During the day most of the shows are free so no pass or tickets are needed. There's like 30+ clubs all within walking distance of one another so you could see as many bands as you like. At night you either need a badge or pay to get in, which is usually like $25 or so. Badge is first priority to get in at night, then bracelets are 2nd, tickets 3rd. Some shows are guest list only too.

I think I'm gonna fly JetBlue, which goes straight into Austin.

Looks like I am out....Boss may have other plans for me in March.....ugh.

There's no blanket admission fee. The badge or armband are if you want the best shot (because even those are no guarantee) at seeing a big-time/buzzed/hyped show at night. Pretty much all day shows are free.

Again, my advice is check out as many free day shows as possible, then get drunk in Bloor's penthouse suite every night. This should be the itinerary of every Obnerinian in attendance.

Definitely Southwest. You'll have to fly from Midway, instead of O'Hare, but that's a small price to pay for hangin' in the A-TX with your fellow Obnish. I'm going to southwest.com right now and look up the fare for you...

Bob, if you think ANYONE is going to have the room number, or even hotel location of Bloor's suite, you have not read a single post by he or I in the entire time we've been here.

They're only booking flights through March 9 as of today, so it's probably another week or two before you can book for SXSW, but the "Fun Fare" for an identical Thursday-Sunday round trip two weeks earlier is $192 each way.

I'm not talking about his ACTUAL suite, but the decoy one which will double as the podcast studio.

So... you gonna book us or what?

Podcast from the Cherrywood Brewdios.

That's RIGHT...I forgot about the all-new P'Aja/Waxenstache recording compound. I assume you will be catering, Mr. Chef Man?

P'aja Waxenstache? Does he play in the NBA?

I'm sure Stojacovec could grow out a fine 'stache, considering the beard on his national team colleague, Vlade Divac.

$192 EACH WAY?? That's not cheap, tiger. I can fly to Seattle for less than that.

I'm not buying a badge. It's $450 and honestly, I don't think there will be $450 worth of bands for me to see.

Ok, the fact that we are 9 pages in, and people are still talking this nonsense, is well...nonsense.

-- The badge is mainly for industry types. It gets you into forums and the like where Chuck D and Bono talk about 3rd World debt or whatever the fuck.

-- The wristband is worth the roughly $100 -- you get into most the shows you would want for free, unless you get there too late and the venue is full.

-- If you wanted to just pay for the shows you want to see, you will easily pay more in 2 nights than if you just bought the wristband.

Red, I'll be sure to tell you where I'M staying

wristbands are a good deal, but they go FAST...looks like they're going on sale in January and you can get them here

badges are pricey but if you can afford & are willing to drop the big bucks, they're really nice...there's so much going on and it allows you to run around and attempt see everything

and there will be enough Obners around for you to enjoy the pay-as-you-go option as well...but just be prepared to miss some shows you really want to see

ok sounds like wristband is the way to go.