ACL LineUp and Favorites ::: Part 1 Friday

So I thought about how to even start writing about this and it just makes my brain hurt because I saw so many different bands, ate so much damn good food, and visited way too many disgusto pottys. After looking at the line up a couple of weeks ago I was wayyy fucking confused. I can't even pick what I want to eat off a dinner menu let alone chose a custom lineup from a shit ton of bands. Typically most would chose bands that they lovvvve blah blah blah, but I wanted to spend more time checking out bands I haven't seen or most likely wouldn't have the opportunity to see in Philly. As the days went on and I got to know the stages better, some of my picks changed according who was playing on which stage because some of the stages just had terrible sound. Also, some of my picks changed according to the peeps I was chilling with because it was almost close to impossible to find someone after you left them, oh and cell phone service, yea forget about it.

Reviewing all the bands I saw would take me forever, and honestly I just don't really feel like doing it. So I am going to list the bands I saw in the order in which I enjoyed the most. And...I'll give some cred where creds due and def where it is not.

Friday.

1. Nas and Damian Marley ::: Wasn't even going to go to this show because my group was interested in Foster the People and again, we were trying to all stay together. I have seen Foster the People twice already and after hearing about one song of their terribleness we decided we were going to attempt to break free from our group and check out this show. Good choice for sure. The energy at this show was amazing and I enjoyed just about every second of it. Well...except for the drunken old fat lady next to me who was just about raping every guy she could fall onto. I felt so bad for this poor asian kid she attacked, his neck full of hickies, and his experience ruined. Oh yea, then there was ass crack girl in front of me who insisted on wiggling her shit in my face. Regardless, Nas and Marley killed the show and I was so happy I got to see them, totally unexpected no doubt.
2. Coldplay
3. Cults
4. Ray LaMontagne ::: Now I know I have seen Ray too many times, but I just can't get enough of him. The amazement that he was performing in a five piece suit in 98 degree weather was enough for me.
5. Theophilus London ::: A little into self promotion, but totally a good find. He was the ACL "Artist to Watch" so I had to check him out. I enjoyed his energy and his Brooklyn vibe and I would really like to see him at another venue in the future.
6. James Blake
7. Reptar
8. Fools Gold
9. Foster the People ::: Okay so I might need to rant about this for a minute. I saw Foster the People a while back before their first EP was released at KFNT. A sold out show and they were amazing. Hung out with them after the show and they were a fun group of guys. So, when they came back to the TLA like a month or two after I wanted to support them, but I left totally annoyed. I was jammed in the TLA with a bunch of teenie booping Q102 loving kids. The show was good but the vibe was way off. So...at ACL I was not really interested in seeing them because I knew everyone was going to be at this show, and if I could avoid the crowd in this weather I was down, but my group wanted to go so I did. And before their first song was over, I was outta there. Lead singer of FTP, Mark Foster, is a perfect example of someone not prepared for the instant spotlight he has experienced in the past year. His vocals were way off, and the sound was absolutely terrible. A couple voice lessons, some time in bed, and a new sound crew would def be beneficial to this group before they become the next to top VH1's one hit wonders. Talent and potential are obviously there it makes me so sad that the 'mainstream' attention could possibly destroy them in the end. Check out the YouTube ACL FTP show to understand completely what I am talking about.

Missed shows :(
1. Cold War Kids ::: Chose FTP, balls, was almost over by the time I got outta that jam.
2. Santigold ::: Had to eat at some point, and I am super super sad to have missed this. If I could go back and change my decision to go hungry I would.


NAS and Damian Marley


Coldplay


Cults


Ray LaMontagne


Theophilus London

Arrival in Texas.

Thursday Arrival in Texas.

Since flights were so ridiculously expensive from PHL to AUS we decided that it would be cheapest to fly into San Antonio and rent a car for the five days, saving us close to $300. I am always down with driving, especially seeing states in which I've never visited. Anyways, we arrived in San Antonio around 11 am only to find out my idiot self did not reserve our car until 11 pm. Balls. Our counter Alamo dude was very happy to slap those extra charges on so I could get my car on time. Again, balls.

After grabbing our car we decided to head to the RiverWalk in San Antonio to check out the eats and shopping there. Well there was not much shopping besides some local gun shops, weird joseph and mary statue galleries, a buncha Walgreens, and Harley stores. However, there was TexMex, and plenty of it. We had to make the choice of where to eat, in a world of Mexican restaurants, which is not so easy. However, we picked a good place and I ended up sharing half my meal with the local pigeons. Apparently, this is part of the experience. Creepy.



