Damn, it\'s Hot!
Like you didn’t already know that. This is my much overdue, much not anticipated review of ACL Fest, which I attended two days of this weekend. Anna, Sean, Tim and I, intrepid music lovers that we are, ventured to Zilker in the baking heat Saturday afternoon about 1:30. Tim and I started off the day with Mike Doughty and his band. Mike is the former lead singer for Soul Coughing, and he got me moving despite the heat. I really enjoyed his set and plan to add him to the wishlist. There was still a nice breeze and I was optimistic for not melting. Then I went and bought a bandana to use as my own personal cooler (you know, wet it and place on neck). This helped immensely because it also came in handy as a bandito covering for protection from the dust later on. And it was camoflauged, so no one could see me. Because of all the greenery. Right. Anyway, we went onto Buddy Guy because there was no one else we cared about on at that time and we figured he was a living legend. We wound up sitting in the shade, but it did sound like the man could play a mean guitar. But it wasn’t really our type of music so I think I respected him more than enjoyed him. Saw Bill wandering around and chatted for a couple of minutes. Then we caught the Frames, who put on one of the top shows of the festival. They were amazingly great, really rocking and will also go on my wishlist. I was once again moving, dancing to their beat despite the heat. Then we went back to the other side of the park for The Robert Randolph Band. It turns out that the Robert Randolph Band is TOTALLY not Tim and I’s cup of tea. They are a jam band with a lot of funk. But the kind of funk that overweight, middle-aged white people like to dance to. We sat in the shade again and waited for Anna and Sean, who loved the band, despite being neither overweight nor middle-aged. But Mr. Larson loves the funk, as anyone who’s seen his music collection knows. We waited, and the band never ended, so finally we abandoned the Larsons and went over to the Fiery Furnaces, who sucked, unfortunately. We should have checked out the Walkmen. One of those so difficult decisions we made several times over the course of two days. I was starving by this point (it was close to 6), so we decided to get food. I went from starving to dizzy and about to pass out, which was fun, but eventually I got a beef barbecue sandwich and kneeled on the ground to eat it with dirty hands. Gross, I know, but I was ravenous. Then someone gave me their chips, which I ate, then I got a pretzel. What can I say, I’ve got a tapeworm that is about the size of a grapefruit growing in my belly. Okay, more gross. Anyway, miracle of miracles, we ran back into the Flarsons, who had also stopped to eat when Anna started to swoon and we just stayed there shooting the shit and drinking lemonade for an hour or so. We could hear Jet in the distance and all decided they probably sucked. Then we headed over to Bloc Party, who put on a fantastic show, although not as great as SXSW. But the dust was so horrible by this point that whenever someone lit up a cigarette, the smoke would just hang in the air and both Anna and I were having trouble breathing. I moved again and again, but as soon as I moved, the person next to me lit up. I could not understand how they could both smoke and inhale the amount of dust we were all breathing. We made it through Bloc Party, stuck around for about 2 Oasis songs, and then it was time to go home before we passed out. Tim and I were so tired that we ordered a pizza and then realized we were too tired to eat it. But we still had to wait for it to be delivered. We were in bed by 11pm. On a Saturday night!
Sunday started out with the weather saying that it was already 101 at noon. Whoo boy. We headed to Zilker and were already sweating like pigs by the time we walked from the car to the gate. Tim and I checked out about two or 3 songs by M83, who were really good and much more energetic and danceable in person than on record. Although we did no dancing, it was too freakin’ hot. We ran into Rommel and Elizabeth and then we headed over to the Doves where I planted myself in my chair with my hat and umbrella. I love the Doves, but it was just too hot to move. I’ll have to check them out again in normal temperatures. They put on a wonderful show and I tapped my feet to conserve energy. After a brief stop by the a/c tent, it was over to the Kaiser Chiefs where I started feeling like I was going to die or burst into flames and I went and sat down in the shade for the rest of their set. Tim says they were awesome. Then we met Anna at the Arcade Fire, who I’d REALLY wanted to see, but my hunger won out and Tim and I went and ate. Then Tim went and waited for water forever while I sat in the shade and tried to ignore the people spontaenously combusting around me. We eventually hooked back up with the Seanna and Tim, Anna and I caught the Decemberists. On the way, an announcer in the Gospel tent said that it had gotten up to a new record, 108 degrees that day and it was still 102! This is at 5:30, mind you. I think Tim no longer gave me a hard time about being a wimp in the shade after we heard that. The Decemberists put on a really awesome show, much more lively than their records. Why do they take all the excitement out of these bands when they record them? 102 felt positively cool at this point, so I did a little dancin’ and moving. But then it was time for another highlight of the festival: FRANZ FERDINAND! Tim and I ran into Rommel and Elizabeth again by some miracle and we all enjoyed the Ferdinand together. They were absolutely wonderful! It was cool enough to dance like a maniac, so I did, although the dust was getting bad again, so I was a bandito dancer with a bandana around my mouth and nose. Or as Rommel called, me, a Zapitista. I just adored the Ferdinand, they were great and they filmed their concert in black and white. AND they had a giant banner they unfurled at the back of the stage that had their logo. SO COOL!
Then it was time to wait. And wait. And wait for Coldplay. We didn’t want to lose our great spot. But as the sun set, the dust got worse, and the people got worse, and eventually you couldn’t see more than about 10 feet in front of you. When it came time to meet the Larsons, Tim and I decided we’d pack it in instead of coming back to our great viewing point. We bid adieu to Rommel and Elizabeth, I cautioned them to “leave if they couldn’t breathe” and we headed to our meeting point. Where, remarkably, it was much less dusty. Yay! So we wound up staying for Coldplay, who I really enjoyed despite their drunken middle-aged fan base. They really filled a huge space with their music beautifully. A wonderful finish to the festival!
Then it was time to fight the hordes to return to our car. I finally stopped coughing and blowing up dust, so I think that’s a good thing! ACL 2005 goodbye!
Comments
Tim
2005-09-28T22:31:57.000Z
to mention that our Hats (that we all bought specifically for the festival) were given an extra dose of character, when a very drunk woman fell over and pulled her friend with her, tumbling on top of our chairs and crushing our hats. This is why they shouldn’t serve wine in excercise water bottles. I offered them a hand to help them back up, but they looked at me like I was an alien. Looking back, I realize I had a bandana over my face, so perhaps they though I was trying to hold them up. Who knows. In any case, I didn’t enjoy Coldplay that much although I do have to give them props for actually going and seeing the other bands throughout the day. Chris looked as grimy on stage as we did.
On the subject of the crazy drunk people. Have you ever seen 3 guys, who are all exactly the same height. One of whom is dating a woman a little bit shorter than him, and 2 of whom are dating women over a foot taller than themselves. The second part was odd. I like tall women, but it looked like some sort of akward blind/double date.
