3 DAYS OF MUSIC AND PEACE

Not exactly Woodstock, the Austin City Limits Festival, may well be what that legendary event should look like today. “Austin has a lot to do with what makes the festival so special”, tells Lisa Hickey, Director of Marketing for C3 Presents, the company who puts on the event every year. Austin is naturally an “outdoorsy, laid back, creative, big thinkers town”, conscious of the environment, conscious of what they eat (Whole Foods is headquartered in Austin), and notoriously accommodating. People attending the ACL Music Fest are considered the “excuse me” crowd, because when you bump into someone, they will look up and say “excuse me, or hello.”

Along with the “friendly, laid back vibe” to the festival, there is the purposeful showcase of Austin culture reflected during the event. The food offerings from Austin’s finest restaurants, are a perfect compliment to the surroundings of the festival set near Lady Bird Lake, in Zilker Park. The Downtown Austin Skyline and nearby South Congress Art Market bring the convergence of urban commerce with natural surroundings, to this unique festival gathering. One of the best kept secrets during the fest; take a dip in the Barton Springs Pool. Three acres in size, the pool is fed from under ground springs and is on average 68 degrees year round. Worried about leaving the festival? The ACL Music Festival has that covered with their accommodating “in and out” policy, during the event (there’s that word accommodating again).

The Austin City Limits Music Festival kicked off in 2002, as a two-day event on 5 stages, showcasing 70 bands. The following year it expanded to a three-day event, caused by the overwhelming success of the inaugural event. Initial expectations were 15 to 20,000 people per day, from the first-year attendance doubled that number growing to 40,000 on Saturday. The event today is three days, 8 stages, and 130 bands on the roster. Attendance is set at 65,000 per day, and was pared down from 2004 when they sold 75,000 tickets, “we heard from our fans that it was too crowded.”

2010 will usher in the 9th Annual ACL Music Festival, and the lineup includes The Eagles, Muse, Phish, and many other artists. The dates of this year’s event are October 8th – 10th, and 3 day passes are already sold out. Single day seats went on sale May 18th and are going fast. Last years event sold out 6 weeks in advance of the festival.
(Photo left, Kings of Leon / Photo by Ashley Garmon)

The Austin City Limits Music Festival is named after the legendary television show that is set under the Austin skyline, and held at Zilker Park, “underneath the real Austin skyline.” The ACL Music Fest offers fans of the PBS series, greater accessibility to the show than a studio taping of Austin City Limits (300 tickets per taping). The acts that perform at the ACL Music Fest are representative of the show’s, diverse, and eclectic format. “People come for the experience.”

Oddly enough, the ACL Festival started like “a jog in the park.” Charlie Jones, Principal of C3 Presents production company, could envision a music festival while he was on one of his runs through Zilker Park, with his dog. Several names came to mind during the thought process, “Austin Music Festival”, “Stevie Ray Vaughan Music Festival.” It was when Charlie Jones joined forces with Lance Armstrong’s, Capital Sports & Entertainment, that the vision started to gel into reality. Bill Stapleton, Lance Armstrong’s agent, was on the board of KLRU which produces Austin City Limits. It was during that time that Austin City Limits was looking to expand their brand, “it was just kismet, it could not have made more sense”.
< CLICK ON IMAGE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT AUSITN CITY LIMITS

The music format has expanded and changed since the original festival in 2002, when the “jam band” scene was a prominent festival draw. Today’s indie-rock music has come back around with Internet generation, “things you would not hear on the radio are becoming popular.” More of the electronic music, like Ghostland Observatory, Girl Talk, has also been part of the evolution (Check out The Store That Gave the World Techno). The Austin City Limits Music Festival still offers the roots, rock, country artists, like Levon Helm, and Raul Malo on the lineup. Asleep at the Wheel opens the festival every year on Friday, in recognition of their performance on the first episode of Austin City Limits.(Photo right, Ghostland Observatory / Dave Mead)

The 2009 ACL Music Festival offered standout performances by headliners, Them Crooked Vultures, Kings of Leon, Dave Mathews, and Pearl Jam. As expected, there have been some memorable performances by not-so headliner acts. “One that goes down in history”, is Ben Kweller’s performance in 2006, where he suffered a nose bleed during his set on stage. An audience member threw a tampon on the stage and “he shoved it up his nose to finish the set.” “National treasure, certainly an Austin icon”, Willie Nelson finally performed at the event in 2006, which was a memorable night personally for Lisa Hickey. Hickey grew up listening to Willie Nelson, dancing with her father to his music, and on that night shared a dance moment with her husband.

In 2005, Coldplay released yellow balloons filled with confetti during their performance, creating a “Kodak moment” as they sailed out over the crowd. In 2003, Roseanne cash was unable to make the show when her father Johnny Cash passed away, and scheduled artists pulled together to perform a tribute in her spot.

Small stage graduates, include the Kings of Leon, who have played the festival twice before headlining in 2009 (performances in 2003, 2006). “With 130 bands, there are a lot of not-to-be missed moments”, states Lisa Hickey. (Photo left, Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam / Photo by Dave Mead)

Being an outdoor festival, Mother Nature can put on a show of her own, creating unique challenges and lasting moments. The festival schedule is fashioned around the neighboring University of Texas football home games. They have to focus on weekends when the Longhorns have away games, or bye weeks to schedule the fest; otherwise, they would not have enough hotel rooms to “accommodate” travelers to the event. The Texas heat can play a crucial role in the experience of the event. The ACL Music Fest had been held during September, when temperatures have been known to exceed 100 degrees. Last year was the first time the event was held in October, which is known to be the rainiest month in Austin. True to form, in ’09 they got a lot of rain, a lot of mud, “but it was cool”, and preferred over the sweaty heat.

Texas weather can change, storms affected the ACL Music Festival in ’05 when hurricane Rita was coming up the coast heading towards Austin. It changed directions, taking the moisture in the air with it, driving the thermometer up to a dry, 108 degrees. (Photo above, Girl Talk / Photo by Ashley Garmon)

“The show is rain or shine”, and they have had to postpone sets, never has a set been cancelled due to weather. Tom Petty’s performance was postponed due to a thunder storm, in 2007. The Mayor of Austin was on hand, authorizing an extension to the 10 Pm curfew, allowing Tom Petty to complete his full set. Although the lighting passed, he still performed in the pouring rain, “everyone danced and had a good time.”

It is an extraordinary beginning, from the 2 person production company C3 Presents, where Lisa Hickey was the lone employee. To what the Austin City Limits Music Festival has become today. The Austin City Limits Music Festival has significantly grown in popularity and stature; the tickets are limited, Austin is a great community, and the event is selling out faster than ever, “get tickets as soon as possible.” 




CLICK ON IMAGE FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TICKETS