Austin City Limits Music Festival + ME = B-A-N-A-N-A-S

The Austin City Limits Music Festival was amazing. It left me speechless literally. The heat was unbearable, a lesser man would have given up but not I. A combination of Red Bull, sun block and enthusiasm kept me going throughout the weekend. I went with my friend Christopher and my sister Rosie and my brother. The more the merrier, right! The lineup was really good: Death Cab for Cutie, M83, Coldplay, Franz Ferdinand, Oasis, Arcade Fire, Bloc Party, Jet, The Bravery, Eisley, Spoon and The Walkmen, so everyone worth seeing in the '05 was there. I even heard Gwyneth Paltrow & baby Apple were in Austin for the festival but I never saw them. I'm sure they were hiding all the A-listers backstage. Here's hoping Gwyneth Mizz Paltrow-Martin saw me on Sunday in my "Like A Virgin" t-shirt & reports the news back to Madonna. NOT! Fat chance I know but I can dream! I at least got some compliments from a couple of randoms for my attire.
I didn't get to see all the acts I wanted to see but beggars can't be choosers. Anyway I don't think I could have gotten to Zilker Park earlier and hung out all fucking day in that insane heat. All the bands were dying. They all made some pretty unfortunate wardrobe choices certainly not suitable for Texas heat. They really need to put in some more shade in the future. As it is I was fucking melting!!! Yet even in my sorry state I saved a life when this chick passed out in my arms on Sunday right before Coldplay. I was trying to get her over the railing to safety when BOOM she was out cold, crazy!
I saw The Walkmen, Jet, Bloc Party and Oasis on Saturday. The Walkmen were good, nothing extraordinary. I didn't have such good real estate during their set. And I was a bit disappointed I didn't get to hear the hit.
Jet were rock and a lil' more mellow than I remember. They played "Cold Hard Bitch," "Are You Going to Be My Girl?," "Roll Over D.J.," "Move On," well all the hits!!!
Bloc Party were stiletto sharp. This was the 2nd time I got to see them. The last time I saw them was @ South by South West. They played right before The New York Dolls @ Stubb's BBQ during SXSW. So in honor of that 1st show I ate a burger from Stubb's during their set. Talk about synchronicity. I totally didn't plan that. Bloc Party played all their singles and a cool new song. It sounded like The Cure other than that I'm a blank. I still can't believe I saw fucking OASIS!!! That's just crazy!!!

And it's so perfect cuz I recently dug out all my ol' Britpop cds. I've been listening to Pulp, Blur, and Oasis like nobody's business. It's 1995 all over again baby & I'm loving it. I got to hear all the hits: "Wonderwall," "Champagne Supernova," and "Don't Look Back In Anger." They were so English it's not even funny. All through their set they were mumbling and cursing about God knows what. The last song they played was a cover of The Who's "My Generation" that was just great to sing along to.

I saw The Bravery, The Arcade Fire, Jason Mraz, Franz Ferdinand, and Coldplay on Sunday.
The Bravery's guitarist

The Bravery were really good and I had a really good view of the stage. I thought I might not get to see them since I got to the festival right when they were starting. Christopher & I literally had to run inside to catch their set. I haven't heard of all their album but I love love love their singles "Honest Mistake" and "Fearless" and "Public Service Announcement" which repeats over and over "stop, drop and roll." It's so new wave it's not even funny. The Bravery totally blew me away. They were so rock and new wave in fucking 100 + degree weather. Who would have thunk it? I literally had to run to the AMD stage to catch their set but it was worth it. They played a new song. The guitarist was insanely rowdy. I thought he would annoy me since he seems like he tries a little too hard (it's the tragic eye makeup that makes me cringe) but he was every bit the rock star. He jumped on a stack of speakers, climbed up scaffolding and jumped into the audience. I didn't get to enjoy The Arcade Fire as much as I would have liked to since the sun was at its meanest during their set. I did get to hear them cover David Bowie's "Five Years" off of Ziggy Stardust. I was kinda hoping they would drag Bowie out from somewhere like they did in New York but no such luck. During their set I ran over to some misters for some serious cooling down.
I had prime real estate for Franz Ferdinand and Coldplay. I danced through all of Franz' set despite being dehydrated. I was really trying my best to conserve my water since rations were low. I loved how Franz played "Take Me Out" in the middle of their set instead of playing the huge hit at the end. Typically bands make you work for the big song but not Franz. After they played "take me out" they went into their new single "Do You Want To?" which is just as catchy as "Take Me Out." I love that that they played those two songs one after the other. They also played "Michael" which never sounded so good and "This Fire" which was quite appropriate with the Texas sun cooking those poor Scottish lads.

I had to fight tooth and nail to get my real estate but Coldplay made it all worth it. They played all the hits, singles, whatever you wanna call them. When they played "Yellow" it was amazing. They even threw in these huge yellow balloons filled with gold confetti to add to the drama of the evening. They dedicated a song to Johnny Cash and covered "Ring Of Fire." They reminded me of U2 and The Police. They just had this intensity which I've only felt when I saw U2 live and Shirley Manson in concert. Who would have thunk lanky Chris Martin would make such a dynamic frontman a la Bono & the Sting. The last song Coldplay played was "Fix You" which was a fitting end to the festival. It seems the festival lineup was inspired by The O.C. A good portion of what has been played on the show was represented at ACL. A fact which I'm sure annoys a lot of Austinites but whatever. What I loved about everyone's sets was that no one was stingy with the hits. Jet played all their singles, Bloc Party ditto, even Oasis played "Wonderwall" which they dedicated to all the ugly girls in the audience.
I have to have to attend next year's festival without a doubt. I'm going to make it a point to attend every ACL and South By Southwest from now on.