The week after South by Southwest tends to be slow one in Austin, and even with some gloomy economic forecasts, this year’s recovery is no less draining.
Tom Thornton with the Austinist said the economy didn’t play as large a role in the festival as some had anticipated, although he said he did see some changes.
"What I saw were perhaps some smaller day crowds, and the number of people that traveled for the festival may have been a little lighter this year, but it was made up for by the fact that a lot of really big bands came out to play," Thornton said. "Nobody’s taking anything for granted this year."
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SXSW Recap
News 8's Andy Langer sat down with Thornton to talk about SXSW in retrospect.
 
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He said the fact that bands like Metallica Kanye West did secret shows, even though it may have been to get their name out in front of the national media, is a testament to that.
"Usually those rumors are always out there, but they don’t come true," he said.
Thornton said Twitter also played a major role in communicating events and rumors this year.
"Really entertaining to have everybody communicating online in that way," he said.
