ACL festival Day 1...part 1

Wow! I don't know if I have the words to describe how great the first day of the 2009 ACL festival was for me. There were several bands that I wanted to see, however, with the way my day went and with the timing of things I ended up three amazing shows today. I cannot begin to write about them all on one post...so here's part 1, band 1.

Phoenix: I got there about an hour early so that I could get a good spot. I was going to see The Walkmen, but realized that if I wanted to procure a sweet spot for Phoenix, I would have to just listen to them instead. No problem.

I was about 20 yards from the stage which was the perfect spot not to have to see over too many heads. :) They were about 3 songs in when the singer Thomas Mars stated that this was the biggest crowd they'd ever played for. You could tell by the look on the band's faces that they were amazed at the energy being thrown at them during each song. On the jumbo screens to the sides of the stage they would flash up shots of the crowd...I didn't realize how many people were there until I saw it for myself. I felt very fortunate to be standing where I was! My estimate would have to be about 25,000 people, and that is probably on the conservative side. Here's a bit of video so you could see them in action. (There is no sound because I took it from my digital camera, so sorry about that)



It was such a rush of energy...the music was great, the crowd was great and it started my whole festival experience off on a wonderful note.

Part 2: Them Crooked Vultures: Uh, front row? Why yes I was. More later....

cheers!
xo diane

ACL festival 2009

It's been a few years since I've attended the ACL festival for the full 3 days and I'm so excited about it.

This is the first time I've attended it by myself, and I must say I'm pretty happy about that. I get to see who I want, when I want, without having to compromise my taste in music.

Tomorrow I am slated to see: The Walkmen, Phoenix, Them Crooked Vultures (and if you don't know who these guys are, step out from under your rock..think Foo Fighters meet Queens of the Stone Age meet Led Zepplin. omg) and the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs. Kings of Leon are playing at the same time but I've already seen them and Karen O. is just the coolest, so I'd like to see her rock it out.

I'm actually the most excited about seeing Phoenix since I started listening to them I think they are très chouette.






There are tons of other shows going on tomorrow, but if I'm going to do this thing for 3 days I've got to pace myself. One of the greatest aspects that I might have left out is the fact that I live in the neighborhood of the festival. I mean like so close that I can hear the music if I open my windows. I get to actually walk there. I love that. It's quite awesome in the fact that the aggregate attendance from last year was 218,000 people. This event is nothing less than awesome.



So stay tuned...I will be taking photos and updating the blog as much as I can. If you follow me on twitter (username: tastydiane) then you will probably get more info than you care to...I just wonder how the reception will be out there. In the past, it's been not so great, but I will do my best to update as much as I can.

So, for now...I'm off to get my beauty rest so that I can rock out.

cheers!
xo diane