ACL 2007 - Part 1 - Friday with video

We went to ACL this weekend. I guess this year was the 6th or 7th year that they have had the festival in Austin, but I have not had the chance to go. I knew it would be a big mob scene. I knew it would be hot. I did not care. This weekend was about finally experiencing ACL, knowing that I did not ever have to come back and do it again.

Friday afternoon we headed down after Chad was done with work. He took off a little early so that we could get into the park by 4:30. Our schedule for the evening was as follows:

- Joss Stone - great voice, entertaining between songs, we liked this one the best on Friday.

- bathroom - caught the start of MIA show - seemed to be pretty entertaining and it was funny to be in the porto-potty while it was shaking to the beat of the music

- dinner - I had a Solar Falafel pita and Chad had Saba mahi mahi tacos.

- Spoon - They were just okay. I was a little disappointed with the show. It seemed like everyone was into them because they are local guys, but frankly, they were a little too mellow for me. I wish we had gone to Queens of the Stone Age. Here is a little bit of Spoon.

- Gotan Project - Their sound was pretty cool at the start. Their sound was french/argentinian dance music. I liked the large set and the number of different instruments on stage. After a while, the music kind of put Chad and I in a trance, so we moved to a different stage.

- Reverend Horton Heat - we caught just a minute or so of his show as we were walking past. He was pretty groovy.

- Kaiser Chiefs - We heard the end of this set as we were finding our spot for the Killers show. They definitely had a great groove going on and the crowd was really into the show. They probably were a better choice to start at than the Gotan Project.

- The Killers - I was expecting so much more. They were somewhat entertaining because they have so many big hits, but there was just so much time between songs that it was torture for me. I really like a show to flow from one song to the next, so the Killers show did not do it for me. I was glad that they played several songs that I knew at the beginning of their set because we did not feel bad about taking off early. We saw most of the show, I think. Here is a little bit of The Killers.

Friday's lessons learned -

• If your cooler is going to leak, be sure to double bag the ice.
• Facing away from the sun is much cooler than looking into it.
• We really like the Austin Ventures stage near the food booths. Great sound. Great view.
• In a crowd, it really must be helpful to have a 'flag' on a pole so that your friends can find you.
• In a pinch, a magenta bra and orange panties will easily double as a flag to attract your friends.
• Falafel is a popular menu choice amongst the festival crowd.
• It is better to be further back and able to see the screen rather than closer and only have the view of butts and heads.
• Austin is hot until about 6:45pm.