For the first time, I flew to Austin for the ACL festival. This is unusual since, afterall, I live in Austin. As luck would have it I was working in California the week before and the week after ACL, so I flew into Austin at 3:30 am Friday, slept until noon and made my way down to Zilker Park. I also got to fly out of Austin Monday morning at 6:20 am. That wasn't fun. Surprisingly, I didn't fall asleep at work and managed to stay fairly productive all day.
I have no complaints (as usual) about the festival. I was a bit disgruntled getting in on Friday, as the line was very long. But, I can understand and forgive that as they had a fire earlier in the day and shut down the entrances for awhile, resulting in a back-up that I'm sure I was part of. There was practically no bag checking this year so you could sneak in whatever contraband you wanted. I wasn't in the mood to get wasted so I did not take advantage of this situation.
The lineup this year was the least interesting yet, but since I tend to enjoy bands I've never heard of almost as much as bands that I am familiar with, I figured it would be a good time regardless. And it was.
Here's a brief rundown of who I saw:
Friday
Crowded House - they really seemed into playing, and really happy to be there. These guys are mature enough to realize what a great life they're having. They played some catchy songs that I've never heard before (I only know those few super popular songs) so I may end up buying some of their stuff. I wish they played some Split Enz, but oh well. Also, they played a melodica for the solo in Don't Dream It's Over, so that proves it is a real musical instrument and you can't make fun of me anymore for playing it.
LCD Sound System, MIA - their strongs had a strong beat but I wasn't into it
JJ Grey and Mofro - these guys were a lot of fun and had some cool brass parts. They are from Jacksonville and, having lived there for a year, it's nice to see Freakville represent.
Queens of Stone Age - not as crazy as I imagined them to be, but sounded good, no complaints
Kaiser Chiefs - I only heard them from a distance after the QoSA set, but afterwards I wished I was closer. Their doubled vocals sounded very Ramones like, and they had a few catchy songs. This is another band that I may need to look into getting a CD of.
Killers - sharp looking, which seems appropriate for a band from Vegas. They sounded good, but a little too conventional for me.
Bjork - Where do you start with Bjork? You know she's going to be out there. I can't decide if I enjoyed her music or just watching all the weirdness. She had an all female Icelnadic brass section, each one wearing a gown of a different color. There was also a laser show that was somehow timed to the music yet I couldn't quite figure out. Also, they kept showing on the monitors some weird pucks-on-table control system but I couldn't tell what it was controlling (maybe the lasers?) Weird stuff!
Saturday/Sunday later...
Labels: music
