Every  year, thousands of bands from around the world flock to Austin, Texas to play South By Southwest. It is a mecca of sorts for bands looking for exposure, where talented unsigned bands perform at showcases for record executives and A & R people; where music fans hop from venue to venue, following the bands they love and discovering new favorites in the process.

On March 15, Taken By Cars, arguably one of the Philippines’ top acts, will be in Austin, Texas for South By Southwest. Finally.

And what better way to celebrate this momentous occasion than with a big send-off party?

The Taken By Cars send-off gig will be held on March 3 at the Republiq Club, in Newport Mall, located at Resorts World Manila. Tickets are available for pre-order starting tomorrow, February 20 until February 29. The pre-ordered tickets cost PHP 500 and will cost PHP 600 after the 29^th of February.

To pre-order the tickets, just text  +639228258946 or email party.bear.records@gmail.com.

And of course Splintr fans will be given a chance to win free tickets for the event. More details to follow. Keep your eye on this blog for updates.

Meanwhile, here’s the RA Rivera-directed video for the Taken By Car’s song “Unidentified” from their 2nd album “Dualist”.

How To Destroy Angels - a trio comprising of Trent Reznor, wife Mariqueen Maandig and musical genius Atticus Ross – is offering a free preview of a cover of “Is Your Love Strong Enough” originally by Brian Ferry. The song was released early December of last year and has since been played over 29,000 times on the official How To Destroy Angels blog.

The song is a very soothing with a lot of ambient moments. Mariqueen does almost all of the vocal chores on the track – and yes, as her surname would suggest she is very much Pinay. She was the lead vocalist of the band West Indian Girl for the most part of the last decade and was married to the NIN frontman October 2009 – just months after Reznor and co. played in Manila.

The song is part of the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo sound track. Reznor and Ross were the brains behind the Academy-Award winning score for The Social Network. The pair were finalists to the Golden Globes for the same category but they ultimately lost to Ludovic Bource for the Artist.

30 Seconds to Mars was in Manila a few months back as part of their series of tours for their latest album This is War. That concert was one of the many shows that the band did for this album cycle (one that dates back from 2009!). On December 7th, 30STM will be playing their 300th and final show for the cycle in New York City to formally close the very extended round-the-world tour that has seen the band go through many major cities in the Americas, Europe, Australia and Asia. According to the band’s label EMI, this would be a new world record for the most number of shows played for the promotion of a single album.

This dedication to touring shows the very distinct personality and philosophy of the band – 30STM tried be as inclusive as possible when it comes to recording of the songs from the album. A “summit” was organized as the album was being recorded so that fans can see the progress and ultimately contribute to the actual tracks.

We’re back with the last batch of pics from the Pupil City Limits Bar Tour. Let’s check out some shots from SaGuijo.

If you look closely at the window on the left, you can see some guy enjoying some beer. At least, we hope it’s just some guy.
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Let’s see what’s going on in and around the Philippine music scene, shall we?

It’s Deftones night at Al’s Bar tonight, May 28, 2010 at around 9PM. Sandata, Pitik, Midsummer, Tonight We Sleep, Faultline and Ginseng Luzon. Entrance is about P150.00 with one free beer.

On May 29, 2010, also at Al’s Bar, Parañaque, is Full Throttle, featuring Neverdie, AMT, Ephesus, Diachroma, F_B_, Siadina, Good Morning High Fives and ERF. Entrance is again, P150.00 with one beer.

For those who don’t know where Al’s Bar is, click here for the map.

Over at Makati, at SaGuijo, they’re celebrating their 6th anniversary – Taking Chances: saGuijo celebrates six years of evolution and revolution! It’ll be a two night series starting tonight, May 28, 2010.

Part One is later. Up Dharma Down, The Charmes, Blast Ople, Greyhoundz, Drip, Angulo, Spy, Mr. Bones and the Boneyard Circus, Out of Body Special, Sleepwalk Circus, Dorques, SoapDish, Boy Elroy, and bunch more will all be playing.

Part Two of their 6th year anniversary happens on May 29, 2010, Saturday. The event will feature Us-2 Evil-0, Taken by Cars, Musical O, Encounters with a Yeti, Chicosci, Paranoid City, Domino, Radioactive Sago Project, Typecast, Pedicab, Sandwich, Imago, Sugarfree, Nyco Maca+Playground and many more.

The 6th Jam Musicfest is happening over at The Venice Piazza, McKinley Hill at The Fort tonight, May 28, 2010. They’ve got some of the biggest names in the Philippine music scene playing, most notably Archipelago, Brigada, Callalily, Coffeebreak Island, Eevee, Franco, Gaijin, Hilera, Jeck Pilpil and Peacepipe, Juan Pablo Dream, Kjwan, Moonstar 88, Paraluman, Pedicab, Pupil, Razorback, Salamin, Sugarfree, Tanya Markova, Typecast, and Urbandub.

These are just a few of the biggest gigs happening tonight. Where ever you may be, I’m sure there’s always something worthwhile to look out for in the local music scene.

For more updates on gig schedules, events and music news, follow us on Twitter or join our ever-expanding community on Facebook. Then make sure to check out live music videos of the hottest bands on Splintr.com!

Enjoy the gigs!