I SUrvived AUstin City Limits Festival !

WOW! What a great weekend I had! I went to the 6th annual Austin City Limits Festival on the 14th,15th, and 16th. I had to take yesterday off to rest up!There were 65,ooo people there. There were 130 bands,8 stages, a record store, tons of local food booths, watering stations,local artists wares for sale,a massive amount of lawn chairs,parasols, hats, crazy t-shirts,and various bathing suits. I even saw a guy in a leopard print mini skirt with no underpants! Ewhh!

Where shall I begin? I guess at the begininng! We got there Friday afternoon hoping to catch a bit of Pete Yorn but unknown to us and a few thousand other concert goers there was a fire over by his stage and it shut the whole festival down. They made him quit playing and cleared that area, brought in the fire trucks and closed the gates to incoming people. We got stuck at the clusterfuck that ensued trying to get into the festival. It took us over 30 minutes of standing,shoving, and shuffling to get into the grounds. Once in we immediately sat down under the shade of the first tree we saw! I have bad knees and while walking is intermediate exercise for me standing is a killer! While we sat there a band started to play on the stage closest to us. John Ralston, he was very good! Then we made our way to catch the last of Joss Stone. Also very good! That gal can SANG I tell ya !While wating to hear Spoon we listened to a chick who looked Indian, sounded british and sang hip hop, pop music called M.I.A.She was alright. Not my kind of music though. Next up was one of my favorite bands, Spoon. They have been around a long time. They are from here and with the release of this last album I am thinking they are no longer an Austin secret! The sun was setting just as they came out to play and it was a lovely set! After hearing Spoon we walked over to catch some of The Mighty Clouds Of Joy! An all black gospel blues band that rocked the house! I have never had so much fun praising Jesus! We also caught a little bit of this band called The Gotan Project. They were trippy! Then on to hear some of the Kaiser Chiefs who also rocked. Rev. Horton Heat was likewise rocking the house and we shook booty there for a few songs before making our way to hear The Killers. Bjork was playing on the other side of the park and from what I could hear she was strange! Killers ruled the night!After a long afternoon and evening of music and walking we made our way back to the car and home to shower and rest up!

The next day was Saturday and we set out to hear more great music. Got there around 1 p.m. It was hot 90 degrees and the sun was blaring! We caught the last half of Dax Riggs who was very good. I had never heard of him but really enjoyed his set. Then it was tme for Paulo Nutini. It was a great concert! He is so fucking cute it is too much! It was so hot sitting there in the sun with no shade at all. The name of the stage was AMD which I am convinced stood for Almost Made me Die! I wanted to go and get Paulo's autograph in the nearby Waterloo Records store but the line was forever long and I desparately needed shade of some kind. We found it in the form of a little tree where we sat down to cool off and relax. While sitting there we heard a band from Nashville called Trent Summer and the New Row Mob. They were what I call Rockabilly. Very good indeed! Also while sitting there a golf cart whizzed by and came to a full stop in front of us and who was on the cart but Paulo! I was so starstruck that all I could do was stare and holler Nutini over and over again! He just looked at me and started laughing! I am sure it was a strange site indeed! Then we garnered up enough strength to catch Stephen Marley (son of Bob). After that we listened to a little bit of Damien Rice then it was time to head home. An early night for us but I tell ya the 3 hours in the sun did me in for real!

The next day I was seriously debating going back or not! You have to be a real trouper to hang in there I tell ya! But Deb showed up around 4 p.m. and away we went. Now, the day was a nice one not too hot only around 88 degrees with a nice little breeze ever once in a while but that sun is still hot enough to draw a sweat bead or two for sure! We walked past Patterson Hood jamming out on our way to see and hear Amos Lee who by the way was one of my favorite shows! He is so good I am gonna be buying his CD today! Then we saw My Morning Jacket and a little bit of The Jazz Preservation Band from New Orleans while waiting for Ziggy Marley(son of Bob) to start up. He jammed out the little tent he was in! Not sure why he was playing such a small venue but the crowd was huge! Next up was The Decemberists which I know a lot of people like but I am not really one of those people. They were ok,but I am not running out to buy their record anytime soon! The event was topped off by a performance by Bob Dylan and his band! It was a huge event and lots of people stayed to hear him. There was a big Jumbotron but no close up shots of Dylan which must have been in his contract because we saw close ups of the band members but no Bob! It reminded me of Futurama where all the famous people are still alive but only their heads! LOL! His voice was cracking too. He had sang the night before at Stubbs' so I am guessing he used it all up then! We left the grounds happy and spent! I was tore up from the floor up!

Yesterday, I took the day off to regroup and relax. I started out with a nice breakfast of Migas with my dear friend Pam who had come down with her boyfriend, daughter and her friend for the Sunday show from Tulsa Oklahoma! After seeing them off I took my car to be washed,waxed,buffed,spiffed up and smelling nice! Then I went for an hour massage! Getting the kinks worked out was heavenly! Thank you Delia! Then I went to the gym and got in the hot tub to further pamper my tired muscles! After showering and feeling rejuvenated I took a car trip to Lockhart for the best BBQ in the world! I got it to go and came back to share with my cousin Linda. We feasted on Brisket, ribs, and pork chops! An Atkins dieters dream meal! After that I was in bed by 8p.m. and never woke up til 6a.m. this morning!

Now I am back at the "w" and things are status quo! Only 3 more days after today til the weekend but I am planning on working this weekend so we will see what the future brings! Hope everyone else had a good weekend but if you weren't with me you didn't have as much fun as me!