HispanicBusiness

It's been 48 hours since organizers of the third annual Neon Desert Music Festival announced 18 of the up to 30 acts that will perform May 25 this year in Downtown El Paso.

Enough time to soak it all in.

Looks like NDMF 3.0 will have the same mix of alternative, Latin and electronic acts the first two did, with a little more emphasis on the electronic.

It also will mark the third festival appearance by El Paso guitar auteur Omar Rodriguez Lopez, this time with new band Bosnian Rainbows.

The electronic element, which I felt bogged down last year's NDMF, will be repped by two hot acts, Wolfgang Gartner and Martin Solveig, not to mention two of Mexico's most innovative and respected artists, officially billed as Nortec Collective Presents: Bosich+Fussible.

Also confirmed: American electronica band STRFKR, Canadian electronica group Dragonette and American electro-house duo Viernes.

Interpol singer Paul Banks will bring his solo tour to the festival. Other rockers on the 11-hour outdoor event include Mexico's Latin Grammy-winning Carla Morrison, Mexican rap-metal blenders Molotov, the lucha-mask wearing Mex-rock goofballs A Band of Bitches, L.A. surf-rockers Best Coast, El Paso's the Royalty (who played the first festival) and Mexico pop-punks PXNDX.

NDMF organizers expect to increase the total of performing acts to about 25-30, almost 10 fewer than last year's second edition of the alt-rock, Latin rock and EDM fest. The move will reduce

costs, they said.

Plans to push back the start to 3 p.m. will give crews more time to set up the four staging areas, vendors and other attractions.

Rodriguez Lopez, who rose to prominence with El Paso's At the Drive-In, played the first NDMF in 2011 with the Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group, essentially The Mars Volta, which was in a dispute with its record company at the time.

He returned last year to play bass with Le Butcherettes, the Mexican rockers fronted by the theatrical Teri Gender Bender, who is part of Bosnian Rainbows. The group also includes Mars Volta drummer Deantoni Parks and singer-keyboardist Nicci Kasper.

The band started touring last year, precipitating Cedric Bixler Zavala's exit from Mars Volta, and will release a self-titled album in June.

Several local acts were announced Wednesday, with a few more to come, according to Splendid Sun Productions, the festival's El Paso-raised, Austin-based promotion group.

They include DJ Johnny Kage, rockers Electric Social and the Black Coats and the rap-jazz band Riboflavin.

Tickets are $55 GA, $150 VIP, available at neondesertmusicfestival.com and WB Liquors stores.

WSXW

Those Splendid Sun Productions folks have been busy bees. Not only did partner and spokesman Zach Paul get married recently, but the company has been piecing together its third annual West by Southwest, or WSXW festival, which starts before and ends after Austin's SXSW festival.

More than 40 acts, including Wu-Tang Klan's Masta Killa, Deer Tick, Bleached, In the Valley Below and locals, including Riboflavin, Biscuit Roller, L.I.G.R.E. and Emily Davis will perform between today and March 23 at the Lowbrow Palace and Black Market.

Best of all, all shows are free. They're 18-and-older admission only.

Here's a chronological rundown. All shows start at 9 p.m.