Austin City Limits 2009

This year was really muddy...

But still fun!

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Frank Erwin Center

The Frank Erwin Center is a huge space for all kinds of events. We went for the NIN/Jane's Addiction concert, and it was great. We got seats up in the balcony and it was great to look down over the crowd. Check their website for all upcoming events and ticket information.

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Blues on the Green

Every summer, you can enjoy a free blues concert every other Wednesday from Blues on the Green. This summer the concerts are in Waterloo Park, next summer they'll be at Zilker. Bring your chairs and something to drink, these concerts are a lot of fun!

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Urban Music Festival

This year the Urban Music Festival was on April 4th at Auditorium Shores. Honestly, I don't know how many years this festival has been going on.. all I know is it had a pretty amazing lineup with several blasts from the past. The Sugar Hill Gang, Boyz II Men and Cameo headlined. Check the website next spring to find out when the next festival will be and the lineup.

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SXSW

I'm sure you all already know about SXSW.. it's kind of hard to miss. Either you dived in and enjoyed all of the live music, or you got the heck out of town to avoid the massive hordes of people that descend upon Austin during this week. There are wristbands for sale every year for local Austinites to purchase, there are also many free shows going on for those of us who don't want to spend any money. Red Gorilla is one example of a free series of shows that goes on during SXSW.

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Fun Fun Fun Fest

Don't miss the annual Fun Fun Fun Festival this weekend. I don't think we'll make it, my parents will be in town and it's not exactly a parent type of activity! This music festival is from Nov. 8-9 and includes various indie rock, punk/hardcore, and hip hop/dj music on three stages.

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Austin City Limits 2008

Yay! Another year, another festival! I can't believe we've been in Austin now for over a year. But here we are at our second ACL festival. This festival had boring headliners this year (Foo Fighers, Beck) compared to last year (Bob Dylan), although I guess it's unfair to compare anyone to Bob Dylan.

Austin City Limits is 3 days of live concerts on multiple stages in Zilker Park.

Note for 2009: press refresh on the ACL website constantly, starting in April, to get the cheap early bird tickets.

Manu Chao playing, with the city in the background:
The Raconteurs playing at sunset:
Some other highlights were David Byrne, the Black Keys, Beck, Foo Fighters, Allison Kraus & Robert Plant, Tegan & Sara, Gnarles Barkley, G. Love and Special Sauce, Blues Traveler, Erykah Badu, and Neko Case.

Don't come to the festival if you're agoraphobic!

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Stubb's

Stubb's BBQ is more than just a BBQ restaurant. First of all, they were recently rated best rock club in America by Rolling Stone magazine. They've got a ginormous outdoor area that serves as a live music venue. The last thing you expect in the middle of downtown Austin is a huge open outdoor space that fits a crowd of 2000+, but that's what you've got at Stubb's. Tons of different bands play here all year round, so keep an eye on their live music schedule.
We were at Stubb's to see Ani Difranco. Hey, I used to like her a lot in high school, ok? Ryan came along for fun and for the beer. Little bar/beer stall things line each side of the outdoor venue.

The stage:

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Pecan Street Festival

The Pecan Street Festival is a huge yearly festival held every year on 6th street (cause 6th street used to be named Pecan Street). There are dozens upon dozens of booths-- crafts, artwork, food... you name it, there's a booth for it. There's also a lot of live music at the festival, and it's free!

Sorry for the glum photos, it was getting dark by the time we arrived.
Tommy Tutone!! Yeah- we had no idea that was the name of the band that sings the 80's megahit "Jenny"(867-5309). We definitely stood there through over an hour of Tommy Tutone's new music just so we could hear them perform Jenny.

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Batfest

Batfest is a yearly summer festival. In past years, it's been on Congress bridge, but this year it was on the 1st street bridge a few blocks away. Batfest has lots of live music, shops, art, food, and drinks, as well as some activities for kids. The festival lasts all day Saturday and Sunday, and admission is $5. FYI- if you want to actually see the bats, you have to go to Congress bridge, not 1st.

One of the stages:

View of some downtown buildings from the bridge:
Kids stuff:
Petting zoo:
Small kangaroo in the petting zoo (WTF?):
Second music stage:
Some of the shops:

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Concert in the Park 2008

This summer, the free Sunday evening concerts relocated to the grassy area in front of the performing arts center. The new location is great, the music carries well and the center really provides a nice backdrop.

The sun setting to our right:
Some little kids dancing at the front:

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Beauty and the Beast in the park 2008

The Zilker Park theatre hosts a free performance every summer, with performances every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday night. This summer was Beauty and the Beast, the musical. It was quite entertaining. We went on a Sunday and it was packed- so don't get there too late (the performance starts at the beginning of sunset) and bring your own chairs/blankets as well as something to snack on.

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Long Center for the Performing Arts

We checked out Austin's brand new performing arts center during "free concert weekend." We saw some really nice classical music performances. The bad news is I don't know if they're going to have any more free weekends, the good news is you can see plenty of music or theater performances here if you're willing to fork over a little cash. If you still want to see a performance for free, the summertime free concerts in the park have been relocated to the park area in front of the center, on Sunday evenings.

View of Austin from inside the center.
Outdoor performance area in front.

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Austin City Limits 2007

Austin is known for having tons of music festivals. Even when a festival isn't a "music" festival, there is still most likely live music throughout the festival. For example, the yearly Austin wine festival, or the ice cream festival. Sometimes I think all these dozens of festivals are just excuses for people to get together and listen to live music. Not that I'm complaining!

Anyway, ACL is great because it's 3 days long, features tons of great bands, and is a lot cheaper than the 5 day South by Southwest music festival. For a 3-day pass, tickets are only $135 or $150 if you manage to buy early. Regular price is $170.

The guitars you see below are usually placed strategically all over Austin. For the festival, they bring them all together at the park.

Map of the stages near the entrance:

So many people. In the distance you can see tents, some have merchandise for sale and others have food and drinks.

A couple of the stages.

Bob Dylan, the last performance of the festival. He was pretty amazing to see live, although very old and raspy. Yes I know he's always been raspy. He was especially raspy.

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Concert in the Park 2007

The Austin Symphony hosts a series of free outdoor concerts every summer, on Sunday evenings. In 2007 the concerts were held at Wooldridge Park, for 2008 they've moved to the park in front of the new performing arts center. Each Sunday is a different performance, mostly classical music.

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