ACL - The Party Never Ends.

Day two begins with coffee and blueberry muffins made by my niece. Figuring outour schedule for the day, re-packing our bags, everything just seems to take a bit longer than we had thought. K offers to drive us to the bus stop. We had a bit of a wait so we must have just missed one. Everything going well, we get off at our stop and head over to Jack in the Box to use a real bathroom. We also got some food and then headed down to the entrance.

T still had her food when we went through and security made her stand outside to eat it! Crazy!

Our first stop was the Sweet Leaf Tea booth to show our text message coupons for a free tea. Then over to Old 97s. We sat near the back so we could make an easy retreat in time for Jose Gonzalez. That was another good show, but we keep wondering how come we sit down and then every pot smoker and cigarette smoker in Austin comes and sits near us. It's some kind of strange attraction!

After Jose Gonzalez, we stopped in the Digital Oasis for some AC, a free portable fan, and a free photo. You could also watch concerts on tvs, play Guitar Hero, charge your cell phone, or surf the Internet. We just enjoyed the Air Conditioning until Drive-by Truckers started.

After Drive-by truckers, we went back to the Sister Mister Tent and then re-filled out water bottles at the water taps. By then, we were mighty peckish. We walked down the line of food booths. T was in search of a particular item, I was just trying to figure out what I wanted. Then, I smelled it. Barbecue! We split up and obtained our sustenance.

After that, we made a beeline back to AMD to stake out our spot for Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. Our plan was to get there in time for Robert Earl Keen, stay put and keeping moving up if we could.

Robert Earl Keen was everything I ever expected. I had seen him last year as well and he never fails to disappoint. He's also a hometown favourite so most of the crowd knew most of the lyrics to most of the songs and we sang along at the top of our lungs.

John Fogerty was next. He played all the CCR songs you would want to hear, plus a few new ones. When it was over, the guy behind us said "I can't believe he didn't play Centerfield - that's his hit". What an idiot!

Two nice guys asked to share our blanket while we waited for Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. One just moved to Austin from the same town in Ohio that my family is from. Isn't that funny? The other was a student at UT. We discussed music, concerts, festival etiquette. It was cool! I told UT guy that knowing a young person like himself was so into GOOD music gave me hope for the future. Two older ladies had the blanket in front of us. They proclaimed "Robert Plant is the sexiest man in Rock." A young guy sitting next to them said "Maybe he used to be." One of the ladies said "Honey, he still is" then she ripped off her bra so she could throw it on stage. Ohio guy asked if we had seen Robert Plant and Alison Krauss live before. When we said we had not, he was very excited for us.

I was very impressed by the set list. They did songs from their album, Led Zeppelin, Union Station, and traditional bluegrass. The highlights included Robert Plant talking about how much he was influenced by bluegrass and how that was real music, T. Bone Burnett's solo turn at the mike, Alison Krauss on fiddle for a good portion of the show, Robert Plant on maracas for "I'm In The Mood". The most memorable moment was Alison Kraus, Robert Plant and T. Bone Burnett a capella on "Down To The River To Pray" with the ENTIRE audience singing along IN HARMONY. That was an ACL moment!

After the show, we headed out to the bus with 10,000 of our closest friends. When we got to the stop, we learned that people had been waiting for 20 minutes and no bus had come by. 20 minutes later, one bus went past but did not stop. We spoke with two guys who were going to a stop near ours and were going to suggest sharing a cab when they ran across the street to catch one going the other way. I phoned K and she offered to pick us up at the Starbucks at the top of the hill, about a half-mile away. That worked out so well we plan to do it again after Foo Fighters.

Back at the house, we had dinner (farm-fresh pork roast - nothing better than eating food you grew yourself!) while we warmed up the hot tub. We washed it down with some Texas brew. AFter a good soak in the hot tub, we had some Blue Bell Ice cream and went to bed.

Sunday - Last day. Taking my niece, seeing Joe Bonamassa, sad to be going home, but really happy for such a good trip.

Swell Day at ACL

Today was the first day of ACLFest 2008. My second year at the Festival and this year only B & L are coming from the family, but I did convince T to come along (yeah, that was SO hard - come see 150 bands in 3 days!).

Got in on time. The Bell-Marrs taxi service was ready and waiting. T flew in on a different flight but met up at baggage claim. All well and good.

Got to the house, changed, noshed and heading off again. The taxi was offered so we took it! Dropped us off right where the bus would have and we headed down Barton Springs Rd to Zilker Park.

