ACL 2009 Day 1
Firmly in the realm of Austin's own "don't ask/don't tell" I picked The Boy up from school just before 1pm yesterday with a non-commital "I need to sign my son out." In deference to the hardworking and wonderful school office folk I refrained from wearing my festival hat of doom and unclipped my water bottle from my belt so they could pretend I might have a legitimate reason for boosting the kid. Honestly I would probably let him skip the whole day but he had homework and a book analysis to turn in and an Algebra test so grabbing him just before the Algebra was over worked fine.
By 1:10 we had secured the last spot over by the pitch & putt and were strolling the half mile to the festival entrance. We made it in and over to the AMD stage in time to hear the last two songs from Asleep at the Wheel and we were officially underway. Officially underway for the best ever weather of ACL history, too; partly cloudy, breezy, and a comfortable 82 or 83. We could get used to this!
After AsTW we wandered over to see April at the Sweet Leaf Tea booth and get hugs admire the new purple and cream streaks in her hair. We wandered away with free tea (Pomegranate!) but never fear - we purchase plenty of tea every year so we're not taking huge advantage of our mutual twitter-crush. It was at this point, about 1.5 hours after his lunch, that The Boy declared his immediate need for a Mighty Cone. Coned up we headed over to claim half a table in the beer garden and set up our chairs with a view of both the Livestrong and Dell stages. We knew we would be all over the park yesterday and a base camp at one of he main stages didn't make much sense.
We took the blanket out to the green, green grass (honest!) just in front of the sound booth for Medeski, Martin, & Wood and blissed out for the next hour! They were spectacular and it was fun to watch The Boy be won over and start rocking along. There was one extended jam that almost edged into what a mid-80's line cook colleague referred to as "Hippie Fuck Music" but they skirted the danger and reigned it in a bit.
I had been afeared all along that putting Poi Dog Pondering in the Gospel tent was a horrible mistake and, indeed, the crowd would have justified one of the 2nd tier stages. At least it was more of a pavillion than a tent so folks were spread out on three sides and the sound was great where we were on the north side. It was a little hard to get a completely accurate count but we think that the band topped out at 14 musicians yesterday. Oh, Frank, we miss you so. "We" being a surprisingly diverse crowd, although it did skew a little older than average.
The Boy ran into some friends at his point and they wanted to go hear Coheed and Cambria so they roved off - a pack of tweens and one parent trying to let them look like they were on their own. I grabbed a veggie burger from P.Terry's and some great zucchini fries from a random zucchini fry vendor and listened to the end of Todd Snider's set. When the crowd cleared I set out the blanket so we'd have a spot for Robyn Hitchcock. I got back to the camp I found most of the kids playing Zombie Fluxx (the main reason we claimed a picnic table) and enjoying C&C from a little more distance. What I heard was fine but not compelling. Then again, I didn't exactly throw myself into the crowd so, eh? I went back to the blanket for to hear a bit of Daniel Johnston.
I had planned to catch Bassnectar as a friend is gaga over them but when I collected The Boy (and a few extras) we all agreed that the bass line made us want to take an icepick to our ears. We picked our way back across the food lines to Raphael Saddiq who was a BLAST and then made it back to Rock Island in time for Mr. Hitchcock who was as fun and trippy as ever. Plus bonus Peter Buck on guitar!
While we were agonizing over the John Legend/Thievery Corporation/Reckless Kelly conflicts we bumped into another friend and chatted for bit and in the end(after I exchanged texts with several parents) her daughter joined the pack and they headed over to Thievery Corporation on The Boys advice. So I got to hear John Legend after all! Insert superlatives here!
The roving band was all back at the table right on time (with sodas and popcorn and fries in hand) as were the various parents. We splintered back into family units (roughly) and They Boy and I moved our chairs over for a closer listen to Andrew Bird. I'd never seen him with a band before - just as a solo artist - lovely weave of sound and smart lyrics but the best bit was my son confidently telling a buddy, "stick with us; we'll get you to all the best geek bands!"
Alas, neither of us really had the stamina to stick it out for Yeah, Yeah, Yeah so 8:45 found us packed up and heading upstream to the car.
Right now it looks like we are skipping today. There's a steady drizzle with a 100% chance of thunderstorms by late afternoon. Now, I don't melt and we could certainly gear up and head out but The Boy seems just on the edge of catching something and since the bands he really cares about are live streaming on Hulu (Airborne Toxic Event, Flogging Molly, STS9) we're gonna stay closer to home unless something changes and marshall our reserves for tomorrow.
