While the SPIN/MySpace Saloon was being erected on Austin's 6th Street, a few bands were kind enough to join us at our hotel suite for some Q&A and the occasional acoustic performance. Check out a stirring rendition of "No Sugar Mama" by the Von Bondies' Jason Stollsteimer and Leann Banks, one that even impressed Moby, who was waiting to come inside for his own interview.

"Good evening, children of South by Southwest. Come to me."

Michael Stipe has long been considered a saintly father figure of sorts to indie rock nation, so why not greet the capacity crowd at Stubb's with a fitting benediction? Wearing a knit hat, scarf, sweater, and jacket, the R.E.M. frontman looked like he was more prepared to hail a cab uptown than lead his band through a 90-minute set designed to win over (and win back) an audience of jaded, beer-soaked cranks and bloggerati half his age. But the frenetic one-two punch of "Living Well's the Best Revenge" and "Mansized Wreath," the opening tracks from the redemptive new Accelerate, followed by a lacerating spin through Reckoning's "Second Guessing" a proved a more apt, more complicated greeting: We are not fucking around.

Cabbing to the far end of 4th Street, we hit the Austin Music Hall for a set from hometown folkies Okkervil River, which was preceded by the Austin Music Awards -- naturally Spoon and its frontman Brit Daniel walked with a staggering nine awards in total.

Our team is wrapping up its coverage of SXSW's opening night, including a review of R.E.M.'s somewhat bewildering set at Stubb's, a stop at the Austin Music Hall for Okkervil River's onstage hookup with Roky Erickson, and some dancefloor revolution at La Zona Rosa with Simian Mobile Disco and Yeasayer. Here's a little taste of R.E.M. to whet your SXSW whistle.

After a day chock full of trains, planes, and automobiles, SPIN.com has finally reached Austin, TX and is preparing for the musical booty of SXSW's opening night; R.E.M.'s much-mooted set at Stubb's, as well as gigs from Simian Mobile Disco, Yeasayer, and many, many others will kick off the event, entertaining the ever-building crowd of music fans and industry insiders.

Whether you're diving into the crazed musical onslaught of Austin, TX's SXSW next week in person or from a distance, prepare yourself with Spin at SXSW 2008 Radio, a collection of tunes on Slacker, featuring music from Spin's favorite artists going into the festival.