Austin City Limits Festival proved to be a great one, once again. The mass of music fans showed up by the bus load. The mood is happy as music enters the air. Those who brought their own $8 reclining camp chairs begin to selectively stake out their small piece of real estate. Camps are set up as close to the stage as organizers allow complete with a tall flag signifying their squatting territory in the grass. These die-hards endure the midday sunlight, not realizing that once darkness falls thousands of music lovers will meander and pick their way to the front. This practice could end up like a sinking ship; once one fan walks through, hundreds of others will follow the proposed path of least resistance. Sure, your real estate shrinks as the day progresses but your neighbors are typically friendly and ready to have some fun by your side.

This year's, 3 day, 8 Stage, 130 Band event was a site to see. Zilker Park is a great space for the festival, as it is just large enough to get great sound at every stage, it is circlular shape allows for less 'commuting' between stages. The line up of acts included all genres and a nice mixture of oldies and newbies. While we were extremely saddened by the absense of The White Stripes, who cancelled at the last minute due to illness, the moral of the festival goers seemed high. Muse was bumped to a headlining slot to replaced Meg and Jack. While, I cannot say I prefered it this way, it did suffice in keeping the energy alive with the fans and really, what could we do about it anyway? We wish the Stripes good health and hope to catch them another time. Other fantastic acts on our agenda were Cold War Kids, Regina Spektor, Blue October, My Morning Jacket, Pete Yorn, Bjork and the legendary Bob Dylan. Our weekend was definitely full of eclectic music experiences and we were excited to get started.

Heartless Bastards were the first act for us and although we were unfamiliar with them, they quickly convinced us of their talent. The Cincinnati, Ohio, trio were catchy and energetic. They delivered quite addictive folk-rock tunes that got the crowd swaying along to the beat. Plus they were located close enough to water jets to keep the crowd comfortable. Climate control and good music makes for a satisfying set for all.

Next up, one of my personal favorites, Pete Yorn. Soulful rock with an authentic stage presence and mere desire to sing to thousands of fans, Yorn is a classic after only three albums. As he and his band made their way through a set of songs, Pete was distract by a large black billowing cloud of smoke about 100 feet away. At one point he says, "There appears to be a fire but no-one has asked us to leave, yet, so I guess we'll just keep playing." Police gave a brief safety announcement and the show went on without much more interruption - aside from the forced migration of fans to make a 300 foot radius around the fire. Pete played on and the crowd cheered, if not a bit cautiously.

A press conference revealed that the fire was started when an 18-wheeler went into flames, igniting a nearby RV, car, trees and porta-potties. Unfortunately, there were a few injuries. The fire fighters and police force were smooth in handling the crisis, as were the festival organizers. Given the massive amount of people at the festival and the time critical situation things were handled professionally and without extreme chaos or extended interruption of the festivities.

Now that we have the Texas heat and a fire in the background it's clear that it's getting hot. We need some beer. Something you will notice right away about this festival is that there is no shortage of watering holes. Every direction you look in a sign labeled "BAR" stares back at you. We attend many festivals and have grown very tired of the constant bombardment of Budweiser products. It's nice to have a selection, or at least something with flavor. Thank you ACL for including Zeigenbock in your beer selection. On a hot day, choices like this become mission critical. Thankfully we can concentrate on the music now.

With thirst out of the way, we headed to the mainstage to see the beautiful Joss Stone. Joss has a soulful voice that conveys both her personality and her skill as an artist. She is a gracious performer and a solid live act. The edgy songstress performed a nice mixture of old and new. Her sincere smile exudes her gratefulness to her fans and her frequent giggle displayed how happy the twenty year old is on stage. A few raindrops fell during her set, which was a great relief to everyone in the sun and perhaps created a mood more appropriate for her songs than the harsh Texas heat.

LCD Sound System was a nice way to mix up our day. With their techno/disco vibe and fantastic dance beat we all get a bit into it. Every line delivered makes me yearn for the next. In an unpredictable yet catchy manner, this band revives us from exhaustion and gets us back in the mood to party. Unfortunately in order to catch LCD Soundsystem we had to miss M.I.A. who was on at the same time. Lead singer, James Murphy, made sure to send her good luck wishes from his stage, "We love Mia and Mia if you can hear me, we hope you have a great show!" This reminds me of one of the greatest aspects of festivals - the commandery and family that comes from a massive amount musicians in the same park.

The fans are ready for Queens of the Stone Age. I don't particularly like these guys, but the MOSS photographer insists we catch their set. I believe it's because she secretely hopes they play "Burn the Witch" or maybe because she likes the chandeliers dangling randomly from the stage rafters. Reluctantly, I choose to take a nap stage left, while the familiar sound of crazed fans comes pouring over me from the audience. I can't place my dislike of this band, they have the requisite steady beat, and yes, some of their tunes have that catchy familiarness that comes from overplaying on the radio, but I still can't get into it. They just remind me of the geeky guys in school that managed to squander up some black clothes and made up some heavy riff, then tossed in lyrics. It seems commercial to me. However, our photographer defends their honor by declaring they have an irrefutable hook and a consistent sound that meshes rock and pop in a completely acceptable manner.

There is no sense in debating this matter, I'll buy the next round of beer and call it good.

