Finally, the last day of the amazing Austin City Limits festival. This was an incredibly full day, but I only saw four bands instead of the usual 10+. The place was packed for the last day, and we decided rather than go to several different stages, we would just stay by the main stage and try to get as close as we could. It did not disappoint.
First was KT Tunstall at 2:30. Awesome. Played all of her songs off of her CD "Eye to the Telescope" which was great to see live. If you haven't already picked up that CD, do so, it's a great one. She does a couple songs with a loop over her vocals so during the chorus she was harmonizing with herself which was pretty sweet. Her band was great too and they all looked like they were having a lot of fun.
After KT Tunstall ended we began the surge towards the front of the crowd, which basically 
took me until 8:00 (5 1/2 hours) to get to the fourth row for Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. At 4:30 Matisyahu took the stage and blew my mind. I had heard his CD "Youth" only recently before seeing him live and I couldn't believe what I was seeing and hearing. The band was incredibly tight and Matisyahu himself was awesome. Seeing this jewish rabbi with the full get-up, beard and all, dance all over the stage, jumping up on speakers and singing reggae with the best of them was surreal. The music was great and the crowd was really into the whole show. Quite the memorable experience.
After another hour of crowd surging towards the front (I ended up in about row 10) The Flaming Lips came on. Best live show I've seen ever. It was incredible. They had Wonderwoman and Captain America setting up, a huge plastic clear ball that the lead singer got inside and rolled over the crowd in, huge cannons that fired billions of scraps of confetti, streamers, smoke machines, fox tails, strobe lights, fake blood, a group of dancing girls dressed up as aliens, a group of dancing guys & kids dressed up as santas, two huge blowup dancing astronauts, a huge blowup dancing alien, a huge blowup dancing Santa and a dancing guy in a mouse costume. Not to mention the band. Only four people in the band and if you've ever heard their CDs it is hard to believe the music can be performed live. But they completely rocked. It was incredible. If you ever get a chance to see them live DO NOT pass it up.
And then it was another hour (in which I moved probably 20 feet to get to the fourth row) watching all of the stage hands clean up all of the streamers and balloons and confetti on the stage to get it ready for Tom Petty. Tom Petty is one of those bands that I've been listening to since pretty much forever. I grew up with the music of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Stevie Ray Vaugh, BB King, and Led Zepplin to name a few. To be in the fourth row at Austin City Limits with 80,000 screaming fans behind me seeing Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers for the first time - well it was an experience to say the least. It pretty much rocked. The show was great, they're old - and they look it - but they can still rock with the best of them. They played all the old hits: Mary Jane, Free Fallin', Refugee, American Girl as well as a lot of new songs off of the "Highway Companion" album. I thought it was a pretty awesome show and apparently so did Matisyahu and Matthew McConaughey because they were standing in the front VIP/Press section.
And that was Austin. Three days packed full of music and fun. Definitely worth the entire trip, and I will definitely be going back every year from now on.
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