@ Austin City Limits (ACL) 2006

If there's one thing for which I would say 'Been there, Done that' about Austin, that is ACL most definitely. I've never had the opportunity in my life so far to see 130 bands play at 7 different stages for 3 consecutive days! I've seen a lot of live music in the likes of Bryan Adams, etc. back in India, but those were all one band-one stage-one evening type of concerts. My experience at ACL last year went far beyond description.
Click to enlarge any of these photos for a closer view...

Some of my favorites at ACL 2006 (not in order of preference)

Haan..here's rest of the gang too...

DAY-1

Cloudy huh? Not a soul moved even when it rained....

1. John Mayer (man, he was so amazing)

2. Van Morrison (although he was performing in parallel with John Mayer at a different stage, I must admit both the stages were filled with its own followers)

3. Los Lonely Boys (Always wish I could hear more of them)






DAY-2

That's Amy and me...guess that's the start of the second day...

1. Nada Surf
2. The Secret Machines (these were the ones that started my day there)
3. String Cheese Incident
4. The Raconteurs
5. Massive Attack (and what a way to end the day! Phew!)


DAY-3 (favorite day for me, and for most I would guess)

1. Matt Costa (I thought he was pleasant)
2. The New Pornographers (How many rock bands have a female lead? I don't know the answer but this one does, and they were awesome together! Metal mania!)
3. Damian Marley (missed some reggae?)
4. Matisyahu (This guy has his own charm when it comes to live performances)
5. Jack Ingram
6. Ween (I missed these guys, as they were in parallel with Matisyahu, but Charles said they were pretty cool that day)


Yeah, Dustin and I are kind of getting tired, but Charles looks all excited still, as we wait for the last two bands of the festival!! And they are.....




7. The Flaming Lips (The BEST on-stage performance I've ever seen, at ACL 2006 and ever - They know live performance, and got the crowd involved so much. Everyone just loved 'em.)



Click to enlarge - when you see a colorful stage as this, you don't have to go too far to guess who that is, it has to be the Flaming Lips!









8. Tom Petty (you bet! - What a conclusion he gave to the whole festival on a rainy Sunday! - He played all my favorites including Mary Jane, Refugee and Life is a Highway ofcourse... And he goes down as my favorite at ACL 2006. He didn't have to try too many things as the Flaming Lips, it's just his vocal chord and guitar, that's enuf!) - Here's the big guy himself -


Exciting, right? Don't miss it if you're here at Austin during September, 2007.