Austin City Limit Blues

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The Austin City Limits Festival is starting today. The festival will run all weekend.

I won't be there , though. I've got to stay here in Houston, and sleep and recuperate from travelling so much. I was in San Antonio last night, and Austin early this morning. Here in Houston yesterday and today, so you can imagine how i feel right now, road warrior that I am.

Last year I attended the ACL Festival (I lived in Austin). It was a great time: I bought five tickets on the second wave of ticket release, and my brother flew in from Florida to go with me, my fiance, one of my best friends, and my roommate. All the usual drama that occurs whenever my brother and I have gotten together this century occurred, and I almost kicked him out of my house.


(I really enjoyed Keane's performance.)

My fiance talked me out of being the brat little brother, and the weekend overall was incredible. I thoroughly enjoyed the Festival experience, except for the ever-present dust storm and the heat.

And one other thing almost threatened to ruin it for me.

It was my first ACL Festival, and I wasn't prepared for the commercialism of it all. I wrote an angry comment to the organizers or whoever got those things, i said they ought to change the name from "Austin City Limits" to "Austin City Suburbs," though perhaps "exurbs" would have been better.

For all the weirdness that is Austin, this great screwed-up state's Capitol, the festival in 2005 was overtly normal. To be fair the food booths were ppredominantlylocal, and non-chain. And not surprisingly, they weren't as overpriced as food booths tend to be.

Local coffee shop like Ruta Maya featured? Naw, Starbucks.
Local Texas Wine industry showcased Naw, Blackstone.
Local Micro brews proudly serving up true to roots Texas beer? Nopers, just the big boys.

How prominent was the booth selling lemonade to raise money for childhood cancer?
It was hidden near the kiddie area, almost behind a stage. Super-expensive mega brew beer was placed about twenty times more prominently and conveniently.


Now, of course it's relevant to ask if the problem was primarily funds (could struggling locals even afford to bid on a sponsorship?), and it could have been purely logistical -- what small company can handle the sheer load of a festival? I don't know. Because it's ACL, I have to give them a little leniency. AND a little nudge towards the bbetter path once in awhile.

If you want to hear the Festival from 2005, a selection of performances is available on iTunes:





Lyle Lovett played last year . . . He's always a highlight for me, whether it's at the ACL or at the Austin New Years Eve bash. If you gotta have an anthem in Texas, this is mine: