A First Timer at ACL:

While I am from Texas, I haven’t been living in Austin for very long. So of course, I was excited about the prospect of going to City Limits when I moved here back in August.

It was three days of sun, sweat, Sweet Leaf Tea and of course, some pretty amazing music. The majority of my ACL picks managed to deliver, and pleasantly surprised by a few other bands as well. So here’s a bit of a recap of my weekend:

Day 1:

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect in terms of performances, as well as crowd size and what can only be described as a sea of flags.

The most surprising performance of the day was Vampire Weekend. I tend to steer away from bands that are surrounded by so much hype but I found their music to be pretty decent, along with their show. I thought they held their own and it did make me want some of their music.

The lackluster performance of the day award goes to Hot Chip. While I’ve always liked some of their brand of techno indie beats, I simply wasn’t impressed. Also, they closed their set with a cover of Sinéad O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares 2 U”, which was a little strange and that not well done. I’m sure somewhere that day, Sinéad was ripping a picture of Alexis Taylor.

Best performance of the day, hands down, was Gogol Bordello. I’ve heard stories of how ridiculously amazing they can be live, and I wasn’t disappointed. Not a lot of bands can pull of a crazy, eclectic mix of international hardcore punk, complete with violin and accordion. They never lacked energy and their performance was a non-stop riot. Had I been closer to the stage, I’m sure I would have been caught up in the throws of a rather large mosh pit.

Day 2:

Another hot day, fortunately with brief periods of relief due to the clouds. This is also the day I realized that I owed my hydration (possibly my life) to Pomegranate Green Tea.

Surprisingly good today was The Fratellis. I’m going to be honest and say that I’m not incredibly familiar with their music past their singles but it seemed like a good enough bet early in the day and I was pleasantly surprised. The music was good, as was the energy. Unfortunately, I couldn’t understand a word their leader singer was saying when he attempted to interact with the crowd. This was mostly likely due to his ridiculous Scottish accent and the fact that he was probably incredibly hung-over.

Today’s disappointment was Beck. I didn’t know what to expect and apparently, you shouldn’t expect too much from the likes of the music world’s first andryonyous indie kids. (Side note: Does anyone else think this guy is immortal? He looked the same way he does now when I was 10.) Somehow he managed to squeeze in his well-known hits before walking off the stage 20 minutes before his set actually ended. Thinking there would be an encore, I imagine those who had fought their way to the front were disappointed to see roadies come out and immediately take things down. Not cool, Beck. Not cool.

Best band of the day: MGMT, surprisingly enough. Another hyped band that I had little to no expectations of, another relatively good performance. The crowd that I was surrounded by was rather ridiculous, and I guess for good reason. Points to MGMT for pulling off a pretty good live show.

Day 3:

Surprisingly good: The Kills. I didn’t have much to go on other than a good friend’s single-minded adoration of their music and performances, so I tried to be open-minded. Other than Allison Mosshart’s adversion to the sun (and unfortunately, they played on the hottest of all three days), I really like their gritty take on indie rock. Consider me a fan.

photo : valerie@fremin.net

Rather lackluster was Silversun Pickups. Maybe their vocalist is subdued on their records (which I rather like), but there’s something about his voice that is so high and grating live that it sounds like he’s about to bust a vocal cord. Yet another band that probably isn’t meant to be enjoyed live. Oh well.

For me personally, I have a first and second place for best band(s) of the day. 2^nd place goes to Stars, who thankfully did not disappoint me and made the most of their hour-long set. They never slowed down too much and jokingly acknowledged that Against Me!, who had the same time slot as they did on the Dell stage, sounded like a much more energetic show. But they played a nice mix of old and new; it was nice also to be showered with water and rose petals between songs.

1^st place of course, goes to The Foo. Say what you will about mainstream rock, but I’ve seen The Foo Fighters live before and I only wish I was as cool as Dave Grohl. And for such a big name band, I wish others would follow his example and have that much passion about putting on a good show. Between my favorite songs and the best triangle solo anyone will ever hear, I was glad that I ended ACL on such a high note.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 7th, 2008 at 11:59 am and is filed under ACL Festival 2008, live shots.