Austin City Limitis Festival

Friday:
Guster- Total college band but good show.
Gnarls Barkley- Interesting. Funky outfits. Fun to watch. Had a lot of fun.
Los Lonely Boys- Great jam show, fun to watch
Van Morrison- sound was iffy but a good show all around. He's getting upthere. Easy decision over John Mayer (who I heard was fantastic) who plays in Austin all the time. I mean when do you hear him ever touring?

Saturday
The Shins- Meh.
Ben Kweller- What a trooper. He started late because he got a double nose bleed. Speculation is either too much nose candy or allergies. Or maybe even a combo of both. Last I heard, he had a broken nose somehow. Ouch. Anyway, he was still bleeding when he got to the stage. He splattered all over hisguitar and used several towels to wipe up. He tried using a tampon to plug his nose but it fell out- expanded too much. His last song was a piano song and you could see the drops on the white keys. He had to stop after 5 songs as he had lost quite a bit of blood and it was more serious than anything. But he tried, and we gave him credit for that.
Aimee Mann
The String Cheese Incident- Fantastic performance, wacky cow suit. Just afun show.
Willie Nelson- Ah Willie. He's back to playing guitar after surgery for carpal tunnel. He's just amazing. Plus he sang 2 new songs, which is a rarity. Willie was where it was at.
What we missed: The Raconteurs, Massive Attack, TV on the Radio, Nada Surf. Not enough time to see everything. We would have gone to the Raconteurs but we wanted to see String Cheese and also get in for a good spot for Willie. We were pretty close up.

Sunday
Randy Rogers Band- Really great show. One to watch for bigger and better things.
Jack Ingram- Caught part of it before heading to Ween.
Ween- Good performance. Hadn't really heard much of their music but I enjoyed their performance.
Part of Matisiyahu- Still don't understand his appeal. Jewish rap set to
reggae music? Not my style really. But the crowd did love him and he came out with his baby afterwards.
The Flaming Lips- Oh my god. What a show. They should have been the closingact. Just amazing. The set was colorful and fun. Band members dressed as Superheroes (Captain America, Spaceghost, Batman, Wonder Woman). To one side of the stage they had dancing Santas; on the other, dancing Aliens that looked a bit like elves. A giant, blow-up spaceman, alien, and Santa Claus. The lead singer started off the show in a giant bubble, being passed among the crowd to the sounds of the finale to Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake. Then once out of the bubble, air cannons started shooting confetti and string into the crowd, along with a few rolls of toilet paper. They also launched giant balloons. Crowd participation was an absolute must. The lead singer also made fun of Ben Kweller a bit. He poured fake blood all over his face
and played a song with it dripping down and asked for tampons and all. Just great. It was just a fantastic and inspirational show. They should have closed the festival. (Chose this over Ben Harper. Clearly the better choice. G Love and Special Sauce was playing in the interim at another stage but we had a good spot and didn't want to give it up. Space was at a premium and if you got a decent spot, you camped and spread your stuff out.)
Tom Petty- What can I say? It was Tom Petty. He still puts on a great show. His set was interrupted by rain- it poured and threatened to thunder and lightening, but that stayed off in the distance. Thankfully, I had come prepared with an umbrella and a rain jacket. People were using chairs, tarps, blankets, whatever they could find to keep them somewhat dry. You weren't going to stay dry at all, but it was better than nothing. He came back on when the rain stopped, but they had turned the sound down. It was hard to hear so the crowd was much more subdued than before the rain delay. During "Learning to Fly" the crowd singalong was very quiet. We just
wanted to hear Tom. It really came on during the encore though. I guess they said
to hell with the noise issues and just let it flow. It was a great show and a great weekend.

