The little cracks, they escalate

I know it will come as a shock, but I don't have any Cabo pictures ready; I've been busy with work and stalking The Swell Season in Austin.

I am knackered, to steal a British turn of phrase. Friday JP and I set out early to attend the Austin City Limits Music Festival. Pictures are here. We got there in good time, got great parking thanks to JP, and hunkered down to enjoy lots and lots of music we'd never heard. LOL! I actually had a good time. I've been wanting to attend a music festival and haven't had a chance since, er...the free Blockbuster one back in 1997? Don't remember exactly.

Anyhoo, the weather wasn't too bad. Hot, but not melt-your-face hot. The first couple of hours was pretty tame, but by 2pm the place was packed! I got to see Rodney Crowell (who was awesome), Jakob Dylan (who sounded great but had no patter to speak of), What Made Milwaukee Famous (meh), Gogol Bordello (THAT, my friends is how you put on a show!), and my all-time favorite, The Swell Season. I also caught a bit of the Mars Volta (eh) and Manu Chao (good stuff, but I was beyond exhausted and decided to bag it before he was done).

Awesome, but plagued with techinical difficulties, I was supremely impressed at how calm Glen Hansard remained, even though you could tell he was getting upset. Their set was way too short, but it was all fantastic anyway. More on them in a moment. Gogol Bordello was great, too. Not really my type of music, but JP and I agreed that we would go see another of their shows any day. High energy, theatrical, and just a lot of fun. Props to the well-endowed lady in the teeny bikini top who was hopping around next to us during their set. I bet her boobs are still sore...ouch!

The crowds got to be a little much, especially with all the cigarette and weed smoke. It all made me nauseous. The food wasn't bad, but nothing I'd write home about. The people who pushed their way in front of us 2 minutes before the The Swell Season came on can go to Hell. But for the most part everything was very chill. We were out there a good 8 hours so by 9:30pm, I was ready to go home. And buy lots of music, LOL!

Well, I was completely out of it, because I didn't realize until yesterday morning that The Swell Season was performing again in Austin that night. So, JP and I decided what the Hell. We bought tickets to their show at The Paramount, got back in the car, and went BACK to Austin to see them again. I am so glad we did! It was an unbelievable event - they sounded fantastic and the acoustics were great. JP sweet-talked an usher into letting us sneak into better seats (what did I do before him?) and we just kicked back and enjoyed it all.

I can't explain it very well, but listening to Glen Hansard affects me the way Sarah Mclachlan does. Sometimes it just seems like certain songwriters are ripping pages from your life and putting it out there for the world. It's an incredibly profound feeling about something incredibly private. And to have him infuse so much emotion into his performances on top of that...it just grabs me by the throat.

To cap off the evening, we walked around the back of the theater afterwards and got to meet Glen Hansard! He was very nice, posing for pictures and signing stuff. He took his time and talked to people. I never have anything original or brilliant to say in these situations, but it's okay. It was just nice to tell him how much I enjoyed their music. Photographic evidence here. Hurrah!

So I'm stopping now because I need a nap. I also need to clean this disaster of a house, but that will have to wait. Too much driving over the past couple of days...

Zzzzz.