M.I.A.
Photo: Roger Kisby/Getty Images

As usual, this year's Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival will feature more than 100 acts, including several reunited alternative-rock giants mixed in with some of the hottest acts touring today. The festival will take place on the weekend of April 25-27 in Indio, California, and be headlined by Jack Johnson, Jack White's Raconteurs, reunited bands the Verve and the Breeders, Death Cab for Cutie, My Morning Jacket and former Pink Floyd leader Roger Waters (who will perform Dark Side of the Moon).

Festival organizers also confirmed that they are launching a new event on the East Coast called All Points West Music & Arts Festival, a three-day event set for August 8-10 at Liberty State Park in New Jersey. No lineup or ticketing information has been announced for the event, which appears to be in direct competition with the Vineland Music Festival slated to launch in New Jersey this summer from the people behind Lollapalooza and England's Reading Festival.

Among the rarely touring acts performing over the course of the Coachella weekend are trip-hop legends Portishead, who are releasing their first album in more than a decade in April, as well as German techno pioneers Kraftwerk and long dormant English psychedelic rockers Spiritualized. The first night of the festival is packed with some of the best dance and alt-rock bands of the moment, including the National, Animal Collective, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Battles, Aesop Rock, Spank Rock, Santogold, Vampire Weekend, Black Lips, Rogue Wave and Architecture in Helsinki.

Saturday night's lineup is just as strong, with acts that include M.I.A., Cold War Kids, Café Tacuba, Rilo Kiley, Mark Ronson, Islands, Cinematic Orchestra, Jamie T, VHS or Beta, Bonde Do Role, Akron Family, MGMT, and the Bird and the Bee. In addition to the sure-to-be-trippy capper from Waters, the final night will also feature a reunited Love and Rockets, dance stars Justice, gypsy-rock punks Gogol Bordello, Chromeo, the Streets, Metric, Simian Mobile Disco, Murs, Autolux, Les Savy Fav, the Cool Kids, Sia, Black Kids, Black Mountain, Kid Sister with A-Trak, I'm From Barcelona, Manchester Orchestra and the Horrors.

Tickets for the fest will be available this Friday, with three-day admission going for $269 and single-day tickets for $90; camping is an additional $55 per person.

The full lineups for each day are:

Friday, April 25: Jack Johnson, the Verve, Raconteurs, the Breeders, Fatboy Slim, Tegan and Sara, Madness, the Swell Season, the National, Animal Collective, Slightly Stoopid, Múm, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Stars, Battles, Aesop Rock, Midnight Juggernauts, Does It Offend You, Yeah?, Minus the Bear, Spank Rock, Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip, Diplo, Adam Freeland, Santogold, Jens Lekman, John Butler Trio, Vampire Weekend, Dan Deacon, Architecture in Helsinki, Sandra Collins, Busy P, Cut Copy, Black Lips, Datarock, Professor Murder, Reverend and the Makers, the Bees, Porter, Rogue Wave, Modeselektor, American Bang, Lucky I Am.

Saturday, April 26: Portishead, Kraftwerk, Death Cab for Cutie, Café Tacuba, Sasha & Digweed, Rilo Kiley, Dwight Yoakam, M.I.A., Hot Chip, Cold War Kids, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, DeVotchKa, Flogging Molly, Mark Ronson, Turbonegro, Scars on Broadway, Islands, Enter Shikari, Calvin Harris, Boyz Noize, Junkie XL, Cinematic Orchestra, Jamie T, the Teenagers, VHS or Beta, Carbon/Silicon, Erol Alkan, Yo Majesty!, Little Brother, Bonde Do Role, St. Vincent, Akron Family, MGMT, Institubes DJs (Surkin, Para One and Orgasmic), James Zabiela, Sebastian, Kavinsky, Dredg, the Bird and the Bee, Grand Ole Party, New Young Pony Club, 120 Days, Yoav, Electric Touch, Uffie.

Sunday, April 27: Roger Waters, Love and Rockets, My Morning Jacket, Spiritualized, Justice, Gogol Bordello, Chromeo, the Streets, Metric, Danny Tenaglia, Simian Mobile Disco, Booka Shade, Murs, Dmitri from Paris, Autolux, the Field, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Les Savy Fav, the Cool Kids, Sons & Daughters, Sia, Holy F---, Black Kids, Black Mountain, the Annuals, Kid Sister with A-Trak, Man Man, Duffy, I'm From Barcelona, Manchester Orchestra, Deadmau5, the Horrors, Austin TV, Shout Out Louds, Plastiscines, Brett Dennen.

Planning on going to Coachella or any other big music fests this year? Be sure to join the You R Here community, where you can upload your concert photos, videos and reviews. Go there now to check out coverage of last year's Lollapalooza and Bonnaroo festivals.

• Rage Against The Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Amy Winehouse, More At Coachella 2007

• M.I.A.
• Pink Floyd
• Portishead
• Jack Johnson
• Raconteurs

<i>"High School Musical 2": Non-Stop Dance Party</i>
Photo: Disney

While many people unpacked their stuffed stockings this week, Santa skipped over the record stores, presenting them with hardly any gifts. In a week befitting the lump of coal that was 2007 — CD sales dropped nearly 20 percent — the year is ending with a whimper.

Symbolically, though, one of the only physical releases hitting stores is "High School Musical 2": Non-Stop Dance Party, a new set for the frothing "HSM" masses. With the exception of Josh Groban's Noël, the "High School Musical 2" soundtrack was the best-seller of the year, so it's apt that another title from the ensemble is providing the '07 aftertaste.

The disc — which counts "Gotta Go My Own Way," "You Are the Music in Me" and the tongue-twisting "Humuhumunukunukuapua'a" among its 12 tracks — transforms the original "HSM2" soundtrack into a continuous dance mix. It's also dripping with extra material, including a "bonus megamix," a video mix, a slide-show of images from the movie and — get this — printable party invitations!

Beyond that release, the only other discs hitting terrestrial stores are the original cast recording of "Young Frankenstein: The New Mel Brooks Musical," which houses a book by Brooks, and a bunch of John Lennon reissues coming in the form of mini vinyl CDs.

Well-suited for a year that saw another burst in digital sales while CDs dipped, more artists are putting out albums online this week as opposed to in brick-and-mortar stores. Breakout act Cold War Kids have hopped on the RCRD LBL bandwagon by reissuing their hard-to-find Mulberry Street EP for free on the label's Web site. The Southern California indie-rockers slipped out three six-song EPs before issuing their Robbers & Cowards album on Downtown Records last year, and Mulberry Street was the first of them.

"In between takes, [collaborator M.] Wignall would play an album over the speakers, like Iggy Pop's Lust for Life or Neil Young's After the Gold Rush, and go on long rants, pointing out sounds and talking about how good these musicians were and how we would be lucky if in 10 years we could play a song anywhere near this good," bandmember Nathan Willett said in a statement. "We thought, 'Who cares! We just want to record our songs for us!' Then he showed us how to record vocals while he went to mow the lawn."

Also doing the EP thing are A Fine Frenzy, whose iTunes Live Session comes out Thursday. The singer/songwriter/pianist formerly known as Alison Sudol chalked up live versions of four songs from her One Cell in the Sea debut, which dropped over the summer. The tracks include the album's lead single, "Almost Lover," as well as "The Minnow and the Trout," "Borrowed Time" and "Last of Days."

