one hundred and eight.

degrees that is. the austin city limits music fest, aka dust fest 05 or the dust bowl, was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. so here's my best effort of a recap from my eyes and ears...

Friday (day one)
my weekend started with lucinda williams. and a good start to the weekend it was. then ck and i caught a bit of thievery corporation whos catchy beats and unique sound drew me in. then we heard the last bit of grupo fantasma, a fun jazz/blues group. then i kicked back and relaxed to the allman brothers set. their familiar classic songs rang true and people of all ages were appreciative. as i was heading towards keane, blues traveler was starting up and john popper was welcoming the crowd. keane put on a great show as the sun was setting. then it was time for the nites closing act, the black crowes. hunger pains got the best of me and ck and so we didn't stay for the entire set but at least were able to participate in the sing-a-long of the ever famous 'she talks to angels.'

Saturday (day two)
the day started with aqualung. this picture here is matt hales, the lead singer of the group. i was really looking forward to hearing them live and they didnt dissapoint. my personal favorite, 'easier to lie' was played and he also played an entertaining tribute to austin. meanwhile, the temperature was rising high and the wind started picking up which normally would have been a good thing...but when that wind is carrying dust...you just get REAL dirty. next on the lineup was the famous buddy guy who JAMMED. nobody does the blues like buddy, thats all i gotta say. then we had intentions of checking out the frames but when that meant a long walk into the dirt wind, we turned around and settled for martin sexton who ended up being really good too. so as it was hitting triple digits, ck and i decided to find some shade. we found a sweet little set up outside the sbc tent that not only offered shade but overhead spray misters. we also made friends with this random guy that gave me some gucci sunglasses he had found...i later lost them so i guess designer shades and me weren't meant to be. we were in perfect ear shot range of the next group - robert randolph and the family band. i had high expectations which were easily met. their show was fun and i even entertained the thought of michael jackson coming on stage when they were playing an instrumental version of 'billie jean.' no, he never appeared but hey, would have been cool right? we caught the last song or two of john butler trio so i cant really give an opinion of how that was. then we settled in for jet. another group i was really looking forward to hearing and of course it was great. the upbeat 'are you gonna be my girl' and 'cold hard b****' were equally balanced by the slower 'move on' and 'come around again.' oasis was the ending act of day two but waiting around for 45 minutes until they came on after jet just wasnt appealing for me and ck. if you could have seen how dirty we were though, you would have totally understood.

sunday (the third and final day)
the day started early with eisley. i love their harmonies and the fact that its a brother/sister/best friend band is pretty neat too. did i also mention that it was A HUNDRED AND EIGHT DEGREES on sunday? yeah, 30 minutes into eisley and my already suburnt face was feeling it. jaclyn and doug came in for the day too which was a lot of fun. i tried to warn them about the heat but i dont think anything could have prepared you for how hot it was that day. after eisley we walked around aimlessly for a bit trying to decide where to go. heard some zykos but werent really feeling it so we kept on walking. we went back to the sbc tent where ck and i had set up shop on saturday which had since become a highly coveted space. we camped out there while rilo kiley played and tried to cool off a bit. then jaclyn and i went to ruthie foster and doug and ck checked out the bravery. oh ruthie. this was one of my favorite shows of the entire weekend by far. she sang her heart out, got the crowd movin, and it was awesome. then we heard the last half of mraz who sang a lot of stuff from his new album but didnt leave out the songs that got him famous like 'the remedy.' after he finished everyone started crowding in for franz ferdinand. we were caught in the mob amongst die hard franz fans and tried to pretend like we were too. once they played the only song i knew, 'take me out,' i was satisfied and braved the mob to leave to hear wilco. i almost didnt go and was just going to stay till coldplay bc it seemed quite impossible to get outta the mob but i did and it ended up being the best thing i ever did. i caught the last half of wilco and enjoyed it a lot more than last year. maybe because i didnt really like wilco last year but have since listened to them more and have grown a liking to them. after wilco i met up with jaclyn who was listening to kermit ruffins and the bbq band back at the gospel and blues stage. this was probably my favorite show of the entire weekend. thats a strong statement too. this group was awesome though...they had so much energy and got the whole crowd dancing...you couldnt listen to them and not wanna dance though. something about this weekend - i became a huge jazz and blues fan - i think i could listen to that for days. after that the shows started coming to a close at various stages and everyone headed to the exact same place to hear the exact same band. coldplay. probably the biggest act to come to acl in its four years and so they knew they had a reputation to hold up. and they did just that. an incredible set mixed with old and new and a tribute to the late johnny cash. they finished the show with current favorite, 'fix you,' and the crowd was pleased. chris martin was exceptionally friendly to hot and tired 60,000+ crowd and made sure to make it a performance to remember. it was a perfect close to a weekend of up and coming groups trying to make it big, and groups that have successfully gotten there and keep on rockin.

so yeah, it was hot. record breaking hot. and it was dusty. dusty enough to make everyone wear bandanas around their faces and make an outsider think that a western movie was being shot at zilker park. but was it worth it? absolutely. every second and every rising degree. i guess thats the sacrifice you make for good music.