Austin Kiddie Limits (ACL Fest) 2009: Final Thoughts

PA024123.jpgSo I've talked a lot about Austin Kiddie Limits and the 2009 Austin City Limits Music Festival generally. (Need proof? Here's Day 1, part 1, Day 1, part 2, Day 2, and Day 3.) I thought I'd wrap up my coverage with a few final thoughts and suggestions for improvement about the AKL stage, plus add a few pictures. 1. The revised stage configuration of this year's AKL stage was an improvement. Less sound bleeding from the Xbox 360 stage next door meant that the AKL artists were never drowned out. Yay! And maybe it was just my imagination (or possibly the cooler weather), but the new layout seemed blessed with more shade. 2. It's still too loud between sets. Lord knows we're big fans of Romeo and his BBoy City crew (quite possibly Miss Mary Mack's favorite part of the festival this year), but they're forced to crank the volume to a point that it drives all the families away from the stage. Perhaps next year they can swap the dance stage and the pottery/kefia tents so that it's pretty close to the stage and the volume can be reduced. 3. There are probably points where the sound on the AKL stage during sets can be reduced -- I could hear 23 Skidoo's set close to half a mile away as we were crossing Lady Bird Lake. 4. Moving on to the weather -- I will gladly take a chance of (or actual) rain in return for cooler weather. I'm so glad that the festival's been gradually pushed back into October and am happy to see it further pushed back to the second week of October (Oct. 8-10, 2010) next year. 5. The guest sets have been really cool, and I'd love to see them used even more to drive families to see bands they wouldn't have seen otherwise. That was the case for me with K'Naan on Friday. I also got a chance to meet Ben Sollee backstage briefly on Sunday before heading back to Arizona, and based on this clip of Sollee covering "Wild World" later that day, I have a feeling that if I'd seen him at the AKL stage playing his cello, I'd have been sure to see him later that day on a bigger stage. (Though it should be noted, I did see him playing with Abigail Washburn the year before.) 6. The fact that the AKL stage hosted both K'Naan and Ben Sollee, both Mr. Leebot and Secret Agent 23 Skidoo, speaks to the fact that the stage can handle a fair amount of diversity, which is somewhat reflective of the ACL Festival as a whole. There's obviously only so much diversity you can have when you've got just 8-10 acts playing a set or two, but I encourage Tor to continue mixing it up as much as possible. 7. Can these festivals really be done with families? Well, it's definitely hard work, but if you're willing to sacrifice some of your own needs (sorry, Karen O, maybe next time), you can definitely see a lot. I'm conflicted because I have to balance my own musical tastes with that of my kids with my need to cover the festival (and the AKL stage in particular) on the press pass with the fact that my family lives in Austin and I want to see them, too. Sometimes I felt like I did none of those things well. But the AKL stage is situated about as well as it can be to serve as a base station for families exploring the festival. (And, hey, there's always babysitters.) 8. Finally, thanks to everyone at C3, particularly Tor, for making the AKL stage (and the press area) run so smoothly. Hope everyone reading got a good sense of the weekend of fun... Pictures after the jump...

Austin City Limits Festival 2009: Day 1 in Review (Part 2)

Believe it or not I spent some time at the rest of the 2009 Austin City Limits Music Festival. I have so many conflicting obligations when I visit the Festival, that I never feel like I see enough of the non-Austin Kiddie Limits music. The first part of the day was cool enough, but it was time for the adult in me to enjoy a little music without the kids. So after helping my wife, Miss Mary Mack, and Little Boy Blue get back to downtown Austin (they're not quite the festival hounds I am), I finally made it back to Zilker Park and made my to the Wildflower Center stage to see K'naan. Every year there's one performance I didn't quite anticipate that ends up blowing me away. K'naan's set, or at least the last 30 minutes that I caught, was that experience for this year. How good was this Canadian hip-hop artist originally born in Somalia? I bought his album Troubadour at the Waterloo tent pretty much right after his set ended. His set-closing performance of "Wavin' Flag," of which he did an abbreviated version that I half-caught at the Austin Kiddie Limits stage, might very well be the single best musical experience I've had in 3 years of attending ACL. This YouTube clip can't do it complete justice, of course, but the way he works the crowd together freestyling for about 6 minutes before launching into the music is masterful. "When I get older / I will be stronger / They'll call me freedom / Just like a wavin' flag / And then it goes back / And then it goes back / And then it goes back." I'm still singing this nearly a week later. K'naan - "Wavin' Flag" (Live @ Austin City Limits Festival 2009) K'naan - "Bang Bang" (Live @ Austin City Limits Festival 2009) On my way to the Waterloo tent after his set, I stopped by the BMI stage to hear the Greencards (nice bluegrass with a hint of gypsy and non-North American influences). After picking up the CDs, I made my way over the Xbox 360 stage to hear Them Crooked Vultures, a supergroup featuring Dave Grohl on drums, Josh Homme on guitar, and Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones. I'm not sure I'd buy their album and listen on a regular basis, but in a live setting on a beautiful evening, they absolutely rocked. Even a kajillion miles away I could see Grohl drumming away, grinning like Animal. Makes me happy everytime I seem him drum. Them Crooked Vultures - "Mind Eraser" (Live @ Austin City Limits Festival 2009) And, conveniently, I just needed to turn around and see the Yeah Yeah Yeahs open up on the AMD stage. But by that point it was getting late and I knew I had another 45 minutes (or more) of traveling before seeing my family again. So I stayed for 3 songs of Karen O and her boys, then took off in the perfect Austin night. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Runaway" (Live @ Austin City Limits Festival 2009)

