• David Mead: This is one of the male singer-songwriters on Missy's Tool Belt. His show was fun, although I don't think I enjoy him as much as she does. He performed with a backup cellist and switched from piano to guitar to ukulele. I guess you can't go wrong without a ukulele.

• Field Music: This was a group of young Brits I can best describe as misguided. For some reason, they sounded like Rush to me, but that would be a continuing theme of SXSW. They had all these tempo and dynamic changes that were simply annoying and distracting. We saw them at Emo's, a smoky outdoor venue that was annoying and had bad acoustics. We stayed there most of the night.

• Laura Veirs: We went over to the much nicer Caribbean Nights venue and saw this chick rocker that we had just recently heard of. She seems to be a bit of a throwback to 10 years ago, but that's not completely a bad thing. Her band is made of large, monstrous men. I think they were all taller than me. I enjoyed the show a lot, and would see her again if she came to Jax. (but nobody ever does)

• Of Montreal: Back to Emo's for this unusual act. Don't be fooled by the name. They're actually of Georgia. I don't quite understand what they do, but I like it. The (male, Matt Bivins-like) lead singer came out a wedding dress and changed into a gold lame top. Like many bands today, they are channeling the 80's. The sugary pop and danceable drum machine beats were a lot of fun. Sadly, Emo's has bad acoustics, and I couldn't enjoy it too much. I'd like to see them in a better setting. I'd suggest listening to their song.

• ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead: Don't be put off by the name (or the bizarre website). They aren't as ridiculous as you think they would be. It's a bit of a joke, because they are a very straightforward, no frills, no nonsense hard rock band. It's alternative music for us old people who still remember it. I've always thought of them as my poor-man's Smashing Pumpkins. Again, bad acoustics and we were too sleepy to stay for more than a few songs. My biggest highlight was finally seeing how they work. They have two singer/guitarist/drummer and a singer/guitarist/keyboardist and a drummer/keyboardist that rotate out, depending on who is singing. My favorite singer is not my favorite songwriter, who is not my favorite drummer. I was glad to finally see how the logistics work, and who did what. Also, I was excited to read that Amanda of the Dresden Dolls recorded a song with them this week.

So, that is only one quarter of the rock experience. More is to come.