It's Day Three, and fatigue sets in. It will be defeated by the power of rock eventually, but at one point, South By Southwest becomes an endurance test, but one that–like a marathon or something, I imagine–makes you feel good in the long run.
12:40 p.m.: Free Saucony shoes at the Flameshovel/Riot Act Media party. Yeah, free shoes!
2:15 p.m.: Way out yonder (well, a mile or so), Sub Pop and Merge throw a great day party in the backyard of a BBQ joint. Comedian Eugene Mirman shticks between bands, and he's pretty damn funny, but doesn't stick around long enough. Band Of Horses, a new Sub Pop band that features members of Carissa's Wierd (yup, they spelled it that way), is pretty damn fine, too.
5 p.m.: RJD2 is playing DJ at the Pitchfork day party, which takes place in a tent across the street from Emo's, a big club that also sort of geographically anchors the downtown clubs. No one seems to notice that RJD2 is playing DJ, though, as it just sorta sounds like someone is playing records between bands. Which, come to think of it, is exactly what's happening.
5:30 p.m.: Art Brut, who I've been wanting to catch since we got here, closes out the tent party, and the British band is funny, sloppy, and weird. Singer Eddie Argos has a killer moustache. They blaze through 25 minutes, including an updated version of the song "Emily Kane," in which Argos updates the story of his long-lost girlfriend. It's fucking charming.
6:40 p.m.: We Are Scientists, last year's super buzzing band at SXSW (and owners of an excellent, Killers-like album this year), perform three songs for a live broadcast on a Minnesota radio station. Have you ever seen a band play in a little conference room on the top floor of a hotel? It's actually pretty cool. The DJ interviews bassist Chris Cain–he of the semi-ironic moustache–between songs, and he's hilarious. The band is great, too: How is their record not totally massive yet?
10 p.m.: Same hotel, same floor, different side, it's Eric Bachmann playing the No Depression night. He's not necessarily a fit for that crowd, but he is amazing, especially with the addition of some new songs and a violin player. The acoustic "Islero" is fiery.
11 p.m.: There's always one show where you'd have to wait all night to get in, and it might be Editors at the Ritz. It's probably people waiting to see KT Tunstall, but who's sticking around to find out?
11:15 p.m.: Clem Snide here is Eef Barzelay solo, who's battling hard against a bad sound system, another band playing outside, and even–oh the inhumanity–a sound system right behind him that won't stop playing hip-hop. He plays an angry set, which is still pretty damn impressive. But ideal conditions there are not.
12:20 a.m.: You haven't been to Austin in March until you've been nearly run over on the sidewalk by Juliette Lewis. Slow down, rocker!
12:40 a.m.: Text message from Kyle: "Make the blues music stop." Note that he still wants music, just not blues. Good for you, Kyle!