Recap: Day 3, Part 2 - Austin City Limits Music Festival 2007

By the time I was done watching Ryan Shaw I started to get hungry. My stomach was full of a liter of water and was begging for something of substance. I headed back in the direction of the food court around 1:00 pm while watching scores of people file through the entrance of the festival. Some looked fresh and ready to go like they had been dropped off, while others looked like they had just walked several miles to finally reach their destination. Regardless, they all looked happy.

I walked up and down the food court looking for just the right meal to satisfy my hunger but not keep me preoccupied with the aforementioned POP's (that's port-o-potties for you festival rookies) on a hot Sunday afternoon. Salt Lick chopped beef sandwich? As much as they sounded perfect I had to pass on this day. Personal pizza from Austin's Pizza? Just a little too much for lunch for me. Hot and Crunchy Chicken Cone from Hudson's on the Bend? Huh?

I settled on a 1/4 lb hot dog from Original Hoffbrau Steaks. Mmmm, mmmm, good. And not too messy, either, which was good because right next to the food court, The Jones Family Singers had just started a tent revival underneath the roof at the WaMu stage. I plowed through 3/4 of my 1/4 lb hot dog and had to ditch the remaining dog so I could get out my camera and shout praises to the Lord!

I really didn't shout praises out loud, but I thought them while I made my way to the front of the stage to get a closer look at the Jones family that was filling the crowd with energy as they raised the roof for young and old alike. I think The Jones Family Singers were one of the best shows I saw all day. There is something about a large group of people dancing and singing together without a care about what race, age, or gender the other is and they are all having a good time. It's how it should always be.






Around 2:00 pm I made my way to the media tent for a little break in the action and to rest my feet. It was nice to see they had free snacks on the table and a cooler full of ice cold water. I sat back and watched some artists being interviewed by 101X, KLBJ, and ME, while making a phone call to my wife and kids. Then it was time to hit the crowds with my feet blazing trails through stage squatters and left-handed smokers. A much more difficult task now that I am in my mid-30's. I took a wrong turn while following another guy and ended up deeper in the smoky squatting crowd as I tried to navigate my way back to the flow of traffic.

I finally made my way to the AT&T Blue Room stage to catch The National and I'm so glad I did. Their off back beat rhythm song, "Fake Empire," was one of the best live performances I have ever seen. The crowd went crazy when they started and went even more crazy when they finished. It was one of the few times at a live concert where chills went down my neck because of crowd appreciation for the creativity of the band's music. Well done.

Watching most of The National show also gave me a chance to sit down again and reapply the sunscreen chilling in my soft-sided cooler. Cold sunscreen applied directly under the watchful eye of a hot afternoon sun is very refreshing. Take that UV rays! It also gave me time to sit and drink my first cold beer.



When The National was done I moseyed on over to check out Robert Earl Keen at the AMD stage. I like REK on the right day. He is surely a crowd pleaser with "Feelin' Good Again" and the rest of his good laid back tunes.

So as not to miss Ben Kweller and the Infamous Nose Bleeds, I scooted my way towards the AT&T stage at the other side of Zilker. You can't come all the way down to ACL and not see if Ben can pull off another show all bloody in the heat! To my dismay (just kidding, Ben) he was blood free but still put on a great show.

On the way to see Ben Kweller I did stop by to catch Kara Grainger at the BMI stage. Wow. Great voice. Thank you, Kara, for that ten minutes of beauty.



I received a phone call from some friends that were coming out to see Wilco. I would finally have somebody to hang with, even if it was short lived. We met up and went to watch Regina Spektor at the AT&T Blue (but really orange) Room. Regina was by far the happiest person at ACL Fest including the patrons and all the staff. She smiled all throughout her performance and said how happy she was to be playing here. The musical talent that she has is mind blowing to watch. I'm a new fan.



Is that a Polaroid camera that guy has? I think it is.



I missed the end of Regina's show because I made the mistake of drinking a 22 oz beer right before she started. As I made my way towards the food court again to find long lines at the POP's, I was fortunate to catch the Preservation Hall Jazz Band playing, "When the Saints Go Marching In."

I went back to the AMD stage to catch Wilco since that's where I knew my friends were going while I emptied out my bladder. I hung at the back of the crowd and just watched Wilco perform. It was 6:45 pm and my legs were tired so I sat down to enjoy the show. When it was over I tried to talk myself into staying for Bob Dylan but the show put on by Ghostland Observatory on the next stage over (AT&T Orange Room) was my headliner. I had heard that Ghostland put on an incredible show and I heard right. It was just becoming dark when out came the green and purple lasers dancing in the sky to the techno beats thumping from the speakers. I was a pretty good distance away from the stage but felt like I was right up on it.



