ACL 2009 in a nutshell

Every year is Austin City Limits is memorable in a very different way. This year, it was cold rain on Saturday that led to the warm, oh-so-yummy-sewage-smelling Mudfest on Sunday. Can’t say that I preferred it that way, but there won’t be any other ACL like this one, that’s for sure.

FRIDAY

My bike was fixed (from being hit by a car four days prior) just in the nick of time so that I could ride my bike to Zilker on Friday. It was a pretty sweet ride since I just took the Lance Armstrong bikeway from downtown straight to Austin High and the Mopac pedestrian bridge, which led right to the Town Lake entrance. I actually think it took longer trying to lock my bike into one of the racks than it took to actually bike there.

I got there around 2:45pm and saw the last half of the Averett Brothers, who sounded awesome. After that I sat and listened to The Walkmen’s set, then got in semi-close for Phoenix. I had no idea who Phoenix was, did not know their music at all, but chose them over Coheed & Cambria because I knew I did not like C&C. Phoenix was just awesome, and turns out I did know a couple of their songs… probably from commercials or radio randomness.

I then camped out for Thievery Corporation because I knew (from ACL 2006) they put on a most wonderful show, and it was. I then ran over to catch Them Crooked Vultures, listening to a little bit of Andrew Bird on the way. I initially thought I was going to see Kings of Leon to end the day, but then flopped over to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. And they were sooooo good.

Biking home was pretty uneventful as well, minus having to dodge the pedestrians walking on the bike path who didn’t know what “ON YOUR LEFT” meant.

SATURDAY

They were calling for rain and storms both Saturday and Sunday, so I decided to ride/walk in with my friend Kristen. Saturday was her day and I really didn’t have any preferences at all, so I followed her lead. While it didn’t rain on our walk in, it started to rain shortly after we got there. It was a cold steady rain that, despite having a semi-effective hoodie jacket, made me feel thankful that I brought my umbrella. We listened to a bit of Grizzly Bear, then some of Citizen Cope, then Bon Iver. We headed out towards Mos Def a bit early but then got sidetracked at the football tent where the end of the LSU-Georgia game was playing out. When we got there, the score was 7-6 with GA in the lead and basically two minutes left. Who knew that the teams would score three more touchdowns to make an insanely exciting end to the game?

Mos Def ended up starting 30 minutes late, which was super lame. We left after basically one song to camp out for the Decemberists, the anticipated show of the day. The played their latest album front to end non-stop, and they were amazing. I’d never seen them live as a band (I’ve seen Colin Meloy solo), what a great show. After that was the choice between Ghostland and Dave. While I’m not the biggest Dave fan, I’d never seen them before and he IS fro my hometown (and I’ve seen GLO four times)… but I got so excited when I saw the laser lights being tested out through the clouds and rain that I ended up going to see Ghostland. I did catch a song or two out of Dave when leaving though, so I guess I can officially now say I’ve seen him.

I was so cold and wet and muddy after getting home that I rinsed my shoes off under hot water in the condo’s first-floor bathroom before taking a nice, long, hot bath that felt so very awesome.

SUNDAY

The last leg, and I admit I had to do some extra self-motivating to get myself up and moving. I had a plan though - I HAD to see Passion Pit since I barely missed out on them when they played at Emo’s a few months ago and Charlottesville-based Sons of Bill were also playing (although basically at the same time as PP - stupid schedule).

Of course, walking into Zilker I noticed that it was a little muddy. The first few steps were okay - dirty, but nothing out of ordinary - but then reality set in, as the “grass” disappeared and the mud became thicker, then eventually turning into a wet, thick, sludge that covered your feet completely and smelled pretty not-awesome. I was walking on the way to the Toadies, but soon decided that it was okay to listen to them from far away. From that point on, I decided that I was going to minimize travel distance the rest of the day.

I went over to the BMI stage, where Sons of Bill were going to play, a bit early because it was the only stage where you could actually see grass. I was amused by the crowd that formed there - some probably because of the grass - but mostly it seemed like a lot of the crowd was from Charlottesville. It was almost like a little reunion in the middle of the festival. Pretty sweet. In any case, I got to hear SOB play three songs (they sounded so good, so happy for them!).

I headed over to Passion Pit as fast as I could through the sludge and stayed for their entire set. What an awesome group, I love their stuff! I then went over to The Dead Weather for a few songs before heading back to the Dell stage to wait for Girl Talk. GT was BADASS. I thought I had no energy left, but I ended up dancing through the entire thing.

No Pearl Jam for me, I headed out after the awesomeness of GT and couldn’t wait to hose my feet down. The mud was definitely the hot topic of ACL Sunday. It was pretty ridiculous.