Austin City Limits Music Festival: Jason Mraz & Coldplay

Jason Mraz and Coldplay were all I hoped they'd be - completely astounding.

If I were African, however, and the city of Austin didn't surround Zilker Park, I might have been at a music festival in sub-Saharan Africa, in the savana, where thick dust, 108-degrees of mercury and high humidity come together to squelch any possible enthusiasm for such heavy hitters as Coldplay and Mraz. However, me and my buddy Choongkun braved the scorching conditions and fought for our place in the festival. And indeed, the bands knocked my socks off. Wowzers.

I took a few pictures, and Choongkun about a gazillion, stopping what seemed every 35-and-a-half seconds to get out his pair of very nice cameras to take some wide-angle and zoom shots.

We arrived for Jason Mraz (the so-called "Geek in the Pink") precisely on-time, at 4:30. Here's a few shots:

Afterwards, we waded through the dust-polluted air to (1) find water, (2) get $ from the ATM (3) look around. The next couple of just randomly taken at what looks like to be about an hour before Coldplay came out.

Last but not least - the best out of only a couple shots I took of them - night shots are difficult. I'll get more of Choongkun later.

Coldplay was by far the most amazing of any of the other bands I saw - it was a whole show, production if you will, besides just the band. Special cameras, huge display behind the band, and even a good dose of personality from Chris Martin (lead singer, guitarist). There were rumors that Gwyneth Paltrow was seen ealier with the couple's baby.

So that was Sunday. Anyone up for SXSW...