ACL Fest 2009!

So, this year Friday was absolutely gorgeous, Saturday was a rainy cool day, and Sunday was a muddy mess. But I figured I'd post a few videos from YouTube to document what I saw and liked a lot this year. Most of these bands I'm already familiar with and have their songs on heavy rotation on my iPod, but I got a couple surprises. And on a side note, all images (unless otherwise noted) are not mine but are from the ACL Fest photostream on Flickr.

FRIDAY
As stated before, the day started off amazing. A few clouds in the sky but mostly sun, temperatures in the low 80s, the new grass they had just finished putting down in Zilker Park was as lush and soft as the nicest rug you've ever walked on, the trees were green, the crowds were friendly, and it seemed to be off to the best start in years.

First up after arrival and check-in for our volunteer shift, Phoenix was the priority in the early afternoon of Day 1. I loved their 2 most recent albums, and the energy in the show was great.

Next up, I really dug Thievery Corporation while working my volunteer shift at the Rock & Recycle booth near their stage. Currently though, there's only one video on YouTube of it and it's pretty low quality. I'll update with video if I find anything better. For now, "kangmari"'s photos of Thievery Corp ended up better than most of what I saw on the official ACL Fest stream, so here's few from her:

Andrew Bird was briefly experienced on the way to check out from our volunteer shift and then find some grub. He came in 2007 as well, so he's an old pro at wrangling the ACL crowd.

And though many people ran off to Kings of Leon at the end of Friday, I was more pumped to see the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, who filled in after the Beastie Boys' Adam Yauch had to drop out due to a cancer treatment he needed to take care of. Karen O and the rest of the band filled in brilliantly. "Soft Shock" honestly gave me goosebumps. I have some weird love for that song, and the fact that it brings up the "summer moon" lyrics while under the end-of-Texas-summer full moon (with a giant ring around it in the sky from the thin clouds) made it all that much better for me. Sadly, there's only one not-great quality video of that, my favorite song of the night, but I'll go ahead and post it now.

For a better view of the great show that was put on, check this one out too:



SATURDAY
Day Two started off rainy and stayed rainy until about sunset.

Got there early enough to catch a little !!! (<- yes, that's their name) before starting our volunteer shift. The lead singer was going nuts and the crowd seemed pretty into it, but finding video is nigh impossible.

After checking in, got to enjoy a little Flogging Molly from the shelter of our Recycling tent:

And we got to hear some ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead

...(and watch people start doing this kind of thing):



Got to enjoy a little Mos Def at the end of our shift too:

Then we cut the evening short on Saturday since I was parked in a dirt lot which had by then turned to mud and I wanted to be sure to get my car out before the crowds rushed out (and before it got bad enough that my car ended up being a permanent fixture in the lot due to not being able to get out of the mud - front wheel drive Focuses are not meant for offroading or mudding.)

SUNDAY
Day 3 opened on a slightly damp morning... until we got in the park and saw brown everywhere. The mud had seeped up through the new sod overnight and was about two to three inches thick over most of the park. The new pretty grass is still there! It's just buried under some nasty muck.

We got in just in time to get a little B52s in before our shift started that day. Side girly note - I loved how Kate Pierson's bright red hair went with the dress she was wearing so well.

I've always heard good things about Heartless Bastards, and they played last year but I missed them as well. We were working at the Rock & Recycle tent between the Dell and LiveStrong stages that afternoon, so I managed to get a good listen in an really liked what I heard. This video is from their '08 appearance, but they did play this song this past weekend and it sounded just as wonderful:



After that, a band I've wanted to see since probably middle school (junior high to some people in other parts of the country) - TOADIES!!



I was working and it was too perilous to wander over and catch the Rebirth Brass Band. I really wanted to see them, since they're renowned for putting on fantastic shows and I love their sound already.

However, being stationed where we were, we got to hear The Dead Weather, the most recent collaboration of Jack White, Alison Mosshart of The Kills, Dean Fertita of Queens of the Stoneage and Jack Lawrence of The Raconteurs. Man, was it good. I need to check out more of their stuff soon. And hope they roll back through Austin again for another show.

The final, giant, huge show of the night was Pearl Jam. Another band I've been wanting to see probably since I was about 12 or 13 years old, and another one to tick off my list.

Overall, it was a great year for music, and yet another year where Mother Nature challenged us to make the most of it. But we're always up for what she tosses at us. Heat, dust, rain, mud, I've seen it all, and it's yet to keep me from having a great time. Thanks again everyone for working to make it so awesome this year.