Last weekend was the big ACL Festival in Zilker Park. We had originally thought we were going to be out of town so I didn't buy any tickets even though the lineup was pretty incredible. We could hear the main stage from our house at night and our street had turned into a semi-official parking lot for the festival. It was painful to see all of those people park their cars and walk down to check out all of the bands. The only thing that made it somewhat alright was knowing that 55,000 people were there and I've never been a fan of crowds. That didn't matter...I was jealous.
On Sunday afternoon I lucked into tickets when my friend Paul called and said that he had an extra ticket for the festival. We didn't get there until late in the very muddy but rainless day. We did get to see a few great acts; The Arctic Monkeys, Dirty Projectors, Dead Weather, GirlTalk and Dan Auerbach. Paul stayed for Pearl Jam, but I headed downtown to catch an aftershow with my friend Greta that Bon Iver was doing at the Paramount Theater.
I've been listening to Bon Iver a lot and if you don't know the music. Check it out. The show was sold out but I wasn't going to let that stop me from seeing Justin Vernon and folk play....thank you Austin Craigslist!
It was a fantastic show that was basically wrapping up a tour and the emotions being felt by everyone on stage at the end of the tour was incredible to witness. There was a mix of the acoustic guitar, steel guitar, amped up electric....including a fantastically loud and noisy rendition of Blood Bank. My favorite moment though, was a sing-along version of Wolves. It was unbelievable! I've never been to big a fan of sing-alongs but I'm glad I got into the moment this time.
Speaking of sing-alongs. There was another one at the Wilco show that Evangelina and I went to last night. Jeff Tweedy said that some people don't like sing-alongs and they can just shut up...go get a beer, go to the bathroom or tweet about not liking sing-alongs. So, once again, I sang. This time it was Jesus Etc.
It was another great show. Strangely enough in this music mecca of Austin, the Wilco show was 20 minutes north at the new Cedar Park Center built for a minor league hockey team. As Jeff Tweedy said, "you know...just hanging out...playing music in a hockey arena....in Texas." and "Wow! Arena Rock...well, existential arena rock." Sprinkled throughout the setlist was a bunch of songs from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot reminding me that it is one of the greatest albums ever. And, if you like Wilco and haven't seen the documentary, I Am Trying to Break Your Heart...you should.
It's nice to be doing things here in Austin. For two months I've felt a little lost in this city running back and forth between being a dad/husband on one side of i-35 and a potter/recluse on the other side of i-35. For the first time, I've felt like Evangelina and I are taking advantage of some of what is going on here...after all...we didn't pick Austin out of the blue.
Between all of this music and almost hipsterness, I've been making some pots that I'm really happy with. This cityscaping is really coming together on my work. I've also been working on some collaborations. I'm working on a designed line with a friend of mine....more on that soon as the brainstorming/research phase turns into the making phase.
Well, it's back to being a potter on the east-side for a little more during this rainy day before I become super-dad later today and head northwest to check out FallFest at my daughters' pre-school.
Next week is more designing and making then it's time to start finishing some pots. And it will also be a comedic interlude as we're going to the David Cross show at the Paramount.
