Well, howdy! ACL Fest is officially over, and I'm back to the ol' routines. At some point ACL Fest became part of my internal calendar, and now that it's over it feels like fall has truly begun.
And my posts about ACL Fest were a bit short and sweet, mostly because I wrote them when I was pretty exhausted. I know that it probably sounds like I'm just trying to compensate to justify an experience that other, more mud and rain averse people can't imagine having enjoyed, but I really did have a really good time at the festival this year, despite some moments of meteorological annoyance. The music was really good, and after a while I managed to mostly just ignore the inconvenience of the water and mud (and in comparison to the heat and dust of past years, it really was okay. At least the wetness didn't make me feel physically drained or sick the way the dust and heat have effected me in past years, and we had a relatively unmuddy spot to hang out in each day that was pretty comfortable).
And yes, I agree with Reed's enthusiastic comments from my last post about the Pearl Jam show. As I've said before, I've historically been just sort of a moderate Pearl Jam fan, but their show on Sunday night really did involve some rocking on a truly prodigious level. They were certainly among the best of the closing acts that I've seen at ACL.
And I really enjoyed a lot of the shows. It was good to see Medeski, Martin, and Wood again, I enjoyed the B-52s way more than I thought I would, I sort of discovered the Felice Brothers and really enjoyed them, I enjoyed Flogging Molly a great deal (who've been around a while, but whom I've never seen), and I really enjoyed local favorites Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears. I even really liked The Dave Matthews Band. They kind of verge on being a little cheesy from time to time, but they tend to keep the beats moving, and they're unquestionably excellent musicians. The Walkmen were good, Phoenix was good, Michael Franti was good, Raphael Saadiq was really good. Lots of good stuff.
Anyway, it was a good ACL Fest. Given the combination of the messy rain and the good music, it'll be an ACL that I'll probably remember for a long, long time.
Special thanks to my friends who went to the festival with me! You know who you are- the people that I hung out with, ate with, drank with, talked with, walked with, rode with, and rocked with during the festival. The music was really good, but you friends make the whole experience so much better! (and super special thanks to Andy and Rami, who served as a shuttle service, getting us in and out of the area with relative ease, and who fed us and gave us drinks and shelter on Saturday night)
Yesterday was my post-ACL Fest chill out day, and I spent much of it with Andy and Mandy. It was a nice day to just decompress and relax after marching around for 3 days straight.
Anyway, I'm not up on the news, and I've been out of pocket for a few days, so I guess I'm gonna keep this relatively short. Kind of a drag that Chicago didn't get the Olympics though, huh?
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