SXSWABQ

Take your vitamins and go out. Quite a few of the bands you'll see padding out local lineups in the coming weeks are on their way to or from SXSW in Austin, and that means a concentrated froth of bigger, better, weirder touring acts than what usually rambles through town. You can't afford to stay home.

Not just pipe dreams

OK, so it’s time again for high winds, evil leprechauns, disgusting green beer and arming yourself with a stout shillelagh. Lighten up dude, it’s also time for the good things ... remember parades and bagpipes?

Ed Templeton

Choosing bridges over bars

There are two sides to noise-punk duo No Age.

The Ramones-obsessed, headfirst slide into power-pop punk bumps up against its yang: layer upon layer of cacophonous sound that’s impossible to pick apart.

Though the result is messy, guitarist Randy Randall says everything is carefully designed. “Even the sense of chaos is planned in there,” Randall says. “Ninety-nine percent of it is all written out. If you were to see us every single night on the road, you might eventually become bored, because it’s the same sound every day.”

Caravan

En route to SXSW, the Not Not Fun showcase/Mega Psych Fest is making a pit stop at 1kind Studios (1016 Coal SW). The all-ages noise on Sunday, March 15, includes Robedoor, Magic Lantern and Sun Araw, with local support from Death Convention Singers and Yoda’s House. Cost is $5, sound starts at 7 p.m. (Laura Marrich)