Austin City Limits

Kids, as promised, here I am, fresh off the plane and prepared to paint such a vivid picture of my time at Austin City Limits it'll feel like you were actually there. Or like you're actually looking at my pictures.

Friday, September 23
I got up at 4 am (that's 3 am Central Time--a slightly important detail) to catch the 6:15 flight to Austin via Detroit. I landed at 2:30, and Katy picked me up in town. (Special thanks to Katy and Katrina, by the way, for their Davidson alum hospitality. Alenda lux ubi orta libertas fo sho.) We met Charles and Kate at the house and headed to ACL.

Spoon was a couple songs deep into their set when we got there. Their show wasn't as tight as their Siren performance--I think Britt may have been either drunk or heat stroke'd.


The throngs.



The Spoons.



The sign language translator? At first I thought how silly it was for deaf people to come to concerts, but then I realized I'll be deaf in 10 years and I'll still want to come to concerts (if only to be the sketchy old guy), but then I realized I can hardly make out the lyrics anyway, so who cares? Big ups to the translators, though, who were really gettin' down. At the Oasis show Noel was like, "What the fuck's that? What? What? What? I can't hear you, I'm deaf."

The much-hyped Rita, as far as I knew, was still going to bring us some weather, and I shot this picture thinking the wind and high wispy clouds on Friday evening would make way on Saturday for rain and madness:

They didn't.



Foreground: faux-hawk. Background: Keane.



This picture is awesome, no matter what you say.



This picture is Blues Traveler, no matter what you say. (John Popper moves too fast for my camera.)



Finishing up Friday night with The Black Crowes. Not really my scene. Kate Hudson sightings: 0.

After ACL, I went down to 6th street with Katy, Katrina, Andrea, Chad, and Guy. We didn't get into any fights with Real World cast members--quite a feat--but we got back at 3 am Central Time. Aw yeah. Do the math.

Saturday, September 24
A full night's sleep under my belt (which, although ostensibly a size 34, really doesn't do as much for me and my 31" waist as it should), I felt ready for a day of highly disciplined concert viewing. Death Cab won't watch itself. Does that make sense?


The Saturday afternoon crowd. Note the Austin skyline in the background. That tall building got a dedication from Oasis ("This one's for that building that looks like an owl. Fucking creepy.") Also note the dust, gathering in wait for a full-fledged assault Sunday night.



Mike Doughty, formerly of Soul Coughing, is formerly of Soul Coughing. He enjoys long walks on the beach and forgetting the lyrics to "Hungry Like the Wolf."



I thought this kid's t-shirt was so cool that I briefly overcame my uncomfortableness with taking pictures of random 10-year-olds, but it later occured to me that a little rain probably would have been awesome. So fuck off, little man.



Built to Spill. This is one of those bands I should be more into than I am, and they put on a pretty awesome show.



While waiting for Death Cab, I met the future mayor of Austin, Leslie.



Death Cab for Cutie. Being a loyal fan of The O.C., I love Death Cab, so I was really psyched to see them (for the first time). The show was really good, but Ben Gibbard had a somewhat unpleasant stage presence, I thought. As if he was going to go back to his tour bus and write about the agony of playing ACL. Still, I enjoyed the show, and they played a bunch of older stuff I wasn't expecting--"President of What," "Company Calls," and, one of my favorites, "Prove My Hypothesis."



More Death Cab.



After Death Cab, I bolted for The Walkmen. (I had to choose between them and The Fiery Furnaces, which was a tough call, but I don't really like The Fiery Furnaces.) Awesome show, made even better by...



...this guy. He threw up on the ground, and to keep our fellow concert-goers from stepping in it we all pulled together and built...



...a wall-cum-pile of trash. In the process, I got pretty close to the stage, so major bonus.


After The Walkmen I had some kind of dinner (I don't remember what exactly) and I'd like to pause from this frantic concert-hopping to give a shout out to Austin's food. It's awesome (even though they do BBQ with the wrong animal), but more importantly, they're passionate about it, and I respect that. Good eats: Salt Lick 360; Prejean's Restaurant Lafayette, LA; Stubb's BBQ; Texadelphia; The Best Wurst; Amy's Ice Creams. Anyway...



Bloc Party rocked my socks off, even though Kele (is that the lead singer?) wasn't hitting the high notes.



More Bloc Party, more socks rocked off.



For those of us wishing we were back in Middle School, the day ended at Oasis. Oh, those crazy Gallaghers. Good show. Big singalong. They closed with "My Generation."



I watched the show next to the Pommy contingent.

Sunday, September 25
I'm becoming quite the accidental Ambulance ltd. groupie, having caught them at Siren back in July, Mercury Lounge last Friday, and now at ACL.


Katy dropped me off early so I could see my favorite band whose album I don't have.



The crowd was almost as thin as them boys from NYC, so I got good and close.



The crowd coaxed Ambulance Ltd. back onstage for an encore, which I thought was really cool--no one was doing encores the whole festival--but then I looked at the time after they finished the encore and it turns out they still finished 5 minutes early. Oops.



Over to the Heineken Stage for M83.



Again, thin crowds = Chris is up front.



Le buckaroo.



I left M83 early to get a good spot for Doves. I had been looking forward to this show for years.



Doves share.



So many happy faces watching Doves.



You must see The Arcade Fire before you die. "Wake Up" live is my all-time favorite thing.



More Arcade Fire antics (plus good UT product placement).



I slipped into The Decemberists for a few songs between Doves and Wilco. Think about that for a second. I killed time by watching The Decemberists. ACL rulz.



My favorite band ever, Wilco. Jeff was in high spirits Sunday (pun possibly intended--I hope he hasn't fallen off the wagon). He was livlier than I've ever seen him. Another awesome show. I struck up a conversation with this girl from SMU who, I think, lied to me about her Wilco knowledge.



Wilco rocking out as the sun went down on the hottest day in ACL history.



This is what dust looks like.



Same shot as above but without the flash. Everyone's heading for Coldplay.



THE FINAL COUNTDOOOOOWN!



For "Yellow" they released a bunch of yellow, confetti-filled balloons.



Don't turn your back on me, Chris Martin. Even though we were about 12 miles back, and Chris Martin is a total goofball, Coldplay was awesome. I wonder if anyone ever picked up all those names he dropped.



Kate and Charles, taken at the behest of Mr. Gwyneth Paltrow.



Having conquered ACL, I prepare to rob a bank.


And that's it. Good times all around. I met all kinds of friendly strangers at the shows--the guy at the Walkmen who suggested I take the crazy dude's picture, the roller derby chick at Bloc Party, the liar at Wilco. Alright, I'm going to Maine in 5 hours. I need to pack.