That Frenzy aside, there's not much more happening on the new-releases front this week — the record store is not the place to get your New Year's Eve party on this year. Check back next week when Radiohead and Smashing Pumpkins kick off 2008 in style with a physical version of In Rainbows and a four-song acoustic EP, respectively.

New Releases:

· Various artists - "High School Musical 2": Non-Stop Dance Party (enhanced; Disney)
· Various artists - "Young Frankenstein: The New Mel Brooks Musical" (Decca Broadway)

Notable Reissues and Archival Material:

· John Lennon - Double Fantasy; Imagine; John Lennon/ Plastic Ono Band; Milk and Honey; Mind Games; The Plastic Ono Band - Live Peace in Toronto 1969; Rock 'N' Roll; Shaved Fish; Some Time in New York City; and Walls and Bridges (mini vinyl CDs; Capitol/EMI)

Digital Releases:

· A Fine Frenzy - iTunes Live Session (available exclusively on iTunes)
· Cold War Kids - Mulberry Street EP (available for free at RCRDLBL.com)
· Jackie DeShannon - The Best of Jackie DeShannon (Capitol/EMI)
· Spandau Ballet - The Twelve Inch Mixes (Chrysalis/EMI)

Coming Attractions:

January 1:
· Radiohead - In Rainbows (TBD/ATO) [Preorder]
· Smashing Pumpkins - American Gothic (EP; available on iTunes)
· Various artists - "Elvis: Viva Las Vegas" soundtrack (Sony)

January 8:
· Sia - Some People Have Real Problems (Monkey Puzzle) [Preorder]
· Testament - Demonic and Hammer of the Gods reissues (Prosthetic)
· Various artists - ... And All the Pieces Matter: Five Years of Music From "The Wire" (Nonesuch)

January 15:
· Eels - Meet the Eels: Essential Eels Vol. 1, 1996-2006 (CD and DVD; Dreamworks/Geffen/UMe); and Eels Useless Trinkets: B-Sides, Soundtracks, Rarities and Unreleased - 1996-2006 (two CDs and one DVD; Dreamworks/Geffen/UMe) [Preorder]
· Jon Foreman - Fall/Winter (two EPs; lowercase people/ Credential Recordings)
· Spice Girls - Greatest Hits (enhanced; two discs; Virgin) [Preorder]

• Cold War Kids

Interpol's Paul Banks performs on Saturday at Lollapalooza
Photo: Jeff Gentner/Getty Images

CHICAGO — Perry Farrell's good luck ran out on Saturday (August 4) when the predicted rain finally fell from the sky to the tune of Karen O's manic wails. But the downpour surely didn't dampen the spirits of the Lollapalooza crowd, which grew significantly on this, the festival's second day.

(Get your Lollapalooza fill: Watch the Roots' ?uestlove, Perry Farrell, Cold War Kids, Stephen Marley and more chill in the shade with Tim Kash and see snaps of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Daft Punk, M.I.A., the Rapture and more.)

Instead of bringing down the mood, the rain kind of cooled things off and made for a nice, humid vibe during Interpol's closing set, as lights were hit with rain, sending steam into the air. Taking the stage like a gang of new-wave Black Barts, Interpol closed out day two of Lollapalooza with style, a boatload of low-end and the velvet-rope-jumping swagger they've become famous for. The thudding bass of dressed-in-black Carlos D. and the molar-rattling kick-drum of Sam Fogarino set the crowd dancing (and doing other things) during the see-sawing "Slow Hands, " as the somber group kicked off a 70-plus-minute set that alternated between propulsive rockers and moody meditations.

It was hard to gauge just what inscrutable singer Paul Banks — also, of course, dressed in black pants, black shirt and sporting a black wristband — was thinking, since his blond mop of hair was hanging in his face for much of the set and he didn't speak except for a perfunctory hello to the rain-soaked crowd.

All the fans needed to hear was the group's string of midset narcotic lullabies building up to the stadium-size anthem "Evil, " which has "instant classic" written all over it. From the Pixies-like walking bass intro to the rat-a-tat drums, Banks' just-behind-the-beat singing and the slashing/watery guitar line from Daniel Kessler, the tune lived up to the band's rock and roll desperado look. And when Carlos D. held up his bass to play his part as if it were a giant Roman Candle, it almost made you wish some sparks would fly out of it.

The rain let up just in time for Muse's closing set, which was a visual stunner: 10-foot panels of pulsating lights, with blinding strobes, and gigantic screens, projecting strange sci-fi (think "Tron") and politically tinged imagery. Opening with "Take a Bow," a powerful commentary on both President Bush and former Prime Minister Tony Blair's decision to enter Iraq, Muse reinvigorated the soggy crowd. The band couldn't have been more on — every note was executed masterfully, making this the perfect ending to a day full of high points.

Next came "Hysteria, " followed by "Supermassive Black Hole" and "Butterflies and Hurricanes." Frontman Matthew Bellamy's haunting vocals put an interesting spin on the band's only cover of the night, Nina Simone's "Feeling Good. " The anthemic performance continued with "Apocalypse Please," "Invincible," "Starlight" and "Time Is Running Out," all of which had the audience mesmerized — these guys put on a huge rock show, which ended with the triumphant "Knights of Cydonia." Muse set the bar pretty high and will be a tough act to best on Sunday.

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs certainly brought the power as well. As we've learned from musical history, rock stars are born, not made. And whatever DNA contributed to the makeup of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O must have been one wicked batch. The dynamo lead singer of the indie champs stole the show Saturday with a fashion-forward set that had more costume changes than a Cher extravaganza and some rebel yells that threatened to rattle the windows of the skyscrapers on the Chicago skyline.

Strutting onto the stage in a giant silver cape with black Charlie Brown-style wavy stripes and silver tassels hanging off the neck, O took center stage and eyed the audience before dropping the cape to reveal an all-black leather outfit — bustier, shorts, fingerless gloves, some kind of skirt — accented by silver high-tops and black criss-cross leggings. As the band ripped into the monster-stomping "Sealings, " with O yelling, "Shoot, shoot out your mouth, " she exuded rock-star cool from the first moment, owning the audience.

The punk blues of "Honeybear" lurched around like a drunken, well, Lollapalooza fan, speeding up, slowing down and dropping into grinding dirges as the rain began to fall. O messed with her stage getup throughout the set, putting on a feathered mask with silver tassels, draping her face in a silver shawl, ripping her gloves off with her teeth and smearing her red lipstick around so it looked like she'd been punched in the mouth.

The day started off way more mellow, but no less ominous, with a disco-dance-of-death set from Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, whose singer, Alec Ounsworth, sounded less like former Talking Heads frontman David Byrne — whom he is often compared to — and more like a helium-voice preacher. The jangly sounds of "Yankee Go Home" (with the unforgettable refrain "Yankee go, Yankee go, Yankee go home") morphed into a spooky waltz that sounded way too creepy to play in broad daylight — and the day had plenty of creepiness.

