Austin City Limits Music Festival 2007 (Day 2)

Day two was also a pleasant day for Austin at that time of year. Sure, hot in the sun in the low 90s, but fairly dry. The two matching Red Sox umbrellas we got free at a game a few years ago, while arguably dorky-looking, came in very handy, since there isn't a lot of shady ground at the festival.

Before the festival, we went to lunch with Rachel's father and stepmother at Habañero. Habañero is a delicious, small, no frills Mexican restaurant south of the river. We got there early but still had to wait a few minutes for a table. Never good in a place that smells so tempting. Three of us ended up eating chicken enchiladas verdes. Mine was muy delicioso.


Photo by Ha Lam for AA-S
Habañero Mexican Cafe

We got to the festival a bit later than usual. Saturday was a light day on the schedule, especially after the cancellation of the White Stripes due to Meg's reported bout of anxiety that many in the press attributed to having to play opposite the Arcade Fire. The first band we saw was Cold War Kids. I hadn't heard much by them, but I thought the California band was good live. The singer could sing, even if he did cop Jeff Buckley perhaps a bit too much.




Cold War Kids (top). Flag during set (bottom).

Next we saw Stephen Marley. I think we applied the "every reggae show is fun by default" rule. He was pertty good (sense a theme here?). The crowd showed little creativity by cheering pretty much only during his versions of his dad's songs. Still, a change from the standard alt-rock that ACL really leans toward nowadays was certainly worth it.



Stephen Marley's flag waver (the same guy waved the flag at Damian Marley's ACL set last year).

It was getting hot, so we were happy to go sit in the shade on the far side of the one stage with a big tent. BeauSoleil played to a noticeably grayer crowd. Again, a nice change of pace. Next we shot over to see Arctic Monkeys. They drew a huge, rowdy crowd, but we could still get up close on the left side of the stage. The sound was pretty bad over there though. The price you pay if you don't stay in the middle of the crowd at the big stage shows (and then everyone around you is talking to eachother).



That's a shot of the crowd at Arctic Monkeys.

After that, despite Arcade Fire taking the stage (opposite Muse), we headed for the showers and a meal.