Vic's Diary: Day 1 - Part 1

The indigenous people of Austin, Texas must laugh, and quite possibly groan, every time the middle of March comes around. When boarding a plane bound for this fair city, the travellers resemble a jumble-sale of indie-kids and rock'n'roll casualties and 'normal' people realise that their town is to be invaded over the next few days. it's SXSW!

So it was an early start for me, boarding in Edinburgh at 8am, changing in Newark and Houston before finally arriving in Austin at 9pm - something like 20 hours of travelling...ouch! Still, I wasn't just going to crash out in my hotel even if I was knackered. I checked in, then hit the town - meeting Muslim, Mark and Nick from the Radio 1 and BBC Scotland team.

We went straight to 'Emos' - possibly the most legendary of all venues in town, and the most punk-rockin'! The other guys haven't been here before so this was a good baptism of fire...and we saw a couple of random bands, followed by 'The Von Bondies'. Always a great live prospect, they still sound as raw, garage-y and vital as when I first heard them six years or so ago. After a margarita or 2, it was eventually time to hit the hay and catch some zzzz's!

Today started with strong coffee, checking my emails in my hotel room (oh, technology is amazing isn't it?) and heading down to the busy-as-ever convention centre to register, get my pass and see the first band of the day - Cassettes Wont Listen. One guy and his machines, who sounded a bit Postal Service and covered Pavement's "Cut your hair" - nice. I then bumped into 'The Dykeenies' and 'Stuart Maconie', having brief chat with both.

Time to hot foot it to 'Las Manitas' for breakfast tacos in the sunshine. Ah, this is the life! The SXSW goodie bag is now safely in my hotel room, and so it's off to interview Sons and Daughters for the site and then prepare for my Radio 1 show tonight. It's live..gulp..and we're using bizarre equipment so I'll have to concentrate! After the show's done, I'll be hitting the hustle and bustle of 6th street to meet friends, see bands and breathe it all in. As if I need to say it again, SXSW is awesome..hasta manana, muchachos!

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