ACL!

OK, so I’m sitting here in the Atlanta airport, and I have an hour before my plane boards. So the good news is that I made it on time. The bad news is . . . it’s the Atlanta airport. So I’m going to try to find some way to pass the time. And how better to pass the time than to talk about this weekend. And what’s going on this weekend? OK . . . enough drama. I’m ending it. This weekend is Austin City Limits Music Festival, and I am going. I’m only going Friday and Saturday, but I am very excited about the 12 bands that I will be seeing.

You see, live music is kind of cathartic for me. I would rather go to a concert than a football game. Of course, if you saw the Dolphins play this past Monday, you probably thinks that has a whole lot to do with it. Well, it doesn’t. I would rather go see a good live show than any sporting event I can think of. I like music and I am very excited to see these bands this weekend, some more than others. I’m actually going to rank the bands from 1-12 (in order of my excitedness), because I also like ranking stuff. But I am going to start by going back through some of the bands I’ve seen and ranking the top ten live songs I have seen. These are going to be according to me, but you’re welcome to comment and let me know what you like. You see, when you’re at a concert, there’s always one song that blows you away. I have a lot to do in the next hour, so I had better get started.

First, the top ten live songs I have seen (according to me):
10. Father of Mine - Everclear (Memphis)
9. Sincerely, Me - Better Than Ezra (Somewhere in Mississippi)
8. Beautiful Day - U2 (Houston)
7. Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa - Vampire Weekend (ACL)
6. Aurora - Foo Fighters (ACL)
5. Everlong - Foo Fighters (Pensacola)
4. Sweetness - Jimmy Eat World (Pensacola)
3. Starlight - Muse (Houston)
2. When You Were Young - The Killers (Miami)
1. It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) - REM (St. Louis)

So there you go. Those are some great songs, made even better by seeing them live. I’ve said it before and I will say it again -- there’s nothing better than live music. You can’t see the passion on a record. Anyway, it’s great. I can’t wait for this weekend. Here are the bands in the order that I want to see them. Gosh, I just really feel like making lists today.

12. Phish - Don’t know one song. But it is Phish.
11. LCD Soundsystem - Just started listening to them, and I think they’re breaking up. Great timing.
10. Manchester Orchestra - Just started listening. I think I will like them more after seeing them live.
9. Broken Bells - Love the album. We’ll see how they are live.
8. Hockey - Originally one of the two bands I was most excited about seeing.
7. Temper Trap - The other one.
6. Vampire Weekend - They’d be higher if I hadn’t seen them already.
5. Miike Snow - Just started listening to them a few months ago.
4. Silversun Pickups - Already seen them. They’ve quickly become one of my top ten favorite bands.
3. The Gaslight Anthem - I hear they are amazing live.
2. Muse - This will be my third time to see them, and they bring it. Never gets old.
1. Spoon - I know. I’m surprised too. But when I didn’t think I was going to get to go, I immediately thought about not getting to see Spoon. I’ve never seen them. But that will change this weekend.

So I guess that’s it. I’m on the airplane right now and I’m landing in Houston in about 45 minutes. This is going to be a great weekend. I’m going to make sure to take a chair this year.