Austin City Limits

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  • 08-09-2004, 09:12 AM
    dean_martin
    Austin City Limits
    Hey folks - just got back from Austin, TX. I didn't have time to do half the music-oriented stuff available there, but I did get to tour the Austin City Limits studio. The "tour guide" said that ACL will be releasing 5 episodes on dvd this fall! The release that caught my attention was Leonard Cohen's. I recorded this on vhs a couple years ago and can't wait to get the dvd. The guide said they've been planning this for years, but it's been a slow go in aquiring rights, etc. because of their non-profit status. I saw the line-up for the ACL Music Festival in September. It has something for everybody.
  • 08-09-2004, 10:57 AM
    DarrenH
    That's cool you got to tour the studio. Austin seems like a fun place to go for the music minded individual.

    While I don't share your same enthusiam for Leonard Cohen, ACL has hosted some damn fine performances over the years. I've managed to catch a few on PBS.

    I hope they release the Allman Brothers and SRV performances on DVD. Those I would like to see again.

    Darren
  • 08-09-2004, 11:13 AM
    N. Abstentia
    SRV's Austin City Limits has been on DVD for quite a while..it's one of the first DVD's I ever bought!

    http://www.dvdempire.com/Exec/v4_ite...76&item_id=205
  • 08-09-2004, 01:25 PM
    dean_martin
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DarrenH
    That's cool you got to tour the studio. Austin seems like a fun place to go for the music minded individual.



    Darren
    Yeah, there's someone you've probably heard of performing there just about everynight (and dozens I've never heard of). For ex., Cowboy Junkies played at Stubbs BBQ one night while I was there, but I didn't get to see'um. From what I can gather, they have 2 main music festivals each year - The ACL festival and the South by Southwest Festival. In addition, they have benefit concerts all the time and First Thursday each month. After watching the bats fly out from the Congress Street Bridge on Thurs. night, my wife and I went to First Thurs. Night on South Congress where the local merchants stay open 'til 10. Some serve free drinks and people play music on the street and in shops for tips. It's an interesting culture - right now the "IN" genre in Austin seems to be the blues - everything from originals from the 1930s on the radio to middle class white boys playing blues on the street. The local blues seems to be fused with a little Tejano and Cajun - a lot of accordian or "squeeze box" playing going on down there.

    If you go, I would recommend any month other than August! Man, it was HOT!

    All the travel guides we read said that you can tour the ACL studio on Fridays at 10:30 a.m. We were running a little late and expected a huge line. However, including us, there was only 5 for the tour. It's not much of a tour but you can take pictures of the stage (or, have your picture taken on the stage) and hear some interesting anecdotes about some of the performers.

    Tim