Day One: Wednesday started off with an early morning drive from Houston to Austin, hotel and SXSW check-in (Rolling Stone writer David Fricke was in front of us in line for badges), and then the Done Waiting party for Goes Cube (loud and great) and Room 710 for Houston punk band The Born Liars (always good to see live).

We stood in line for 30-45 minutes at the Fader party, met a really nice Englishman who gave us a CD (thanks Keegan!) and then hung with him a while and saw the incredible electro-pop band The Whip–who I highly recommend–and then a few songs by Jeremy Jay (not bad), and hit the Done Waiting party again for impressive sets by A.A. Bondy and Joseph Arthur. After hooking up with the art director of Envy magazine (and later the former editor), we caught the Shout Out Louds at a party and later, Earlimart at some DirectTV broadcast (which was an odd experience).

Later in the night, I caught Houston rock band Pale at Lucky Lounge. They played a stellar set that kept the crowd interested–was good to see. I called it a night after that, saving up for Thursday and Friday.