A Texas mess, Pt. 1

Um, wow. Austin. SXSW 2008. What a party. The good times started in L.A., when I found myself sitting across the aisle from one of Metromix’s favorite funnymen, Paul F. Tompkins on the plane ride down. That was rad. Then when we landed, who’s the first person I see in baggage claim but superstar DJ Diplo, still fresh from rocking the Metromix launch party at Crash Mansion a couple of weeks ago (if you weren’t there, you totally missed something special).

From there, my first day in the land of pulled pork and Shiner Bock was marked by non-stop music celeb sightings. I said hi to Perez Hilton at the convention center while getting my SXSW badge (not that he's a music star, but whatevs). Del The Funkee Homosapien gave me props for my old-school Breeders t-shirt. I spied rapper Slug from Atmosphere sitting on the curb along 6th Street, deep in conversation with his super-cool publicist Dana. Fresh L.A. rapper Pigeon John was seen crossing the street in front of Stubb’s. El-P came through my good buddy Jessica Webber’s hip-hop meet and greet, where the always-reliable DJ Eleven wrecked the decks. All of that, and the sun hadn’t even gone down yet. When people say that the annual SXWS festival is a music Mecca, believe it. If you’re a serious music nerd, you need to be here. It’s kind of like Christmas, Mardi Gras and your best weekend in college ever all rolled into one. I mean, I haven’t even gotten started on the music I saw today (Day 1 highlight: catching the last couple of songs from Motorhead at the Scion party and the nouveau hippie psychedelic jam band Black Mountain hypnotizing the Mohawk Patio. Oh, and My Morning Jacket tearing through their own brand of post-Jerry extended play groove attack).

Hey look, it’s almost 4AM. Which means it’s just about time to gas up with a few cups of coffee and a couple of tacos before getting back into the mix for the first round of Friday day parties. So much music, so little time. Sleep is for the weak. See you on 6th Street, party people.

—Scott T. Sterling