ACL Mothership

Austin Muddy Limits

by Lauren Doyle on October 06, 2009 at 07:38AM
© Andrea Barrack / RumBum.com

2009's Austin City Limits will be remembered for one thing: mud. The mud in Zilker park. The mud in our shoes, cars, hotel rooms; the mud below our eyes, the mud in our hair, the mud that seemed to come from nowhere.

On Friday, Austin's Zilker park grew some of the greenest, silkiest grass you've ever put bare feet upon. On Saturday, it rained. (And all of Austin sold out of umbrellas, ponchos and rain boots as festies prepared to bare the brunt of a few Texas-sized storms.) By Sunday, the beautiful grass was gone and in its place came gloppy, soppy, oozy, goozy mud. And in that mud we danced, we laughed, we clapped, we fell. We made mud angels. We got into car accidents. We called tow trucks. We ruined formally pristine hotel towels.

Between all that, there was music. Some of the best music being made right now, in fact. A whole lot of it. And to that music, we danced and sang and made new friends and discovered new favorite bands, and decided that we were lucky to be there, mud or no mud. Below is some of the very best of Austin City Limits 09 seen through the eyes of our writers and through the camera lens. Enjoy!

 

  • © RumBum.com © RumBum.com by Lauren Doyle on October 28, 2009 at 02:04PM

    When we heard that Jypsi, the fashionable quartet from Nashville, were siblings, we raised our eyebrows. Any fights? Any sibling rivalry? Any jealousy? No, no no. While they might not make for good gossip, the foursome ... More »

  • © RumBum.com © RumBum.com by Lauren Doyle on October 23, 2009 at 12:23PM

    At times, State Radio sounds like a grown-up, socially-conscious version of Sublime. But that's the influence of the reggae on their music, not any kind of affinity with the 90s party band. True to the meaning of reggae, ... More »

  • © Andrea Barrack / RumBum.com by Andrea Barrack on October 12, 2009 at 10:41AM

    If you’re like me, the typical post-music festival ritual is to 1) shower, 2) plop down in your comfiest spot (preferably with your feet up), and 3) delve into your music downloading tool of choice and seek the ... More »

  • © Candice Adams / RumBum.com by Candice Adams on October 11, 2009 at 10:18AM

    For a band that supposedly had its heyday in the 90’s and has been mired in legal and label disputes ever since, Pearl Jam did not miss a beat on Sunday night as the headlining and final act of Austin City Limits. The ... More »

  • © Steve Hopson / RumBum.com by Andrea Barrack on October 11, 2009 at 10:00AM

    Oh, the drama! The rapture! The masterpiece! Swooning were the masses at the LiveStrong stage at ACL on Sunday evening. The hour was 6:00 o’clock. The sun crept below the trees confining the ... More »

  • © Steve Hopson / RumBum.com by Andrea Barrack on October 11, 2009 at 04:21AM

    Stalwart fans endured a test of will by sticking around for Dan Auerbach's set at 7:15pm on Sunday night.  Muddy and gross, the ACL's Austin Ventures stage was not a welcome nest for his eager listeners, but Auerbach ... More »

  • © RumBum.com © RumBum.com by Lauren Doyle on October 10, 2009 at 01:40PM

    L.A.X. is a bit hard to pin down, genre-wise. There is definitely an electro/house element but also a pop element, and definitely an R&B element to their music. Credit this to the band's three singers ... More »

  • © Steve Hopson / RumBum.com by Candice Adams on October 10, 2009 at 12:53PM

    Anyone not standing at the Austin Ventures stage waiting for State Radio or passing by at exactly the right moment probably missed Brett Dennen's set at Austin City Limits on Sunday. Dennen, who will be appearing on Dave ... More »

  • © Steve Hopson / RumBum.com by Candice Adams on October 10, 2009 at 10:07AM

    What does a man with Wednesday Adams’ pigtails, a cowboy hat, aviator glasses, and a leather jacket with fringe have in common with a man in a cape trimmed with Christmas lights and a glowing Celtic cross on the back? I ... More »

  • © Steve Hopson / RumBum.com by Andrea Barrack on October 10, 2009 at 09:17AM

    Around 4:00pm on ACL's muddy Sunday, the Arctic Monkeys took the AMD stage though a cloud of artificial smoke (and some of the real stuff rose from the crowd). Tens of thousands waded their way across the oozing park floor to ... More »

  • © RumBum.com © RumBum.com by Lauren Doyle on October 10, 2009 at 07:55AM

    Here We Go Magic just may be the best band that you don't know. The quartet from Brooklyn, NY makes funkadelic lounge music with a rich, textured, sound that seems to go with just about anything. Their style is ... More »

