The first night of the New American Music Union, here in Pittsburgh, went off without a hitch. At one point I climbed up into the VIP green room that overlooked the makeshift venue (having an all access pass has its benefits) to see a sea of 8000 or so people bouncing rhythmically the The Roots. It was like that nightclub scene from The Matrix, but, ya know, in a good way.The big revelation for me was The Black Keys. I'd seen them before on TV - Letterman a couple of times - but I wasn't prepared for how well two guys could rock the house. Performance of the night, for sure, which you'll be able to see for yourself when video of the event (including numbers from nearly all the bands) goes live on the NAMU website on Tuesday (take a look, the site was designed by my company, The Advance Guard.)

Tomorrow sees another full day of music, care of sponsors American Eagle, including a college band head-to-head playoff, and an evening set that kicks off with The Duke Spirit and ends with Gnarls Barkley, The Raconteurs and Bob Dylan.

Meanwhile, enjoy some photos taken by my business partner, CC Chapman. And if you were there last night, leave a comment to let me know what you thought.