After an afternoon of parties and gigs, the first night of music the SXSW festival 2008 in Austin, Texas is set to kick off with the likes of R.E.M, Van Morrison and The Kills among the highlights of the evening.
Michael Stipe and co. will be headlining Stubb’s Bar-B-Q at midnight (CMT), and are expected to play a slew of new material from their forthcoming album, ‘Accelerate’.
Meanwhile, earlier in the evening at 8pm, Van Morrison will play at La Zona Rosa at 8pm.
Other highlights include UK rockers The Duke Spirit and The Ting Tings at Buffalo Billiards, The Lemonheads and The Von Bondies at Emo’s Annex and The Black Keys headlining a bill including Be Your Own Pet, Autolux and Delta Spirit at Emo’s Main Room.
Simian Mobile Disco wil be bringing the tunes to La Zona Rosa late at night, with Brooklyn Paul Simon-heads Yeasayer playing before them at 11.30pm.
NME.COM is bringing you full coverage of SXSW as it happens. Head to the NME SXSW page now for all the latest news, galleries and blogs direct from the festival.