When Ghostland Observatory completed their awesome performance I glanced over to my right to witness thousands of people rushing to the other side of Zilker Park to catch Bob Dylan.

"No thanks," I told myself. It had been nine hours since I had arrived at ACL and I was ready to go. See you all next year.

Recap: Day 3, Part 1 - Austin City Limits Music Festival 2007

I returned Sunday morning from the store and packed up my two liters of water, sunscreen, a camera, extra batteries, bands schedule, notepad, two pens, some cash for food and drinks, then threw on my running shoes and headed out to try and land a prime spot under the Mopac bridge at Lady Bird Lake. Lady Luck was on my side as I bounced my truck into one of the last spots in the dirt across from the pedestrian bridge.

A short ten-minute walk was no problem. I actually found myself walking faster than usual due to the anticipation of the day's music I was about to experience. I went alone to ACL this year and was looking forward to meeting up with friends if they decided to make it out for their third day, but I wasn't holding my breath. It was going to be a hot one and three straight days at ACL can take it's toll on the human body.

I didn't mind going alone and I actually preferred it that way so I could roam around and see as many bands as possible. As much fun as it would be to have my wife along, she is not a "festival girl" and I am definitely a "festival guy." The port-o-potties at a festival rank up there with tubing down the river for her. She doesn't care much for bodies of water that she can't see the bottom of and is also not a big fan of hovering above a toilet seat that has been urinated on by countless drunk concert goers. I can't say I blame her and told her the trick is to go into one that another woman just came out of since they wiped the seat when they got in. I found out later in the day that this theory did not hold water when I went in a port-o-potty after a woman came out and apparently urinated all over the seat like a drunken frat boy. Nice.

ACL Fest 2007 - Photography by James Grayson

Upon arriving at 11:30 am and entering through the gate at ACL, I stopped and looked around in all directions to take in the view of Zilker Park and the small crowd forming at the BMI stage where Jennifer Niceley was playing. And let me tell you, Jennifer really does play nicely. Her bluesy voice caught my attention so I parked myself under the watchful eye of the blazing sun to listen to her performance of "Blind Woman" while cracking open the seal on my first liter of Ozarka water.

Jennifer Niceley - Photography by James Grayson

After that song I headed down to check out the AT&T Digital Oasis to see how cold it was in there and to post a blog entry. It was extremely comfortable in there with dozens of laptop computers setup and some flat panel TV's. An oasis to say the least. I'm glad I went when I did because two hours later there was a line to get in. I thought it was cool, but not cool enough to wait in line for. AT&T should have sprung for at least five of those oases to handle the sweaty throngs of people wanting to feel what air conditioning felt like in a park.

AT&T Digital Oasis - Photography by James Grayson

On the way back up the hill in Zilker Park I stopped by and caught a few songs from The Little Ones and Amy Cook before catching the last of Nicole Atkins & the Sea. All three were pleasing the early arriving crowds that were already fanning themselves with Heineken fans and orange AT&T personal motorized fans. I picked up one of those, too, and it proved to be a worthy item to have.

When Nicole Atkins was done I took off in the other direction again to catch some of Ryan Shaw on the AT&T stage, that was blue unlike the AT&T Blue Room stage that Nicole Atkins was playing on. It was orange. I'm sure I'm not the only one wondering why that was, but I scratched my head in disbelief and headed in the direction of a vibrant show put on by Ryan Shaw.

Ryan Shaw - Photography by James Grayson

To be continued...

Next post: The Jones Family Singers, people watching, free snacks, The National, Robert Earl Keen, Kara Grainger, and more photos!

Austin City Limits Music Festival 2007

I'm heading out to ACL Fest today. Should be hot, sweaty, and loud! Hopefully I'll meet up with some friends out there but it would be their third day in a row so they may be exhausted. When you're past your 20's you seem to lose some stamina to handle 3 days, 130 bands, for 8-10 hours a day.

But I'm covering the last day for Quirkee and may or may not end up with a band interview on-site. Either way I'll be people watching, taking photos, and jammin' alongside 64,999 other music lovers - and will report back next week on Quirkee.com.

I could think of worse things to write about.