SXSW Day One

For the record, fifteen hours in a car is just too long, no matter what. Discomfort turns into exhaustion, which turns into delirium, which turns into hallucinations. Long story short: We Arrived.
I've been in the music industry for a while now, and in many ways I am jaded. I am not, however, jaded enough to not fall under the spell of Austin. It's a fantastic place that is best described as eccentric; it still retains its own identity in the midst of the very large and loaded-with-preconceived-notions state of Texas. During the music festival known as South by Southwest, every available room, space, vestibule, or cubicle is taken over by organizations (record labels, booking agencies, magazines, radio stations) and packed from open until close with bands from all parts of the world, usually in blocks of 45 minutes. Spring has sprung here, and it's absolutely fantastic weather. We arrived last night 4:30-ish, caught a few hours sleep and headed downtown: streets are closed, everybody's out and about as music bleeds from one venue into the next. We found our way to the New West Party at Club de Ville and really enjoyed Tim Easton's set. To make this even better, they had a great set up providing small plates of cooked chicken tortillas (pictures provided). Corb Lund followed, and had the fantastic and notable line "Good Copenhagen is better than bad cocaine". We took off for a bit and walked down 6th St., making our way through the crowds, dodging the music bleed, and noting the lengthy lines to get into the more popular places, not unlike the long lines at an amusement park that you decide can't possibly be worth waiting in. Took a break in the Driskell Hotel before heading out again to catch the Gary Louris / Mark Olsen set. It's been a long time since I've seen the Jayhawks in any formation, and it was great to hear them.
A few blocks away we were trying to check out the Hold Steady show, but not only was the club packed wall to wall, there was a line around the block waiting. Headed to the Alternative Press party at 5th & Congress, which turned out to be a DJ party on the roof of a building. While beautiful and full to capacity and definitely a hip an happening place, it was chest-thumping-ly and ear splitting-ly loud. On the sidewalk outside, we found a few options down Congress across the river. After walking 17 blocks or so, we ended up in front of Guero's, and the answer presented itself.
The goal of the night at this point was to make it to Stubb's to see http://www.gomeztheband.com/. As we got in line, security informed us and everyone behind us that they were sold out and that we would not be able to get in. Unless we wanted to wait a bit, then maybe we could. Well, ok. We hung out a bit in line, moved forward and they eventually let us and a few of those behind us in, and it was definitely the payoff of the night. Stubbs was packed and gomez was fantastic (if you are unfamiliar, start with How We Operate) and I'm really looking forward to their new album coming out at the end of this month.
Being on our feet all day has finally taken its toll, so to rest we go. Tomorrow will be another fun filled day. Unfortunately, the wireless networks are severly taxed down here and I am for the most part unable to do any kind of serious writing or updating during the day, apart from the twitter type status updates. With that in mind, you will be able to find out what's going on with us throughout the day in 140 characters or less at twitter.com/bsm1
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