South By Southwest Music and Media Conference

AUSTIN, Texas – As many predicted, the daily panel discussions at the Austin Convention Centre are being upstaged by the afternoon outlaw events. No one I spoke to Friday evening would admit to attending a single panel during the day. Evidently, there was less interest in hearing sales directors from distribution companies chat about how retail outlets can find new customers or in listening to what radio executives have to say about artists' roles in their own development than in seeing six or seven great bands while drinking free beer and eating free barbecue with friends and celebrities. Go figure.

The new wrinkle this year is that even the old standby non-sanctioned hoedowns like the annual Bloodshot Records party at Yard Dog saw their crowds siphoned off by more enticing parties sponsored by higher-profile media and retail conglomerates with deep pockets that can pay the buzz bands to play.

After the debacle at its after-hours party last year, SPIN wisely decided to move its regular 3 am hoo-haw to the afternoon, and having the Sahara Hotnights and Auckland's D4 on hand attracted a big crowd. At the Waterloo Records in-store, supergroup the Minus Five (straight from the Roky Erickson Ice Cream Social where Threadgill's rechristened their chocolate-marshmallow ice cream Roky Road) were forced to rip hard after an outrageous Gypsy-punk blitz by New York's Gogol Bordello.

Also facing stiffer than usual Saturday-afternoon competition are Alejandro Escovedo's singer-songwriter guitar pull at Maria's Taco Express and the Hideout party at Pok E Joe's BBQ. However, Tim Tutten (who co-runs the Hideout club in Chicago) has secured an awesome 20-act lineup, including Calexico, Neko Case, Brokeback, the Boas, Nicolai Dunger and the Frames to ward off the encroachment of Mojo's Mayhem at the Continental Club (which besides Mojo Nixon and free jalapeño pancakes boasts Steve Wynn and John Doe) and the Harp Magazine bash at Yard Dog with Big Sandy & His Fly-rite Boys and rising stars Corey Branan and Thad Cockrell.

Once again, the Matador showcase Friday night at Stubbs was among the main draws at SXSW, and Austin residents gathered early along Red River in hopes of getting in with passholders to see Cat Power, Spoon and Yo La Tengo. I was there to check out new Matador signees Washington, DC's Dead Meadow, who used their massive Orange stacks to open the show with a heavyweight Sabbath-style wallop that had Chan Marshall fans covering their ears and running for cover. Watch for Dead Meadow's Matador debut to drop in early June.

And as is frequently the case, the all-night hiphop throwdown at the Venue was poorly run. SXSW staffers and thick-necked club security kept both badge-wearing delegates and ticket buyers waiting in line outside during the kick-off showcase by Roosevelt Franklin – an entertaining goof conceived by the Masterminds' Kimani – even though at the time there were no more than 70 people inside the two-level club, which could easily hold 700. Idiotic.

Down the street at the British showcase staged at the Blender Bar, UK metal throwbacks the Darkness blasted away to the delight of the Webb Brothers, who shook their fists in the front row. Central to the band's appeal is frontman Justin, who, besides the pink leather flares tied with a striped scarf for a belt, boasts an impressive vocal range of which he takes full advantage by breaking into a piercing falsetto at every opportunity.

The great thing about these Darkness dudes is that they seem to be genuinely into the music – not some kooky ironic put-on like Nashville's Shazam – and are intent on being the new Thin Lizzy or perhaps Queen. Their forthcoming single, Growing On Me, sounds like an AM radio hit circa 1975 that Redd Kross would kill to have written.

Speaking of the Kross, a modish Steve McDonald (who looks very odd with short hair) led his cleverly named Steve McDonald Group at Momo's for an intimate 30 people. "I used to be... well, I guess I'll always be in a band called Redd Kross," announced McDonald to enthusiastic cheers before going into Follow The Leader, which got the biggest response of the otherwise disappointing set.

Much more exciting was Atlanta's DQE, fronted by Grace Braun, who kicked out the jams in a flashy blue-sequined dress across the street at Opal Divine's Freehouse. It was a swell warm-up for the tough-rockin' finale by the incredible Daniel Johnston, backed by a kick-ass band for a change. Johnston, dressed in sweat pants pulled up chest high over his sweatshirt grabbed the microphone tightly with both hands and hung on for dear life as he waxed poetic on the afterlife, impossible love and hearing about Linda McCartney's death on television. Genius.