After opening by singing a cappella, accompanying herself on percussion by tapping on the microphone rhythmically, oddball singer/songwriter Regina Spektor paid tribute to a legendary artist who would take the stage a few hours later, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Patti Smith, by playing her song "Poor Little Rich Boy," which, in turn, references Smith's version of the Who's "My Generation." Again improvising for percussion, Spektor banged on a chair with a drumstick while playing piano with her left hand during the spare tune. Spektor also stopped her set midway into the second song, "On the Radio," when she spotted a fan who had passed out in the middle of the crowd, urging security to get her some help. "I think there's someone sick," she said in her kewpie-doll voice.

Snow Patrol also reached out to a fellow Lolla act during their set with a duet with Silversun Pickups bassist Nikki Monninger, who filled in for Martha Wainwright on the track "Set the Fire to the Third Bar." The overly polite Scots (frontman Gary Lightbody thanked the audience after every song the band performed and even dedicated each track — to the crowd, to the other bands on the bill, to Monninger "for being so sweet") performed a veritable best-of from their growing catalog, including songs like "Run," "Chasing Cars" (the closing chorus of which the singer left to the audience), "How to Be Dead" and "Spitting Games," which Lightbody dedicated to a man in the front row, who was dressed, from head to toe, in a Spider-Man costume and waving an Irish flag to catch the singer's attention.

About 20 seconds into the song, the Spider-Man wannabe made a beeline for the stairs leading up to the stage but was tackled by a team of security guards before he could make it past the third step. As the final notes of "Spitting Games" reverberated across the open field, echoing off the trees, Lightbody, disappointment in his voice, muttered, "Well, I guess he wasn't the real Spider-Man."

One of the warmest receptions of the day was bestowed upon the Cold War Kids, whose set was impassioned, flawless, and, at times, soulful. There wasn't a person in the fist-pumping audience who wasn't singing along with frontman Nathan Willett — doing his best Joe Cocker impersonation — during "Hang Me Up to Dry."

Next up was this generation's answer to P-Funk, the Roots, arguably the tightest band here at Lollapalooza. The band turned up the funk with a genre-spanning medley filled with chunky bass, virtuoso guitar (that inspired some rapturous hyperbole from our blogger), mind-boggling drum solos and a complete horn section. The Roots shifted effortlessly, and without skipping a beat, from Sugar Hill Gang's "Rapper's Delight" to Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida," then to the Gang's "Apache" and Biz Markie's "Just a Friend." Next came ODB's "Shimmy Shimmy Ya," Salt-N-Pepa's "Push It" and MIMS' "This Is Why I'm Hot."

The band's performance even attracted the likes of Geico's Caveman, who made his way through the sea of sweaty flesh in front of the stage, giving high-fives and posing for pictures with the hippies that saturated the crowd. The Roots ended things with a cover of the New Birth's "I Can Understand It," which then faded into a captivating James Brown medley. Still, all the folks here had to contend with was a slight drizzle, but the clouds above Chicago are getting darker, and more and more engorged with rain.

Meanwhile, over on the MySpace stage, the Hold Steady geared up and turned out perhaps the most entertaining performance thus far — if only because of how much fun these guys obviously have when they're in their element. The blood rushed to Steady frontman Craig Finn's face as he spit out the lyrics to fan faves like "Chips Ahoy!," "First Night" and "You Can Make Him Like You." And appearances aren't deceiving in this band's case — these dudes absolutely love being onstage.

"We played here last summer, and I said it was the most fun I'd ever had before 3 p.m.," Finn, who was sporting a Ron Gardenhire jersey, explained. "This is shaping up to be the most fun I've had in my life."

Sherwood started off the day on the MySpace stage with a feel-good, feedback-filled set that included a confession. "We've never been to a Lollapalooza before," said frontman Nate Henry. "I'm sorta confused as to how this happened."

The first act to hit the main stage was Ontario, Canada's Tokyo Police Club, a young indie/ garage-rock outfit whose every song seemed to end on a dime. The band woke the crowd up with a heaping helping of bombastic drum blasts, tinny guitar squeals and thick, syrupy bass lines. And despite the early hour, the turnout for the Club was strong. "It's shocking to see so many of you here," noted frontman Josh Hook before the band launched into the explosive "Box." The crowd showed their appreciation, applauding loudly for the Lolla virgins.

Later on, Minneapolis rockers Tapes n' Tapes churned out a driving set that was so loud it nearly blew the MySpace stage's amps — but not loud enough to scare away at least three dads in attendance, who traipsed through the crowd with infants strapped to their chests. The highlight of the band's volatile performance was "Beach Girls," during which drummer Greg Alsop hammered the skins as if the fate of the free world depended on it.

I'm From Barcelona also warmed up the already-warm crowd with a memorable pre-noon set. The 20-plus-member Swedish band (which included everything from a tuba player to a percussionist with banana-shaped maracas) nearly topped the Polyphonic Spree's Friday set when it came to stage-filling energy and enthusiasm. With songs about chicken pox ("You can't have it once you've had it") and cassettes, lead singer Emanuel Lundgren led the wacky pop/polka powerhouse through a set that had crowd members' hands waving in the air and included a kazoo solo from a fan who claimed he'd never had the pox.

The pre-lunch hours also brought a rare bit of soul to the proceedings, with a funky set from sets from Georgia's Ryan Shaw, a dreadlocked Sam Cooke-alike who had to raise the roof even higher to with the sound bleeding over from dour rocker Pete Yorn on an adjacent stage.

And if you haven't heard of R&B singer Kevin Michael yet, there's a good chance you will soon. Though he played to a sparse crowd, the young singer with the towering afro and a voice that mixes the soulful side of Michael Jackson with a hip-hop edge, played (tellingly) to a mostly female audience during his short set. Unfortunately, hometown hero Lupe Fiasco didn't show up to reprise his cameo on the hand-clapping banger "We All Want the Same Thing," but Michael's keyboard and guitarist/beatboxer band held it down ably as the buff crooner jumped down off of the stage to get some face time with his adoring female fans.

Make sure to stick with MTVNews.com for your Lollapalooza news all weekend.

Seen a great show? MTV News wants your photos, videos and reports from all the latest concerts, including Lollapalooza, for our new You R Here community site. Check out the site to read, rate and comment on reviews from around the globe. We'll put the best stuff on our You R Here blog, and even in on-air news!

[This story was originally published on 8.4.07 at 6:11 p.m. ET.]

• A Look Back At Lollapalooza 2007

• Pearl Jam, Amy Winehouse, Lupe Fiasco, M.I.A., More At Lollapalooza 2007

• Interpol
• Muse
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs
• Snow Patrol
• Cold War Kids

Lupe Fiasco
Photo: MTV News

• Lupe Fiasco
• Ben Harper
• Amy Winehouse
• Juliette & the Licks
• Kings Of Leon

The Kings of Leon's Caleb Followill performs at SXSW on Saturday
Photo: John Shearer/Wire Image

AUSTIN, Texas — We spent more than 100 hours on the ground in Austin, trying to take the temperature of South by Southwest 2007.

We wrestled with it, weighed it, complained about it and even wrote a bit about our experiences (see " 'Apocalyptic' Stooges Close Out SXSW With A Bang"). But after all that, what did we learn from SXSW '07, the biggest, most sprawling and — to be honest — most confusing installment in the fest's 20-year history?

