The Austin City Limits music festival is officially underway and I’m not there. Ever since I’ve gotten to campus, I’ve been telling everyone that will listen about ACL. I’m not even a huge music fan, but for some reason my attendance at last year’s festival made a huge impact on me. I still bring up random memories of the weekend with my friends all the time and find myself thinking about it quite often. It was honestly kind of a factor in the college process. Well, not really. But the whole time I was acutely aware of the fact that coming to Tufts would make attending ACL nearly impossible. It’s okay though, Tufts was worth it. And also, it’s a testament to how amazing this event is that I can still be so pumped about it even though I’m 2,000 miles away. I’m a tiny bit jealous, but mostly I’m just really excited for all my friends there. I’m looking forward to their videos and pictures (and phone calls during certain bands.) I’m glad the weather is nice, and that there’s grass to sit on instead of dirt! (Even though I don’t think it will last long.) I’m even happy for the tens of thousands of people I don’t even know who will get the chance to have such a fantastic weekend.
Plus, Hulu is streaming the festival live for the first time ever! Which according to twitter, might be annoying some of the people there. I guess they don’t appreciate having a long-arm camera waving around inches from their heads. But for me it’s great! I plan on watching it as much as possible this weekend. So me and the people in my wing (I finally set up my computer speakers and concerts are supposed to experienced loudly) will be able to feel a little like we’re there. Dr. Dog is on currently, they’re pretty good. And I like their stage design a lot.
I hate to get on the soapbox here, but for all of you high school seniors (or juniors or whoever) reading this, if I could give you one piece of advice it would be to take time to enjoy your lives. I know you may be stressed with college apps and school work, I remember how difficult it was to give up an entire weekend for this festival last year, but honestly, the memories you make at events like these are going to be so worth it. I personally believe that everyone should attend at least one music festival in their lives because it’s just such a unique experience, but that’s beside the point. If this isn’t your thing, find other events, shows, games, and performances to go to with your friends and make as many memories as possible before high school is over.
