Worried about straying from your posse at ACL? Don’t be, just designate one of you to strap on a flag or….and your group will always have a meet up point. I have yet to figured out how exactly the designated “flagger” uses the spiffy biff….Some festival goers just want to set up camp for the day. ACL is the place to do it, as they allow collapsible chairs. In fact, they designate a section for chair folks, and even a “chair check” if you wish to mingle among the masses unencumbered for a particular performance. You may have noticed these folks are bandannaed up. By day three of the event, a whole lot of concert goers take preventative measures against a condition referred to by Austinites as “Zilker Lung”. The park becomes so dry and dusty your chest can ache. I didn’t suffer from it thankfully, but my snot did look like a chimney sweeps for two days after the festival ended. I would have braved far worse the Zilker Lung however for the Kills, who were just as kick ass as they could possibly be. I also took in fine performances by Stars, Gnarles Barkley and Nicole Atkins and the Sea. But far and away, my favorite performance of the entire festival, was by Band of Horses. From the second Bridwell and crew hit the stage, an electric buzz filled the air as thick the dust it was almost impossible to photograph through. By visual estimation, their crowd was larger than that of headliners Foo Fighters, and Ben commented often through out the show on the virtual sea of thousands who flocked to sing along with ‘The Funeral’s’ “oooooooh ooooooh ooooooohs” . The crowd was so deep in sing along mode I lost track of the number of times it gave me spine tingles. Dust bowls and sunburns aside, I can’t encourage you enough to come down next year and check out the Austin City Limits festival. Austin is a party town, just ask these ladies, who refer to themselves as the “party bunnies”, and even more so during an event like this, the good times abound. Think more laid back, but just as fun as SXSW. If you’re a fan of warm weather, BBQ, mmmmmm BBQ,or have ever bemoaned a Bumbershoot rain out, ACL may be just the event for you!