SXSW 2012 Diary Day Two: The Men, Screaming Females, Lionel Richie and Karaoke With Reggie Watts and Eugene Mirman

-- Solo mission of the day: The Consequence of Sound party at Beauty Bar, which had the best punkish lineup of the week. While waiting on the line, I saw that camel again. I really want to party with him.

-- First band up, The Men. This band is definitely going places. They're tight and loud, and have the kind of energy that can make their show work in large venues. Arenas? Not yet, but I could see it someday.

-- Screaming Females are the next act, playing outside. Marissa Paternoster still blows my mind with her shredding abilities. And that's not because she's a female -- she's one of the best guitarists out there right now.

-- Breaking up the "white-man head bob dancing" as a friend pointed out, a bunch of younger fans run into the middle of the crowd and start a tiny pit. The enthusiasm isn't there from the crowd, and somehow they end up getting pushed out. Undeterred, they spend the rest of the set watching from outside the fence, looking like they're having more fun than most of us inside.

-- On another note, Screaming Females were one of my favorite bands last year. And they're about 10 times better now. Their stage presence has improved to the point where you really can't take your eyes off them. They've extended their songs, laying down some Sabbath-y, Zeppelin-y style heavy grooves. Can't recommend them enough. I crushed a Lone Star during their set without realizing.

-- "We have a new single out. You can make room for it in your bag by removing your Monster Energy sunglasses" -- Marissa

-- Titus Andronicus play inside, but it's too crowded to get inside. I guess Beauty Bar is a little extra cautious of capacity control after last year's Death From Above 1979 riot. I spend the duration of Titus' set talking about basketball.

-- I got yelled at for being tall again, and immediately afterward bonded with a fellow 6'3" gentleman about our plight. We're sorry, and we're not sorry.

-- Cloud Nothings come out and immediately shred my eardrums. I immediately regret turning down the earplugs offer of the 50-something gentleman standing near me. The band is loud, and they jam out on their songs, but not in the Phish "oh, I'm gonna go make a sandwich and be back in time for this bass solo to end" way. Amazing live show.

-- "I have to get my s--- together before Lionel Richie. I can't believe I just said that." -- Jason Persse, friend and occasional Spinner contributor.

-- My first pedi-cab ride. What a great mixture of feeling like a king in a chariot and being embarrassed to be seen by anyone. We got cut off and the driver gave the driver in question the finger. So that was awesome

-- Fast forward a few hours, and I'm at the Billboard showcase at ACL Live. First band I see is Vintage Trouble and, no joke, the singer is like James Brown and Sam Cooke reincarnated. That much charisma and stage presence. Highly, highly recommended.

-- Polica were a band I said to watch in 2012, and their set at the Billboard show was pretty rad. Their dual-drummer attack would probably be better on a smaller stage, but singer Channy Casselle can certainly keep your attention with her amazing voice.

-- After a brief interlude outside, I returned for Lionel Richie's set. As I wittily said to a stranger at the bar, I'm pretty sure this dude is going places. I got a polite laugh. Good enough.

-- So, Lionel is amazing. I thought he was going to do his new 'Tuskegee' country stuff, but instead his set was all the hits. 'Easy'? Amazing. He also did 'Dancing on the Ceiling' and his band played the riff to Van Halen's 'Jump.' He didn't do the full song, which was pretty much my only gripe with his set.

-- Kenny Rogers came out to sing 'Lady' with Lionel. The fact that I'm considering this a highlight of SXSW blows my mind. Lionel and his band then did a few bars of 'The Gambler,' but Kenny didn't come back. I was sad.

-- Did I mention that Lionel Richie played SXSW? What the hell?

-- Post-show, I see Eugene Mirman and Kurt Braunohler, the host of IFC's awesome new game show 'Bunk.' After being a shy comedy nerd the night earlier, I went up to them to profess my fandom, as non-weirdo as I possibly could. Not only were they cool about it, they invited me to hang with them on a karaoke bus.

-- Yes, a karaoke bus. With an open bar. It just rides around and people sing. I'm sure there's a marketing gimmick in there, but I couldn't tell.

-- While chatting with some new friends, a guy overhears that I work for Spinner. "Your site covers my girlfriend," he tells me. Turns out, his girlfriend is Leah Siegel of Firehorse. Turns out she's awesome, and kind of a bully when it comes to karaoke.

-- The bus is non-smoking, apparently, so we made a stop in a random parking lot. There, at Leah's urging, a group of us did a photo shoot where we all jumped on the count of three with the goal of us getting a picture in mid-air. The photographer was the amazing Reggie Watts. I don't think we got the picture, thanks to the impossible timing of the iPhone, but now there's a photo of me standing next to a stranger smoking a bowl, so that's good.

-- I got back to my hotel around 3:30 or 4. I call the front desk and ask for a 10AM wake-up call. The guy, probably sensing something in my incredibly sober tone of voice, says, "Would you like a 10:15 one too?" Good times.