My weekend at Austin City Limits Music Festival was unforgettable. I didn’t know quite what to expect driving down to Austin to spend three days in the sun listening to bands from all over the planet but I was excited about the experience.
Friday
I arrived in Austin and ate lunch/dinner across the street from the University of Texas. I then drove to 4th and Guadeloupe to take the shuttle from downtown to Zilker Park, the site of ACL. When I finally arrived at Zilker Park I exchanged my ticket for the three-day wristband and I was allowed into the festival grounds.
I had left my hat at home so it was necessary for me, if I wanted to survive until Sunday under the hot Texas sun, to purchase a new hat. Upon leaving the merch tent I headed to a small stage just past the entrance for my first taste of music.
Amy Lavere (2:40-5:20) Amy Lavere and her stand up bass was a pleasant surprise and the perfect act to kick off my weekend with. Lavere’s sweet southern charm and beautiful lilting voice cast a spell over me that lingered for the rest of the day. Songs like “Killing Him Didn’t Make the Love Go Away” and “I’ll Remember You” were a hauntingly beautiful mix of traditional country, jazz, blues, and bluegrass. Amazing stuff.
Joss Stone/Crowded House At ACL there are 8 stages and 130 bands playing mostly one hour sets. Sometimes these sets over lap. One problem that I faced over the weekend was deciding whether I wanted to split sets in order to see and hear every artist that I wanted to see. The first split decision I made was to catch the beginning of Joss Stone’s set and then try and catch the last bit of Crowded Houses’s set.
Joss Stone walked out on stage and owned it completely. While standing there watching her strut and belt out her sweet soul music I couldn’t help but think of all the fake, lip synching crap female artists out there (think VMAs) who get lots of air time while a genuinely beautiful and insanely talented artist like Joss Stone barely gets a mention. I almost hated leaving her set early. I had to trek to the other side of the festival grounds to see Crowded House so unfortunately I had to take off.
When I reached the other stage Crowded House was changing instruments and introducing band members. About the time I found a place to stand they started playing their big hit “Don’t Dream It’s Over.” A wave of nostalgia swept over the crowd as soon as the first line was sung. It was a very communal experience.
Queens of the Stone Age I was bored to tears during Queens’ set. The only reason I was there was so I could have a great spot for the Killers. Yawn.
The Killers If there was one band that I was most excited about seeing this weekend it was the Killers. From start to finish their set was a complete spectacle. Brandon Flowers did not stand still once. He was all over the stage climbing on the piano and jumping off the monitors. His energy transferred to the audience and helped cap off a night of great music. They opened their set with a pitch perfect rendition of Sam’s Town and closed with the rousing version of (my favorite) All These Things I’ve Done. What a way to end day one!
