One thing to realize when you go to sxsw....you are going to miss something. the shear number of bands in town and playing numerous gigs is staggering. Each day is full of sponsored day parties (free w/ rsvp) virtually all over town, featuring bands all day (everybody gets about 45min. to hour sets). As day turns to night sxsw takes over about 78 clubs/venues. Each of these clubs’s showcases feature about 5-6 acts (tied together and sponsored by a common record label, magazine, etc.). After you do the math, keep in mind this doesn't even include the countless number of "unofficial" sxsw nighttime parties that go to the wee hours. With that being said, I decided to start off day 1 close to NOLA. I started out at Momo's for a party sponsored by our friends at Hyper-soul. featuring a slew of New Orleans musicians. The first act was Colin Lake who put forth a powerful set, even though in between each song you could here the sound of bagpipes coming in from a nearby St. Patrick’s day celebration. This drew to me to the Guinness/The Authority sponsored St. Patrick’s Day party, (eat your heart out O'Meara) where I caught a handful of Irish bands, playing to a pretty packed house (which included Sissy Spacek, and no unfortunately she wasn't wearing the prom dress soaked in blood) I then made it back to Momo's for The Stooges Brass Band (with Big Sam sitting in), followed by a solo Anders Osborne performance. I then hit the streets (which were insanely crowded) to go by a couple of other parties, upon arriving both parties had lines around the corner. I did stop and observe a little street side music before the day wrapped. At night I started out at out the Flamingo Cantina, where local based label Park The Van was having there showcase, including Giant Cloud, The Pharmacy, as well as rockin' set by Floating Action (Seth Kaufman) good stuff all around. Also briefly caught Orgone (a great funk band from Hollywood) as well as got to hear a little of Broken Bells (new Dangermouse/Shins frontman project) as we walked by since the line to get in wrapped around the corner. (unfortunately this happens a lot during sxsw.) All said day 1 worked out well, even got to run into a couple of familiar faces as well, but stay tuned this is only the beginning.