Austin360 blogs > Out & About > Archives > 2007 > September > 16 > Entry
Drew Barrymore, Justin Long, Jake Gyllenhaal and more at ACL
Quiet(er). Cool(er). Old(er). Wearing a bit more fabric.
Otherwise, the festers stretched out in the shady artists village and the VIP compound differ almost not at all from the uncredentialed masses out on the Zilker fields. We hear this atmosphere changes later in the evening as the free booze interacts with the dehydration and exhaustion, but at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, the mood is mellow unto somnambulant. The only excitement rattles around the Tito’s vodka booth, where partiers circulate from the front to the back of the line pretty regularly.
Can’t complain about the shade backstage, though, even if I didn’t sample any of the free food or drink.
“Sure it was hot,” said Sarah Banks from Seattle. “But I just got back from Granada, Spain, where it got up 122. I tell you, the air-conditioned toilet (in the VIP area) is a godsend.”
All through the weekend, we ran into brigades of indentically coiffed kids, clearly younger than college age, having a demonstrably better time than anyone else at the festival, in part because it’s like one huge escape from home.
“They are tightening up on sneaking in,” said Jackson Davis, a polite graduate of Anderson High School. “but it’s still possible with the buddy system and a loose wristband.”
One vendor in the VIP area told us of a 14-year-old boy who, through the course of the afternoon, grown attached to her. At one point, they were approached by two busty model types, manicured hands laden with beers, who said: “We can’t carry all these, do you want some?” Following some hemming and hawing, the boy revealed his age, and one model type screamed with laughter about her brush with criminality.
After they walked away, the vendor said: “Not every day a 14-year-old has two hot models offer him beer.”
“I’ll remember this day for the rest of my life,” he replied.
We bumped into local celebs, such as ME Television’s Kevin Connor and his wife, Melissa. (Earlier, Michael Corcoran reported Kevin would be joining the on-air talent for “Folkways.”)
But readers have reported other sightings: the Indigo Girls at Las Manitas; FNL’s Amy Teegarden and Connie Britton doing the rounds. A cool crowd settles into the Belevedere Music Lounge at the Hotel San Jose late each day, which included Drew Barrymore and boyfriend, Justin Long, also viewed rocking out to the Arctic Monkeys.
Jake Gyllenhaal showed up for Wilco, while Long and Barrymore mugged for the big screens during the same show. Mark Zupan , captain of the United States quadriplegic wheelchair rugby team, hung out in the artists village on Sunday.
Hey, as always, if you have any photos that don’t invade a celebrity’s privacy, jet them my way.
Permalink | Comments (4) | Post your comment Categories: Music
Comments
By David
September 18, 2007 9:27 PM | Link to this
I think Dylan requested that he not be on the jumbo tron....
As far as Drew Barrymore that picture was taken at 3:30am.
Someone showed me a picture of her on perez hilton of her and her new man at Joe's crab shack???? She comes to Austin and eats at Joe's crab shack???? What has become of Austin where this is news? Celebs used to come here and be able to do whatever they wanted without being hassled.
Austin is no longer weird.....
By maggie
September 18, 2007 1:41 PM | Link to this
I'm up with what Jenny Lou said...due to the large crowd, we could neither hear nor see Bob Dylan. Gotan Project was awesome as was STS9. Clearly Common could have commanded a later time slot as well. btw, I have Austin Nichols Saturday ACL pics in Town Lake Tavern area at http://thedailytraveler.com/2007_09_09_archive.html
By Jenny Lou Park
September 17, 2007 5:59 PM | Link to this
Isn't it time for ACL to move up with the big festivals? How about jumbo tron for the final big act that would be showing at the other stages that are closed down. How about bigger line ups of musicians and placing them better. Gotun Project was on an off time on Saturday. They were the best of the Festival. How many times do we have to see the same bands year after year? Last year's line up was much better.
By Mitchell
September 17, 2007 2:35 AM | Link to this
Mitchell from outwithme.com, here.
Find photos of Drew at the FactoryPeople ACL Afterparty:
http://outwithme.com/public/austin/acl/acl.html