Around 20 San Diego bands performed as part of the annual South By Southwest festival in and around Austin, Texas.

Writer band members gigged their way to SXSW in a Honda Element equipped with a trailer, an electric water kettle, and a hundred packs of Cup O’ Noodles. “Last night, we played in Las Vegas at the Double Down Saloon,” blogged guitarist Jayme Ralph on MySpace. “Interesting, to say the least; the city and the people seem a bit surreal.”

The next night in Albuquerque, “Someone in Writer inadvertently dry humped a cactus,” according to guitarist David Hastings MacAdam. “No booze, no bands after midnight in Albuquerque on Sundays. This, ironically, in a state that has no motorcycle helmet law.”

In Las Cruces, “We pulled up to New Mexico State’s radio station, KRUX, and did a guerrilla in-studio performance/interview,” says MacAdam. “Today’s drive was only 45 minutes to El Paso, and we didn’t even have to stop for an Andy [Ralph] pee break, a new record, which usually is prompted by a lot of screaming and clamping.”

Drew Andrews and Spectral Cities shared their own road-to-SXSW stories. “I dig Albuquerque,” posts Andrews at sddialedin.com, “full of weird seedy bars, young kids littering the main drag all night, trolling for adventures. Last time I was there, the nightlife turned into an actual gunfight mini riot, cops securing the streets. But, hey, it’s still the Wild West, right?...

“Last night was Diego-tastic in Flagstaff, AZ: Long Live Logos, Crash Encore, Transfer, and us. We played [and] stayed at the Hotel Monte Vista. The after-party was a wild mix. I vaguely remember a noise complaint around 4 a.m. and a hotel manager yelling at me, thinking I was the tour manager. I offered him a beer and quickly stumbled away to my room. That’s how we do.”