Weather and line-up make ACL incredible

By Gabrielle Reyes     10/21/10 7:00pm

Held in Austin, Texas at Zilker Park from Oct. 8-10, this year's Austin City Limits Music Festival was a success not just from the astounding quantity and quality of music on display over the span of three days, but by two things altogether unrelated to music: clear blue skies and a cool breeze. In fact, the near-perfect weather, which lasted the entire weekend, contributed to one of the best overall ACL experiences in recent years - a stark contrast from the ankle-deep mud that characterized ACL last year.Not for the faint of heart, ACL can be arduous for the ill-prepared. With enormous crowds increasing in number every year, simply moving from stage to stage can be an ordeal. And, although this year was not as hot as it has been in the past, staying hydrated always poses a challenge. Fortunately, this year ACL offered more efficient (and free) water bottle filling stations, part of festival organizers' efforts to "go green." As evidence of this initiative, there were even booths located in various locations across Zilker Park where festival-goers could sign up to collect recyclables and receive a free T-shirt in return.

In addition to monster crowds and dehydration, another unpleasant reality of ACL life comes to mind: the dreaded port-o-potties. The lines for these cringe-worthy contraptions can go for what seem like miles, and when you finally reach the end, let's just say there hardly awaits a reward for all of your time spent patiently (or impatiently) waiting in a line without shade. Just a friendly suggestion: never enter a port-o-potty barefoot. This, beyond being disturbingly unsanitary, serves to horrify all of your fellow festival-goers and does not encourage anyone to come within a 10-foot radius of your person. Sadly, I witnessed more individuals than I would have ever thought possible willingly entering port-o-potties ?sans shoes.

I am by no means claiming, however, that ACL cannot be fun. Far from it; if done right, ACL can be heaven on Earth for three straight days. My personal journey of bliss began upon my arrival at Zilker Park on Friday afternoon. I headed straight to the AMD stage for the Black Keys. While the Akron, Ohio duo were faultless musically, their on-stage demeanor left something to be desired. Zipping through their set with a bare minimum of audience interaction, they left fans with the impression that they were physically at Zilker Park, but were mentally long gone for their ACL afterparty at Stubb's later that night.

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Austin's very own Spoon followed the Black Keys. ?Never ones to disappoint live, Spoon were spot-on throughout their set, despite some technical difficulties during "I Summon You." Altogether, Spoon delivered a varied and dynamic show, evenly balanced with rollicking favorites and ?slow-tempo beauties.

After witnessing Vampire Weekend's high energy set from afar (the tightly packed crowd was nearly impossible to penetrate) I made my way over to the Budweiser main stage for some Phish. Yes, Phish, and not the Strokes, who were playing during the exact same time slot on the opposite end of the park. While I was informed that the Strokes delivered a fantastic set, I had absolutely no desire to venture back to the AMD stage once Phish started. Phish embodies the pure and simple free-flowing, positive energy, fun-loving, good-time having hippie euphoria that quintessentially defines ACL.

On Saturday I started off in the very same place I had ended Friday night with Phish; at the Budweiser main stage, but this time with The Gaslight Anthem. With their punk-rock-meets-Springsteen sound, these New Jersey natives delivered a passionate set full of fan favorites and new tracks off of their most recent album, American Slang. Unlike his ungrateful counterpart, the Black Keys' Dan Auerbach, lead singer Brian Fallon demonstrated genuine gratitude toward the band's fans, repeatedly thanking the crowd for its impressive size despite the mid-afternoon heat.

Following The Gaslight Anthem, I made my way over to the ZYNC card stage to see British indie-rockers The xx. The soft-spoken group delivered a hauntingly beautiful performance, which proved to be, at times, incredibly sensual and stirring. The xx were, in a word, intoxicating. They successfully seduced the sizable crowd they attracted, creating a truly special and intimate space during their hour-long set.

Saturday night ended with the best performance of the entire festival: Muse. Mind-blowing, magical, electric - Muse immediately put all other bands on the ACL lineup to shame with just their opener, "Uprising." Ever the showman, front man Matt Bellamy strutted onto the main stage with an altogether flamboyant get-up: sunglasses adorned with flashing blue lights and a silver, sparkling two-piece suit. With an impressive laser-light show and energy and musicianship almost unsurpassed by any other bands at ACL, Muse effectively obliterated the competition. If you opted to see M.I.A. instead of Muse at the opposite end of the park, then I simply feel sorry for you.

Sunday was all about festival closers The Eagles. Delivering crowd-pleasers such as "Hotel California" and "Witchy Woman," these classic rock icons proved that they have not lost the excellence which has brought them tremendous success over the past 40 years. Their set was filled with old fan favorites as well as more recent releases, and the crowd responded with unparalleled zeal.

With gorgeous weather, an eclectic line-up and improved organization on the part of festival organizers, this year's Austin City Limits Music Festival proved to be an overwhelming success. We can only hope that next year will live up to the beautiful combination of factors that contributed to such an outstanding experience this fall.

Gabrielle Reyes is a Lovett College sophomore

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