Kristen’s Playlist

Willie Nelson takes it on the road…

As excited as I was to see Willie Nelson in concert for the first time, I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed as he started to plow through his songs.  As soon as he strolled on stage, he launched into Whiskey River and then onto the next hit. He barely stopped to say hi to the audience but did a great job introducing the whole band, which included his sister (who has an eerie resemblance to Cousin It from Adam’s family: think long hair without a face) and two sons.  Ok, so now I felt like I knew the band a little. I knew that Nelsons liked long hair and booze. Sure, maybe now I’ll get into this show. The sun had set and a breeze was coming through the Hollywood Bowl.  Everyone was drinking their wine and beer, cheering Willie on who was busy with another hit quickly recounted. Within 45min his set was over, and he was off the stage. Hum. Did he ever finish singing Crazy or am I just crazy?  Maybe he doesn’t like LA?  Flash forward a week later, I’m in Texas at Austin’s greatest music festival.  Enter Willie waltzing on stage to greet his adoring fans who sat through the heat just to watch him under the stars.  I turned to Tommy and say, “Just watch, this will be great! He’ll come alive for the Texans!” 

Whiskey river take me home! Whiskey for my men and beer for my horses with Georgia on my mind…I’m crazy for loving you…but I’m on the road again. Exit Willie. WTF.

John Mayer: The Man

I mean, don’t his eyes say it all? Tommy was a little bummed that I made him stay for John over Van Morrison, who was playing at the other end of the park. But honesty, once John starts jamming on his guitar, you forget that chicks dig him and you just fall into his world.

He played some songs off his new album, which I haven’t downloaded yet. But he also played some goodies like Heavier Things, Georgia, Daughters, No Such Thing…sigh. He is so dreamy. I just love listening to him.

He also loves to chat with the crowd…he said he loves Texas because we say F*ck you to Summer, we decide when its really over. Aint’ it the truth. I think at 9:45pm when we left Zilker Park it might have cooled off to 80.

We disappeared into the sea of people leaving the park and flooded the streets. We stopped off at Shadey Grove for a drink (or three) and nachos. Fortunately, they had a patch of lawn in front of the ranch style patio area filled with festival goers and they let us eat out there in our folding chairs. Isn’t Austin great?

Texican Style

Tommy and I decided to find seats closer to the stage for Los Lonely Boys since we’d stay there to see John Mayer.  I’m glad we did because we had a great view!  People started to rally as they came on stage. I think it was also that the clouds started to hide the setting sun and we got some needed relief fromt he 90 degree weather.

The brothers played some tunes from their new album, Sacred, which you know I love! They played Roses, my new favorite song but they played some oldies too like How Far Is Heaven.  A little boy in front us sang along to that song, and I think he kind of stole the show for a minute.

Before they finished their set, the guitarists jammed a while playing their instruments on the floor and behind their heads like the metal bands fromthe 80s. Pretty funny. But they sounded awesome. Their father came out and sang Outlaws with the band and they brought out some horns too. LLB rocked it Texican style but that was only band #2…I was eagerly awaiting John Mayer.

Live from Austin

I made it to Austin for my second Austin City Limits, aka ACL.  This year the line up is just as packed with talent and my first day here did not disappoint.

Due to the heat here, I decided to join the festival in late afternoon in time for Gnarls Barkely. Tommy and I planned ahead with our backpack full of sunscreen, a towel, spare shoes, folding chairs and music schedule (water can be bought inside)…so we grabbed our chicken wraps and water and planted ourselves in front of the AT&T stage to wait for Gnarls.

The great thing about a festival like this, everyone comes on stage on time! So Gnarls came on as planned and he brought some spiritual energy. He sounded awesome with his scratchy voice. He asked for spirit fingers for this G string (a group of female cello players) band which added a symphony feel to his song “Crazy.” 

All in all great show! We found a couple friends of ours afterwards, Duvet and Smilely. While we were catching up, I could hear another band, Gomez, starting up behind us at the Heineken stage. They sounded great, I’ll have to download some of their songs later.

Rock on.