We waited for what seemed like forever to get in; I lost nearly a quart of my bodily fluids; I complained to Mike nonstop; and we nearly missed Peter, Bjorn and John ... but we caught the end of their set and I got to hear my favorite song by them ("Young Folks") ... which made me vow to stop complaining and just enjoy the whole (hot) experience (much to Mike's relief). I can't believe how many people made it to ACL and it's just Friday. The weekend is bound to be even busier.
Hoping to get a good spot, we headed over to Joss Stone pretty early (see where we ended up in the picture above). As we waited, we people watched .. .and let me tell you, ACL is ripe for people watching. I just have to shake my head and wonder what people were thinking when they left their homes or hotels dressed liked that. But it sure helps pass the time! We could totally see Nicole Ritchie and Paris Hilton's fashion influences on some of the chicks here -- ginormous sunglasses, the world's largest handbags and flowy dresses. Anyway ... back to the music. Joss Stone was good ... actually she was great. She has such an awesome, rich voice. I was a little disappointed with her song choices (too many slow ones, and not enough upbeat tunes). But she was definitely a highlight of my day.
After Joss, we shopped. Okay, I shopped and Mike smiled like he was interested. And we hit the food stands. Yummy! All the food vendors were Austin based and so tasty. We started with BBQ and things just got better from there. Next up on the musical lineup was Spoon. Though Mike was excited to see Spoon again, it wasn't quite the same as seeing them in a small venue at night. However, it was pretty awesome to see how big the crowd was to see them, and all the people rocking out. Spoon was good, but I'm sure Mike would say they're always good. I especially liked the songs that included the horn section ... a little bit mariachi sounding. They are such a vibrant band with interesting lyrics. Check 'em out at their Web site. or here's a review of their latest album.
The last band we saw on Day One of ACL was The Killers. Okay, so we weren't dying to seem them, in fact, Mike would have been happy to go back to the hotel long before they took the stage. But I was feeling a little homesick and wanted to see them to feel a little closer to Las Vegas and all of our friends there (cheesy, yeah I know). So even though the crowd was considerably larger by this time of the night and they went from being polite, happy Texans to drunk, frat boys ... we stuck around for about 30 minutes of the Killer's set. And it was the EXACT SAME set they played at Vegoose a year ago ... light show and all. Same awkward pauses. The same goofy white lights all over the stage. The only difference was Brandon wore red sequined shoes (Melissa, Mike and I thought you would have laughed your little heart out at this show. Wish you had been with us to mock BFlo). As much as it was generic, I mean come, they didn't shake it up at all ... I kind of liked it. I reminded me of Vegoose. It reminded me of all my Vegas friends. And it made me feel a little closer to home.
The day ended with some hot showers to get all the sweat and dirt off us and much deserved sleep. Already, ACL is proving to be phenomenal. So much fun.