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DC-9 just got an e-mail announcing 2008 Austin City Limits Festival three-day passes are now on sale at special early-bird prices. If you buy ’em, the ACL folk will send you a confirmation e-mail and mail the tix later in the year. (So you don’t have to hang on to a ticket for 12 months.) The downside is the lineup is unknown; the upside is a three-day pass is only $135 during the special. This deal is for ACL e-list subscribers only. If you haven’t subscribed, go here. -- Jonanna Widner

If you know anyone who skipped out early at ACL, we know what they missed. Sunday's sets included Bloc Party (in direct sunlight), My Morning Jacket (pretending to be at a beach) and our own Denton boys in Midlake. DC-9 has pictures of them all. See what you missed or relive it.

If you keep clickin' on through the slideshow, you'll find photos from the first two days of ACL tacked on the end. Even if you didn't, we wanted to see those Bjork pictures again. -- Chelsea Ide

So, the whole festival thing is such a mixed bag. There are the hassles you know about that I won't really detail too much here -- expense (admittedly, the beer and food prices are reasonable here), lines (it took an hour to get inside ACL premises on opening day) and trying to find your friends. But overall, the ACL folks have done a kick-ass job keeping things working well. Potty lines, food and bev. lines have been OK; the fires (!) were dealt with quickly and as professionally and efficiently as possible; and the sets have been on-time and fuck-up free.

The dichotomy of Ooh, too many people vs. Ooh, Band X is awesome! was no more noticeable than during the 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. hours, when one could set up camp in advance of the Arcade Fire set -- which closed last night's festivities -- in between the AT&T Blue Room stage and the AMD stage. The chunk of greatness started off with Andrew Bird, whom I have until this day eschewed with a great disdain for his pretentiousness. He completely won me over with his gorgeous, fun, poppy set; his famous whistle parts as thick and full as a Rhodes. He also plucked his violin like it was a heavy metal guitar, as well as playing it traditionally while singing simultaneously.

So, something about blogging about ACL just makes me want to make funny lists. This will probably piss off all the music purists who desire set list details and various musical ephemera, but, hey, it's bitch-ass hot and so short equals sweet.

Popular Fashion Accessories for ACL 2007 (a.k.a. things we saw a lot of people sporting):

1. Giant leg boot. The kind for when you hurt yourself playing sports or whatever; which, by the way, looks like a complete drag.

2. Orange, phallus-shaped, hand-held fans. People insisted on sticking them right in front of their faces, so it looked like they were giving Popsicle blow jobs.

3. Stamp tramp.

4. Fire extinguisher.

Popular Pastimes at ACL 2007 (a.k.a. things we saw a lot of people doing):

1. Sweating.

2. Waiting in line.

3. Cursing the fact cell phones won't work.

4. Passing out. -- Jonanna Widner

"So, Elaine said to me, 'You get those people on those buses and you get them there, regardless of whether they can read!'" -- Lady trying to get drunken festival-goers aboard shuttle buses efficiently, speaking to other shuttle lady.

"I like the Smashing Pumpkins and marijuana." -- Dude to his dude-friend

"I'm not real big on the gynecological exams." -- Frat Boy 1 to Frat Boy 2

-- Jonanna Widner

Sometimes, words aren't enough. We know. If you're aching to see what the first day of Austin City Limits was like -- and not just the fire -- hit up our slideshow.

We snapped pictures of your favorite bands -- from Pete Yorn to M.I.A. to Kaiser Chiefs (pictured) -- and a few of the crowds. (People you know may well be in there!) -- Chelsea Ide

Best moments of ACL Day One, in order of awesomeness:

5. Goddamn, the hot dogs are good. All burnt on the outside and juicy on the inside.
4. Beer ain't too expensive. Four bucks for a small.
3. The moment the Spoon (pictured) set ended--it was kinda boring.
2. Blonde Redhead.
1. When M.I.A., who seemed to be struggling with the heat, though she was still able to bust out her Jazzercise moves, ordered the crowd up on stage, demanding pot and that "everybody go fucking crazy." At which point, like, 100 people crowded the stage, and then she ordered everybody off.

Worst moments of ACL Day One, summed up in one to two phrases:

1. Uh, all the fucking fires!
2. Also, the toilets. -- Jonanna Widner

So, before we get into the thick of it, let's talk about the fires, shall we? Yesterday, the fest kicked off with, um, a near the AT&T stage where Pete Yorn was performing. Sources say it was a combination of the 90+ degree heat and the high grease factor of Yorn's hair. Just kidding.

Not so funny: We had heard initial reports of no injuries, but apparently four people were hurt, two severely, which sucks. The good news is the fire was controlled quickly, which is amazing and also really fortunate.

Weird enough, right? But then as we were soaking in the latter part of Bjork's crazy, amazing set, the last show of the evening, we could see, clearly, another fire. This one behind the gauzy screen with the ACL logo that hid the giant tower of speakers flanking the right side of the stage. At first, considering the Wall-reminiscent green lasers shooting from stage to sky, we thought this might be part of the show. But when the fire started spreading, sparks began falling from it and the band finished a song and didn't continue, it was like, "Holy fuck! Seriously? We just had a fire."

We're headed out to the Austin City Limits festival this weekend, and before seeing any bands, we've got big news. There is a massive fire at the festival. Our writers can see an overwhelming plume of smoke from their car on I-35. Reports say several propane tanks exploded at a concession stand between two of the stages. Austin 360 is reporting that two people are critically injured.

Bands resumed performances at 3:10 p.m. this afternoon. -- Jonanna Widner and Chelsea Ide