Do you hear the people sing…

October 13, 2019

Lizzo 

 

Do you hear the people sing…

My final day in Austin for the ACL Festival is one that I admit, I pretty much took it easy most of the day. I wanted to take some time and relax by the hotel pool, enjoy a final wonderful lunch at yet another top notch barbeque restaurant before heading over to Zilker Park for the final night of the Festival. There were a few acts that I ended up missing out on, but I thought the trade-off worth it as I was fairly exhausted by Sunday afternoon.

Lizzo

 

I debated about standing in line at Franklin BBQ but decided rather than spend hours in line, I would take a flyer on another highly regarded barbeque place, La Barbeque. Rated consistently among the best bbq restaurants in Austin, which means it is among the best in Texas and the USA as a whole, La Barbeque has its own devoted following and there was a line there as well.

I probably waited about forty minutes and it was worth the wait for sure, though not quite as amazing as Franklin, it still was pretty damn good as I had the brisket and sausage which were both excellent. They were already out of Turkey which a disappointment but this place is a nice and much quicker option than many of the Austin BBQ stalwarts. There are still a number that I have to try, but I will be back.

Banks

After a nice poolside rest, I headed over once again for the late afternoon/ evening portion of the final festival day. I arrived in time to catch some of the set by the band Rebelution before wondering over to watch Banks, neither of these acts I had seen before and frankly neither set did much for me. What I really wanted to see was the act that was the one that everyone seemed to be talking about, Lizzo. I knew from the constant buzz that she was going to be the most popular thus crowded performer of the weekend so I went over and positioned myself as close as I could before her set.

Banks 

From that vantage point I was able to watch Third Eye Blind on the adjacent stage as the crowd continued to build in anticipation of seeing Lizzo. In fact by the time she came on stage, it was easily the largest crowd I had ever seen for a single act at ACL. My guess is that 75 percent of the crowd was on hand to see her. All ages, all demographics, everyone it seems wanted to see the sensation that is Lizzo.

I know I was very interested, she seems to have burst onto the music scene like a comet this summer and after one song, it was easy to see why. She is fun, upbeat, talented and puts on an amazing show. Not being familiar with her music put me in the minority, at least up close where I was, but she easily won me and the crowd over. Leaving the spot I was in I had to walk through literally thousands and thousands of fans to get to a clear area, it was a massive crowd. Most of them were staying out to catch Cardi B who was up next, but I wanted to head to the far end of the festival to see Mumford & Sons, who while excellent just did not have the energy or excitement of Lizzo’s set.

 

It was nice to get back to Key West after what seems like a whirlwind of travel for the past month. More mundane pursuits like attending another Key West High football game on Friday night were a nice change of pace. Key West defeated public school power Miami Jackson for the first time ever. Kathy came to the game along with our friend Nadene and her daughter Meredith, who was excited to see the Conchettes and Band.

Nadene, Meredith and Kathy

 

Saturday, I was back on the road again, this time heading to Ft. Lauderdale to catch a matinee performance of my all-time favorite Broadway show, the touring version of “Les Miserables”. I met my friend Howard and his family for lunch in downtown Ft. Lauderdale and his wife Najada ended up joining me in attending the show at the Broward Center for Performing Arts.

I have probably seen the show 20 times since it first came to the US in 1985, but missed the most recent appearance on Broadway which this touring production was based on. It was as good as ever and I really had an awesome time. It was Najada’s first time seeing it, and I think she really enjoyed the excellent production as well.

https://www.labarbecue.com/menu-1/