Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Austin City Limits Mud, I Mean, Music Festival

ACL's Music Festival was held this past weekend at Zilker Park in Austin. In case you haven't heard of it, ACL is a three-day outdoor music festival where great bands and up-and-comers alike perform. Chris and I were one of the lucky few (thousand) people in attendance for the big event.

We arrived on Friday afternoon just in time to catch one of the bands we've been wanting to see for quite some time- Phoenix! Even though they didn't play Christopher's favorite song, he still had a great time as evidenced below:



Yup that's him on the big screen taking the photo of himself! :)

Chris and I have been to quite a few ACLs. This was the first year they've held the festival in October and it made ALLLLL the difference on Friday- it was sunny, mild, with a cool breeze (as opposed the the usual sweltering heat). I read that Austin spent $2 million on putting new grass so that festivalgoers (and other visitors to Zilker Park) would have a more enjoyable experience. Chris loved the grass so much, he decided to walk in it barefoot. :)

More photos from Friday:

Val and I at the Phoenix show


Chris at the John Legend Show


Chris and Michelle enjoying their beverages at the Kings of Leon show

Now Saturday was a different story. Chris, Ryan, Michelle and I arrived to ACL and it was cloudy, muggy and had rained a little before our arrival. After being there for about twenty minutes it started to rain...and it kept raining for a couple of hours.

Chris and his Jack Johnson album cover impersonation.

It wasn't what I would call a downpour, but it was a steady rain that led the beautiful grass beneath our feet to slowly become mud. Not what I would describe as the ideal situation for an outdoor concert, but we tried to make the best of it:

Ryan, Me and Michelle in a pose from our Tigerette days
(PS- we were watching Mos Def perfom at this time. He was pretty boring so we had to entertain ourselves.)

So, the condition of the ground got worse as the day went on and one of my favorite bands, Dave Matthews Band (DMB), wasn't performing until 8 PM. Our legs were throbbing, we were muddy and tired, but once DMB came on...it all went away. Dave had an awesome performance, reminding me why I love them so much. :)


Dave Matthews Band!

On Sunday, Ryan, Chris and I headed over to Hula Hut for lunch because it's not a real stop in Austin without a trip to my favorite restaurant. :)

Ryan and I leaving H.H.

After eating, Chris and I headed back to the festival. No rain, but the ground was MUCH worse. We watched the Arctic Monkeys (a band Chris was really excited to see), went to the tent to watch the Cowboys lose another game at the last second, and then The Dead Weather and Pearl Jam to end ACL.

Photos from Sunday:

View of part of the festival with the Austin skyline. Yup...all of the brown ground is mud.


While we were waiting for Pearl Jam to start.


The end of ACL '09! Time to head home...

A big thank you to our dear friend, Ryan, for allowing us to stay with her for the weekend! And another big thank you to Chris' mommy for taking care of Shamrock while we were away. :)

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