SXSW: Day One - Sasha

At the moment, I am sitting on a sunken-in futon with no sheets. I've slept here the past two nights, though "sleep" would be an overstatement. This ad hoc Austin home has five bedrooms, eleven bodies, and no windows. My face, lips, and eyeballs are flushed red, my ears are buzzing, and my wallet is empty, despite multiple ATM withdrawals and their ensuing $4 fees. Yep, it's South by Southwest.

Yesterday, March 12th, marked the first day of SXSW's music programming. Because there are a lot of logistics to bolt down before things really pop off (and because no one ever has their shit together ever), I spent my first 24 hours in Austin as many do: running around, waiting in lines and then abandoning them, and trying to figure out approximately how many Coronas equals one day's sustenance (still working this out, will report back).

Here's the breakdown of Day One:

Standing in line for 25 minutes at a coffee shop while Adele's "Someone Like You" blasting through the speakers.

Wavves @ VICELAND

Wavves hit the scene when surf rock and toking were being championed by music blogs and Urban Outfitters alike. It would be easy to lump them in with a passing fad, but their forthcoming release, Afraid of Heights, proves that Nathan and Stephen are more than capable of writing songs with substance and staying power. The foursome peppered their high-octane set with both new tracks and old fan favorites, and those kids ate it up and ordered seconds.

Japandroids @ VICELAND

I am really not just saying this because their set happened to take place on our home turf. I'll level with you: Japandroids' Celebration Rock is such a huge sounding record, it can be really difficult—maybe impossible?—to recreate it in a live setting with just two dudes, a guitar, and a drum kit. While Brian King and David Prowse might not necessarily deliver on what some people might expect from a live band, which is a set that mimics the songs on the album, they more than compensate with a show that's almost uncontrollably charged and churning, prioritizing communicating the feel of the record over the sound. Basically, Japandroids is a party band, and Goddamn it, it was a party. Whoaaaah oh oh uhoh oh oh.

An elderly couple rapturously clinging to the VICELAND fence, trying to catch a peek of Wavves and Japandroids from outside the grounds.

Korean-meets-Mexican tofu kimchi burrito from the Chi'lantro truck.

"Who is this? This sounds really good…" (Outside a venue playing Nirvana between sets)

Home is where the free booze is.

Vibing hard alone on the couch to the new Autre Ne Veut album playing through a tiny portable speaker and drinking Bulleit Bourbon out of the bottle while everyone else was occupied "socializing."

Sasha's eyeballs are sunburnt. How does that even happen? Follow her on Twitter - @sashahecht