Many more of Tony Nelson’s shots are up at our SXSW photo gallery (click here).

Here’s a quick blow-by-blow of all the other acts I caught on the second night of the fest (and amazingly, not a single act I saw did blow):

*Howlin’ Rain: Let me go ahead and call them my favorite new act of SXSW so far. But then, I have a soft spot for Derek & the Dominos, which is who this new quintet — led by Comets on Fire frontman Ethan Miller — most reminded me of, with a little bit of British soul-rocker Terry Reid. The group sounds tailor-made for the Bonnaroo festival, with a tinge of hip psychedelica, a little tasteful jam-band flavor and some loose Southern boogie.

*My Morning Jacket. The well-established Kentucky rockers started out a little tepid and awkward inside the mammoth Austin Music Hall, playing a couple of new songs that found frontman Jim James singing a weird falsetto. A MN music nut I ran into told me he “didn’t get” these guys and soon left, and I couldn’t blame him. That is, until about 45-minutes into the set. James (pictured below) led his group through two stellar new songs that are among the band’s most high-charged, chariot-race-like, epic pieces, with three guitars blazing. They were followed by the only old MMJ song that matches that level of intensity, “One Big Holiday.” I’ll go ahead and call that my most titillating moment of SXSW so far (that’s before heading to the Playboy party, of course).

*Carbon/Silicon. OK, so I guess I’m not the only big Clash fan at SXSW. The line led down the street for the SXSW debut of the new band led by former Clashman (and Big Audio Dynamiter) Mick Jones and Generation X guitarist Tony James. Fortunately, they were at a Sixth Street bar with giant windows that open up to the street right behind the stage, so I watched the band from the backside view as they bounced through “The News” and a few more tracks from its new album. It wasn’t the best place to hear the music, but the vantage point did allow me a candid view of Jones, who smiled broadly to his bandmates everytime he turned around. Here’s hoping he has as much fun when C/S plays to the Varsity Theatre on March 30.

*Trombone Shorty. Maybe the hottest new act out of New Orleans since Katrina, he performed outside the Irish bar Fodo. And I really mean he “performed,” doing a James Brown-ian showman thing throught his set, which melded the hard-blowing energy of NOLA brass bands with a sped-up update of the Meters’ funk. He also refreshingly avoided tradition, like when he spiked a cover of “St. James Infirmary” with lyrics about his Playstation and Nike shoes.

*Billy Bragg. The Irish folk-rock legend (fresh from the earilier Body of War all-star set) stuck mostly to older tunes at his 1 a.m. solo acoustic set, despite having a strong buzz generating on his upcoming album. The set favorites included ”Little Time Bomb” and “Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key.” He also did this hilarious bit — based on his old street-busking days — where he asked the crowd if they wanted to hear a Dylan cover or a Carpenters tune. “I know in America only half of you vote,” he quipped. Then he went onto compare the yelps for the Carpenters to the votes George Bush got: “You’ve made a mockery of the democratic system.”

 For complete SXSW coverage go here.

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