Through security and wristbanding with no problems, we made a beeline for the food court for some sustenance (fried avocado with mango slaw from Hudsons!) and then off to the AMD stage to catch Asleep At The Wheel. AMD is at the southern far end of the park. There are eight stages and it is a bit of a hike from one end to the other.

Asleep At The Wheel is a fine dance hall band. We had our blanket out near a group of young people that I could have sworn were friends of my "nephew". In fact, they were! He walked right past us, only stopping when I called out to him.

After Asleep At The Wheel, we got some iced tea (I forgot to tell T that we are in the South and it would be sweet-Sorry!) and sat down at the Blue Room stage for What Made Milwaukee Famous. They are a local band, but I know them from Bob Boilen's show on NPR. Once again, Bob has totally made my choices easier at ACL.

After a brief respite in the Sister Mister tent (four huge fans blowing water!), we nabbed front row house left for Jakob Dylan. Same stage as Bob Dylan last year. He totally rocked - well, as much as a Dylan can. Sang nearly every song from his new album.

Next stop was M. Ward at the WAMU stage. Yes - with all their financial woes, WAMU is still a major sponsor. We got some shave ice and sat down to see the previous set by The Freddy Jones Band. I had never heard them before but they were pretty good. A huge crowd left when they were done and we were able to get seats under the tent on actual seats. M. Ward was great. We noticed the paparazzi taking photos of the VIP area. There was a girl that looked like Zoey Deschanel (his bandmate in She and Him) but when we got a good look, it wasn't her.

Debated whether to stay put for Jenny Lewis or head over to Austin Ventures for Mates Of State and Eli Young. Mates of State won since Jenny Lewis is based in LA and we will have a good chance to see her at any number of venues at home, but I have never heard of Mates Of State playing nearby.

Eli Young was great, but they were having major sound issues. T still doesn't know if she likes them. They are this year's Broken West for me. I told K that I want their new cd for Christmas (it's on my Amazon Wish List) because they wrote a song for me! Well, not really, but they used my name. T is now referring to them as The Boy Band since we were the oldest women in the audience. "When It Rains" got me through some tough moments in the past year so who cares how young they are?

This year's Pete Yorn for me is The Swell Season. If you haven't heard of them, you may know them from the movie "Once" or their Oscar-winning song "Falling Slowly". Marketa was having problems with the keys sticking on the grand piano (they don't like humidity) but other than that, they were fantastic. Glenn rocked out solo on a Van Morrison tune while they tweaked the piano. He is still playing the guitar with the giant hole - in case you were wondering. T said "Hasn't he made enough money to buy a new one?" Marketa played guitar for one song too so she had a chance to stand up front and sing facing the crowd.

Stopped by Alejandro Escevedo on our way to the Merch Tent and caught their last two songs. Mars Volta was on so we listened to them while we shopped. T got the organic bamboo/cotton tees for herself & J but they were sold out of my size so I went with the regular cotton.

Caught the #3 down Manchaca. Got off at the right stop, but couldn't remember how to walk home (in all fairness, I have never had to before). So I called my niece from the Chevron and she said "Mom's coming to get you".

Warmed up the hot tub, had something to eat, and headed off to bed.

Gotta go get ready for today's adventure. First up is Old 97s!

ACL - Here we come!

Wow! Two posts in one day! Don't get used to it.

I am heading off to Austin City Limits at the end of the week. This year I will be joined by a friend and my "niece" who is 14.

I am interested in seeing the music festival through the eyes of someone younger. My friend is also up for the challenge of introducing an eager young person to bands both new and old. Maybe we will also learn something about a band we have never seen. (IS there a band we haven't seen?)

I am especially intrigued to take her to see Robert Plant & Alison Krauss. So look for show reports as often as I can post. Or maybe tweets would be better. I will have to think about that.

One more thing about the designation "niece". She is actually the daughter of a first cousin. But things being how they are, this particular cousin and I are more like sisters. We have no sisters of our own and are the exact same age (so were often thrown together as children). Plus my brother doesn't have any children of his own and a girl has gotta have at least one niece!

Stay tuned....

What happened to my best thing?

I have just gotten so busy that I haven't had time to sit down and blog every day. Well, I haven't made time to do it, let's be honest.

But I had to write today because I am really happy.

I am going to see my family next weekend: my aunt & cousins in Austin. When I talk about going "home", that's where I go.

I am really lucky to have them and I am so excited that I can go visit them this coming weekend. We will be at ACL again so there will be lots of music and good times (and heat and sun as well).

