Sun, Sweat & Songs

Dana Cedillo
MC 4356F
October 6, 2008
Word Count: 1,121

Sun, Sweat & Songs

It is amazing what fans will do for the bands they love. The average music lover will buy the albums, listen to them a few times, pick a favorite track and consider the possibility of seeing the act live. Hardcore fanatics will memorize every song, argue that each track has its appeal and they will be the first ones in line at concerts and the last ones to leave. The 2008 Austin City Limits Festival was the perfect setting for dedicated concert goers to sit back, relax and let the music guide them.
On Sept. 26 my friend, Vanessa, and I made the first of three 30 minute trips from San Marcos to Austin not knowing what to expect from the three days of music ahead of us. Being an ACL virgin, I was completely clueless about where to park, how much money to bring and the chances of getting to see the 23 out of over 130 bands I was making the trip for. N.E.R.D. was blaring out of my car stereo and I lost all concern of the things that plagued my mind. After years and years of reading about it and hearing all of the great stories, I was finally going to experience it.
Music is everything to me. It helps me make sense of this confusing world and also speaks for me when I can’t find the words to express myself. The best part of it is getting to see bands perform live right in front of me. I love being in the front row so I can do my crazy dances and sing along to the songs that have changed my life. I believe there is no other way to experience a concert. However, ACL was like nothing I have ever experienced.
An estimated 65,00 people would be entering the gates of Zilker Park for the next three days in hopes of hanging out in the grass, getting some sun and listening to good music. Tickets for the event ranged from $80 for the single-day passes to $170 for the three-day bracelets. It may seem pricey, but in its seventh year ACL remains to be one of the cheaper festivals in the United States. Three-day passes for Lollapalooza were $205 and $258 for All Points West..
Our first day at the festival consisted of catching the last few songs in Vampire Weekend and Louis XIV’s sets and moving on to Mates of State, N.E.R.D. and The Mars Volta. N.E.R.D. was the best performance of the day with their energetic hip-hop anthems and Pharrell Wiliams’s ability to keep the crowd dancing. Although we were mixed in with thousands of people and could not get a perfect view of the stage, it was still an awesome performance.
The Friday night headliner, The Mars Volta, was a disappointment. The band played an 11 song set which lasted an hour and fifteen minutes. The band came on stage, picked up their instruments and began playing without any introduction. The second song on the list lasted 20 minutes. A man fell to the ground right beside me and I thought ‘he must have passed out from boredom’. The Volta’s entire performance was just a jam session that lost the crowd. We knew it was finally over when they put down their instruments and walked off the stage without any acknowledgement of the thousands of people right in front of them.
The next day was definitely a more successful one. My friend and I arrived early so we could be in the front row for Jose Gonzalez’s performance. He is a solo artist that played his acoustic guitar so beautifully. I was worried about how the ACL crowd would act during his soft folk songs. When he came on stage everyone clapped but then silenced themselves as he began playing. I did not know a crowd of hundreds could be so attentive. I looked around and every single eye was on him.
After Jose’s set we made our way to the AT&T Blue Room stage where we were determined to beat thousands of people fighting for the space in front of MGMT, an indie band that weren’t due to perform for three hours. Although it felt like the sun had drained every bit of energy from our bodies, Vanessa and I were jumping and dancing along with the band. We were grateful for the security guards who supplied the crowd with water to keep anyone from getting dehydrated.
We were unable to get to the main stage where one of my favorite artists, Conor Oberst, was performing, in time to get good spots in front. We chose to lie down in the back on the grass as his slow, calming folk-rock tunes provided a perfect soundtrack to the sun set. It was an ideal way to end our Saturday at ACL.
Sunday was the day Vanessa and I had been waiting for. The Foo Fighters would be the closing band and we were on a mission to be in the very front in order to end our Austin City Limits Festival experience in the best way. We arrived at the AT&T stage at 11:30 a.m. and were prepared to sit in the Texas heat for the next nine hours until the band hit the stage.
It was not as difficult a task as we were anticipating. Instead of us having to walk to each of the eight stages where bands were playing, performers came to us. We just stood there as Flyleaf, Silversun Pickups and Gnarls Barkley came on stage to entertain us.
Finally, at 8:30 the big band of the weekend hit the stage. The Foo Fighters are a band that I have grown up listening too and it was amazing to see them right in front of me. As lead singer Dave Grohl announced that they weren’t going to leave until the cops kicked them off, I knew the wait had been worth it. The band played every song I loved and even re-did the classics to make them more exciting. They continued to play an extra 20 minutes passed their scheduled end time and seemed to be very grateful of the opportunity to play at the Austin City Limits Festival.
In the weeks leading up to the festival, I questioned whether the money and time I would spend would actually be worth it. I knew there were going to be an unbelievable amount of people attending and there was a slim possibility of getting to experience ACL the way I was hoping. However, it turned out to be a very memorable experience and reassured me that music is a positive force that will always be present in my life.