SXSW began in 1987, presented before a famished crowd of roughly 700 people. Today (Friday, August 17, 2007), ten years later, SXSW features 30,000 bands on over 1,500 stages* and is attended by approximately over 10,000 people. To celebrate such a monumental transition, the folks from SXSW are releasing a DVD.
Yep, a DVD. Sounds typical right? I'm sure you've exhausted your Coachella DVD, your Monterey Pop DVD, and maybe you're still holding out for Pitchfork to release a DVD of their festival. Hold up, though: this SXSW one is different. Aside from releasing the usual regular-sized DVDs, the SXSW gang has teamed up with the people from Initech to create the world's largest DVD.* "We're pretty excited about this breakthrough," said Sara, a representative from SXSW. "We've already established ourselves as being one of the more ambitious festivals, but this move really puts us up there."
The dimensions of the disc have not yet been released, but message boards across the web made predictions running anywhere from 5 ft. to an unimaginable 30 yards. "I don't want to give anything away yet, but let's just say if it were a pizza, you'd need a few bypass surgeries to get through," Sara said with a chortle. "There is no previous world record, so there wasn't really a push to make it that big, but we're freaking SXSW here, and we ain't going to pussyfoot around now."
The content of the super-sized disc has not been released either, but rumor has it there is a duet featuring Al Gore and Chief Wiggum. "We have some special features for sure on this disc," explained Sara. "But, unfortunately, the last half of the disc is pretty much just Billy Mays infomercials and Highlander films.*
No word on whether or not progress has been made on a player that is compatible with the disc.
Meanwhile, the regular-sized discs -- the ones available to you and me -- will feature 18 performances by artists like Peter, Bjorn and John, The Polyphonic Spree, The Bravery, and more. There will also be backstage footage along with super-sick interviews! Yeah, bro! This version is set for release August 21, but you can always wait for the super-sized disc, too!
* A majority of the facts concerning the world record-breaking disc and the festival in general may be false.