( Didn't make it to SXSW? See the Stooges, Lily Allen and many more tear it up in Austin.)

We gathered MTV News' SXSW team in a room and let it rip. What follows is a no-nonsense look at the highs and lows of our time in Austin, plus a discussion of where the fest has been and where we think it's going.

James Montgomery, MTV News writer: I think the general consensus of SXSW this year was that there was no consensus. No one band came out of it and wowed everyone.

Gil Kaufman, MTV News writer: There wasn't one band that came there this year that everybody had to see or one that had everyone going, "Wow, those guys deserved all the hype," after seeing them. There were certainly some acts that got a lot of hype, like Peter Bjorn and John, that were overexposed because they played so many shows and people were bored with them. Or Amy Winehouse, who had a lot of hype and delivered but didn't seem to come out of it with more exposure (see "Amy Winehouse Raises Eyebrows, Bloc Party Draw A Mob As SXSW Wakes Up"). There wasn't a band like the Arctic Monkeys last year, who came, saw, delivered and everyone was talking about.

Montgomery: We'll get to the heavier stuff later, but for the sake of this wrap-up, if you had to pick one band or one moment from SXSW as your favorite, what would it be?

Christopher "CJ" Smith, MTV News segment producer: The Tom Morello show at the Parish (see "Tom Morello's SXSW Gig Turns Into Raucous All-Star Jam With Slash, Perry Farrell"). It was incredible. I was at the bar flirting with some girl when Perry Farrell, Slash and everyone walked onstage. And in my jaded indie-rock indifference, I sort of thought, "Oh, big deal." But after listening to Perry sing the Jane's Addiction stuff it clicked, and I was like, "Holy sh--, this is really awesome." And as it went on, it kept getting better and better. ... everyone in the crowd was feeling it.

John Norris, MTV News correspondent: A personal favorite of mine, because I hadn't seen them yet, was definitely Beirut. And their show was the most difficult to get into. I had to wait 20 minutes to get in, and I was way in the back, and I was not sorry at all. And it was a bit of a messy show because they were planning on doing a shorter set than they actually did. And I think their music is so different, and Zach [Condon] is so special, that I didn't mind being way in the back for it.

Alyssa Vitrano, MTV News director of talent: Cold War Kids, Thursday night at La Zona Rosa. Love the album, and this was the kind of show that made you think differently about some of the songs, in a good way. I'm now newly obsessed with "Hospital Beds" — an eloquent performance that made me really listen to the lyrics. And "Saint John" was never one of my favorite tracks on the album but was the best live song I've seen in forever.

Montgomery: My favorite show was Against Me!, even though I went to school in Gainesville, Florida, where they're from, and I've seen them a bunch before. But just the fact that they had a new record coming out and getting to hear the new stuff. But also the energy and the crowd that stuck around to see them. It was like a warehouse show I would go to when I was 14. And it wasn't even a SXSW show at all. And they played after Jack's Mannequin, so like three-quarters of the crowd left and it was just Against Me! fans. And the energy they brought, it was really excellent.

Kaufman: I'm gonna say the Stooges, who had nothing to prove but rocked. I mean, everyone knows that Iggy is going to come out with no shirt on, and his pants are going to fall down at some point, and he's going to jump into the audience, and he's going to bring all the kids up onstage, but he just gave it 900 percent. And it's a totally predictable pick, because of course the white rock critic from the Midwest is gonna say that, but the energy was just incredible.

Montgomery: See it's weird, because even though all of those may have been great things, I didn't really hear anyone talking about them. I didn't hear anyone the next day saying that the Tom Morello jam was the greatest moment of the festival. But strangely, one thing I heard tons of people talking about was that Public Enemy show, which struck me as odd ... or, at least, very un-SXSW like (see "Grunge Rebirth, Beyonce Nod — And Flavor Flav! — More SXSW Surprises").

Kaufman: Everyone was talking about all the hip-hop stuff. Public Enemy, the Ghostface/Rakim Scion-sponsored thing at Stubb's. And it seemed like, at the very least, there were a lot more options than in the past. I mean, on Saturday night, when I couldn't get in to anything else, I walked from this singer/songwriter guy's show and saw this Mexican rock band and a Japanese band and then that band Black Moth Super Rainbow. And if you were looking for that, you could find all kinds of music ... but this year, it definitely seemed like there was a lot more hip-hop, a lot more Latin music and a lot more experimental hip-hop stuff.

Norris: The only thing I'll say about the hip-hop thing is that to an artist, from PE to Ghostface and Rakim, these are guys who have always had currency with rock fans. And not every hip-hop artist does. I couldn't imagine T.I. or the Game or Young Jeezy playing SXSW.

Kaufman: Well, for a long time, SXSW has been trying to broaden the scope of what they do and attract different types of audiences. On one hand, they try to stay true to their roots in Texas, by presenting a lot of rootsy, singer/songwriter types ... but I think this year, you could go to SXSW and not see a single rock band. Easily.

Montgomery: So perhaps this brings up the larger question of, "What's the point of SXSW?" Because to be honest, you're not going to get the average music fan heading down there, because the average music fan isn't going to spend $450 on a badge. And it seems to be less and less about a band coming to SXSW without representation and leaving with a manager, et cetera. I mean, Ghostface played, and he doesn't have a record coming out. The Stooges or Kings of Leon, it makes sense for them to play, but why Ghostface? Why do artists like him play the festival?

Kaufman: Think about the audience there: You have every rock critic in the country there. So it's an opportunity to make it in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, MTV, whatever it is. And it's an opportunity to get in front of an audience that normally wouldn't come see you. I mean, plenty of indie kids love hip-hop, but given the choice between seeing Rakim or Cold War Kids on a Tuesday night, they're going to take the Cold War Kids. But if Rakim is playing on a Saturday afternoon, of course they're going to go see him. So I think it's a way for them to solidify that other side of their audience.

Montgomery: I bet Ghostface also got a free Scion out of it. But is there a true purpose for SXSW anymore?

Kaufman: Yeah, it's a business thing. And people slam it for that, but it's a promotional scheme for these labels to have showcases and show off their hot new things for a bunch of writers. ... I mean, some bands spend thousands of dollars to get down there, and they believe that they're gonna get discovered, but no one's going to see them. It's a showcase for labels to get all the important people in a room and get them excited about their product.

Smith: Well, I disagree. It's like what Zach Condon said to us: "The Internet is the new SXSW." And I agree with him. ... Music blogs did more hyping than all of SXSW put together.

Norris: And why is it more significant what some rock critic who goes down there has to say about a Peter Bjorn and John show at SXSW as opposed to what someone has to say about a show they played in a different town a month ago?

Kaufman: Not much, but it matters that they called them out of the hundreds of bands that were playing SXSW. That ink makes a difference. It gives the band a cachet.

Montgomery: Every year I'm down there, I find myself saying, "I fail to see how this pays dividends for anyone."

Kaufman: Well, look at a band like the Black Lips. SXSW is a great thing for them. We all know the Black Lips, but now I will tell anyone I know to go see the Black Lips. Or like Amy Winehouse, who when I first saw her, I thought she was phoning it in, and then when I saw her at night, she was really on. And I will tell people to go see her. It's that word of mouth that's most important.

