Better late than never, someone once said. Is that really true though? I guess it depends on the situation.

The most anticipated festival of the year for me had finally arrived, and as the day presented to opportunity to see a few acts that I hadn’t been witness to as of yet, the main interest for me today lay in one of the last acts of the day, The National. More on that later.

A pick of mine for the festival took the tiny, tucked away in the corner, stage 2 early in the day. El Paso Hot Button, who I have seen several times before, seemed a bit out of his element. Keep in mind that EPHB is one man, one man named Mickey Reece. The dynamics of the one-man band seemed a bit lost in the bright early afternoon sun, on the not-so intimate stage. One of the attractions of the EPHB show is the manner in which Reece builds the intensity of the set as it moves along with the music and the addition of lights, smoke, and effects. Not possible to do so in this setting. I’ll catch you next time, after dark my friend.

Octopus Project

The 4 o’clock slot for local electronic act The Octopus Project found the band playing to a large crowd in the arbor friendly stage 4. The woods-like environment seemingly appropriate for the collection of familiar stage creatures that the band employs in their shows. While being only stage props in the past, the creatures came to life towards the end of the bands set, dancing along to the electronic Roo! happiness the band so creatively crafts, much to the audience’s delight. Although a somewhat well known act around town, the increasing size of their audiences at the last two of their Austin festival performances leads one to believe that the Octopus Project is one of this town’s most well received exports.

Trail of Dead

Austin’s And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead…..set out to reclaim the love and admiration of the local rock fans while setting the stage for the release of a new full length recording to be released on the band’s own label, Richter Scale Records. While the band has reigned in the stage antics that were the talk of fans in the richer days, the musical performance still maintains it’s punk intensity with prog-rock like song structure. Possibly a bit hesitant to get too much into newer material the band seemed to rely on older fan favorites like “Will You Smile Again” and “Relative Ways” to keep the crowd into the set. I can’t claim to be the biggest of fans, but think that I can speak for many in saying that, I would love nothing more for the band to make a rise back into the consciousness of the modern music fans.

Trail of Dead

Deerhoof and Magnetic Morning were a couple of bands that I had no familiarity with, and were pleasant enough for what I experienced. I would say that the reaction to the Deerhoof performance was one expected to be reserved for a headlining act.  Dan Deacon’s traditional set-up being in front of the stage made engaging his performance difficult for the casual fan.

Magnetic Morning

Deerhoof

I was never much a fan of the Dead Milkmen to begin with, so the idea of a reunion just didn’t appeal to me. That, and The National were playing at the same time.

Being such a fan of The National, I sadly say that I have only seen the band perform once before, and it was as I had expected and wished. A performance that complimented the recorded songs that I have become so familiar with and attached to, while bringing them to a 3-dimensional life. Ever since I laid hands on Alligator, I have been swept away in the baritone soaked, boozy, poetic, urban stories of the band. Saturday’s performance was a bit different than expected, but in a delightfully different way.

The band took awhile to get the set started, and once they did, it was obvious that set out to fit in as much as they possibly could before the pending sound ordinance hour forced a silence. Hastily, but still effective, the band made it’s way through the set, obviously taking a loose approach to the performance. A bit intoxicated you might say was the mood of the band, which found it’s way into the audience, including this guy, who found himself the company of new friends sharing sips off a flask of bourbon. Smiles all around as each song finished, and as vocalist Matt Berninger readied himself for another song while threatening to take out each band member with enthusiastic swaggering. “Mr. November” appropriately closed out the set, and as the hope of a song that means a bit more to some of us than others, the understanding that the opportunity to hear new material from The National, much less see them live, will have to wait. It’s a sad realization in an exciting time. The band finds itself breaking away from the existence it’s known for the last year and a half, to regroup and craft for us something new. The last performance for awhile.

I finish up the evening with the Fun Fun Fun Fest afterparty at the Mohawk with my good friends, and amazing band, Dead Confederate. Sorry guys, but you have to follow The National.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 18th, 2008 at 1:05 pm and is filed under ACL Festival 2008, live shots.