Photo: Press
A local musician was shot during an armed robbery following a show at SXSW.
The annual festival started on Friday (March 10). Michael Sanders, a guitarist with the band Löwin, was robbed when he was returning home from a A Giant Dog show on Friday night.
The Austin Chronicle, a local newspaper, reports that three masked assailants set upon Sanders near his home after hiding in the bushes of his neighborhood. During the attack, Sanders was shot in the shoulder and his wallet and mobile phone were stolen.
While he is expecting to make a full recovery, Sanders will now be unable to perform with Löwin during the band’s three gigs at SXSW this week.
The incident follows an arrest made at last year’s SXSW of a man who fired gunshots.
Meanwhile, an Italian band who were set to play at this year’s festival were arrested at the airport last week and subsequently deported for “illegal immigration” as they tried to enter the US.
The band Soviet Soviet were due to play a series of shows at SXSW before following on to a press tour of the country. However, they were apprehended by security staff in Seattle, before being jailed and sent back to Italy the next day.
SXSW has also been criticised this year for a clause in its contract that suggested the festival could report performers to immigration authorities if they so wished. While the clause had nothing to do with Soviet Soviet’s deportation, organisers did promise to remove that section of the contract from next year onwards.
