For those of us who have been going to SXSW for a number of years, we can remember a time when Rainey Street, located on the furthest east side of Cesar Chavez downtown right before you come to I-35, started as a few little houses converted into bars that hosted a few little parties during SXSW. Today the area is the haven for SXSW party-goers with a line of venues to choose from and a bevy of peddy cabs ready to take people to their next adventure. Some of the folks from Culture COLLiDE started those parties in the early days, and in 2018 #COLLiDEONRAINEY returns, turning Lustre Pearl, Container Bar, Clive Bar, Bangers, L’Estelle, and the Parlor Room into a wide variety of colorful and themed brand activations.
Showtime House – The Chi, SMILF, Shameless
Last year Culture COLLiDE partnered with Showtime to create a cool Twin Peaks Lodge in line with the show’s reboot in 2017, featuring hats, badges, buttons and other merch that became instant collector’s items, plenty of coffee and pie, along with a musical line up that carried on Julie Cruz’s ghostly legacy. The surprise visit by none other than Kyle MacLachlan was just icing on the donut.
This year Culture COLLiDE triples their partnership with Showtime to celebrate the first season successes of two key shows SMILF and The Chi, along with Shameless, over three days – March 15, 16, and 17 – at Clive Bar on Rainey.
Golden Globe nominated SMILF, a show taking on the varied layers of life as a single mother, is the creation of actor, writer, and producer Frankie Shaw (Mr. Robot, Good Girls Revolt). Shaw sets her comedy-drama (can’t use the term ‘dramedy’ in the way I can’t use the term ‘ideation’) in her old stomping grounds of South Boston. “Part of the show’s charm is exposing some of the darker elements of humanity, but doing it with levity and with humor and with heart, hopefully,” Shaw told EW.
The darker elements, including sexual harrassment and abuse storylines told from the viewpoint of the woman, are inspired by well-known men, including Trump’s pussy grab tape to Woody Allen’s infamous quote, “The heart wants what it wants. There’s no logic to these things.”
On the slate to perform at the Culture COLLiDE SMILF party in Austin on March 15 are Princess Nokia, U.S. Girls, Sudan Archives.
The Chi, created by Emmy-winner and Chicago native, Lena Waithe, whose writers and directors are heralded by Variety as coming “at the city’s vitality and violence from inside the residents’ points of view, rather than imposing judgments from a perch far away from Cook County.” The musical line up on March 16 includes Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, Leikeli47, DJ sets from Lani Love.
If you’re a fan of the show, make sure to add the SXSW Featured Session on March 12, 2pm-3pm with The Chi’s Lena Waithe, producer Common, actors Jacob Latimore and Jason Mitchell, with TV Guide’s Jim Halterman moderating.
It’s appropriate that Showtime scheduled Shameless Clive takeover on St. Patrick’s Day, or St. Gallagher’s Day, with Shanola Hampton, who plays V on the show, and Steve Howey, known as Kevin, serving up the cocktails to the show’s fans. Their slate of perfomers that “really rock” include BRONCHO, WAVVES, and The Nude Party (appropriate selection in more ways the one), and more.
The additional COLLiDE programming on Rainey includes previous sweettooth brand partners including M&Ms, TWIX, Snickers Social Eatery, and Maltesers with a shot of wheat grass via the VEGA POWERPLANT and Produce Marketing Association, with Dr. Marten’s bootstomping leather, StubHub, a Playground Pop-up featuring Grandmaster Flash and Spinderella all sandwiched in between.
The full Culture COLLiDE on Rainey schedule and RSVP link for daytime shows: https://culturecollide.com/collideonrainey. Badges required for nighttime showcases.
For the full programming details go to SXSW.com.
