ACL 2007 Pre Show - Thursday

It's Thursday of ACL Week, which means that we head over to Chuy's for some margaritas and Mexican food. If the woman on the right doesn't look familiar, that's because she is new to our ACL group. Her name is Liz. She's actually an old friend of Deb's from Chicago. And for those who don't know, that's Deb on the left and Linda in the middle. We then staggered, I mean headed up the hill to the festival to get our wrist bands. What's amazing this year is how green everything is. It has been raining all summer and it sure shows. The picture doesn't do it justice. But I can pretty much guarantee you that there will be no dust storms this year.


There is a new logo for the festival. I'm not sure I like the guitar. To Hard Rock Cafe, don't you think?
That's me with Stevie. It is our tradition to visit him. And we do it every year. There were already flowers left in his hand when we got there.



Our first concert of the week was Billy Harvey at the Shady Grove. Every Thursday they, along with KGSR, put on a free semi-acoustic concert here. We got there real early, not knowing if it would be crowded, and ended up in the front row.
Billy, as you may know, was Bob Schneider's guitar player for several years. His, last CD, Pie, was excellent but we had never seen him solo before and weren't really sure he could command an audience (it is already a given that he can play the hell out of the guitar). Well, we were mildly surprised. Billy is witty and entertaining and held us captive throughout much of his 2 plus hour set. If you haven't heard him, think Steve Poltz, but not as good with the lyrics. But he keeps getting better and better and I can't wait to hear his latest CD. Throughout the set he relied on loops for a backing band. So many artists over use them and really aren't able to have them smoothly interact with the music. Billy did a great job; one of the best I've seen. It was a great start to the ACL weekend. Okay Zilker Park, bring 'em on. :-)