The sun has officially gone down, and it's time for the day one headliner, Bjork. The crowd has grown astranomically for this act and I await something amazing. Let me start by saying Bjork isn't necessarily something I listen to, ever. She opens with "Innocence" off Volta and the crowd seems pleased. Bjork is in a realm of her own in terms of performing. She has the eccentric presence of the Flaming Lips, sans the "happy, loving atmosphere" Wayne Coyne creates. Although, possibly just as entertaining - if I were on an acid trip. I am not sure if I am supposed to be scared of her, but I think I kind-of am. I worry aliens have just landed in Zilker Park. She is wearing a shiny gold potato sack as a dress, okay, it's probably couture but I'm not sold on it. The beat has created an eerie ripple of dancing across the crowd, swinging, bouncing, and twirling around. Clearly people here are pleased, very pleased. A guy in the front row, proudly displaying his Bjork tour shirt from the 90's, is nearly in tears. While I can't say that I am particularly moved, I realize Bjork has just turned this sweaty mass of people into a mystical wave of electronic dreaminess and that I can appreciate.

As the weekend progresses into day two, things start to haze over. I'm no longer a journalists on task, I am a music fan thoroughly enoying bouncing from stage to stage, eager to hear the next act. First up we catch Augustana. This Southern California fivesome has been on MOSS's radar for a long time now, we've seen them several times and have consistently been impressed with their live shows. These down to earth rockers have a smooth, polished sound that is surprisingly considering their first album was only cut in 2004. A young band with great songs and great stage presence, yet the humbleness that these guys ellicit is rare today and for that, I thank them.

Cold War Kids were placed in a daytime slot, not on a main stage, yet their crowd would have indicated otherwise. The following for this band is expected, as they are a tremendous act, but given the lack of "hype" around them I am consistently surprised by the massive number of people who know of them, and love them. Being at a Cold War Kids show is like being a part of something really intimate and moving, secret and explosive all at once. They played most the songs off Robbers and Cowards plus some new stuff that was just as strong as the songs I've already memorized.

Blue October's Justin Furstenfeld has animated facial expressions and over exaggerated stage antics that make for great photographs, but it's his connection with his audience that is difficult to capture. His fans react to him as if they have lived his life. He sings of addiction, self destruction and other emotional topics that everyone in his audience, apparently, relates to. He writes incredibly personal, in your face, lyrics and he has got an army of fans who find comfort in them.

I'm not going to sugar coat this, the White Stripes are some tough shoes to fill. Muse was bumped from the slot opening for the White Stripes to their headlining slot and I don't doubt for a second they thought, "Shit, we have to go out there to a bunch of people who wanted to see the White Stripes." I was one of those people incredibly down about the lack of Meg and Jack, and in my head not even a great band like Muse would make up for this disappointment. However, Muse was clearly up to the challenge. The stage at a Muse show is lit up like a light brite, including their clear instruments that have glowing lights coming from within. The rock pounded through the crowd and everyone was into it, I'm guessing even those die hard White Stripes fans had a little fun. (Albeit, I did see someone wearing a t-shirt with "Acute anxiety isn't cute" scrolled across it by means of a Marks-A-lot). Bottom line is that the light show alone would have etertained you, but Muse rocked the house on top of it all.

Regina Spektor had an enormous crowd awaiting her arrival to the stage. Little did I know I was about to encounter one of the most genuine statements of my life. Regina played her first song and when she went into her second song a girl in the front row exclaimed, "I feel sooooo good about myself right now!" I'm pretty sure I've never had that effect on someone and suddently I had a new found respect for Regina Spektor. She performed beautifully, honestly and her huge smile made me want to be friends with her.

Our hometown heroes, The Decemberists, performed on Day three and we were determined to catch their set. Somehow, songs about generals, revenge and whales always makes us happy. It was also really fun to see an "away" crowd so excited about them. They performed with energy, Colin Meloy even dropped to the floor to play guitar for awhile. Fluidly going from one ten-minute song to the next their set was chock full of favorites.

Bloc Party is a party, indeed. Kele Okereke delivers a non-stop energy that just makes you want to join in the fun. The UK based band is strong on stage, the beat is arguably catchy and the good feeling they exude from the stage is irrestible.

As the festival comes to a close, we are preparing for, the one and only, Bob Dylan. Unsure how to emotionally prepare ourselves for this act, we opt to simply take it in stride and have some more beers before being "one of those people" who crowds in at the last minute. Bob walks on stage as he's done thousands of times and the band seemlessly falls into place creating a perfectly balanced see-saw of musicians. The giant jumbotron shows him in lackluster detail. We know it's him, but it's kind-of like a dream. As they begin to play it's clear that it's not going to be the quick tongued, energized Dylan we've seen on TV. This was a new Dylan, an older Dylan, a slower Dylan and the fact he was staged under darkness only confirmed this fact. Even though he's hard to understand, it was still a precious moment in time when we and Bob shared an evening with 70,000 other people, of course. He opened with "Everybody Must Get Stoned" which, expectedly provoked thousand to fire up the ganja. While his set lacked hits, it was still Bob Dylan and this was once in a lifetime for us.

Because no professional photography was allowed at the show, we did our best with a snapshot from the audience