FIRST IMPRESSIONS >>>

Walking through crowded Sixth Street in downtown Austin was startlingly similar to strolling on the midway at a carnival. Enormous crowds of people push past each other, music blaring from every location, the smell of food carts sweetening the air, lights garishly illuminating the fronts of buildings which-frankly-begin to resemble haunted houses full of giddy revelers.

I passed by a burning trashcan that no one had any intention of putting out.

My first night at SXSW was decidedly a learning experience. After trying and failing to squeeze in to see Weekend at the Pitchfork-curated show, I ducked into a bar that was being entertained by a live DJ spinning breakbeats. On the wall was a sign that boasted "no irony."

Walking around on Sixth Street, I ran into my first Tacomans here in Austin: The Night Beats. Apparently, they are playing something like 12 shows over the next few days. I have to find time to see them and show them my support.

Afterward, I hit up Esther's Follies to catch some live standup from some of my favorites, including Shane Mauss (of Last Comic Standing notoriety, perhaps), Doug Benson, Eugene Mirman and Aziz Ansari.

As the night was getting long, I decided it was worth another try at seeing a band, so I headed to the Batbar and saw a set from Mister Heavenly, a super group of sorts featuring Nick Thorburn (Islands, the Unicorns), Honus Wagner (Man Man), Joe Plummer (Modest Mouse) and actor Michael Cera on bass. Their music was dark and stompy, with an unexpected doo wop flavor. A nice way to end the night.

Well, it would have been if I hadn't decided to stop at that Mexican restaurant and eat a shitty torta with a chicken-fried steak in the middle before heading back to my hostel. That was another, harsher learning experience.