Austin Kiddie Limits (ACL Fest) 2009: Day 3 Review

On to Day 3 of the Austin City Limits Festival 2009, or at least the Austin Kiddie Limits stage. (If you missed it, read my thoughts and watch YouTube from Days 1 and 2 here and here. So remember all that rain from Saturday? Remember the nice green grass the city had installed with C3's money with great fanfare? It wasn't, like, Glastonbury mud, but it was deep enough in some places that, as Gwyneth noted to me, it felt like it could suck the shoes right off. Anyway, after meandering through the media area and (ever-so-briefly) the Artists' Lounge (cleaner than the media area, and with ice cream), we (Miss Mary Mack and I) headed to see Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears from backstage. Saw Bill and his family up there. Jammed to the last few songs of the set. Made our way through the mud to the AKL stage. There we saw Ralph's World play their second set of the festival. Ralph Covert has a pretty tight band at this point, and he's got his live act down pat... Ralph's World - "The Rhyming Circus" Ralph's World - "Dumptruck" Ralph's World - "Sunny Day Rainy Day Anytime Band" (particularly apropos for the weekend, always a good set closer) After Ralph, Romeo and the guys from BBoy City came on and did their stuff, which is pretty incredible and has been each year. Might have been Miss Mary Mack's favorite part of the festival... (Check out this last one. Oh my.) At this point, it was either fight the mud and crowds to catch the second half of the B-52s' set or stick around at AKL. And while I'd've been willing, asking Miss Mary Mack to do that before a long series of transportation options that would park us back home 5 hours later was too much. Of course, at least we got to see another Secret Agent 23 Skidoo set... Secret Agent 23 Skidoo - "Boogieman" Secret Agent 23 Skidoo - "The Whalephant" (new, unreleased track) And then we skidaddled across the mud, onto the shuttle bus, into the car, and after many more transportation changes, made it back home. I'm not finished yet with my AKL/ACL thoughts -- more to come...

Austin Kiddie Limits: Day 1 in Review (Part 1)

Day 1 of the 2009 Austin City Limits Music Festival is in the books, and what did we learn? Apparently leaving a little later, great weather, and threats of rain for the rest of the weekend makes parking in downtown Austin a lot harder to find. As opposed to getting downtown around 11 AM, we got there around 12:30 PM, and it took us a good 20 minutes to find parking. By the time we actually found a spot, walked to Republic Park, took the shuttle, got our wristbands, and found our bearings in the media tent, it was 2:00 PM. So, sorry, Stoosh! Our bad, Paul Green School of Rock All Stars (I've seen you plenty, though)! And really sorry to have missed The Telephone Company. Maybe Sunday, guys! But even with missing half of Friday's Austin Kiddie Limits stage, we still had a good time. They've changed the layout this year, so that the stage is on the east end of the area, facing (north)west, and the whole layout seems shadier. Or maybe it was just the 74-degree weather. Anyway, we got there in plenty of time to see Milkshake take the stage. They put on a good 25-minute-or-so set, mostly stuff from their new album Great Day, along with some older material. One of the things I like about AKL (and ACL in general) is that artists do feel the need to step up their game a bit. So I don't know if Milkshake normally brings a couple dozen inflatable baseball beach balls for "Baseball" (they probably do), or if the band brings graying wigs for "When I'm Old," but it just shows the band's trying. Also, Milkshake in particular, with six folks in the band, sounds good live on stage. Kids on the ground seemed to enjoy it. Milkshake - "When I'm Old" (Live) Milkshake - "Enemies" (Live) After Milkshake was a brief set from K'naan, which I couldn't pay full attention to because I was shuttling Little Boy Blue from activity to activity (including green punk hairdo), but I really liked. K'naan - "Take a Minute" (Live) (for what it's worth, there were a fair number of kids, despite what the uploader says) Then Lunch Money. It's OK, guys, you do indeed rock. Lots of dancing and a good-sized crowd (for AKL, anyway). They're also getting really good at incorporating crowd participation into their songs. Here's a new(-ish) song, with a couple more familiar ones to follow: Lunch Money - "Spicy Kids" (Live) Lunch Money - "Are You a Rabbit?" (Live) Lunch Money - "Roller Coaster" (Live) OK, there's more to talk about, but it's time to head back to Zilker Park before the skies open up.

Austin Kiddie Limits 2009 Preview

In years past, I've done a much more thorough job breaking down the Austin Kiddie Limits stage at the Austin City Limits Festival. This year, you're going to have to make do with a more abbreviated post. Which doesn't mean the lineup isn't worth the effort; on the contrary, it's the most solid top-to-bottom lineup in the event's history. Anybody with a kid in tow at the festival can stop by at any given point and be guaranteed to hear something worth hearing, either some great artists for kids, or some kids doing amazing stuff. Here's the schedule -- some live YouTubery after the jump.

The Decemberists Play... Kids Music?

A band whose leadoff single from their latest album featured a narrator singing about how he killed his three kids might not be my first choice for playing for kids. Until you suggest that it's Portland's Decemberists. They're kicking off the "You Who" series, a new monthly "children's rock variety show" co-created by the band's Chris Funk. The second-best part (besides, you know, the Decemberists), is the "beauty salon where kid's [sic] are the stylists and then go on parade!" And if they get Spoon's Britt Daniel to play, I might just have to fly out to Portland. Update: More details on the series here And, you know, since International Talk Like a Pirate Day is tomorrow, here's a video from a band I once compared to the Decemberists, Captain Bogg & Salty. Captain Bogg & Salty - "Pieces of 8ight"