Photo by Chad Wadsworth. His and Eric Uhlir’s day one images for Austinist are fantastic.
- A few observations from my first Austin City Limits music fest:
- Texans fly their flags high. Never before have I seen so many high flags (including the state star, graphic beer mugs, and an early WWF logo blown up to 6’x4’) in crowds to distinguish groups of friends. I think this is directly correlated with being good tailgate planners.
- Outsiders don’t dress well for the warmth. I thought I was the only one—my chance to sport white heeled cowboy boots being spoiled six hours and five miles in—but when I saw the French band Phoenix show up for an afternoon set in long sleeves and For Members Only jackets, it became clear that wise apparel is probably correlated with number of months lived in the Lone Star State.
- I like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. This was semi-notable as I wasn’t a fan of their first album and thought of leaving after a fantastic show by Them Crooked Vultures, a new venture by Led Zepplin alum John Paul Jones, David Grohl and Josh Homme (Austinist ran a fantastic recap, calling it the “loudest taping ever”). But lead singer Karen O (she of 15-year-old emo boys’ dreams) was hard to turn away from with her stage entrance in a boxer’s robe and haunting voice. She would then belt out “Zero” in a black leather jacket emblazoned “KO” on the back, giant blowup eyeballs floating in the crowd, and finish in a backbend with her chartreuse mic inside her mouth. Strangely fantastic.
Yup, dressing for the Lone Star State is an art – one can never guess what weather pattern approacheth! Keep up the good work.