MUSIC

Fans give in to grunge as ACL slides to close

City, promoters will evaluate Zilker to see what needs to be done to fix the newly restored Great Lawn

By Joe Gross, Michael Corcoran
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Monday, October 05, 2009

On Sunday, crowds at the Austin City Limits Music Festival moved slowly. Very slowly. Trudging-through-mud slowly.

But as headliner Pearl Jam sang in its opening song, "Why go home?"

Even though the recently leveled and resodded Great Lawn of Zilker Park was a muddy mess after heavy rains and foot traffic Saturday, tens of thousands of festivalgoers were happy to get their feet dirty to watch a veteran rock band close out three days of music. Walking from stage to stage was like wading through melted H?agen-Dazs chocolate, the mud a runny, smelly coat covering grass and feet and shins.

High-traffic paths — the food court, the retail areas and the areas between the main field and the beer concessions — were hit the worst. Workers put down straw throughout Saturday night and Sunday to try to absorb some moisture and protect the grass.

Based on the mud's distinctive low-tide odor, most of what surfaced seemed to be Dillo Dirt, the compost made by the City of Austin from yard trimmings collected curbside as well as some treated sewage sludge .

(The City of Austin's Dillo Dirt Web site says the heat generated in composting — 130 to 170 degrees — is enough to virtually eliminate human and plant pathogens. Good news for people who embraced the situation, playing and covering themselves from head to toe in mud and offering hugs to passers-by.)

Most didn't seem to mind the somewhat fetid conditions .

"The rain and mud was a great change of pace from the heat and the dust," lawyer Tammy Lin said. "People paid good money for this mud."

Indeed, the majority of the sold-out festival crowd seemed unfazed by the muddy and, later, muggy Sunday, jumping up and down to Passion Pit's dance music and Dirty Projectors' blend of progressive indie rock and modern R&B late in the afternoon.

And it was Austin City No Limits for mashup artist Girl Talk's 7 p.m. set. He had about 200 audience members on stage to dance and scream while he sampled everyone from Kelly Clarkson to Elton John to Journey to late pop star Michael Jackson.

ACL organizer C3 Presents released a statement Sunday about what will happen next at the soggy park. "As a part of festival preparations, ACL Festival organizers and the Austin Parks and Recreation Department established a plan for post-festival maintenance," the statement read in part.

The plan includes allowing time for the grounds to dry before breaking down large structures and re-sodding areas of the park that need it.

The grass and root system are still intact, C3 said, and Zilker Park will be restored to pre-festival conditions. The Great Lawn reopened in August after being closed for nearly a year as improvements were made with a $2.5 million donation from C3.

C3 Presents has always paid to repair any damage to the park and will do so again this year, Austin Parks and Recreation spokesman Victor Ovalle said Sunday. He also said the plan already was for the ACL Fest area of the park to be closed until at least Oct. 16 for cleanup. The area will be evaluated today to determine whether it will take longer to restore Zilker.

Additional information from staff writers Michael Barnes and Jeff Salamon.