Please join us for three days and nights of live performances from (among others) Built To Spill, We Were Promised JetPacks, Deerhoof, Titus Andronicus, Cloud Nothings, Chairlift, Ceremony, White Arrows, and Yelle (DJ set).

In total, nearly 30 bands and electronic artists will grace the stages of the 20,000 sq-ft MWTX indoor venue and adjacent 20,000 sq-ft outdoor courtyard. Whether you wanna lurk in the dark or bask in the sun, it is guaranteed to be a great time for everyone. Drink water, bring earplugs. We’ll see you soon.

Transmission Entertainment again produced one of Austin’s finest outdoor music events of the year: The 6th Annual FUNFUNFUNfest delivered it all: three stages + SLAYER + gourmet food trucks + Lykke Li + Ryan Gosling & Terrence Malick + Austra + an enormous multi-level mini-ramp + Danzig + Hot Snakes + Public Enemy + TV Casualty (aka Ted Leo & The Pharmacists doing Misfits covers) + hot antelope/jackrabbit sausages from Frank Grocery + Blonde Redhead + Boris + Black Lips + a stand-up comedy tent (featuring Henry Rollins & Brian Posehn) + Thee Oh Sees + Tinariwen + Four Tet + Diplo + 125 more musical guests…

We watched a three-day array of great bands from across the musical spectrum, wore makeshift masks (to cover our faces from the brutal Auditorium Shores dust ball), ate sausages and drank sweet tea, shot photos, shot the breeze, skated an amazing mini-ramp, and provided enormous boxes of Incase products to a wide variety of performing artists. Austin is a special place full of spirited music, gracious people, and fantastic food. We’d like to thank the City of Austin and everyone affiliated with Transmission Entertainment for another excellent visit. Enjoy our Flickr photo set.

This year’s SXSW music conference was long, loud and lurky. We did not sleep much nor did we eat much. We were too busy bee-boppin’ around venues, visiting friends and sponsoring events. Of the many shows and parties we attended our favorite of the week would have to be the ‘Best In Show’ showcase at Trailer Space Records. Located next door to East Side Pies and across the street from Ideal Soul Mart, this beautiful record shop played host to hundreds of all-ages music fans and more than 30 musical guests, (including Thee Oh Sees, La Sera, King Tuff, Strange Boys, Vomettes and White Mystery). Thanks to the efforts of organizers Jonathan Harry Weinberg, Col. Abe, Volar Records and Trailer Space owner Spot, the party struck just the right balance between a raw DIY punk show and a simple neighborly visit with friends.

As for MWTX 5—WOW!!! Transmission Entertainment, FYF Fest Productions and the East Side Drive-In definitely pulled it off again. It was a joy to participate for the fourth year in a row in an event so consistently fun, friendly, and energetic. Over 55,000 people rsvp’d on mwtxparty.com, (of which more than 20,000 attended the all-day party), making it once more the largest unofficial event of the entire music conference. We’d like to extend a huge thank you to Rosa, Johnny, Brendan, Graham and Max at Transmission Entertainment, and to Sean, Phil, Mike and Kate at FYF Fest Productions.

Vice Late Night ran 12 midnight to 4AM on the final night of the conference. Harsh tokes for tired folks. After a 12-hour day spent shooting photos in the hot hot sun, doling out a few thousand Incase Slider Cases for iPhone 4, and watching a zillion bands at MWTX and Trailer Space we were reasonably certain we might not make it to the brutal end. But thanks to Thee Oh Sees, OFF!, and Odd Future we certainly did. In true Vice fashion the party was a bewildering mess held in a blown out vacant bank building. Booming sound, rumpled fashions on crumpled hipsters, dim lighting, happy cops and a few hundred friends… Classic. It was a great (albeit exhausting) late night lurk. Thanks again to Shanon Kelley and Stewart Stone, you are like angel babies in our arms. We couldn’t have done it without you.

