If your favorite band is playing at your favorite club, you’ve probably noticed that they city has been taken over by CMJ‘s annual Music Marathon through Saturday night. If you bought a badge, this is a pretty awesome development — 120 hours of music at your disposal, provided your queueing skills are well honed.

Even if you don’t have a fancy pass or guestlist connections, there are plenty of things to keep you soaking in indie music all week. The schedule of free events is particularly rich for the unemployed, creative class, or others with flexible working hours. Free daytime performances abound, and the best of them seem to have been scheduled by Brooklyn Vegan.

Aside from being the go-to resource on the best acts to hit the festival and all of the extra parties, s he has booked three days of remarkably great shows on the Lower East Side [bv]. Today’s, at Pianos (downstairs) builds to a magnificent conclusion from Thunderbirds Are Now! [mb] and C.S.S. [mb]. Get there early and enjoy comped vitamin water between cheap drinks.

So, day one’s over and four days remain. The official schedule’s online [cmj]. What shows are going to have you standing out in the cold early? Which extra-curricular parties are you checking out? And do you happen to have any room on your guestlist for a visiting Seattleite?