ACL Recap - Saturday & Sunday

Saturday I got down there a little bit later, in time to see all of Aimee Mann's set. Her's was the first I got fairly close to the stage for, although far to one side so not a great angle. Her voice sounded great and it took until a couple songs from the end when she turned on a drum machine that I realized that she didn't have a drummer at all (and all previous songs had no drums at all). She mostly played acoustic guitar but sat down at the piano for a few songs. She said she wasn't a very good pianist, and she certainly didn't do anything amazing... just simple chords. This was made even more noticeable when her regular keyboardist sat down next to her and played a piano solo while she played chords. After that I caught some of the Raconteurs. I sat really far back and didn't pay a whole lot of attention, but they sounded really into their music and were having a good time. Last for the day was Willie Nelson, who I now wish I had gotten closer to the stage for because he was pretty hard to hear--which has proven to be a common problem for the AMD stage. I can now say that I've finally seen Willie in Austin, but I am going to have to see him again at a smaller venue because I just wasn't close enough to fully appreciate the show.

Sunday was the day I was waiting for, and probably the day I would've bought a single day pass for if I went that route. I didn't think I'd get there 'til late afternoon but somehow got motivated and arrived around 3. I saw parts of KT Tunstall (good) mostly from the air-conditioned AT&T Oasis, Jack Ingram (eh), Patrice Pike (okay) and a song or two of Matisyahu the jewish rapper guy (good groove but nothing special). Then came the two shows I was really waiting for--the New Pornographers and the Flaming Lips. These are the only two bands at ACL that I actually own CDs of. I set up early for the New Pornographers and thus was able to get quite close in front of the stage. They only played 3 songs from the album I own but I got into their unfamiliar material quite easily. It looks like I'm going to have to pick up some more of their albums. Neko Case was a bit frustrated due to monitor problems but sounded good nonetheless. There was enough fun banter, as Neko and their lead singer commented how they were honored to play right after Ween, how they should get Son Volt to turn down (not in a bitchy way, just making fun), and how they would get to ride to the Flaming Lips show in a luxury golf cart. They didn't want to miss a minute of that show either and so gave us all just enough time to make the trek over to the AT&T stage. I think the entire audience moved there from this show.


The New Pornographers

I have seen the Flaming Lips before, but only indoors. An outdoor show gives them much more flexibility, and it was crazy. Wayne Coyne started off the show crowd surfing inside a big inflatable ball, and the stage was full of guys dressed in santa suits and girls dressed in elf (or maybe alien) costumes. Also standing guard in the back were a big Santa, a big alien, and a big astronaut. And, they kept on releasing six foot diameter balloons into the crowd. You may think all of this distracted from the music but it's all part of the show and the fun. Actually, I think the Lips' music affected me the most as I found myself getting a little emotional during several songs.

Last was Tom Petty who I like, but not as much as the last two bands. So, I didn't plan on staying for the whole set. But, partly due to meeting up with a friend about halfway through the set, I ended up staying for the whole thing and really enjoyed it. There was a bit of rain about halfway through and they had to stop for twenty minutes or so, and I wasn't sure if they were going to be forced off at 10 or not. Luckily they were allowed to play late. I was a bit surprised when the very last encore song turned out to be the one our band plays (You Wreck Me). Not my favorite but I guess I have new respect for that one.