We entered the park around 1:10pm to the strains of a seriously thrashy number from Yo La Tengo. It was impressive to hear how determined YLT were to throw out some serious noise rock at such an early hour. Being a bit sunburned and rather low-energy, we listened rather than watched, grabbed a blissfully freezing cold beer, and headed over to grab a spot for The National. The National (1:30pm): What perfect music for......

Andrew Bird (5:30pm): After this set, one Austinist staffer remarked: "This guy just beamed in from planet music." And with a stage full of spinning gramophones, violins, finger cymbals, and glockenspiels, it was hard to dispute that quip. Bird took the stage slightly late due to a tardy finish by Blue October, which had the crowd snarling over their shoulders at the lengthy drum and guitar codas coming off the main stage. But when......

Spoon (6:30pm): So here's the thing about Spoon: they're a studio band. And on record, they're pretty much bulletproof for this decade. But the band also have a deserved reputation as a sometimes shaky live act, and such was the case for the show's beginning today. Britt Daniel and the band emerged without opening music or much ceremony, plowing right into a half-dozen tracks from new album Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. But they......

Upon arriving around 2:50pm, we found quite a bit of chaos. An unfortunate propane tank explosion had injured four ACL staffers, so fire trucks, EMS vehicles, and golf carts were buzzing everywhere. Our tickets were stuck with a friend inside, so we found a shady tree and hung out until the dust settled around 3:15. We entered to the wafting notes of Peter, Bjorn, and John, who had attracted such a huge crowd we......

Tag your photos "austinist" if you're at the festival. Photo by Amy Bradly Photo by Roxanne Mitchell Photo by geekdreams on flickr......

An Austinist reader sent us pictures of what appears to be a "small" fire in the food area at the ACL Fest. More news to come... Update: KXAN reports that the fire was the result of a propane tank explosion behind the AT&T stage. Three people were injured, two seriously so.......

As promised, today we're giving away two pairs of tickets to KLRU's ACL taping of the incredibly talented singer-songwriter Regina Spektor. These are general admission tickets, which means you'll be guaranteed a seat as long as you show up by 7:30pm. Enter below, and good luck! This contest is now closed. Congrats, winners! Related: Austinist's ACL Coverage Regina Spektor ACL Taping Monday, September 17th 7:30pm Photo by Timothy Cochrane, from wikipedia......

As promised, today we're giving away two pairs of tickets to KLRU's ACL taping of British indie rockers Bloc Party. These are general admission tickets, which means you'll be guaranteed a seat as long as you show up by 9pm. Enter below, and good luck! This contest is now closed. Congrats, winners! Related: A Weekend In Our City - Austinist Interviews Bloc Party Austinist's ACL Coverage Bloc Party ACL Taping Monday, September 17th 9pm......

In less than two days, we'll be hosting our big annual pre-ACL party, Local Music is Sexy IV, Thursday night's soiree will feature Austinites The Lemurs, The Corto Maltese, and Brazos on the outside main stage, with DJs Car Stereo (Wars), Ceeplus Bad Knives*, and Markus with a K supplying dance-party jams inside alongside Magic Surprise. We're also thrilled to be bringing in Seattle indie rockers Say Hi To Your Mom* as our headliners. What's......

Some of the biggest artists playing at next week's Austin City Limits Music Festival will also be taping episodes of KLRU's Austin City Limits, the wide-acclaimed PBS show that begat it all. Unfortunately, the demand for space-available tickets is so intense that they're only announcing them via the radio. Fortunately, we've got the scoop on when and where you should be listening: below are the stations and times that you'll need to tune into......

On the eve of ACL Fest, we're gonna turn off our laptops, put on our drinking shoes, and head over to the Mohawk, because Austinist is hosting Local Music is Sexy IV. An annual tradition since its inception in 2005 (back when the 'hawk was the Velvet Spade, and folks were still arguing over the smoking ban), Local Music is Sexy showcases a bunch of promising young Austin bands and DJs that we're most excited......

Austinite Bill Kilday has put together a pretty nifty ACL page that shows you which artists are playing on each stage throughout the weekend. What's more, he's conveniently provided YouTube clips and music videos for most of the artists. "Bill's Map" is a mashup of Google Maps, YouTube, and the Official ACL schedule. It's worth a look around, especially if you're curious about some of the lesser known acts playing the festival. In an......

Thanks to a sharp-eyed anonymous tipster, we just found out that ACL has released another set of 3-day passes for this year's music festival. Screw the scalpers on Craigslist peddling these for upwards of $250 apiece—Front Gate has 'em for the normal price of $145, with all fees and taxes included. But you'd better act quickly if you plan to take advantage of this offer; we're guessing they'll be sold out before day's end. [ACL......

Let's get to it: ACL Fest organizers dropped the aftershow schedule yesterday, and it's fairly extensive. Stubb's, La Zona Rosa, The Parish, and Antone's will all host aftershows over the Thursday to Sunday that everyone is in town for the big event. Highlights include an intimate show from The White Stripes and Cold War Kids at Stubb's, an extra gig from Argentina's loungerific Gotan Project (also at Stubb's), appearances by Spoon, Common, and Queens......

The Austin City Limits Festival gang are smart enough to know that a) all the people lining up with their plastic cups full of merlot waiting patiently to see Los Lonely Boys and proudly displaying their It's Been a Crazy Weekend henna tattoos aren't just tying their kids up to trees when they leave, and b) there is an ever-growing market for music aimed at kids and families. Combining these two concepts (we assume)......

This morning marks the release of the ACL 2007 schedule grid. This is probably the most stressful day of the year for the avid ACL festivalgoer, as hopes of seeing every act one likes are dashed when seeing how many of your favorite bands are playing at the exact same time. It's impossible to program such a big festival without a couple of conflicts, but three stand out to us this year as particularly......

After a month of guesswork, the ACL Fest lineup is here. And it's quite a good one. While the wild speculation of headliners like Neil Young and Stevie Wonder once again proved false, the key items one sees this year are depth and balance. Having spent yesterday looking over the roster, we have the following observations on the 2007 edition of ACL. The Good: A Great Top 10. Had you told us that we'd......