So I thought I'd mix it up this year, maybe hit up a different music festival, but as fate would have it, Austin sucked me back in with its yearly Austin City Limits Music Festival! Last year was pretty fantastic, catering to my love of 90's grunge with Pearl Jam headlining. And I (finally) saw Dave Matthews. So... was this year's music better than last? No idea. But it was fun!
For me, Friday's highlights were Spoon and Vampire Weekend. I was actually a little disappointed at the Strokes, but they did make me laugh with their filler between songs. Probably should have seen Phish, since their Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor "Phish Food" is in my freezer just waiting to be eaten. Mmmm.Saturday was really fun, mostly because of our adventure trying to catch a cab to Kerby Lane after the show. But that's a story for another day! MIA was amazing, I had tickets to see her in LA over the summer but the show got cancelled for some reason. It was worth the wait! She has such a great energy. I also liked the explosions on the screens with 'Paper Planes'. See picture here (thanks RJ!) :)
The XX were really cool, a friend of mine who'd seen them before said she was afraid they were on sedatives. In their defense, their music is really mellow. Beautiful and mellow. I'm not sure you could really rock out to it, but there were definitely people in the crowd having a great time doing that!
More Saturday coolness: Ozomatli (finally saw them!), Silversun Pickups, LCD Soundsystem and Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. At the end of the Grace Potter set, the entire band started playing the same drumset! We caught the very end of Muse, their song from the radio sounded pretty good from halfway across the park.
Sunday I only caught the Flaming Lips and Norah Jones, mostly because I wanted to spend a little time with my family and brother's dog, Keira, who's the prettiest Golden Retriever ever. She also likes to lick ears and hands which makes for some slightly confusing mornings. Sometimes I'd wake up with a ball by my ear and Keira sitting patiently by the bed waiting for me to throw it.The Flaming Lips were part of the reason I went this year and wanted to catch them before they retire! Really fun show, but I don't think I'd want to be those kids in the audience watching them with their parents! Their opener was kinda awkward, probably a little to explicit for me to mention here. And parents... really? Babies at a Flaming Lips show? Norah Jones took me back to College and Schnucks grocery runs. Awww sunrise... sunrise! :)
Overall, fantastic time. Miss you Austin! :)