Norris: I had always been kind of resistant to Sondre Lerche because I thought he was some throwaway singer/songwriter type. But then I saw him at this Astralwerks thing, and he's actually got this really great band, and I was impressed. So I will go tell people to check him out.

Montgomery: Was there anyone or anything you were disappointed with? I'll start by saying Lily Allen, who really let me down (see "Pete Wentz Clones Descend, Lily Allen Warbles As SXSW Gets Under Way"). I thought she was a total drag at the NME showcase. She came on drunk, she slagged people, it was a half-assed set. And compare that to Against Me!, who were excited and having fun.

Smith: I'll say the day parties. I had a bitch of a time getting into any of them. I mean, on the weekend, unless you got there from the start, you couldn't even get in. People would get there at noon to see, like, the Apples in Stereo. Oh, and the Peter Bjorn and John show was a letdown after all the hype they had been getting.

Vitrano: Beirut, only because by the time I got there it was so incredibly packed that I had to stand outside the door and couldn't see a thing. I was getting so jostled and annoyed that I had to leave. Crowds are the downside of SXSW. Especially if you're small.

Montgomery: So wrapping it up like Jerry Springer: Final thoughts on SXSW 2007?

Smith: It was a lot of loosely tied-together stories, which all seem to have overtaken the buzz factor of SXSW. I was surprised there weren't more people talking about specific, overarching themes or bands. And it took me by surprise that there wasn't an "it" band this year ... but everyone talking about the Stooges or hip-hop ... these more broad themes, and not specific bands. And I don't know if I like that or not. Because I was always under the impression that SXSW was where you broke, or where you found new bands.

Vitrano: It was better [than previous years] because I finally ate at Iron Works. In addition, Thursday was a near-perfect, 80-degree Austin day, with tons of great BBQ and bands. I hate going to festivals where lots of the higher-profile bands get all the attention. For some reason this year seemed really more about good music and less about hype. ... I don't even know what the past years' themes were, so I definitely don't have an answer about what this year's theme was — nor do I care. My theme is always the three B's: bands, BBQ and boys.

Montgomery: I'm struck by how all these points we're making about the festival are also completely interchangeable for the music industry. I was struck by how it's like a microcosm of all the problems the industry is facing now: It's too big, there's too much to see out there, you have no idea what's going to be big, it's too splintered, there are too many ways of consuming music.

Kaufman: And to that point, I think that the fact that I came away most excited about a band that's 40 years old is sort of odd in a way. ... I mean, I'm conflicted, because I was there to discover new music, but here I am going on and on about a band that's almost ready to get their Social Security check. But what the Stooges did for me was confirm the importance of going out there and doing whatever you do with utter conviction. Whether you're This Moment in Black History or Mary Timony or the Hush Sound, you get on that stage and just bring it. And that's what I came away with: a rededication to live performance proving who you are.

For more sights and stories from concerts around the country, check out MTV News Tour Reports.

• Five Coolest Things At SXSW 2007
• Morello Jams With Slash, Farrell At SXSW

• Kings Of Leon, Mastodon, Flava Flav, More Rock SXSW '07

• Amy Winehouse
• Arctic Monkeys
• Cold War Kids
• The Stooges
• Lily Allen

Iggy Pop and The Stooges perform on Saturday night
Photo: Tim Mosenfelder/ Getty Images

AUSTIN, Texas — Every March, the music industry throws on a pair of shorts, slathers on the SPF 45 and heads on down to Austin for South by Southwest, a weeklong celebration of bands, BBQ and (sometimes free!) beer. It's a brutal bacchanal and music marathon powered by thousands of acts playing in hundreds of venues — at all hours — plus an unreal number of complimentary drinks and fancy private parties.

Sleep is not exactly a top priority, so MTV News dispatched three of its most tireless reporters into the fray. They filed reports twice each day and, as you'll see below, endured all kinds of hardship — endless lines, hipster infestation and a diet consisting almost entirely of fried food — to bring you incisive reportage on the event's hottest happenings. Saturday's report is below, and at the bottom you'll find links to coverage of the previous days. Dig in: If you spill a little BBQ sauce on your shirt, it's the next best thing to being there.

The Afternoon

James Montgomery, MTV News writer: Growing tired of the SXSW rigmarole — a routine that could charitably be described as "Get up, shake off the cobwebs, eat something fried, drink, walk to a field, drink, watch some band, drink, walk to a dingy club, eat something else fried, drink, watch another band, drink, drink, pass out" — I decided to take my pal (and Beirut/ Bishop Allen multi-instrumentalist) Jon Natchez up on his promise of a full-blown "BBQ excursion, deep into the wilds of Texas."

And deep we went, indeed, heading way west through the dusty foothills ... driving for more than two hours (we got lost) until we came upon the sleepy town of Llano, home to a BBQ mecca by the name of Cooper's Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que. Joining us on the excursion was Isaac Green, head honcho of Almost Gold Records (home of Peter Bjorn and John) and self-described BBQ connoisseur. He told me that SXSW vets swear by Cooper's, a true carnivore's cornucopia of smoked meats.

We downed pounds of ribs, brisket and Cooper's famous BBQ pork chops; talked about some of our festival faves (a list that included Midlake, Beach House and Jamie T) and reveled in the fact that we were literally miles away from the SXSW buzz. Oh yeah, and we had some cobbler, too.

But now it's back to the grind as we enter the festival's final raucous hours ... of course, there's more rumors of a Rage Against the Machine reunion Saturday night (March 17), plus the triumphant return of the Stooges. What'll happen? Nobody knows ... but we're certainly gonna close with a bang. And some of the brisket I brought home.

John Norris, MTV News correspondent: Just what Austin needed this week — another reason to drink!

But yes, it is St. Paddy's Day ... so by early afternoon, the South by Southwest-ers were tying on the booze bag again, and I found myself among a 50-percent-green-wearing crowd at the Cedar Street Courtyard, an outdoor patio wedged between Irish pubs. But taking the stage at this party sponsored by Filter magazine was a trio of not Irish but English lasses: the Pipettes. Their names are Becki, Rose and Gwenno. Think Lisa Loeb, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Linda Evangelista in polka dots. Musically, think '60s girl group meets punk sass — a combination in full effect as the ladies ran through songs like "Tell Me What You Want" and "Your Kisses Are Wasted on Me." Shangri-Las for the 21st century? Bananarama with a backing band? Time will tell.

Since one music-publication event deserves another, we made our way from the Filter party to the Blender house, where I met up with those Southern-indie-twang-rock-sons of a preacher man, the Kings of Leon. The brothers Followill and cousin Matthew have a third album, Because of the Times, just a few weeks away, and they're in town to play their first-ever SXSW. When I reminded them that they are one of the three or four biggest bands at this year's fest, they said there is still a challenge.

"There are so many of these beautiful girls around here hanging out with these new bands," famously randy frontman Caleb Followill laughed. "We feel like, hey, we're supposed to get our pick of the girls."

Something tells me the Kings have no problem in that department.

That said, their "kingly" status in the U.K. has yet to be replicated on their home turf, where the guys are still pretty much princes. Will that change with Because of the Times, a much more expansive record — with a seven-minute opening track called "Knocked Up" and forays into jam-band territory? Whether it does or not, the Kings are loving life.

