There and Back Again

Listening to: It’s Good to Be In Love (Frou Frou)
Pondering: We spin around the sun with six billion of us and somehow through divine providence we landed right here right now. (Byron Dorgan)

Yes, Mr. Tim Rice-Oxley, I did have a grand time and thanks mostly to you and your band, Keane.

I survived Day 1 of the Austin City Limits (ACL) Music Festival, in one piece – filthy, sweaty and sunburned, but in one piece. It was a marvelous experience. One I would not trade for anything in the world.

My sister Myra and I left San Francisco International Airport at 1230 am amidst worries that Hurricane Rita might make life miserable for us down in Texas. Despite Austin being midland and far from the coast unlike Houston, I was worried about what would happen if Rita swirled her tail farther than predicted or changed her mind and direction without warning. My parents were concerned, I could tell, so was my other sister. My office mate Lisa did not want me to go cause she’s worried we might get stranded. People were telling us to forget about the $117 ticket and $400+ airfare we have already purchased because it wasn’t worth the risk. But I hinged my trust on the Weather Channel and the age-old idea that, “if it’s your time to go, it really is your time to go” kept nagging at me. In the long run, Myra and I decided it was indeed worth the risk. Heck, I wasn’t going to pass up seeing Keane AND Coldplay in one festival!

We arrived in Dallas at around 6:00 am (4:00 a.m. Pacific Time), sleepy and lethargic and with 50 minutes to spare before our connecting flight to Austin. To wake ourselves up, we purchased a pass to use American Airline’s Admiral Club facilities. We took a 25-minute shower and ran off to our next flight. We landed in Austin around 830 am wondering what the hell we are going to do when we arrive at our hotel because they have already informed us by email that early check in was not possible. We got to our hotel and were very pleased to find out that our room was ready. We ate breakfast and went back to our room to catch 50 winks before heading to Zilker Park, site of the ACL Festival. I set the alarm to play Keane’s Somewhere Only We Know at the stroke of 11 am. I never thought I’d get disappointed to hear Tom Chaplin’s voice but I was disappointed when his voice woke me up an hour after I fell asleep. I didn’t want to wake up yet.

We got to the park at around 200 pm. The sun was full blast. It was amazing to think that somewhere else in Texas, it was raining buckets and the wind was howling while folks evacuated to safer plains. In Austin, it was as bright, sunny, humid and hot as Indian summer could be. Nothing was going to dampen the spirits of the festival. We grabbed a bite to eat, scoped out the area, loaded up on bottled water, caught the last part of Kasabian’s performance and for the most part, sat under a tree because the sun was just too much for us visitors from the Bay Area. From where we sat we could hear artists perform on the AMD stage where Keane would later jam to my heart’s delight. We could also see Keane’s tour bus from where we were. Alas, only their crew came in and out of the gargantuan bus all afternoon.

At 430 pm we started to move in with the crowd in front of the AMD stage. A Texan band called Spoon was performing at 530 pm so the crowd was pretty thick. My sister was intent on being up front for the Keane performance so we had to stand through Spoon’s performance if we had a slight chance of making it to the front of the stage. Spoon turned out to be very good. I might purchase some of their songs online when I get back to SF. When they left the stage, the crowd diminished a bit only to fill up again in anticipation for Keane. I don’t know how she did it, but my sister got us up to about the 3rd row from the front of the stage. We stood there on uneven floors, squashed like sardines for a good hour, watching the crew prepare the stage for Keane’s all too familiar set up: Tom’s microphone on the left stage, Tim’s keyboards and piano on the right stage and Richard Hughes’ drum set in the middle. I was hot and miserable and the heels of my feet were ready to give out but I was excited. I have never been this close to the stage before.

The guys came out at exactly 730 pm. The last trace of the sun was nearly setting behind the stage. They rocked, as usual and as expected, they all sounded really good. The crowd sang along with almost every song, except the new ones, which was pretty impressive, if you ask me. As usual, Tim made my heart skip a beat, especially as I listened to the dude’s newest compositions, Try Again and Nothing In Your Way. I don’t know where he gets his inspiration for all these catchy tunes. I can only wish I had even an inch of his brilliance with words and rhythm.

After their performance they had an autograph signing at the Waterloo Music Store booth. While we lined up for the signing we met this kid who goes to school at Texas A & M. The kid reminded me so much of my nephew Mickey whom I have not seen since 1994. I started to miss Mickey terribly. Anyway, I never did get the kid’s name but wherever he is now, I wish him all the best in the world.

We didn’t line up long. Someone from the festival gave us the run down of what the signing was going to be like. Keane had limited time so we can only have one item signed and if we wanted a picture taken, it had to be at the front not back. Yeah, yeah, just get me in already was all I could think of. At around 915 pm I was five-person away from Richard who was chatting away with every fan who handed him an item to sign. Tom was looking pensive but polite. Tim was too far away for me to observe. When it was my turn I greeted Richard a belated happy birthday while I handed him the sleeve of my Hopes and Fears CD. He asked me if this was the UK release and he said yes before I could say anything. He informed me I got an extra song on this version. I refrained from saying I don’t really know anymore which version is which because I have all of them. Besides, I didn’t have time to say much to him because Tom was ready to sign my item next. I shook his hand and congratulated him on a wonderful show. He smiled shyly. I told him I’ll see him in LA next week and he shrugged, saying they had a long way to go before LA.

And then there he was, the object of my undying affection, Tim Rice-Oxley. I couldn’t immediately hand him the CD sleeve because a bunch of girls were trying to get a picture of all three of them and I didn’t want to ruin the frame. Finally it was my turn to shake Tim’s hand and greet him hello. He asked me if I had a good time today, with a smile. I wish he wouldn’t smile like that. I said I had so much fun although the weather was too hot for my liking. He agreed. I wanted to tell him his band made the day even much more special but it wouldn’t come out. I let go of the moment by telling him how much I look forward to hearing the next album. I am pretty pleased with myself for not saying anything dorky like last time.

Soon after that we headed home. The line to get a cab was ridiculously long. At certain times during the wait I thought I couldn’t go on. My feet were killing me and I was thirsty and needed a long hot bath, terribly. Even the idea of having shook Tim’s hand couldn’t entertain me. I nearly panicked thinking how the hell we were getting home because the line didn’t seem to move. One hour and a half later, we were inside one of those yellow cabs, headed back to our hotel. We got back to the hotel 11 minutes too late for the room service. Feet aching, we had to walk to the nearest Wendy’s to get food and realized that our hotel was in a not-so-good area of Austin though nothing dangerous happened.

After eating my forgettable cheese burger and getting a nice, long bath, I finally resigned to bed, watching the Weather Channel’s account of Hurricane Rita, which just made landfall. Some folks in Beaumont and Galveston, Texas and the already miserable residents of Louisiana were not sleeping tonight, worried about their homes and their safety. But I was, even if I didn’t want to because the events of the day finally caught up with me and I had not an ounce of energy left to spare.