Yesterday we went to the ACL festival. And I am proud to say that I can still stand upright. The schedule yesterday included Bob Schneider (so excellent) and Broken Social Scene (also excellent); I think the thing we missed that we shouldn't have was the John Butler Trio, which we could only hear on the outskirts of the crowd which was packed around their obviously-too-small-stage. They sounded righteous.
Today we look forward to another 95 degree day, but we'll be starting out slightly later. Not going down until 4, to see the Gourds and then Modest Mouse; Los Amigos Invisibles and then the Pixies. So.Many.Bands. The festival website has a nice feature that lets you mark the bands you want to see and then builds a schedule for you, so you don't have to think in the heat.
70.000 people yesterday. Andrew and I both had the impression that in spite of the temperature (it was cloud-free almost all day), people were always moving. Not in organized streams from one stage to the next, like you might think, but in small groups or couples in seemingly random paths. Chaotic. They were also always drinking $4 beers, which I could not believe. The last thing I could have withstood was beer. Although by the end of the night, once the sun had set and the air off Lake Austin had started to cool things down, beer seemed more appealing. But not $4 for a $1.50 can of Lone Star. Seriously.
Today we will also try to buy floppy cowboy hats. This is something I've been meaning to do for a looong time, but only yesterday did it really become clear that a crappy baseball hat does NOT do enough to keep the sun off. Those cowboys were on to something.
Posted by Heather at September 18, 2004 12:34 PM
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