I did really enjoy San Antonio though. It's such a quaint little city and very very clean. I was astonished that there was not one parking spot on the street and I am still wondering how the hell people get around. I drove around for a while trying to find at least one car parked on the street and I started to get weirded out that I couldn't find one. I asked people in Austin if they knew what was up and they told me they never even noticed. I guess it will remain a mystery to me.

Arrival in Austin.

Arrived in Austin to be greeted by Ashley. Since we had some time to kill before the ACL festivities on Friday we decided it was only appropriate to go shopping. The shopping in Austin is fucking amazing. I loved all the little shops and I had to force myself not to spend a shit ton of monies. If you are in town stop by Parts and Labour to pick up some goods. Ashley's friend designs a line for them and the clothes are just too good to chose from. Not to mention the jewlery, I will just stop here....



I was overwhelmed by the amount of Día de los Muertos shops in Austin. I had to force myself to actually stay out of a couple because I just knew I would end up buying a sugar skull for a hefty price of $300. It was tormenting!!



After shopping we met up with Kevin, at the HopDoddy Burger Bar. Not too excited to enter a burger joint, I was pleasantly surprised to find I had many many options. I devoured the Ahi Tuna burger and I can honestly say it was the best, by far, tuna burger I have ever had. I am sad I did not have enough room to squeeze in the Janis Joplin. Oh wells...maybe next time. We finished the night with some drinks at the San Jose Hotel.

Time to prepare for the ACL craziness. Not gonna lie, I was a little nervous....

29 here's to you

Wow. What a week, end, to come. This past weekend was fantastic. I got to celebrate my oldness with some of the best friends a girl can ask for. I am so thankful for all of this, despite my lack of enthusiasm at times.

Started off the weekend by celebrating with my homegirls. It was suggested that I check out this bar, National Mechanics, in Olde City. I hate Olde City. It is full of douche bags. I don’t think I have been there once in the past four years except to eat or hit up my favorite boutique. Regardless my friend insisted that it was a ton of fun with cheap drinks and dancing. NOT true. It was everything I expected.

Upon sitting at the bar I am greeted by this very drunk dude. I turn around to politely say hi and his friend walks up next to him. I knew I knew this guy, not the drunk one, the other. Turns out I went on a date with him, I would say sometime around April/May. This was just awkward. Dude was super cool and the date was great however I was not too intrigued by him after like a month or so. So I stopped talking to him. Now here I am face to face with him looking at me like what happened?? Good thing his drunk friend was there to annoy me enough to politely ask my past date to get him away from me. Thankfully, he did and I was saved from extremely awkward explanations. However, now it opens the door for him to start talking to me again. Great, just great, Olde City, you suck.

At this point it is time for some whiskey/tequila/vodka, and a quick cab ride away from this joint. Had a great time from this point forward…not to get into all the details. I seem to remember me spitting mad raps towards the end of the night. “I figgity figgity found da found your phone on the street.” Pretty much it was one of the most hilarious nights I have ever have and I just love having my girlfriends around.

Next night…same old, same old. Too much fun though for some reason! We spent the evening discussing sugar skulls, tattoos, ATCQ, and Mobb Deep. All the while drinking way too much PBR and Jameson. Stumble, Stumble, Stumble. Sunday I woke up wondering, and hurting, bad.

Sunday…a bust.

Then comes my birthday, which is always expected to be an awesome day. Turns out, it sucked ass sideways, and I did not even get to eat one damn pink starburst all day. My landlord tried to ruin the day by being the complete psycho she is. She had the nerve to tell me that I have no common sense at one point and this is when I flipped the eff out. I think she may have gotten the point. I don’t know if I have ever yelled at someone like this in my whole life. I DO NOT feel bad in the least bit. Shove it Sandy.

After this, it got worst. See this is my deadline week, where shit gets real crazy round my desk. I spent the entire morning getting caught up on the data I needed to enter for my dlines. Found about 5 sec to run to the bathroom, came back, and boom, data gone. Way to go server, thanks for NOT backing up my work automatically. And this is about the time I started crying. And then crying some more. Ehhh.

After work was pretty awesome though, well basically, because I was not at work anymore, or listening to my landlord rant and rave about my decision making. Went to dinner for my birthday, got a Keurig, some Joico, and a full moon. Sounds much better to me.

Then last night, I got another birthday dinner at Full Plate. It was dyno. I had so many options to choose from though, which is never good. I think part of the reason I am vegetarian is just to limit myself to a menu because I am the worst entrée decider ever. Anyways, it was great and such a beautiful night to dine al fresco. Oh…and I got some chocolate covered raisins, which make me super super happy.

