Austin City Limits 2015

 

Second year in a row attending the ACL Festival.  The great lineup prompted a repeat visit and this may not be the last time making the sojourn to Austin.  The friendly, well behaved crowd was such a joy to behold and this year the stages were absent, mostly, of the faker lip sync artists; shall we call them fartists?  Modest Mouse, Foo Fighters and Decemberists stood out as pro class acts with especially firm grasps on their sound presentation, along with Florence and the Machine.  Billy Idol held his own, and although the high notes are no longer attempted, his physique is amazing for a man of any age, never mind that he's turning 60 in November.  My my...  

No rain or mud this year, the heat nearly oppressive in the mid day sun, but at least on the hottest last day the willful breeze pushed across the park mercifully over the massive crowd.  My daughter and I trekked the 5 minutes to the nearby Barton Springs the first two days, an oasis filled with the largest pool I have ever seen.  The cool refreshing water rejuvenated our staying power for the long days.  A three day success appreciated even more so due to the absence of any injuries such as the one I suffered on day one last year with my sprained ankle. The crowd watching reaffirmed my deep conviction that Americans are the worst dressers on planet earth; however, they do sustain a high entertainment factor, hippie garb and misguided tattoo decisions notwithstanding.  

Neil, still master after all these years

So I had always heard about Neil Young's Bridge School Benefit, thought it was way Northern California, but alas just south of San Fran. When I saw the lineup: reunion Buffalo Springfield, Pearl Jam and my favs Modest Mouse, not to mention freakin' Billy Idol (I know!) who I never thought I'd see in my lifetime, I decided this was the year to go. Not really any reason not to, which is good enough reason to do it in my book. Since tickets hadn't gone on sale yet, it was a real viable trip. And when a week out I lucked into an 11th row ticket from the late releases for night one, I felt blessed. No sitting on the lawn in the rain, which despite the great music, would have been miserable. Luckily both nights I was under the big tent covering the front half of the crowd. It really lived up to the adventurous weekend I was hoping for, despite the rain, so I was very happy I'd lucked into finding out about it in time. Seeing Buffalo Springfield do all their greats, from when I was barely a teenager, was like a time warp trip. Nice to see them all but honestly Neil and Stephen Stills are still rockin' their asses off and look healthy and happy which is fun to see. Not like Dylan who's a caricature of his former self and should just call it a day. And of course hunka wunka Eddie Vedder, singing Patti Smith's Dancing Barefoot and Modest Mouse doing acoustic Cowboy Dan were also highlights. But silly as it seems, seeing a limo driver holding a cardboard sign saying my name by the exit of San Jose airport really was the most surreal moment! On to my next adventure......