My travelling buddy is coming with me on a pre-Spain trip. It's not the first time one of my friends has met the clan but it will be the most time one of my friends has spent with my family.

Anyway, I am really happy today and just wanted to make sure that didn't get missed.

ACL is AWESOME!

Our last day at ACL was FANtastic. We started the day at Ryan Shaw (where we also left a chair to stake out a spot), then popped over to The Broken West. They announced they were going to be signing autographs over at the Waterloo Records tent. So we ran over there and got the CDs and got in the line and while we were there we also were able to catch Robert Earl Keene.

The guys from Broken West were really sweet. After Robert Earl Keene, we took a look at all the people coming in and decided to pass on Lucinda Williams. Instead we went back over to the stage where we had left our chair. While we were waiting for My Morning Jacket, we had to listen to Common. Didn't like that one bit. Really disappointed that Rodrigo y Gabriela weren't there because we would have been listening to them.

The best part of My Morning Jacket was that Andrew Bird sat in with them! HG had to leave right after so she took the chairs and I moved up front for Dylan. I shared my blanket with a jetski couple from Florida while we waited for Dylan to begin.

He doesn't sing the way he used to. In fact, it took some time for me to figure out what the song was. But it was a great set. Definitely worth waiting all day in the crowd.

Thank you ACL. See you next year!

ACL Update

I have spent two days so far at ACL and the last day is today. We have been having a fantastic time!

We started out seeing Pete Yorn (with Minibar, of course). Walked past Peter Bjorn & John on our way to the Crowded House stage. Sat and listened to Blonde Redhead while waiting for Crowded House to begin. Met up with the Minibar crew just before CH started. Decided against walking back to the stage where Pete had played to see Spoon so stayed put and heard LCD Soundsystem, Queens Of The Stone Age, and Kaiser Chiefs.

The lead singer of the Kaiser Chiefs climbed up the scaffolding and injured himself when he jumped down, spent the whole set hopping on one foot. It was so PUNK!

Headed out before The Killers cuz Handicap Girl was exhausted. She'd had a Vicodin and fairly slept through the Chiefs.

Day Two was a bit more low key. Got there in time for Steve Earle, then planted ourselves for the remainder of the day for maximum band-age with minimum move-age. Saw Blue October, Andrew Bird, Arctic Monkeys, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, and Arcade Fire. Really bummed that I missed Damien Rice, but he was playing on the stage where Pete had played on Friday and there were just TOO MANY people to wade through.

Today we hope to see: Ryan Shaw, The Broken West, Robert Earl Keen, Lucinda Williams, My Morning Jacket & Bob Dylan. Well, at least I plan to see all of those. Handicap Girl has a slightly diferent agenda. But we will be in touch by cell (if we can get a signal!)

More to come - including pics, hopefully.

Austin City Limits

I'm so excited! My trip to ACL is finally here! So many bands to see. Time with my family. It should be really fun.

I will try to post during the trip. Don't quite know what the internet access availability will be.

Bands I am hoping to see include: Pete Yorn (with Minibar naturally), Peter Bjorn & John, Crowded House, Spoon, Kaiser Chiefs, The Killers, Steve Earle, Andrew Bird, Damien Rice, Arcade Fire, Ryan Shaw, The Broken West, The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Wilco or My Morning Jacket (they are on at the same time), and Bob Dylan.

I have my map and my schedule so I am all set.

Yay!

So many bands, so little time

First the back story on this adventure:

My cousin & I are the same age - just a few months apart. We wanted to plan something together when we turned 40. She was going through a pretty troublesome divorce at the time so we put it off a year.

Then we made plans to see a favourite band touring in the Midwest in August near our family roots. This time a drunk driver had his say when he broadsided her car over Memorial Day weekend.

Thankfully, she survived and, though she suffered severe brain trauma, she is determined to return to her life before the accident in as many ways as possible. She has made tremendous steps. So, we decided, at last, to make plans.

We are going to Austin City Limits this year. We bought the tickets a month ago. She convinced me not to wait until they announced the lineup and assured me that there would be a selection of bands that I would want to see. OMIGOSH! Was she right!!!

The announcement of the lineup was made this morning. Pete Yorn will be there (with Minibar backing) and that alone would be worth it, but there are so many more. I feel like a kid in a candy store. I don't know if I will be able to see them all (I may have to develop a ranking system - unfortunately the LA bands will be lower on my priority - except Pete).

Woo Hoo! I can hardly wait until September.