitting there thinking, "Holy shit. It's Pete Townshend."
Your brain can do this dozens of times in the course of a friendly keynote chat, and it's very distracting. Or at least mine can.
SXSW has presented an amazing set of musicians over the past few years, both as keynote speakers and as interviewees and panelists. It's part of the guilty-pleasure fun of the whole event. Sharing the air with someone who defined your musical personality is exciting and a bit paralyzing, especially when they are determined to be unpretentious guys who just happen to, you know, be Pete Townshend.
He talks about that, along the way: how music, when you're young, not only helps you figure out who you are, it helps you understand who you're not. It's part of knowing where you belong, and who your friends and fellow-travelers will be.
I'm not sure that the contents of his hour are important, one way or another; he has a new internet project launching soon, he's happy with the new version of the band, he has a lot of respect for new musicians everywhere, and - surprise - he has a natural easy love of music that shines through. The joy of it is just in being there, and listening. He hops here and there in conversation, and there's a sense that if you happened across him one afternoon over a passing beverage, you'd have a great time talking.
At the end of the evening, there's a call for questions. We all perk up. I'd like to ask something, but my brain is stuck saying, "Holy shit. It's Pete Townshend."
The bulk of my pictures from the festival will crop up over the next few weeks in the eponymous SXSW 2007 set. If you're interested, there's also a set of last year's photos from SXSW 2006 posted here on Flickr.
SXSW 2007: Pete Townshend
The thing about having Pete Townshend as a keynote speaker for your music conference is that while he's talking, everyone is sitting there thinking, "Holy shit. It's Pete Townshend."
Your brain can do this dozens of times in the course of a friendly keynote chat, and it's very distracting. Or at least mine can.
SXSW has presented an amazing set of musicians over the past few years, both as keynote speakers and as interviewees and panelists. It's part of the guilty-pleasure fun of the whole event. Sharing the air with someone who defined your musical personality is exciting and a bit paralyzing, especially when they are determined to be unpretentious guys who just happen to, you know, be Pete Townshend.
He talks about that, along the way: how music, when you're young, not only helps you figure out who you are, it helps you understand who you're not. It's part of knowing where you belong, and who your friends and fellow-travelers will be.
I'm not sure that the contents of his hour are important, one way or another; he has a new internet project launching soon, he's happy with the new version of the band, he has a lot of respect for new musicians everywhere, and - surprise - he has a natural easy love of music that shines through. The joy of it is just in being there, and listening. He hops here and there in conversation, and there's a sense that if you happened across him one afternoon over a passing beverage, you'd have a great time talking.
At the end of the evening, there's a call for questions. We all perk up. I'd like to ask something, but my brain is stuck saying, "Holy shit. It's Pete Townshend."
The bulk of my pictures from the festival will crop up over the next few weeks in the eponymous SXSW 2007 set. If you're interested, there's also a set of last year's photos from SXSW 2006 posted here on Flickr.