And now…..finally, I get to prepare for Austin City Limits! I cannot wait to be on that plane. Here is a link to the line-up (my picks in orange). Mostly, I am excited to meet my new friends, and celebrate life in Austin with them.

http://lineup.aclfestival.com/lala4416/bands?sort=day

Stayed tuned.

AL Lohan

Seriously? Why does Ali Lohan look like buckethead minus the bucket? I am terrified. Who in their right mind is telling this poor girl that this looks good? I have way to many words for this topic I think I might just stop here.
But really? What the shit.

vampire music story

Once there were these two friends. Really really best of best friends, Rock and MJ2. You see MJ2 really loved Vampire Music. Rock just could't grasp the concept. She's like, "MJ2 what's this Vampire music you speak of." MJ2 tried and tried to explain this vampire music but all Rock could think of was organs. Really big organs.
MJ2 gave up.

End of story.

I'm now talking with the man in the mirror.

once...

once upon a time i cared for you
and then you made me cry
once upon a time i forgot you
and i can only remember why
i tear apart these pages
start the fire with the flame
i wash away your memory
things could never be the same
these streets
these walls
these thoughts
these words
only bring me back to you
regret
release
repeat
renew
i hope you're bleeding too


wow. thirty seconds of thought. 5.31

And I am mean?

I don’t even know how to start this, because I feel bad for saying mean things about someone that I actually like as a person, when they are not drinking, and when they are not being super overwhelming. So I apologize in advance. But I think regardless any guy can pretty much score a girl if you take a step back and lose your creepiness, maybe be respectful and nice, and not insult someone over and over. Anyways...

So creepers are the worst. Absolute worst. And when they ruin my night and make me leave the bar I want to punch them in the face. Honestly. So here’s my situation. I am out hanging out with friends and there is this one dude who has been consistently trying to get with me for like a year or so now. I have never hooked up with him and have never given him any reason to believe that I was interested in doing so either. I’m not going to blame him for his interest but I would like to think that after his first or second, maybe fifteenth time trying he might get the point. Yea, not so much.

After like three hours or so of drinking this ends up to be the last hour of conversation I can take before I have to angrily leave the bar in frustration.
Upon entering the bar, dude insists on switching bar stools around to get next to me. He offers to buy me a drink...

Me: Nah I’m okay, I can get it.
Dude: No, I’ll get it. It’s cool. Don’t worry about it. I got it. How about a shot too?
Me: Well…I guess I can’t really say no, and I am broke, so sure.

So I get my drink and decide smoking a cig might eliminate anymore awkward passes. Dude follows. Cabs are passing by…

Me: Ahh man, I hate paying for cabs, shit costs me like 30 bucks a night.
Dude: Well you wanna sleep at my place?
Me: Nah I am alright. I’m good. Just complaining.
Dude: Well you wanna come up to my place and just look around?
Me: Nah I am alright. I’m chilling.
Dude: Why not?
Me: Ummm. I dunno. Cause I don’t.
Dude: What’s your problem? Why are you so mean? Lighten up.
Me: Ummmm. Okay.

So there is a bunch of awkward silence because I am obviously just a mean and bitter person. Thankfully, our group of friends come out to save me. After like 5 min pass by, and now I am showing signs of non-bitter behavior like laughing and smiling and all that good stuff.

Dude: Hey, you wanna go get another drink?
Me: Nah, I got one.
Dude: Why not?
Me: Well I have a full beer, and I don’t need another.
Dude: Why not?

Awkward silence. What is he not getting??

Me: I just told you I have a full beer.
Dude: What’s your problem? Why are you being such a bitch? You are like so mean.
Me: Okay? I guess I am.

Now at this point, I am getting really mad. I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to actually be really mean and flip out on this dude. And then, dude proceeds to start rubbing my leg.

Me: Ummm, could you please stop?
Dude: Gosh. Mean. You are just mean.
Me: Okay?
Dude (to our friends): Isn't Laura just mean? Mean.

He proceeds to get up and walk away. Everyone is kinda just wondering what is going on.

So, at this point I decide, with the best judgment I have to just leave. I am pissed that I have to end my night short because I am mean, for actually not being mean, and for being respectful of his feelings. I actually make up some excuse as to why I am bailing, rather than flipping the eff out. The worst part is, dude is actually really cute and a nice person, but drinking just turns him into this overwhelming pushy creeper. And I am labeled as the bitchy, non-fun, girl at the party. Not fair. I probably got bashed for the rest of the night.

This has got to be a joke.

I don’t even know what the moral of this story is except for creepers are the worst. And days later I am still annoyed. Ugghhhh.