Let the Experiences Begin

Austin City Limits music festival this past weekend has finally kicked off a year of Austin festivals.  Considering last year's festival was rained out and mudified, the sun filled clear skies made this years experience more enjoyable. 

Some improvements to be noted:

• the mock capital building in the middle with each day's schedule and a map of the Zilker park on either side
• they had really cool water bottles
• a farmers market, with locally grown food
• my mode of transportation
• THE MUSICIANS!

I recently saw The Flaming Lips in Houston at Houston Free Press Summerfest and I can honestly say they put on a better, dedicated show.  In Houston, the lead singer, Wayne Coyne, was verbally disappointed with the crowd which ultimately led to an un-enjoyable experience for most attendees. However, at ACL he was happier and nicer to the crowd. Maybe he just likes Austin more than Houston?

The highlight of my weekend was the performance given by M.I.A.  It felt like she was singing to us, and the upbeat, visually charged performance was a perfect cap to a music filled Saturday.  I was standing in front of the sound booth, so a pretty good distance from the actual stage. Near the end of the performance she came to the back of the crowd allowing every one to enjoy a front row seat. Kuddos to the crowd too! No one hurt her, or hurt each other, with the excitement of M.I.A. being in the crowd which shows how peaceful and enjoyable a densely populated festival crowd can be.

I built up a lot of anticipation for The Eagle's performance and was ultimately let down due to bad sound quality.  An enormous crowd turned out for the show, and over all of their talking and yelling, if you were far away from a speaker, the music was barely audible. However, after the first hour of their performance the crowd started to disperse and the music grew louder.

Oh, and did I mention how I got to ACL? By a boat. Yes, by a boat! Apparently, there is a shuttle boat that leaves from the Hyatt Town Lake, drops you off a short walk from the festival entrance, and then picks you up around 10:30 p.m.  My friends and I took this shuttle boat on Saturday and Sunday, costing each of us $10 a day. If you think that is expensive, on the boat ride to the festival there is free beer and on the boat ride back there is free beer, wine and margaritas. I think it was extremely affordable considering once inside the festival, a beer costs $7.

Now, if I can only forget how much this weekend cost me, my life could be complete.