SXSW - Day 1

It's the first proper day of the music leg of SXSW, so I head down to the Convention Centre to go through the registration process. On the way down I decide to grab a bit of lunch from this big Whole Foods supermarket, which it turns out is actually the greatest food chain on Earth. We need one of these in Belfast, or else I'm going to move country so that I'm close to one. It's health food heaven, fresher than anything.

Anyways, it was also different from your average Tesco due to the fact that 90% of the shoppers there looked like they were in a band or worked in the music bizz, and I've never seen so many cool tattoos. I bumped into a guy called Francisco, who was wheeling his guitar around in a trolley. It turned out he had busked his way down from California, playing his guitar to get enough gas money to get to the next spot. Crazy.

This type of person and encounter becomes the norm in Austin. I've never saw so many hipsters and cool people in the same place at the same time.

The registration process turns out to be super quick and easy, despite there being mammoth queues (check out the pic). As soon as you get signed up and get your pass, you can head off and get a SXSW goodie

bag type thing. It weighs a serious amount and is filled with loads of CDs and pruck. It included free copies of Spin and Wired. Score!

Then head I round to the Belfast / Nashville Sister City Showcase at Latitude 30, which is the sort of the designated British venue for showcase gigs of bands from Scotland, England, Wales and of course Northern Ireland. Brian Houston, Foy Vance, Beth Nielsen-Chapman and more all play blinders. Foy's cover of 'Back In Black' goes down well, there is never a bad time for a bit of AC/DC. The Answer also play a few unplugged numbers, which is rocking.

After the gig I stepped out for some dinner with Robert Collins of the Arts Council. It's a weird feeling leaving a gig and encountering blazing sunshine. All good mind. Robert and I eat in the most random restaurant of all time, a place called Jezebeles, which has massive chunks of plaster missing from the walls, green astroturf on the toilet walls and paintings of naked women everywhere. The food is great though, best not to judge a book by it's cover, eh?

No time to head back to the apartment to dump the previously mentioned bag of pruck, so it's off to the first of the nighttime shows...