1. MWTX is FREE! Which means you’ll have enough loot left over to stuff your face at any of the mind blowing restaurants up and down E. 6th Street.
2. MWTX is all-ages, which means everyone (even kids!) can watch Big Freedia and Thee Oh Sees.
3. MWTX is outdoors, which means you’ll absorb Vitamin D through your eyeballs all day long.
4. MWTX happens at the East Side Drive-In directly across the street from Progress Coffee, (makers of arguably the best espresso in all of Austin, Texas).
5. MWTX is mellow. Stretch out, bring a blanket and sunscreen, and maybe a book and some earplugs. People watch. Pick up on fashion tips. Meet your future ex-boyfriend or girlfriend. Basically, relax and live a little.
6. MWTX brings together a mess of good bands and a pile of great people. With 24 performing artists and an estimated 10K attendees, you’ll wanna stick around for the whole thing.
7. MWTX5 RECYCLABLE TOTE BAGS! This year we’re teaming up with our friends at Altamont to create a limited edition 100% cotton canvas tote bag made especially for MWTX 5. Carry your groceries and school books, or maybe your pile of guitar cables and effects pedals.
   The first 500 folks to arrive at MWTX will receive these bags FREE!

We look forward to seeing you there.

On the off-chance you happen to attend this year’s SXSW music conference in Austin, TX, please do yourself a favor and pop into Trailer Space Records. On March 17-19th, during the hours of 1PM-to-8PM, Jonathan Harry Weinberg (Cold Showers & I Hate Rock n’ Roll), Volar Records and Col. Abe are throwing another free SXSW party. If you were there for last year’s event then you know this is great news.

With almost 30 bands spanning three days… this year’s party is quickly shaping up to be one of the best DIY events of the entire week. In addition to helping with the event production (back line anyone?), Incase will be on hand gifting a variety of Slider Cases for your iPhone 4 (yes, Verizon and AT&T compatible) and doling out cheap hot pink earplugs. Trust us, you’ll want both. And water. You’ll definitely want water. We look forward to seeing you next week!

The first ever three-day edition of Fun Fun Fun Fest appropriately ended up being the most successful installment of this burgeoning annual gathering of music, comedy, arts (and everything in between) in Austin, Texas.

Check out the photos shot by A Horse With No Name Photography.

Alright, we know this Fun Fun Fun Fest post is mega-late. True enough, the fest happened three weeks ago already. Sorry! However, we’ve got a great reason for the lag. On the day after the fest, Transmission Entertainment’s Brendan Hannah went to India for three weeks for some much needed rest and relaxation. In the process, he completely dropped the ball on sending us his report from the field. Until now, that is. Brendan, take it away!

The first ever three-day edition of Fun Fun Fun Fest appropriately ended up being the most successful installment of this burgeoning annual gathering of music, comedy, arts (and everything in between) in Austin, Texas. The legendary “Weird Al” Yankovic kicked things off on Friday evening with an amazing two-hour set, complete with set changes, costumes, and of course, little blasts of “Al TV”.

On Saturday, indie-darlings MGMT had to play second fiddle to a fast and furious set by the ever-formidable Californian punk band Bad Religion as well as the visual and aural extravaganza that is GWAR.

All in all, however, patrons couldn’t have asked for a better sampling of the wide variety of genres on display. Sunday’s highlights included the first live performance in almost a decade by the legendary and universally beloved Descendents, a dance party curated by Yelle, and of course, the hard stuff courtesy of Mastodon.

Fans were also afforded the opportunity to indulge in a whole host of fun activities like euro-bungee launching, a mechanical bull, and the unmistakable “port-o-potty photo-booth,” plus an impressive sampling of some of the finest food and retail the city has to offer. When all was said and done, Fun Fest had once again proved itself as veritable purveyors of underground, emerging, and legendary acts, in one place, over the course of one beautiful weekend.

