The story headline for the feature on the front page of the arts section in today’s NYT is “Hitting the Rader: A Festival Soars in Texas,” byline Nate Chinen. It’s possible that this is a first-time visit to Austin for the author. His verdict? In brief, it’s that, “judging by the strength of the music, the smoothness of operations and the fervor of crowds averaging 65,000 daily — [the ACL fest] deserves recognition as a first-tier rock fest, with a regional twist.” Cons mentioned are sound bleed between the stages, heat, and dust. Heat? This weather was practically arctic, compared to what we’ve endured thus summer! The pros, according to the reporter, are many. He seems to especially like all the must Austin-specific features.