FIRST... ACL Fest, baby! Three days of excruciating sun and heat and over 130 bands. This one separates the men from the boys so to speak. I mean, last year the temperature got to 108! Do you wanna see [insert band here] that bad?
Well this year it wasn't that hot. Friday was pretty toasty...
BBE (and also CBE) is sporting the head apparel of choice at ACL...
So shiny... and hot... must rest.
This poor woman forgot sunglasses, and so resorted to using her lacey bra for eye protection.
The clouds were promising, but on Friday, they never provided more than an occassional breeze. Notice the lovely Austin skyline in the background!
On Saturday afternoon (we woke up late, ok?) there was a nice overcast sky. The temps were about 5-10 degrees cooler--high 80s--but still humid. Here is Jack White on the mini-tron, singing with his Raconteurs. They were great!
The crowd for Van Morrison started to collect 3 hours early. We did not stay for that madness. (Bonus question, how many cowboy hats can you see in this picture... Sweet, shady cowboy hats.)
On Sunday it rained in the morning (not that we were up to see it), so the temps were still under 100 but the humidity was crazy high. Above you can see the boys from Ween. BBE knows them through a degree of separation, so we got to hang out in their air-conditioned trailer for a bit (and use their flush toilet!!) I did meet most of the band, and they were very nice guys.
Ben Harper on the mini-tron. I love my camera's zoom!
My boy, G. Love! Bustin' it with Ben as the sun sets majestically behind the 'tron... I only caught the last couple of songs from his solo set, but thankfully one of them was Cold Beverages. WOO!
Other sets (0r partial sets) I caught over the weekend:
Deadboy and the Elephantmen
Iron & Wine
Aimee Mann
New Pornographers
Gnarls Barkley
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
The Shins
Thievery Corporation
Ray LaMontagne
Massive Attack
Some of these sets were super kick ass, some were just ok. But all in all, I think it was $100 well spent.
*****
THEN... Last weekend I got to see a private showing of the Japanese version of Kill Bill, hosted by the movie's desperado director, Quentin Tarantino. He's in town filming his half of a double-feature, and a good friend of mine from highschool is working some visual effects magic on the other half.
The Japanese version is different from the US version in the following ways: The two volumes are presented as one film with an intermission (this is the only movie I can imagine could keep me up and on the edge of my seat for 4.5 hours); the scene in the house of blue leaves -- where the bride battles the crazy 88s? -- is shown in full color; there are French subtitles; and the credits seem to run for about 13 years (or at least it feels that way when one is a guest of the director and won't leave before the credits are complete out of courtesy).
Yes, he did give a little chat to the audience beforehand (which is how I learned about most of the differences between the two versions). No, I did not meet him (or take his picture).
The best part? Hanging out with one of my very best friends from highschool for an evening, definitely. (He is a regular lurker, everyone say "Hi" to Michael.)
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