Thanks to Brendan, Michael, Rosa, and Graham at Transmission Entertainment in Austin for putting on another great Fun Fun Fun Fest. And A Horse With No Name Photography for the EPIC photos. We look forward to seeing you at the Mess With Texas Party in March 2011.

“Over the course of the last five years, Fun Fun Fun Fest has established itself as a veritable gathering of all things music, comedy, food, and arts come winter time in Austin, Texas. We truly pride ourselves on nurturing maximum fan interaction. So, in addition to the fest we also curate an annual Scavenger Hunt each year to offer fans a chance to obtain complimentary tickets, upgrades to VIP status, and win a whole slew of amazing prizes.

This year, Incase was a proud sponsor of the festival, and accordingly, Festival fans had a chance to score heaps of Incase swag at the 2010 edition of the Scavenger Hunt on October 15th. Keep in mind this isn’t your usual hunt – last year’s fans went as far as kissing senior citizens and indulging in hanky panky with the esteemed Stevie Ray Vaughan statue in town to obtain their rewards.

And this year was no different as nearly 200 participants knocked off the various activities on the ‘to-do-list’ with fervor and passion. One team scored big with their Fun Fest inspired tattoos, others arm-wrestled an immense bartender at the check-in point at The Mohawk, still others gathered miscellaneous items like a Corey Haim movie on VHS, and of course, quite a few took self-incriminating photographs of assorted variety to garner those elusive points. All in all, it was quite an amazing adventure for everyone involved, and of course the lure of Incase backpacks, among other things, was a truly motivational tool we were happy to provide.”

We look forward to seeing you at Fun Fun Fun Fest in Waterloo Park next week!

Photos from the 4th Annual Mess With Texas Party during the SXSW music conference, one of the most anticipated, best attended events of the weekend.

We’re very happy to report our sponsorship of the 4th Annual Mess With Texas Party during the SXSW music conference proved to be one of the most anticipated, best attended events of the weekend. *[Man, that was a long sentence, sorry].

FYF Fest Productions and Transmission Entertainment did it again. Located on a massive three-tiered vacant lot on the central east side of Austin, the festival offered two large stages and more than 40 performing artists, (including highlights Man Man, Frightened Rabbit, OFF!, Brazos, White Denim, Billy Bragg, YACHT, F*cked Up, Big Freedia, and The Soft Pack).

On Saturday night, the legendary, deeply disgusting GWAR closed out the festival in front of an audience of nearly 7,500 smiling, vaguely terrified people. Yes, GWAR. From F*cked Up’s hardcore anthems into AWK’s inspirational party jams into GWAR’s 2,000 gallons of fake blood, you really couldn’t ask for a better mess of talented weirdos to close out the festival.

Was the venue comfortable? Not so much. Just a whole lotta open space cluttered with very dirty dirt, sharp rocks, and dead grass. But it didn’t matter because there were loads of food & drink vendors, and an abundance of opulent porta-potties. Was the weather nice? Not at all. But again, it didn’t matter.

Despite sunburns on Wednesday, thunderstorms on Thursday, sideways rain on Friday, and bitter 30-degree temperatures all Sunday, the festival remained an inspired, upbeat, and often hilarious experience. From new lurkers like Avi Buffalo and Ume to beloved heroes like Billy Bragg and Andrew WK, MWTx showcased a huge variety of independent artists from across the musical spectrum.

Flanked by Progress Coffee across the street (THANK GOD!) and East Side Showroom one block north, as well as close to shows at Shangri-La, Miss Bea’s, and the No Age afterparty at 5th & Brushy, MWTx was ground zero for just about everything worth experiencing at this year’s conference.

As an official sponsor of this unofficial party, we were proud to help produce this year’s MWTx. It was a labor of love and friendship all the way. Thanks again to all of the staff, security, patrons and performers, we hope to see all of you again next year. Check the MWTX 4 Party photos on Flickr.