SXSW: Festival Approaching Suitably Chaotic End

UPDATE: According to Pitchfork Media via Twitter, Kanye West went onstage around 2:30 a.m.

Craig Hlavaty

​SXSW's pattern of general mayhem - brawls, collapsing cranes, gate-crashing, performers jumping off of roofs and assaulting audience members - does not seem to be letting up as the festival nears the end of the official showcases (save the few Sunday-night stragglers) in a few minutes.

The most recent example is at Beauty Bar, where for the past hour, Rocks Off's Craig Hlavaty has tweeted reports of flying chairs, bottles, tasers and a downed fence at the reunion show by louder-than-bombs Toronto duo Death From Above 1979.

Hlavaty's latest tweet says the fence that was downed earlier is back up, "for now." Follow him at @hprocksoff. Rocks Off hopes he and everyone else at the show gets out of there in one piece.

Chris Gray

​Meanwhile, Rocks Off Sr. has just returned from scouting the line for the Vevo party featuring superstar Kanye West at the decommissioned City of Austin power plant near Lamar Blvd. and Town Lake.

From what we could tell, there were at least five different lines and about that many different types of badges and laminates required for entry. Large clusters of people are just milling around - or, like we were, perhaps just wondering what the hell is going on - and one line stretched from West Ave. to Lamar Blvd.

About the only person we can confirm is inside is Diddy, because the rapper/producer and his entourage walked right by our brother. Some stragglers asked us if we knew which way he went. Beyonce is also rumored to be on hand.

According to reports from the scene, West is scheduled to go on around 3 a.m. That might be enough time to get everything sorted out. But don't count on it.

Stay tuned to Rocks Off for further updates.

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