ACL 2013: AUSTIN CITY LIMITS MUSIC FESTIVAL!

I went to high school literally across the street from Zilker Park where ACL takes place and I remember each year for four years, we could all hear the sound of music blaring from outside of our school. There was always an excitement, a buzz in the air about ACL. Classmates would skip their afternoon classes and make their way across the street and over the lake bridge to enjoy the festival, and until this year I had never been before. After finding out they extended the festival to take place over two weekends, I snagged a three day pass for the second weekend and I'm so happy I did because I honestly had THE BEST TIME EVER.

The two days involved being on our feet for eleven hours at a time - I have the leg soreness/ pain to prove it. Sweating non stop while the sun was constantly beaming down on our faces and backs. I'm talking sweat dripping down all day, upper lip sweat and all! and there was a weird unspoken mutual agreement between each stranger you stood next to, Like yes I feel our sweaty arms rubbing against each other while dancing in place but lets just pretend not to notice and enjoy the show. Agreed? agreed!

We saw so many great shows (too many to name! but if you care to see the lineup its up on the beautifully done website) and I was introduced to some new awesome bands that I have now added to my spotify playlist. But my standout moment on Friday was seeing Alex Turner sway his hips to all the songs and combing his quiff in between. Also hearing him in his British accent saying 'You're a fine bunch you Texans - just swoon! Such a charmer that guy. Ok maybe that isn't so charming but its the accent! because any form of a British accent makes everything sound like a beautifully written poem. Am I right?! Anyway, the show was absolutely incredible and we danced and sang the whole way through. We were so pumped up on Arctic Monkeys by the end that once we walked across the lawn to see Queens of the Stone Age we were just full on with energy and in the middle of their set it started pouring down on us and I didn't mind one bit!

Saturday was also another hot humid day so we made plenty of stops at the free water refilling stations and at one point we found some shade under a tree and I napped with a backpack as my pillow. Also  the food was provided by only local eateries so everything I had was so delicious and much better then typical deep fried junk one would expect at a festival. Now the highlight on Saturday happened around seven as the sun was setting and the air was cooling, we squeezed our way past the crowds to get as close to the stage as possible. Kings of Leon were up and they played such an awesome show. But the best moment of the day was when they came back on stage to play their last song of the night and the very second they began to play, it started pouring down so hard. The timing couldn't have been planned any better. We danced and sang in the pouring rain to sex on fire. The crowds energy was so intense and hyped up that it really made for such a friggen magical moment!

Unfortunately the rain never stopped that night so I woke up the next morning to a text saying that Sunday was cancelled due to flooding. It was such a bummer since I was looking forward to hearing more great music from some more awesome people. But those two days alone were so incredibly fun that I'm definitely planning on getting a three day pass for next year. They go on sale in a couple of weeks so I better mark my calendar! Till next year ACL! we had a wonderful time.