Happy Birthday Mike!

My cousin Mike's birthday isn't until the end of October, but let's take a moment to wish him a happy birthday. And while we're at it, a Merry Christmas. My cousin Ang bought Mike (her brother) a 3 day pass to ACL (Austin City Limits) last year as a birthday/Christmas combo. For whatever reason, Mike could not make it down here this past weekend to attend the festival, so I used his ticket instead. Happy Birthday Mike! Merry Christmas! And thanks!For those not in the know, Austin City Limits is a 3 day music festival, held annually in downtown Austin's beautiful Zilker Park. Austin is the live music capital of the world, or so I hear. So it's a good fit. The music varies from Gospel, to children's performances, to country, to hard core rock, indie and alternative, Cuban, jazz, etc. There is quite literally something for everyone.

I did not go down on Friday, which I am bummed about because I heard I missed some awesome performances by the Eli Young Band, Patty Griffith, Alejandro Escovedo, N.E.R.D., and Jakob Dylan. Just to name a few.

Saturday and Sunday were awesome though. We saw so many great bands and performers that I already love, and we got to check out a few new acts that I will definitely be looking for next time I go to download some tunes.

I took a lot of pictures. Now, I'm sure most of you have been to concerts and attempted to take pictures. It's not exactly the easiest thing to do, especially if you are in a crowd of thousands (?), and a bit of a distance from the stage, and have had some beers. So keep that in mind when you view my pictures, and remember, I'm no Ansel Adams.

Saturday's favorites included Robert Earl Keen, who I thought I had taken some pictures of, but I can't find them. I think I thought I was taking pictures of him, but got the crowd instead. Happened a lot, I can tell you. So instead, here is a picture of REK that I didn't take.
Looks sorta like Gary Busey, no? Or Kris Kristofferson? (J that was for you)

Others that we saw Saturday include the Nachito Herrera All-Stars. These guys were awesome! A Cuban Jazz Latin type band. They totally rocked and had everyone dancing.

And Iron and Wine. A totally mellow, very dark and beautiful sound. We didn't get to see much of them, which bummed me out. But I am definitely going to be downloading some of their stuff.

My 2 favorites from Saturday were John Fogerty and Alison Krauss & Robert Plant
John Fogerty was awesome. He sang mostly CCR stuff, which was cool. You sort of forget how many great songs this man has written. Or, I should say, I sort of forgot. Every song he would start, we'd all be like "Oh yeah! John Fogerty sang this!". And let me tell you what, for an old dude, he still rocks out with his cock out. Had to say it.

Speaking of old dudes who jam out with their clams out, Robert Plant?!!!??!!!!! Oh my, he is amazing. And he and Alison Krauss paired together? Whodathunk? But it works. They were wonderful, mystical, fabulous, and lovely. Here is the only picture I got of their set. This is unfortunate.
Sunday was another day filled with great musical acts, but more importantly, it brought us this unfortunate moment in fashion.
Don't judge me, people! It was hotter than balls out there. And we were in the beating down sun. Waiting to see Blues Traveler, and the mean man in the blue shirt told me we couldn't sit under our umbrella. Oh, how I wanted to hurt that mean man. So I had to make do with what I had and what I had was this here handkerchief.

This Unfortunate Moment in Fashion was brought to you in part by The Sun, Handkerchiefs, and Blue Shirts.

So yeah, Blues Traveler. They always put on a great live show. That band loves to jam. I swear, they would sit up on that stage for 3 hours straight and jam if they could. John Popper makes sweet sweet love to that harmonica.
And while we're on the subject of big boys who jam out, let's talk about Gnarls Barkley. If you're anything like me, then you know approximately one Gnarls Barkley song and it goes like this
Does that make me CRAAAAZAAAAAAAAAAAAAY
Does that make me CRAAAAZAAAAAAAAAAAAAY
Does that make me CRAAAAZAAAAAAAAAAAAAY
PrAHbobleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Well kids I am here to tell you that Gnarls Barkley is pretty damn good. There are two of them, and I don't know which one is Gnarls and which one is Barkley, but whatever, that big dude pictured above knows how to GET DOWN. I was very impressed. And this time we were allowed to use our umbrellas, so suck on that Mr. Blue Shirt.

My favorite performance of the whole festival (and I know people are going be like, Are you SERIOUS?) was Kevin Fowler on Sunday night. Look, I live in Texas now, and I am country. Kevin Fowler is as country as they come, but that redneck puts on one hell of a good show.

He is entertaining, funny, and he engages the crowd.
We stayed and watched a bit of the Foo Fighters on Sunday night, and they sounded good from where we were. Which is to say, very very far away. We didn't see too much of them, and we left early before their show was over to avoid the crowds.

So thanks again Mike. Hope you get something else you can't use for your birthday or Christmas this year. Like a new car. Or a cruise. Or a new Coach purse. Just give me a call.