Austin Vacation, ACL Fest

My Austin trip, as expected, was awesome. Seeing Brian and Jude and meeting Brett and Ally, and hanging out with Adam, was just what I needed to get my mind off work and have some fun. Lucky for us, Hurrican Rita took a right turn and didn't leave one drop of rain on Austin. New Hampshire got more rain from Rita than Austin did. In fact, it was so dry on Saturday and Sunday that the dust from the ground kicked up by the crowds hung in the air like smog.















But let's back up. I flew out Wednesday and arrived in Austin around 10pm. Brian and Ally picked me up and we pretty much hung out the rest of the night. Brian had to work on Thursday, so Adam (Brian's roommate) and I watched some DVR-recorded TV and basically just sat around. It was better than work, that's for sure. Thursday night Brian and I met up with Brett (Brian's long-time friend) at this great restaurant called Papadeaux that had the best Halibut I've ever tasted. The wine was good too, but what do I know? We talked a bit about Brian and Brett's short film "Swerve," which they wrote together and is currently in pre-production. I had read the script a few months ago and was really impressed with it. I think they've both got real talent and I'm anxious to see how it turns out.

After dinner we went to Dave & Buster's and met up with Ally, Adam, and Amanda, a "friend" of Adam's. I had a couple colorful drinks -- "Big Wave Dave" and "Razzmatangela" if I remember correctly -- and then it was game time. Whoopdeedoo, we wasted money on silly tickets and charged our powercards. We went home and I think that was it.

Friday was the first day of the Festival. And it went a little something like this:

Mates of State: a fairly good set featuring a mix of new and old. But no "Proofs." Pic is from the ACL website. I was surprised by how young they were.



Next was Spoon, who we had seen the past two ACL Fests. They played a great set, but again, where was the predicted crowd pleaser, "Jonathan Fisk"? I was happy to see Brian enjoy the band a little more this time (in the past he's always been bored by their "simple" music). He'll get it eventually. Pic is mine.




I have a lot more to say, and more pictures to post, but I'm tired and have to work tomorrow. Brian has a few more photos that I'll post as well. Here's the one he's uploaded so far, and it's a good one:




From left: Brett, Brian, Me, Jude.