They did put out an iTunes sampler card (43 songs) and I have a couple to share. Comment if you want one. (Vicki, I have one reserved for you, fear not). Will try to snag more tomorrow if possible.
By 1:10 we had secured the last spot over by the pitch & putt and were strolling the half mile to the festival entrance. We made it in and over to the AMD stage in time to hear the last two songs from Asleep at the Wheel and we were officially underway. Officially underway for the best ever weather of ACL history, too; partly cloudy, breezy, and a comfortable 82 or 83. We could get used to this!
After AsTW we wandered over to see April at the Sweet Leaf Tea booth and get hugs admire the new purple and cream streaks in her hair. We wandered away with free tea (Pomegranate!) but never fear - we purchase plenty of tea every year so we're not taking huge advantage of our mutual twitter-crush. It was at this point, about 1.5 hours after his lunch, that The Boy declared his immediate need for a Mighty Cone. Coned up we headed over to claim half a table in the beer garden and set up our chairs with a view of both the Livestrong and Dell stages. We knew we would be all over the park yesterday and a base camp at one of he main stages didn't make much sense.
We took the blanket out to the green, green grass (honest!) just in front of the sound booth for Medeski, Martin, & Wood and blissed out for the next hour! They were spectacular and it was fun to watch The Boy be won over and start rocking along. There was one extended jam that almost edged into what a mid-80's line cook colleague referred to as "Hippie Fuck Music" but they skirted the danger and reigned it in a bit.
I had been afeared all along that putting Poi Dog Pondering in the Gospel tent was a horrible mistake and, indeed, the crowd would have justified one of the 2nd tier stages. At least it was more of a pavillion than a tent so folks were spread out on three sides and the sound was great where we were on the north side. It was a little hard to get a completely accurate count but we think that the band topped out at 14 musicians yesterday. Oh, Frank, we miss you so. "We" being a surprisingly diverse crowd, although it did skew a little older than average.
The Boy ran into some friends at his point and they wanted to go hear Coheed and Cambria so they roved off - a pack of tweens and one parent trying to let them look like they were on their own. I grabbed a veggie burger from P.Terry's and some great zucchini fries from a random zucchini fry vendor and listened to the end of Todd Snider's set. When the crowd cleared I set out the blanket so we'd have a spot for Robyn Hitchcock. I got back to the camp I found most of the kids playing Zombie Fluxx (the main reason we claimed a picnic table) and enjoying C&C from a little more distance. What I heard was fine but not compelling. Then again, I didn't exactly throw myself into the crowd so, eh? I went back to the blanket for to hear a bit of Daniel Johnston.
I had planned to catch Bassnectar as a friend is gaga over them but when I collected The Boy (and a few extras) we all agreed that the bass line made us want to take an icepick to our ears. We picked our way back across the food lines to Raphael Saddiq who was a BLAST and then made it back to Rock Island in time for Mr. Hitchcock who was as fun and trippy as ever. Plus bonus Peter Buck on guitar!
While we were agonizing over the John Legend/Thievery Corporation/Reckless Kelly conflicts we bumped into another friend and chatted for bit and in the end(after I exchanged texts with several parents) her daughter joined the pack and they headed over to Thievery Corporation on The Boys advice. So I got to hear John Legend after all! Insert superlatives here!
The roving band was all back at the table right on time (with sodas and popcorn and fries in hand) as were the various parents. We splintered back into family units (roughly) and They Boy and I moved our chairs over for a closer listen to Andrew Bird. I'd never seen him with a band before - just as a solo artist - lovely weave of sound and smart lyrics but the best bit was my son confidently telling a buddy, "stick with us; we'll get you to all the best geek bands!"
Alas, neither of us really had the stamina to stick it out for Yeah, Yeah, Yeah so 8:45 found us packed up and heading upstream to the car.
Right now it looks like we are skipping today. There's a steady drizzle with a 100% chance of thunderstorms by late afternoon. Now, I don't melt and we could certainly gear up and head out but The Boy seems just on the edge of catching something and since the bands he really cares about are live streaming on Hulu (Airborne Toxic Event, Flogging Molly, STS9) we're gonna stay closer to home unless something changes and marshall our reserves for tomorrow.
They did put out an iTunes sampler card (43 songs) and I have a couple to share. Comment if you want one. (Vicki, I have one reserved for you, fear not). Will try to snag more tomorrow if possible.