The experience- a crazy crowd. 60,000 people. Zilker park is huge and it feels like it's in the middle of nowhere, when you're really in downtown. The skyline makes the perfect background and it's easy to imagine how the Rolling Stones are going to look like when they play in October.
There were 7 stages. Everything was scheduled to the minute, so once one performer on a nearby stage stopped, the performer on the other stage would start. You didn't go over your time limit. They would cut you off. It was really well-scheduled. The 2 main schedules were on opposite ends of the park. This helped as they usually had simultaneous performances. You're not going to see everything though. No way. If you want to see shows one right after another, be prepared to miss the beginning of sets. It's easier to just pass by, listen for a song, and head on to the next show and set up. There's usually an hour in between sets on the main stages, 40 minutes
for the smaller ones.
You were allowed to bring a backpack, 2 unopened water bottles, a soft sided cooler with ice, collapsible chairs, and basics like sunscreen, painkillers, tissue and stuff like that. No outside food or drinks, but a lot got snuck in anyway by the 3 day pass holders. They searched the ticket holders more. They just glanced at my pack. You could get away with bringing in re-used water bottles by filling them up and not drinking out of them until you got through the gates. They did have several water stations where people could fill up their nalgenes and camelbacks.
Food- can't bring any in, or at least look like it. You can sneak it but be crafty by hiding it in chairs or under ice in coolers, or wrapped in a blanket. Just be ready to throw it out if caught. There is an area for food, and there are many different vendors with lots of choices, the cheapest being $3 and the most expensive at $8. Just remember that there will be lines at main meal times. We made the mistake of going around 5:30pm before String Cheese. Took us 45 minutes to get bratwurst. Forget about going from vendor to vendor. You pick a line and you stay. (Wurst was really good though. Got a decent amount for your money.) I managed to go get food before Flaming Lips in half an hour. 1 person navigating the crowds without
gear is easy. It was quick getting out, a lot harder getting in.
It was HOT. Not as hot as last year, but HOT. Mid 90s hot. That meant lotsof sunscreen and few clothes. I still got sunburned with all my SPF 40 but that's par for the course for me. (I have tan lines on my tan lines.) Towels to wipe off the sweat were pretty much mandatory and they had misting areas for a quick cool-down. You could also use your umbrella for shade, which many people did.
Once you trek to the stage for whatever performance, you weave through the camped masses to find your own little patch of grass. People stake out their spots and it's hard to get in and out without stepping on anyone or anything. Just go through and apologize a lot as you go by people and you should be ok. Ask before stepping on a blanket, some people got a little too protective. Don't just step on people and walk off. (That happened a lot more than I care to think about. Ouch.) Once you find a spot you can deal with, spread out your blankets and/or chairs and sit. Make your space. People will crowd and walk through your area. You can try to stop the flow but it's nearly impossible. Just relax. You're there. Now if you need to get up and leave your spot for any reason, take a careful look at your surroundings. Lots of large groups bring flags so they can be easily seen inthe crowd. It's a good idea to try to situate yourself next to one so you can at least have an idea of where you are trying to get to. If you bring a flag, be creative. You need to stand out. Saw too many Mexican flags(seriously, I think I saw 5, too many.) but saw a lot of fun ones like a jalepeno, huge black mustache, fleur de lys, Whataburger flag, British
flag, things like that. You want to stand out. Think about bringing some glow sticks to put on at night because it's hard to see your flags in the dark. Also, in front of the sound booth, each area is divided in 2 so remember which side you are on. So, if you leave, it's much easier to get out than it is to get back in. Going out, you see your destination and it doesn't seem as crowded. Coming back, you are fighting everyone that is moving in closer looking for their spot. Plus you are also fighting those already established. Be polite. It's doable but not very fun. Most people are friendly though and will smile and make small talk. We acknowledged the fact that it takes 20 minutes to go a few feet. Seriously. If you want to be up front, get there early and don't plan on moving all day.
Bring only what you need. We brought 2 backpacks the first day that were stuffed. By Sunday, we brought chairs because it was better. Next time, we're doing 1 backpack and chairs. No cooler. It would have been nice and much better to sneak beer in with, (tear a bit of lining and stick the beer in there. Helps if it's the same brand being sold.) but it's not necessary.
There are tons of tricks, just be careful.
As for smoking, do what you want. Everyone was smoking and out in the open. Saw lots of pipes and jounts. Brazen but accepted. Just be cool, share, and be careful.
It's totally worth it and can't wait for next year.