  • © RumBum.com © RumBum.com by Lauren Doyle on October 10, 2009 at 03:47AM

    Credit White Lies for bringing back dark indie-pop music and the keytar. (Well, dark indie pop never went anywhere, but the keytar...that's just bold.) The London-based band plays music reminiscent of The Cure (or, perhaps ... More »

  • © RumBum.com © RumBum.com by Lauren Doyle on October 10, 2009 at 03:08AM
    When we met Ben Sollee at Sunday morning at ACL, he had just arrived in Austin after driving all night from Lexington, Kentucky. To keep himself awake all night as he drove through the deep, deep south, he sang. More »
  • © Andrea Barrack / RumBum.com by Andrea Barrack on October 09, 2009 at 08:46PM

    Though legendary Dave Matthews and his Band are festival mainstays, whenever they hit one of those massive outdoor arenas they are giving thousands the experience of a lifetime. "Dave! Dave! Dave!" they chanted at the ... More »

  • © RumBum.com © RumBum.com by Lauren Doyle on October 09, 2009 at 07:40PM

    The crowds were huge at Austin City Limits – bigger than at any festival we've been to this summer. At one point, on Saturday, the rainiest, most uncomfortable day of the fest, thousands crowded the main stage under ... More »

  • © RumBum.com © RumBum.com by Lauren Doyle on October 09, 2009 at 07:20PM

    The radio loves pop-sensible rock; it’s no wonder then that the radio loves Mute Math, the photogenic rock band out of New Orleans. The foursome has been “rockin’ it up the charts” ever since their ... More »

  • © RumBum.com © RumBum.com by Lauren Doyle on October 09, 2009 at 06:01PM

    The Henry Clay People is a high-energy rock band from LA. And the fact that they're from LA usually raises some eyebrows. This is, in part, because of their no-nonsense, no-pretense live shows; it's also because of the sheer ... More »

  • © RumBum.com © RumBum.com by Lauren Doyle on October 09, 2009 at 05:35PM

    Most poets can't sing. Though most do try, while cleaning their houses, or driving their cars or scrubbing their bodies in their impossibly small showers. Just like the rest of us, they try to sing. They test it out. After a ... More »

  • © RumBum.com © RumBum.com by Lauren Doyle on October 09, 2009 at 03:33PM

    Cotton Jones makes beautiful and dreamy music reminiscent of the blissed-out sixties (or any blissed-out time, really). But Cotton Jones is rooted in the 60s. Formally of the Baltimore-based band, Page France, Cotton Jones' ... More »

  • © RumBum.com © RumBum.com by Lauren Doyle on October 09, 2009 at 10:37AM

    The Airborne Toxic Event has had a really big year. In August of 2008, their self-titled album was released; in March, they were signed to a major label, Island Def Jam, and in April, their album broke #1 on Billboard's ... More »

  • © RumBum.com © RumBum.com by Lauren Doyle on October 09, 2009 at 10:01AM

    Brett Dennen might be a dead-ringer for Ziggy Stardust, but he's the just about antithesis of a glam rocker as anyone could be. And he's pretty proud of that. One of the most down-to-earn "rock stars" we've ever met, ... More »

  • © RumBum.com © RumBum.com by Lauren Doyle on October 09, 2009 at 09:17AM

    You might imagine a band with the name And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead to be pretty hardcore. But Trail of Dead is actually kind of theatric; they are also hugely symphonic and pretty fun to listen to. Make no ... More »

  • © RumBum.com © RumBum.com by Lauren Doyle on October 09, 2009 at 08:53AM

    Bell X1 frontman Paul Noonan often gets compared to Talking Heads' frontman David Byrne for his on-stage penache. (Both Noonan and Byrne have a cute little dance they do while singing into their respective microphones ... More »

  • © Jay West / RumBum.com by Candice Adams on October 09, 2009 at 06:18AM

    Day two of Austin City Limits, marked by nearly continuous rain, had left only the faithful at Zilker Park. The crowds didn't necessarily demand more, but a lackluster performance was far less forgivable to people soaked from ... More »

  • © RumBum.com © RumBum.com by Lauren Doyle on October 08, 2009 at 05:11PM

    There's just something great about the rock music coming out of the south as of late. It seems to know a little more about life than most. Or maybe it's just more honest. Whatever it is, the Dexateens have got it ... More »

  • © Rum Bum.com © Rum Bum.com by Lauren Doyle on October 08, 2009 at 05:03PM

    Listening to their music, you'd never know Los Amigos Invisibles formed in 1991. They sound so much like the very best in disco funk fusion that you'd think they formed more than a decade earlier. But it's the benefit of ... More »

