As I posted in my Bio and on Twitter, I did not arrive at the Sheraton Hotel to check in until about 6 pm.  For those who have never been to SxSW before (much like myself), all panels end around this time and the atmosphere of this festival shifts to concert party mode. The musical experience started right from check in.  I had to walk by a crowd and in front of a stage where a band was performing to get to the front desk! See the pic below:

If that isn’t a great sign of things to come, I don’t know what is.

Jamila and I ran into each other in the lobby and both headed to the Austin Convention Center (ACC) to pick up our id badges.  Just outside we saw an orchestra playing some non-traditional music with their instruments..

This was all just a mild preamble for the night to come.  I had wanted to see the screenings of 5 seconds and Monsters, however they overlapped with Stone Temple Pilots and The XX… two bands I was not going to miss.  Zedric and myself both had the same agenda so we headed to the Austin Music Hall a bit early to make sure we got a decent view of the show.  Standing sort of near the front row before the show we noticed a balcony that looked directly over stage (basically where the band walked out on stage from).  I decided to try my luck with the Platinum Pass we received from CONN3CT and simply walked up there.  I’m not sure if the security guard knew what was going on or if I was supposed to be there, but it was pretty effortless to get back there.  What stood before me was a nearly empty balcony with the best view of a stage I have ever had.  Zedric joined me soon after and from that point on the night was unbelievable.  This was our view of STP:

THIS SHOW WAS AMAZING. .  They played every single hit they ever released and more! They brought out Robby Krieger (guitarist from the Doors!) and did a cover of Road House Blues. I plan to upload some videos soon (the files are massive and are taking really long).

The next stop for Zendric and myself was the bar Mohawk Patio to see the band The XX.  Now after seeing STP the way we did, my night was about as solid as could be (or so I thought).  The XX was highly recommended to me by a few friends, but I had never heard their music.  Somehow Zedric and myself found ourselves in the front row of this concert.. even though we got there 45 minutes before it started.  The GZA from the Wu Tang Clan was finishing up a show just as we arrived and the house was packed.  We weren’t even sure if we would get in, but luckily the crowd cleared out a bit after the GZA finished.  Right after we got in the crowd filled right back up to max capacity.  This is what our view was:

I am definitely a new fan of The XX.  They put on a great show and had a very unique sound mixing the capabilities of a drum machine with smooth vocals from both the guitarist and bassist.  I also have some videos of this show that will be uploaded later..

Anyways, in summary, THIS NIGHT WAS AWESOME! What a great way to kick of SxSW.  I hope the rest of the festival lives up to this first experience.  More to come from music and film panels a bit later.