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XL on ACL: So Long!

Austin City Limits fest coasts to a close with Lance, R.E.M

Mike Mills of R.E.M. performs at Sunday's close of the Austin City Limits Music Festival. Mayor Will Wynn, U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett and cycling champ Lance Armstrong took the stage before the band.
Sung Park AMERICAN-STATESMAN

By Joe Gross
Austin American-Statesman
Sept. 22, 2003

Monday is a work day, so it's no wonder that Sunday's installment of the Austin City Limits Music Festival was a little calmer than Friday's and Saturday's. "Today I should probably eat something while I drink" might have been the day's mantra.

Unlike Saturday, which had a number of alcohol-related injuries, including one concertgoer who had to be taken away with alcohol poisoning, Zilker Park on Sunday was a picture of relative sobriety. As of 7 p.m., the medical tent had treated approximately 30 people for little more than minor cuts and scrapes. Attendance was estimated at 60,000.

"It seems pretty mellow," said Victor Salinas, 29, a Fort Worth resident. "Everybody's tired."

During daylight hours, the biggest draw was Ben Harper, who seemed to attract more than a third of the crowd. His blend of mainstream rock, folk and blues is perhaps the perfect Austin City Limits music, appealing to 50-year-olds decked out in tie-dyed T-shirts and sandals as well as 19-year-olds decked out in tie-dyed T-shirts and sandals.

But the big show of the night — and probably the entire three-day fest — was the 8:30 p.m. closing set on the Capital Metro Stage by R.E.M., which was preceded by an appearance by Austin Mayor Will Wynn and U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin.

"You can see why we're the Live Music Capital of the World," Doggett said before praising the efforts of the festival's organizers.

"It's been a great day," Wynn said. "R.E.M. and a special guest will be out in a minute."

The special guest turned out to be five-time Tour de France cycling champion Lance Armstrong, who introduced the headliners with the inspirational prediction, "This is gonna be . . incredible!"

And to many of those assembled — including film director Cameron Crowe, who was in town scouting movie locations and stood in the wings bobbing his head along with the rest of the audience — it was. "We're R.E.M., and this is what we do," singer Michael Stipe said at the beginning of a set that drew on older material such as "Finest Work Song" and brand new songs such as "Animal" and "Bad Day."

Much to the delight of the crowd, which immediately began singing along, the band launched into "World Leader Pretend," which Stipe said the group hadn't properly played since 1991.

Stipe explained that the band selected the 1988 song, which clearly had a political import it didn't 15 years ago, based on an Internet poll. "Someone voted for this song 27 times," he said.

Though the crowd may have been the largest of the weekend, some people began to leave midway through. "I want to beat the traffic," one person was overheard saying. "Let's stay for just a few songs."

After all, Monday is a work day.

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