"We'll play our show [Saturday's Esquire party at Stubb's]," Caleb said, "then sit back and watch Iggy Pop and the Stooges. And probably party."

No doubt. Good luck guys.

Gil Kaufman, MTV News writer: We've entered the dead zone: My feet hurt from standing on cement club floors 14 hours a day, my eyes hurt from constant smoke and cavelike conditions, and my soul aches from constantly denying my urge to pummel every clown I see wearing a headband and ripped-to-shreds low-top Keds.

The day started off promisingly with some smokin' Afro-Cuban funk from the 11-piece Los Angeles band Rhythm Roots Allstars. Then not-so-hot mess Mickey Avalon took the stage looking like a cross between Pauly Shore and a down-on-her-luck gutter-punk girl and sounding like the Beastie Boys on a bad day. The only saving grace was when he handcuffed an audience member to a chair and then lost the key and practically dragged her across the stage by her wrist in search of release.

Not wanting to fight the inevitable lines, I camped out at Red 7 and saw a mix of horrible "indie" comedy — OK, portly comedian Brian Posehn's set about how the closest he'll ever come to a sex scene in a movie is playing the demented killer who offs the comely teen couple was kinda funny, and David Cross was great as usual — and yet another set by the Black Lips. No vomit this time, just lots of spitting and bad wigs. The best part was when some fan tried to give Cross a copy of early porn actress Linda Lovelace's autobiography, "Ordeal," and he looked puzzled and politely declined in favor of bobbing his head to the Lips.

Toronto hardcore band F---ed Up thrilled an afternoon audience with a set of smashing tunes and lived up to their name when frontman Pink Eyes bashed his forehead bloody with the microphone and then put a drumstick where the sun don't shine. The crowd later went nuts when hardcore punk legend and original Circle Jerks singer Keith Morris took the stage and yelped one out while swinging his hip-long graying dreadlocks.

And finally: How can you tell an indie-rocker is tired? They cop a squat on the squalid, sticky floor of Red 7 and close their eyes for a quick catnap in the middle of a show.

The Evening

James Montgomery: Well, it's over. More than 100 hours of non-stop rock (and the occasional hip-hop act looking for directions back to the interstate) came to a close on a hectic, dude-master-terrific Saturday night in Austin. And as if the last night of SXSW 2007 weren't enough to pack the streets, it was also St. Patrick's Day (WOOOOOOOOOO!!!) which meant that every steakhead within a 30-mile radius was required to thrown on a green T-shirt — or backwards ball cap — and head down to Austin to gawk at girls, get in fights and get really really inebriated (Sixth Street will surely be awash in green vomit come sun-up — WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!) ...

Quote-of-the-night honors went to the — ahem — gentleman in the cocked fedora and black tank top, who bellowed into his RAZR, "No, we're down here on Fifth Street and Colorado ... No, Colorado — like the city."

Yeah, man. And after spending more roughly 30 minutes trying to navigate the packs of heavily gelled dudes (careful to avoid brushing their shoulders and setting off a testosterone OD), I sorta gave up and ducked into Habana Calle 6, where, as luck would have it, the Changes, four clean-cut young men who make strummy, summery pop, were just launching into an exceedingly nice set (seriously, these dudes make the Shins look like Turbonegro — your mom totally wants your sister to marry one of them immediately). Then, in one of those "Woah, look who's playing?!?" moments that totally makes SXSW worth it, I glanced at my schedule and noticed that former Helium frontwoman/my teenage crush Mary Timony was about to take the stage at Emo's tiny "IV" venue. So I rushed over and heard her unspool songs from her upcoming album The Shapes We Make, which were pretty excellent in that spacey, super-proggy "Revolution of Hearts, Pt. 1 & 2" kind of way (OK, 14 people in the world know what I'm talking about right now, and most of them were probably at the show) ...

Then, I bade farewell to SXSW '07 with a late-night performance from Australia's finest hirsute rockers (Jet be damned) Youth Group, who were great, but didn't hold my attention as I was starting to see spots. Soon after that I was making the seemingly 17-mile walk back to the Embassy Suites, and as I crossed over the Congress Avenue Bridge, I began to mull over my SXSW experience.

And you know what? I don't have any definitive closing statement. As I re-read my notebook, I found myself thinking things like "Wait, I saw that band?" and "Wow, I went there?" And maybe it's because, after three straight years of SXSW, things tend to blur together — or maybe because there just wasn't that much interesting stuff going on this year. I mean, I know which bands I truly liked (a discussion we'll delve deeper into when we all return back to the office on Monday), but I can't pick any that I particularly loved or hated. For better or worse, the year's SXSW was one of the more average fests in recent memory: There didn't seem to be a real defining moment or breakout star to speak of.

Then I thought, "Wait: In just five days, I spent less than $200, ate roughly seven pounds of BBQ, saw a ton of rock shows, went for a drive in the Texas flatlands, linked to a photo of the Ultimate Warrior in one of my earlier posts and saw Duke lose in the first round of the NCAA tournament — what the hell do I have to complain about?" So maybe the problem wasn't SXSW; it was me.

But that's clearly a whole other ball of wax. Right now, it's time to get some sleep, make my ears stop ringing and head back home. Plus, maybe I can finally get around to eating a salad — and you have no idea how happy that last sentence has just made my small intestine.

John Norris: Some final thoughts on the final night of South by Southwest 2007:

For some reason, the festival seemed more sane this year. Not sure if it was the absence of one hugely hyped "must-see" show on the order of last year's Arctic Monkeys gig, but the biggest this week — Bloc Party, the Cold War Kids, Lily Allen, Beirut, the Good, the Bad and the Queen — didn't feel as out of control.

Credit, as always, is due to the host city for proving yet again that it's one of America's greatest music capitals. Voxtrot, Okkervil River and Ghostland Observatory are three of the better known local heroes who played the festival, but plenty more showed that Austin not only knows how play host to great music, but produce it as well.

Also, the schedule provides a multiplex's worth of opportunities to see certain bands: Some artists play one or two gigs during SXSW week, others play eight. It's hard to imagine that anyone in Austin who wanted to see the Pipettes, the Ponys or the Fratellis this week didn't have the opportunity to do so. And speaking of the Fratellis, Interscope Records wins the Golden Sledgehammer Promotion Award for them: from the Fratellis hotel room keys to the ubiquitous Fratellis flyers all over town to the Fratellis cocktail glasses in every other club ... and I've already used the word "Fratellis" six times in this paragraph! Aaargh!! The champ for the most Austin shows this week? I'm pretty sure that title goes to Peter, Bjorn and John with NINE. That'll earn you a Swedish massage.

Mucho thanks to our team here in Austin this week — not just James and Gil, but also Alyssa Vitrano, Damian Vaca, Matt Elias, Aaron Pinkston and above all, my musically maniacal producer, Chris "CJ" Smith. They are the best, and we'll all be bringing you lots more coverage from SXSW on MTV News this week. Till then — later, pardner.

Gil Kaufman: The apocalyptic atmosphere on Sixth Street described above made it feel as if all hell could break loose at any moment, and that's kind of what it sounded like at Elysium during the scorched-earth show from Pennsylvania psychedelic rockers Black Moth Super Rainbow (that's the best band name ever), who performed with Austin's equally trip-tacultar Octopus Project. The instrumental experimentalists created a thundering, paisley explosion of beats and noise that might be the sound of a spaceship taking off — if its engines were made of two sets of drums, a bass, guitar, sitar, two glowing tambourines, a Theremin and four keyboards.

