My lovely wife emailed me today to tell me that ACL Fest tickets are on sale and that she got ours. The schedule hasn’t been released yet, but it’s always worth it to buy the tickets early before the prices shoot up when the schedule is made public.
This will be our fourth ACL Fest. It seems it’s become something of a tradition for us and our friends. We all take four days off and hit the festival on Friday afternoon and use Monday to recover. Friends come up from the coast (last year evacuated was a more appropriate word) and we listen to music and eat out and just enjoy living in Austin.
The best thing about the festival is discovering so much great music. Half the artists I see, I’ve never heard of before, but I often go out and buy their CDs after the shows. Plus, I love that it’s so civilized as far as big outdoor festivals go. The food is great, most of it provided by Austin’s local restaurants. The facilities are clean. The people are not obnoxious. And of course Zilker Park is just a nice place to be. Sometimes the heat can be miserable. 108F on Sunday last year, for instance. But by Spetember most people around here are kind of used to that. Besides it can be nice in September.
Anyways, the main purpose of this entry is just as a place for me to record the bands I saw in previous years since part of the reason for this blog is to help me remember things, and I wasn’t blogging back then, but if you want an idea of who’s been there in the past, check it out. That’s what’s below the fold. I’ll be adding to the lists if I remember anything.
2005
- Tortoise
- Coldplay
- Wilco
- Franz Ferdinand
- John Butler Trio
- Lyle Lovett
- Bob Mould
- Dirty Dozen Brass Band
- Thievery Corporation
- Government Mule
- Oasis
- Roky Erickson & the Explosives
- The Weary Boys
2004
- American Analog Set
- Calexico
- The Pixies
- Elvis Costello
- Medeski, Martin and Wood
- Wilco
- Franz Ferdinand
- The Killers
- Slightly Stoopid
- Earl Harvin Trio
- Jay Farrar
- Modest Mouse
- The Roots
2003
- Rev. Al Green
- Steve Winwood
- Soulive
- Spearhead
- Los Lobos
- Yo La Tengo
- Old ’97s
- Charlie Hunter
- Kermit Ruffins
- Patty Griffin
- Lucinda Williams
- Spoon
- REM
James Brush is a teacher and writer who lives in Austin, TX. He tries to get outside as much as possible.
My wife and I love ACL Fest, too, and we’ve been going since the first year. It’s become a tradition for us, too. We get our tickets when they first go on sale because it really doesn’t matter to us who is playing – we’re gonna have a good time just being there and checking out different bands. It’s a kind of once a year vacation-at-home for us. Last year was hot and dusty, but we still had a good time. Looking forward to it – see you there!
ACL is such a great opportunity to discover new artists and a fun way to end the summer. I can’t imagine not getting tickets regardless of who winds up playing there.