Austin, TX

With just 48 hours to go until the opening of the 2009 ACL Fest, I’m sure the crowds have already begun arriving. Last year I wrote a fairly comprehensive Survival Guide but here is some useful information.

Wristbands:

As of today, the Zilker box office is OPEN. You can beat the crowds and redeem your 3-day passes for a wristband between now and Thursday between 3pm-8pm. Wristbands must be worn for entry into the park. Children 10 and under are free when accompanied by a ticket-holding adult. Having your wristbands means you can slip into the wristband-only lines and cut down significantly on your wait. If you are unable to get your wristband early then you can redeem your tickets for a wristband at either entrance.

Zilker Box Office
2201 Barton Springs Rd
Austin, TX 78746

On Barton Springs Road, across from the Festival entrance.
Week-of Hours: Mon. 9/22 - Thurs, 9/25, 3pm-8pm
Show Days: Fri, 9/26 - Sun, 9/28, 10am-10pm

Transportation & Parking

I must stress to you that there is NO on-site parking. There are lots of bike racks so biking in is a great option. Otherwise you’ll definitely want to use the Shuttle. The Shuttle is FREE and you can catch it at Republic Park. Republic Park is located at 5th and Guadalupe. That, of course, means you need to find somewhere downtown to park your car. I had a great deal of luck parking across the street from Republic Park last year at the State Garage. Another Fri-Sat city office parking garage that works great is the one at South First & Barton Springs Rd. Park there and you can just walk to the festival. Those won’t work too well for Friday as people who work will be parked there but on Saturday and Sunday it’s open and ran me $5 a day. Extremely reasonable. Cap Metro will be picking up at various locations around town and you can visit their website for information on their routes. Here is a list of Downtown Austin parking garages. Parking will generally run you $5-10 a day. You also have the option of taking a cab or if you have a relative or friend who has pity on you then you might beg them to just drop you off. Click here to see the Cap Metro bus schedule.

Things you CAN take into the Fest:

You may bring in the following items:

• Blankets
• Umbrellas (small hand-held style)
• Soft-sided coolers
• Baby Strollers
• Portable/collapsible chair (individual units only; no “double-wide” connecting chairs)
• Regular-size/unframed backpacks
• Two factory sealed water bottles up to 1 liter each
• Empty Camelbak or other empty plastic container (ie, Nalgene bottle)
• Ice in soft-sided cooler or Camelbak. No large bags allowed.
• Binoculars
• Personal camera equipment (i.e. small digital cameras or point-and-click 35mm cameras). Cameras with any type of detachable lenses are prohibited.

Things you may NOT take into the Fest:

• Weapons of any kind
• Illegal substances (including narcotics) or drug paraphernalia (Um, yeah…)
• Framed or large backpacks
• Alcohol (alcohol will be sold at the Festival)
• Glass containers
• Food or beverages, except for factory-sealed water bottles
• Skateboards, scooters, or personal motorized vehicles
• Bicycles inside Festival grounds (bike racks are available near each entrance)
• Carts
• Large chains or spiked jewelry
• Fireworks
• Explosives
• Large umbrellas
• Non-collapsible chairs
• Hard-sided coolers
• Tents
• Pets (except service dogs)
• Video equipment: No video recording will be allowed.
• Professional still camera equipment (no detachable lenses, no tripods, big zooms, or commercial use rigs)
• Audio recording equipment
• No illegal vending is permitted. No unauthorized/unlicensed vendors allowed.
• Unauthorized solicitations, handbills, sampling, give-aways, etc
• Metal aerosol containers, including sunscreen

For some more in-depth information check out my previous guides:

Part 1 - What to Wear
Part 2 - What to Take
Part 3 - Getting There
Part 4 - A Quick Summary

Here is a look ahead at the weather:

I had the opportunity to see Nine Inch Nails in Dallas last night at the American Airlines Center. This was the second time I’ve seen a concert at this venue and I quite like it. According the Dallas newspaper there were over 7000 people in attendance and I have to say that the place didn’t feel the least bit crowded. The concert started at 7:30 and we got there at about 6:45. We were smart and purchased platinum tickets with platinum parking. It cost an additional $20 for the parking but it’s so nice to pull in, park and just walk across the street to the venue. You also exit faster.

Photo by CapitalM on Flickr

The last time I was at the American Airlines Center I was there to see Tool. It was a great concert but I learned that being 4′11 is not conducive to seeing a show where everyone stands. I got smart this time and phoned in my reservations. I asked for seats in the front row right up against the glass so that no one could stand in front of me. We were on the second floor with a magnificent view!

We stood in line for t-shirts. The line was unorganized and annoying but we got there in the end and took home great t-shirts. They would do well to get some theater style roping to make the line wind around instead of the haphazard mess that it was.

Because the show fell right at dinner time, we ended up eating there. Don’t make this mistake, they will rob you blind. For chicken tenders, one order of fries, one hot dog and two regular drinks, we paid $22. Ouch. So, be smart and eat before arriving!

All that aside, the concert itself was fantastic. Trent Reznor puts on one hell of a show. They had these curtains that were see-through that hung down around the band that were made up of LED monitors. This allowed them to project an amazing array of images surrounding the band. The images ranged from a desert with clouds moving overhead to rain falling all around the band. There were times when it appeared as if the band were erasing the rain, or turning squares from red to white and back again. The light show was visually stunning. The sound every bit as wonderful as you’d expect from Mr. Reznor.

Photo by Capital Mon Flickr

If you have the opportunity to see this band, do it!

Austin has had a wet summer. A very wet summer. With the rain came the crickets. Lots of crickets. So many crickets that I had to play dodge, jumping around them as they crunched under the wheels of my tote as I left my upholstery class. They would fly up ramming into your legs in the dark passageways between the buildings. Normally I don’t mind crickets. Not when there are one or two of them, anyway, but when you have so many of them that they leave a crushed pathway of dead bodies in the entryway to shops, then you’ve hit my tolerance level. Ick.

Brightly lit buildings are apparently attractive to crickets. With that in mind, the University of Texas has made the decision to go dark. Starting Friday, August 3rd, the UT Tower will be lights out for two days until August 5th. UT Officials assure us that this is only a temporary measure to help control the cricket population and clean up the current mess. I’m sure that UT students are also tired of dodging crickets. Lets hope it helps!

crickets, Austin, UT Tower

Last week I spoke about the upcoming National Poetry Slam. This week I’d like to tell you about a local band, the Asylum Street Spankers. How are these two things related?

The Asylum Street Spankers began in 1994 with the serendipitous meeting of Christina Marrs, Guy Forsyth and Wammo. Wammo is well known in the Austin slam poetry scene. He ought to be, he practically started the revolution! What happened when these three talented people got together? Music, baby!

Amazingly, Christina Marrs played no instruments when the band first started. She now plays five. Five! Not only that, but she writes songs, acts as the bands musical director and produces their shows. Can you say overachiever? Christina’s got it going on! The band is chock-a-block with talented musicians. Their instruments range from guitars to ukuleles to washboards and more.

Part soulful, part parody, part sexy, part controversial their music ranges from swing to blues to uproarious songs about beer and boogers. Whatever they’re singing it’s bound to be unexpected and delightful. It’s no wonder that one of my friends refers to them as “God’s favorite band”.

Here is a little sample of them at their finest (warning, may not be appropriate for work/children):