Austin City Limits Music Festival is reaching monumental status this year, showcasing over 130 bands across eight stages over three days, and whoops – regular tickets are already sold out. Held in Zilker Park in the heart of Austin, TX, the music takes place from October 12-14, 2012. Although it’s grown exponentially over the years, the festival continues to remain true to it’s roots, creating a lineup of bands that fit well within southern rock, blues, and country folk sensibilities; and curating a local food and art community experience.
The music is certainly the main focus of the fest, but when you’re taking a break from being out in the field, you can take a chill out in The Dell Lounge. Here you can have a time out while still catching the YouTube Live Webcast, so you don’t have to miss much. The lounge also offers Xbox distractions, power sources to charge your phone, a photo booth, and mostly importantly, ice cold AC. Google+ had to get in on the lounge action too, and of course promote the Google+ project. This lounge also offers air conditioning, photobooths, recharging, as well as free WiFi. If you’d rather immerse yourself in the local food fare, head over to the HOPE Farmers Market for the best of what’s in season. Then get back out there, and catch these bands for real:
As I’ve seen first hand, Alt-J is a unique and completely satisfying live experience. Perhaps there’s nothing quite like seeing them up close in an intimate venue, but there’s also nothing quite like sharing the same appreciation for a band with a shit ton of other people.
The Boxer Rebellion, on the other hand, makes rock that’s already arena-ready.
He’s My Brother She’s My Sister, as the name implies, is built around the brother-sister duo of Robert and Rachel Kolar, who make sassy country songs saturated with glam and art rock. What? Exactly.
The ukulele-based stylings of Wild Child can go as deep as you let them. This local Austin-based band makes songs that sound cutesy on the surface, but there’s some real relationship talk in there.
If you caught the Grammys last year, you may remember when Esperanza Spalding won Best New Artist, setting a precedent for a jazz musician winning the category. If that doesn’t tell you she’s a best new artist to watch, her live performance should be more educational.
View the complete lineup and get more details here. You can then customize your own schedule, and share it with your friends on Facebook. Tickets for single days and three-day passes are already sold out, but there’s still time to splurge on the VIP options, which allows you baller amenities worth tweeting about.
Photo by Jay Blakesberg