The true apocalypse, though, came a short time later with a set that was the perfect capper to a chaotic five-day journey. To say that reunited Detroit punk godfathers the Stooges blew the roof off Stubb's would be an understatement (and not only because the outdoor venue has no roof). The always shirtless Iggy Pop gyrated like a demented go-go dancer and kicked off the show with five classic Stooges songs that sounded so raw and snarling they made you forget the band took a 33-year break between their last two albums. "Loose," "I Wanna Be Your Dog," "TV Eye," "1970" and "Funhouse" were crackling with chaos and electricity and the permanently amped Pop was clearly sucking up the energy from the crowd.

During this year's festival I saw a ton of great new bands and I have a whole new arsenal of things to add to my iPod. But nothing gut-punched me like the Stooges. It's something you can't buy in a bottle, ink on your arms or piece together from a thrift-store wardrobe. As Iggy told me shortly after the show, "We're the last great rock and roll band, man."

For more SXSW coverage, check out the week's earlier reports:

· "Tom Morello's SXSW Gig Turns Into Raucous All-Star Jam With Slash, Perry Farrell"

· "Grunge Rebirth, Beyonce Nod — And Flavor Flav! — More SXSW Surprises"

· "Amy Winehouse Raises Eyebrows, Bloc Party Draw A Mob As SXSW Wakes Up"

· "Pete Wentz Clones Descend, Lily Allen Warbles As SXSW Gets Under Way"

For more sights and stories from concerts around the country, check out MTV News Tour Reports.

[This story was originally published at 10:16 p.m. EST on 03.17.07]

• Five Coolest Things At SXSW 2007
• Morello Jams With Slash, Farrell At SXSW

• Kings Of Leon, Mastodon, Flava Flav, More Rock SXSW '07

• Iggy Pop & The Stooges
• Peter Bjorn and John
• Kings Of Leon
• Lily Allen
• Rage Against the Machine

Bloc Party's Kele Okereke performs at SXSW on Thursday
Photo: Tim Mosenfelder/ Getty Images

AUSTIN, Texas — Every March, the music industry throws on a pair of shorts, slathers on the SPF 45 and heads on down to Austin for South by Southwest, a weeklong celebration of bands, BBQ and (sometimes free!) beer. It's a brutal bacchanal and music marathon powered by thousands of acts playing in hundreds of venues — at all hours — plus an unreal number of open bar tabs and fancy private parties.

Sleep is not exactly a top priority, so MTV News has dispatched three of its most tireless reporters into the fray. They'll be filing reports a few times each day (scroll down for the evening report), which will chiefly serve as a way of keeping you up to speed about what's going on deep in the heart of Texas, but also double as a convenient way — for us, anyway — of making sure everyone's still alive.

The Day

James Montgomery, MTV News writer: Just had my first totally random, totally awesome moment here at SXSW. I was waiting at a crosswalk on Congress Avenue when a dusty wood-paneled station wagon pulled up at the light and all the dudes inside, clearly in a band, clearly trying to look super-cool — think vintage vests, scraggly beards, wide-brim hats and bellbottoms straight out of Haight-Ashbury — were summarily laughed at by a gaggle of passing females. Next time get a tighter ride, bros.

Spent Thursday afternoon (March 15) baking in the sun at the Levis/Fader fort, where Interscope was debuting Queens of the Stone Age's upcoming Era Vulgaris record. Expect plenty of spooky, windswept guitars à la Lullabies to Paralyze — plus a whole lot of stompers circa their Songs for the Deaf era.

Then I headed over to Waterloo Records for an interview with Lily Allen, who was nice in an "I don't give a f----" kind of way. She talked about her plans to hit the studio in May and dismissed any notion of working with a producer du jour like Timbaland: "I don't want to be Nelly Furtado," she hissed. "And I don't want to spend $250,000 on a song I didn't write." She also got down to dissing the world-famous BBQ at Stubb's, declaring it "too gristly" (I would, respectively, have to disagree.)

Then it was back to the Fort for the Black Lips, who were missing a bassist ("He's still down in Mexico," one bandmember said) but still managed to fill the air with the kind of bludgeoning blooze-rock — and onstage French kissing — that they've been garnering much attention for in recent months. ...

Just back at the hotel for a minute, as I'm off to go interview the Cold War Kids at La Zona Rosa, then an evening filled with Elvis Perkins, Lo Fi Fink and (hopefully) the absence of heat stroke.

John Norris, MTV News correspondent:

"John Norris!!"

"Dude, I've been watching you since I was 5!"

"Nice to see you guys actually covering music!"

Ah yes — just a sampling of the greetings you get trying to shoot a news brief at 11 a.m. in the middle of Sixth Street on day #2 of SXSW. Who said they don't get up before noon at this festival? In fact, one person who was up early was none other than Chris Kirkpatrick. Yes, as in, formerly of 'NSYNC Chris Kirkpatrick ... though decidedly more tattooed than the last time I saw him. Chris has been to South By before but was ready to proclaim this one "maybe the wildest one yet." (Uh, totally awesome, bro.)

Other sights and sounds on a sunny Thursday in Austin:

"Nothing like a matinee. We're from Montreal. It's our first time in Texas. We want some chicken-fried chicken, whatever that is." · Canadian ambient rocker Patrick Watson, during a 1:45 p.m. set at Emo's

"We hope you find happiness and places to park." · Will Sheff, frontman for local band Okkervil River, to the packed afternoon crowd at Bourbon Rocks. Great band by the way: They've been playing SXSW for seven years and have a deservedly faithful following. Folk-rock sound that would not be out of place on a Bright Eyes bill.

"Doesn't that bicycle seat hurt your ass?" · The Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne, to a cycling semi-drag queen (gray hair and beard, painted nails, tiara, butterfly thong and, apparently, breasts). Wayne was last seen on Sixth Street at SXSW 2006 as a pied piper in a huge bubble; this year he's a roving reporter for "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno."

Gil Kaufman, MTV News writer: Not a whole lot of time to file right now, as I'm putting in a marathon day of shows (Amy Winehouse, Daniel Johnston, El-P). But I wanted to share this gem from Wednesday night with you all: Sometimes even the most horrible band can teach you something.

Walking down Sixth Street, you hear so much music bleed out of every hole-in-the-wall bar that it's hard to figure out who you're hearing, even if you consult your festival guide. British blues yelpers Kava Kava, with a lead singer who looked like Bo Bice on a bender, were totally unexceptional, except for this genius bit of technology: The keyboardist had a little LED display taped onto his instrument that said "read me" and scrolled the band's name over and over in red 2-inch-high letters. Genius.

P.S.: No truth to all those "Rage Against the Machine played a reunion show last night" rumors floating around Austin. Tom Morello's manager told me the axeman was in Los Angeles on Wednesday night and that the supposed show "couldn't have happened." Though Morello's show Thursday night at Parish — where he is slated to perform as his alias, the Nightwatchman — is being billed as featuring "special guests," so ... who knows?

