I distinctly recall saying that I had no intention of ever going back to ACL; that apparently was a lie. Enamored with the thought of seeing Bjork, LCD Soundsystem, Blond Redhead, PB&J, Devotchka and a whole slew of other bands that I’ve been attempting to see all year, I bought my tickets while there were still three-day passes without any form of a plan.
As luck would have it, a coworker of mine (WK) and her friend Sara were planning on going as well. And in a cruel twist, my trip interfered with a business trip and I ended up having to get approval from five million levels of management before I could go.
Friday
We got to the festival a bit late on Friday but managed to get there in time to catch the end of MIA. After that we saw Queens of the Stone Age and caught up with Jason. Queens of the Stone Age are a full-on arena rock band. It’s unfortunate that their show had to be in the day time. Though they were good I had a hard time getting into it. The real reason I even bought tickets to ACL was to see Bjork again. I went directly from Queens of the Stone Age to the Bjork stage even though her show was still an hour and a half out because I wanted to get the best possible seat. The show was similar to the Radio City show, but it’s always better when you are closer. She didn’t disappoint. And she even played some different songs like I Miss You and Army of Me, which I didn’t expect.
After the show on Friday, we went to Mugshots (of course) and caught up with Amanda, April, and F-Train at different points in the evening. I pwned the jukebox for a solid two hours, it was good fun. I still love that place.
Saturday
It was difficult to get up on Saturday. After Mugshots closed, I kept us out until 4am because I was insistent that we eat at Best Wurst. Even having someone throw up in line behind us wasn’t going to stop me.
The festival on Saturday wasn’t all that memorable, probably because we missed most of it, but also because Saturday really had the weakest lineup. We saw Andrew Bird followed by Arctic Monkeys. They were both alright. Then we saw Arcade Fire who were fantastic, but the show was crazy packed and uncomfortable. Once that was over we caught the last 10 minutes of Muse before heading downtown. We went to Lucky Lounge and had someone throw up next to our table. Awesome.
Sunday
Once again we woke up late. Anthony showed up in the afternoon and we headed out to ACL just in time to catch the end of Devotchka, who were surprisingly good. I’m going to catch them next time they come around. Directly after they finished we headed over to see Bloc Party. I was surprised at how early their set was. Their show was good, but would have been better at night. It was hot as fuck and Anthony wasn’t prepared for it. After Bloc Party we sat down by a bar in the shade and didn’t leave for the rest of the day.
We caught part of the Decemberists, Ziggy Marley, and My Morning Jacket. Then Bob Dylan started. And he sucked. Yes, I’m aware that he is a talented musician, but the guy is old and sounded like shit live. We got the hell out of there and made our way to sixth street.
I had already planned on going to Elysium for 80s industrial night and had told Amanda to meet us out there. We got there a little early, so we hit Maggie Mae’s for a few drinks where we ran into Capitan Morgan. Fuck yeah Captain Morgan.
Elysium is the best place to be on a Sunday night in Austin. I recommend it to people all the time, but it’s really not for everyone. Luckily for me the NY crew that was in Austin with me had a good time. Lots of drinks, good music, dancing, and a bunch of interesting people to look at.
Overall, I’m reminded once again why I hate ACL. It is hot as fuck, there are too many people and it takes forever to get back to your car. I will never go again, until they have another kickass schedule.