  • © RumBum.com © RumBum.com by Lauren Doyle on October 08, 2009 at 03:03PM
    After their interview with Rum Bum, Nelo's hunky singer Reid Umstattd stuck around to chat with Danielle. So, we made it official, kept our cameras rolling and turned it into an "interview." Because, you know, why not? More »
  • © RumBum.com © RumBum.com by Lauren Doyle on October 08, 2009 at 01:42PM
    What do you get when you combine childhood friends, a southern rock sensibility and loads of chemistry? Really good music, that's what. More »
  • © Andrea Barrack / RumBum.com by Andrea Barrack on October 08, 2009 at 10:06AM

    Chicken wings go great with Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears. And how better to enjoy Flogging Molly than with a frosty brew? With lots of hits and only a few misses, Austin Eats showcased fare for famished festival folks ... More »

  • © RumBum.com © RumBum.com by Lauren Doyle on October 08, 2009 at 09:59AM

    There is just something about a well written country song that climbs into your psyche and won't let go. It's in part due to the images the song conjures (a man in a car, say, with the windows down and the road stretching out ... More »

  • © RumBum.com © RumBum.com by Lauren Doyle on October 08, 2009 at 09:45AM

    When Danielle says Sara Watkins plays perfect rainy day music, she's not kidding. Watkins blends her perfect harmonies with the sweet sound of her violin, ukulele and guitar (though not all at the same time). The music ... More »

  • © Jay West / RumBum.com by Candice Adams on October 08, 2009 at 07:20AM

    The only things missing from the AMD stage on Friday night of Austin City Limits were candlelight, a wood-burning fire, wine, and a bear skin rug. John Legend provided everything else needed to create an intimate evening for ... More »

  • © Lauren Doyle / RumBum.com © Lauren Doyle / RumBum.com by Lauren Doyle on October 07, 2009 at 01:39PM
    The Low Anthem makes heartbreakingly beautiful music. If there wasn't more space to fill, I'd leave it at that. But because one man's heartbreakingly beautiful is another man's Slayer, I'll continue... More »
  • © Steve Hopson / RumBum.com by Andrea Barrack on October 07, 2009 at 05:34AM

    ACL-goers got cozy Friday night at the Dell stage, and not just because the packed in crowd had no choice but to snuggle shoulder to shoulder. Even before he emerged from the wings in his smart button down and distinguished ... More »

  • © Lauren Doyle / RumBum.com © Lauren Doyle / RumBum.com by Lauren Doyle on October 07, 2009 at 04:34AM
    The Parlor Mob loves to play live. So much so that they anticipate their live shows the way children do Christmas morning, eagerly anticipating the songs the songs they're set to play. More »
  • © Andrea Barrack / RumBum.com by Candice Adams on October 06, 2009 at 09:54AM

    Rock n' roll is a staple for most large musical festivals. For a country music festival, travel to Chicago or Porterfield, Wisconsin. Want bluegrass? Best go to Tennessee or Georgia. Aside from the Gospel Music Festival in ... More »

  • © Andrea Barrack / RumBum.com by Andrea Barrack on October 05, 2009 at 11:51AM

    Sunday meant a ridiculously soppy Day #3 in Austin, but that didn’t dampen the steadfast ACL spirit.  An overly-reported news peg circling the fest this year was The Rain.  No one was quite sure what to expect ... More »

  • © Tobias Franoszek / RumBum.com by Candice Adams on October 04, 2009 at 09:18AM

    Dealing with whatever weather conditions Mother Nature throws at you is part of what differentiates festival concerts from other kinds of shows. So the fact that most of the sets on Day Two of the Austin City Limits festival ... More »

  • © Candice Adams / RumBum.com by Candice Adams on October 03, 2009 at 09:54AM

    As I walked toward Zilker Park for the 35th Austin City Limits festival, passing people setting up temporary shop on the sidewalk with t-shirts, glass pipes (for tobacco use only), and bottled water, I saw a sidewalk vendor ... More »

  • © Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears by Candice Adams on October 02, 2009 at 03:24AM

    Drive down Airport Blvd. in East Austin and there's an unassuming restaurant called Quality Seafood Market that, up until three months ago, employed Joe Lewis as an oyster shucker. Now a full-time musician, Joe Lewis, front ... More »

Rumbum-backPrevious Article Next ArticleRumbum-next
Anonymous

Please Sign Up, or Login above to comment on this post.

Cancel Reply

Ajax-loader

Quick Submit: Ajax-loader

We value your privacy and only require a valid email to post a comment.

Login with Facebook: 

Forgotten Password

Comments
Anonymous_rumbum
Reply
J J @
08:43PM on October 08, 2009
Great pictures and writing. Thank you Rumbum for bringing this summer's music fests to the world..

Columns

Ken Bingenheimer’s
The Bike Life
Melanie Neale’s
Boat Makes Three
Adam Sievering's
Wingin it in Costa Rica
Patricia Poulin's
Dirtbagger Diaries
Advertisement

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Subscribe

Subscribe to the Rum Bum Newsletter