The Evening

James Montgomery: Important SXSW Lesson, Number One: No matter how boring you think the Cold War Kids may be, do not — under any circumstances — avoid their live show, which from the sound of things will be one that fest vets will be talking about for remainder of the week. Of course, I wasn't there, having dipped out to go watch Lo Fi Fink goof around onstage for 20 minutes, but apparently — from the roughly 37 text messages I received about it — I missed an epic effort, culminating with a mega-jam involving hotly tipped folkster Elvis Perkins.

(Check out exclusive front-row footage of Morello's jam session with Slash, Perry Farrell and more, right here.)

Important SXSW Lesson, Number Two: No matter how inconsequential you think Tom Morello might be, do not — under any circumstances — skip out on a performance by his side project, the Nightwatchman, especially when said performance is billed as "featuring special guests." Sure enough, I missed out on another sure-to-be-blogged about highlight — but don't worry, other members of the MTV News crew were in the front row, cameras and notebooks in hand (see "Morello's SXSW Gig Turns Into Raucous All-Star Jam With Slash, Perry Farrell").

Important SXSW Lesson, Number Three: I am a huge dumbass.

Thursday night wasn't all bad though ... I did get to witness a blistering set of anthemic, honest-to-goodness punk rock from Gainesville, Florida's Against Me!. (Of course, I had to sit through 45 minutes of Jack's Mannequin to do it, so let's call it a Pyrrhic victory.)

The fiercely DIY quartet turned the punk community on its collective head in late 2005 when they announced that they had signed with — gasp! — a major label, but if their sweaty set at the Sire Records showcase was any indication, all those old wounds have healed. Many fists were pumped, many hard-charging choruses bellowed and many unfortunate tattoos revealed, and the band seemed to be having a ball unveiling songs from their upcoming album New Wave, which displayed a decidedly dance-y streak.

Hey, even comedian David Cross, who caught the show in his "official undercover celebrity uniform" (read: a flannel shirt and a ratty ball cap) approved. And if it's good enough for America's foremost indie humorist, then it's certainly good enough for you.

John Norris: Now that's the South by Southwest I know and love. After a kinda sleepy Wednesday on Sixth Street ("Pete Wentz Clones Descend, Lily Allen Warbles As SXSW Gets Under Way"), on Thursday night things were back to the Bourbon-Street-with-a-great-soundtrack vibe that defines this week in Austin. Not always easy to maneuver, especially when every block there's another two or three CDs shoved into your hand. And — note to the guy who said, "You probably just throw these things away" — rest assured I try to make a point of listening to each and every record that comes my way.

Anyway, making it to see four artists at four different clubs in five hours does require a plan, and that's what I and my friend Chris, who was in from New York, had. For the most part, it worked.

First stop: Norway's Sondre Lerche, a power pop guy whose records seem to just be getting better. Not only is his latest, Phantom Punch probably his best to date, it also brings him closest to one of his musical heroes, Elvis Costello. Sondre and his very tight band had the crowd at Antone's — part of a showcase for Astralwerks that also included Sparklehorse — rocking.

The same could also be said for Mute Math. The electronic outfit — and former "You Hear It First" artist — is a band that, it is said, is best appreciated live. Tonight, everyone packed into the Dirty Dog found out why.

No doubt one of the three or four "biggest" bands at SXSW 2007 is Bloc Party — hence their show at Stubb's amounted to a mob scene. Thankfully Chris and I got in about 10 minutes before they took the stage, to tear through close to an hour's worth of songs from the still-genius 2005 album Silent Alarm, plus the recently released record titled — as frontman Kele Okereke implored the crowd to shout out — A Weekend in the City. On a warm night like tonight, the amphitheatre setting of Stubb's is Austin's best venue to see music — and favorites like "Banquet" to the new stuff, including the sweetly nostalgic "I Still Remember," swelled through the night air.

Finally, when it's 1 a.m. and you need a final burst of energy, what better way than the Smiths-y jangle pop of Austin's Voxtrot? This was one of the most-seen bands at last year's South By, and with a new album on the way, Ramesh Srivastava and the boys sent the crowd at Emo's off into the Austin night feeling good.

It was a long night, and a great night, and I'm done.

Gil Kaufman: I'm a bit ashamed to admit it, but while walking by the English showcase, I might have pretended to be from Leeds to squeeze in with some genuine Brits when they said the show was closed. Luckily, I snuck in, grabbed a soggy taco and got to see a mesmerizing, kinda scary acoustic set from mega-hyped British train wreck Amy Winehouse.

Impossibly thin with a towering black beehive hairdo and a sailor-worthy menagerie of tattoos, wearing tightly pegged jeans, a food-stained white undershirt and dirty pink ballet slippers, Winehouse played a four-song set that showed off her strong, soulful pipes on songs including her hit single, "Rehab." It was hard to ignore the deep scratches all over her left arm and her twitchy mannerisms, though.

Say what you will about the relevance of grunge progenitors the Melvins, but watching lead singer Buzz Osborne smash out dinosaur riffs while wearing a long black caftan covered in skulls and birds was the bomb. But the most important news of the day came during a brief set by beloved eccentric Daniel Johnston, who announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, I am not running for president today. I came here to this town today to rock this town."

The afternoon ended nicely with a ribcage-rattling set of thick hip-hop rock by El-P, who tried mightily to avoid cursing during a live broadcast on a local station. Unfortunately for them, he slipped up within the first five seconds he was on air.

Then, in the evening, I decided to check out a full set from Winehouse, and I'd like to take back (some) of what I said earlier; maybe she's just not an early riser. Dressed in the same get-up, but with a clean black T-shirt, she slayed an adoring, sweat-drenched crowd with a high-energy set that, unfortunately, started two hours later than advertised. But with her coquettish stage moves and dangerous-looking come-hither smile and teasing hand gestures — not to mention that smoky voice — all was forgiven.

After Amy, I checked out Minneapolis' Cloud Cult, who impressed with their Flaming Lips-style psychedelic rock, and the two onstage artists doing "action painting" during their set. James winced when I used the phrase "action painting," saying, "That sounds horrible!" I didn't tell him about the pregnant cello player with Christmas lights in her hair.

And finally, I caught up with an old pal, Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman, during Straylight Run's gig. Dressed in his signature board shorts, loose t-shirt and flip-flops, Lyman said he was just hanging out and doing a bit of business, hoping to check out Willie Nelson on Saturday. Now that's punk rock.

And if you'll excuse me, I've got to crash. I'm exhausted, officially.

Will James actually make it to one of these buzz shows? Can the rest of the fest beat John's stellar Thursday? And could anything out-weird Gil's "action painting" experience? Check back all week for our SXSW coverage!

For more sights and stories from concerts around the country, check out MTV News Tour Reports.

[This story was originally published on 3.15.2007 at 8:44 p.m.]

• Five Coolest Things At SXSW 2007

• Kings Of Leon, Mastodon, Flava Flav, More Rock SXSW '07

• Amy Winehouse
• Queens of the Stone Age
• Lily Allen
• Black Lips
• Cold War Kids

Lollapalooza 2007

• Amy Winehouse
• Ben Harper
• Cold War Kids
• Motion City Soundtrack
• Muse

Discover & Download Live: Cold War Kids

• Cold War Kids