Instead of following the picks I described here yesterday I settled down for the evening at Emo's Jr. for a Providence/Brooklyn extravaganza and topped it off with a set by a couple guys from Akron.

The night began with a glitch-glam video by digital art collective, Paper Rad. The video took clips from some YouTube favorites and mashed them up with remixed 80s/90s tunes and brightly colored pixelated graphics.

I jumped out of Emo's afterward to catch a band with the same name as another band, Phantom Limb, at Habana Annex. Unfortunately, the Phantom Limb I saw was not the one I was expecting, but the British band's thick and rich interpretation of American soul was a pleasant surprise.

By the time I returned to Emo's Jr, I had missed Extreme Animals and Free Blood, but was just in time for Brooklyn's Meneguar. Meneguar is one of those bands that I'm not sure how I've missed for so long. They play with almost predictable regularity in New York, but I've never crossed their path. Their set last night was filled with a raw energy and focus that translated directly into the crowd who stood rapturous in front of the stage.

Meneguar was followed by Japanther who - if you've seen them before you'll know - could take even the most passive crowd and turn them into a seething froth of dancing and excitement. Their reception here in Austin was a little more timid than they are used to in New York, as if the local crowd didn't know quite what to do with the brightly rampaging foursome on (and off) stage. The crowd quickly got into the swing of things, however, and were soon passing each around overhead.

The penultimate act of the night was Wizardzz. Last time I tried to catch them was during CMJ at the Knitting factory, but they hit some delays on the road and I had to leave before they arrived. In last night's show, though, Wizardzz were nothing short of amazing. Brian Gibson's drumming was a thrill to listen to, and Rich Porter's droning synth brought a bit of a twist to their brand of noise rock. This was a performance that will be hard to beat this week - and it was only the first night.

For the final set of the evening, I went through the back door to Emo's Main Room to see The Black Keys. I usually try to avoid bigger name acts like these at SXSW, but there was no line and this is a band I've been meaning to see for some time. Their set started with a lot of familiar material, then half-way through, shifted to entirely new songs. The venue was packed, and by the time the encore of "Set You Free" came around, entirely satisfied.