12th March
Today is the day that the music part of SXSW kicks off. The sun is out, it's getting warm, and it's going to be a great 5 days of music madness.
There were plenty of pre SXSW parties last night, I opted to visit Emos where we were treated to the delights of Von Bondies, Scissors for Lefty, Hard Copy
and a local Austin 8 piece band called White Denim. There was also some other instantly forgettable bands playing which I instantly forgot!
I know jet lag can do funny things but I swear Judge Dredd let me go ahead of him while queuing up to get our official SXSW goodie bag yesterday. For a
while I thought I may have turned up at a comic book convention but was later told by a friend that it was all for the film part of the festival which
finishes as the music starts.
There are 1,800 bands here this year, the trick is to avoid the absolutely awful ones, which sadly is not easy to do.
Tonight sees the official showcases start with Be Your Own Pet, Sons and Daughters, Semi Precious Weapons, Ra Ra Riot, Yeasayer, These New Puritans and
Lightspeed Champion to name a few playing. With so many bands playing at the same time it's not an easy job to decide where to go, it's a tough life!
Check back for updates throughout the next few days as the real action hots up.