By Kirby Brooks

Musical festival season is officially over, and it was a great one, wasnt? The season of music festivals, which began last spring with Coachella and was followed by a string of others with kooky names like Bonnaroo and Lollapallooza, has come to a close with Austin City Limits. The Texas festival marked the end of the 2008 music festival season and even though it took place in September, just as fall was beginning to creep in, the 90-degree Texas heat allowed for festival fans to break out the short shorts and bikini tops one more time.

Jenny Lewis, of Rilo Kiley fame, took the stage solo on Sept. 26, the first day of A.C.L., with a performance featuring tracks from her newest release, Acid Tongue, as well as songs from 2006s Rabbit Fur Coat while her newest fan, Bill Murray (yes, the Bill Murray) danced and sang along. While Lewis did her thing, Conor Oberst took the stage across the way with performances of Danny Callahan and Milk Thistle from his most recent eponymous album. Day One of A.C.L. also hosted the Mars Volta, N.E.R.D., the Swell Season and Vampire Weekend. Headliners Mars Volta delivered the psychedelic The Widow and Goliath, while N.E.R.D. brought fans up on stage to dance along to Lapdance and a medley of Everyone Nose and She Wants to Move which featured the melody of the White Stripes Seven Nation Army. Zoey Deschanel, on a break from touring with M. Ward as She & Him, drew a crowd as a solo performer on the first day as well.

Day two featured headliner Beck with a shorter performance than expected, although fans still enjoyed his eclectic set list which spanned his career. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss performed Killing the Blues and Gone Gone Gone from last years Raising Sand and Led Zeppelin fans received a treat in the form of The Battle of Evermore. Spiritualized delivered one of Day Twos best performances with a set list harking from their past releases (playing only one songSoul on Firefrom their recent album, Songs in A&E). Iron & Wine took the stage at dusk with a more upbeat performance than their usual fare; the set list included Cinder & Smoke and Wolves, among other songs and a pregnant Erykah Badu sang Healer and Me earlier on that day.

Dave Grohl and the rest of the Foo Fighters closed this years A.C.L., with a performance featuring newer singles like Let it Die and Long Road to Ruin as well as a cover of the Whos Young Man Blues and old favorites like Monkey Wrench. Rocknroll proved to be the pervading theme for the final day of A.C.L., as the Raconteurs, Against Me! and Band of Horses also played. Jack White and Brendan Benson shared vocal duties for the Raconteurs, who delivered Steady As She Goes, Level and Hold Up. Gillian Welch offered some more soothing sounds for fans in a set which featured guitarist David Rawlings and an appearance by Alison Krauss.

In October the television series for which serves as the inspiration for Austin City Limits kicks off its 34th season. With episodes with Gnarls Barkley, the Swell Season, Erykah Badu and R.E.M. in store, fans will already be thinking of when to purchase their Austin City Limits Festival tickets for next year.

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