SXSW (Sub) Pops Into Washington At American Ice Co.!

Photo: Tatiana Goloborodko

Be sure to check out all 176 of our photographs from this event HERE!

The Guest List:

U STREET CORRIDOR -- Despite sitting some 1,500 miles away from the annual music, film, and interactive conference known as South by Southwest (SXSW), even the District couldn’t escape from the cultural clutches of the wildly popular festival. And nowhere was this more evident than on Friday night, as Sub Pop Records took over U Street Corridor mainstay American Ice Co., for a simulcast concert streamed live from the stages in Austin, Texas.

American Ice Co.’s clearly stoic bartending staff (Photo: Tatiana Goloborodko).
DJ Stretch Armstrong (Photo: Tatiana Goloborodko).
Equal parts concert and geek fest, the party saw more than 500 Washingtonians fill the eclectically decorated courtyard and inside bar area of the always bustling V Street hangout, for a four-hour long late night event that was happily underwritten by MasterCard.

(Photo: Tatiana Goloborodko)
(Photo: Tatiana Goloborodko)
Holders of the credit card giant’s high-tech new PayPass-enabled product were provided with VIP treatment for the occasion, including a completely open bar and unfettered access to some of the city’s best food trucks (e.g., Red Hook Lobster, Fojol Bros., CapMac).

(Photo: Tatiana Goloborodko)
(Photo: Tatiana Goloborodko)
PayPass uses so called “near-field” technology embedded into new debit and credit cards, fobs, stickers, and smartphones to complete transactions simply by waving said method of payment nearby an enabled reader.

(Photo: Tatiana Goloborodko)
(Photo: Tatiana Goloborodko)
While the livestreamed SXSW performances by Sub Pop artists Niki & The Dove, Spoek Mathambo, and THEESatisfaction were naturally huge draws for the occasion, longtime hip-hop DJ Stretch Armstrong had also been enlisted for the night to entertain those attendees looking for a truly live performance.

(Photo: Tatiana Goloborodko)
(Photo: Tatiana Goloborodko)
Of course with the presence of such a great festival event in D.C., it begs the question of why one should head West when the Austin sun is clearly rising in the East…

Be sure to check out all 176 of our photographs from this event HERE!