I’m starting this blog entry on the plane coming home from ACL 08, and the days of music have left me with a really sweet soundtrack. As a marketing and promotion person, I am forever impressed with the organization of the Fest: stages with scattered start times, shuttle bus service that is constant, water misters for those 100 degree days, large variety of food, shade tents, Kiddie sections and more. There are 8 stages and over 130 bands over 3 days.
But just like FUV, its about the music and the music had something for everyone. Favorites for me this year included M Ward, Jamie Lidell, Jenny Lewis, David Byrne (this was my fave), G Love, Old 97’s, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings (my other fave), Conor Oberst, Iron and Wine and Beck. Honorable mentions include Vampire Weekend, Fleet Foxes, Robert Earl Keen and the Fratellis.
Highlights included David Byrne’s Dancers during his set, learning some Cubano dances from the Nachito Herrera All-Stars, watching lucky guys being pulled up on stage to dance with Sharon Jones (she showed them a thing or two!) and festival-goers watching the Presidential debates with the soundtrack of The Mars Volta in the background (crazy!) I heard Bill Murray was at this set, too...
I also bumped into (literally) Eryka Badu, shopping for jewelry in the marketplace – sportin a little Diana Ross vibe with big hair and an elegant dress. And the festival food was the best. The dust storms were a little much, but in my opinion, a small price to pay.
The event is for folks of all ages and backgrounds. I overheard kids talking about their new year of high school (how old do I feel!) and we met a WFUV member whose daughter (a Fordham grad) moved to Dallas and now the father/daughter team meets at ACL every year. So cool. I wanted to thank the folks at C3 Presents – the people who put this on every year and work with WFUV to promote it and let us give away a trip to a lucky pair (congrats Jon and Risa Stein of Bellmore)! Hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.
See you next year, ACL!M
