(no subject)
ACL this weekend was fun. Most everyone I told was ragging on it and me for going and I have to admit I was pretty nervous and expecting the absolute worst imaginable with regards to my festival experience but I had a great time! C3 did a great job. Shuttle lines? No problem! Water, food, booze--no problem! About as expensive as you'd get at any silly bar ($5 for veg. burger...$4 beers) but really, I was prepared to spend money. They had free water spouts everywhere and I brought in my own "water" in a nalgene bottle both days. All in all, a delightful experience.
The following is really for my own benefit, a recap of my ACL weekend:
Friday
Autamatica--Reminded me of Ash because they were Irish except more "hard" and more female vocals
The Hensley Ensemble--I am a sucker for gospel choirs
Yeasayer--Awesome. Straight up. I really like those guys and they were really good live.
Vampire Weekend--I was skeptical and refused to be sold on this band. It was hilarious as they could not even fill an hour time slot with music (as they have none) however, they put on an amazing show and do sound very good live. I recall any snarky statements I had in the past about them being "overly studio produced one trick pony tripe" They were great. I'd also like to fuck the lead singer. Just putting that out there.
Gogol Bordello--New to me but not everyone in the crowd. Really neat stuff!
Hot Chip--Rocked it outta the park. I fucking love this band so much.
N.E.R.D.--Pharrell is so hot. And no he did NOT just cover the White Stripes! Oh yes they did! They also pulled every girl up on stage they could to dance to "She Wants to Move" and everyone was dancing and shaking. I love you, N.E.R.D.!
After the concert I listened to a little of G. Love and then a little of Alejandro. Alejandro is oh so Austin. I never want to hear him again thanks to my excessive listening to KGSR at work.
Manu Chao--He dicked around and talked way too much but when he played he was great.
Saturday:
Old 97s--They were great. Played a lot of hits. Lots of other random things they wanted to play. There are some bands I just like to see live no matter how many times I've seen them before. During this set, a group of 15 year old boys tried to smoke me out. I declined.
The Fratellis--Okay. I may have been the oldest person in their audience...but I'm sorry, I really like their cutesy acoustic song "Whistle for the Choir" (which they closed with). I love them Scots. I don't care.
Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings--Damn I only hope I can be that amazing when I'm her age. So good! I left a bit early for...
Man Man--MAN MAN FOR THE ACL WIN FOR A BAND THAT ISN'T BECK. So good. So so so so so so so good. SO GOOD. SO GOOD. These guys and Yeasayer were two bands I'd liked and really wanted to see live...SO GOOD. SO GOOD. I danced the most.
Erykah Badu--Kind of sucked...left early to eat.
MGMT--Not as impressive live as hoped.
Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band--Was never into Bright Eyes, but his new project is gooooood good. Sounded amazing live.
Iron & Wine--Very tough choice between them and Black Keys, but Sam Beam was closer to Beck's stage...and if I&W hadn't put out their latest album I wouldn't give them a single thought. Great. Left early to fight my way to the front for:
Beck--I died. Thrice. He cut his set short 15 min so people started to bitch (don't fucking do that to Beck, I'll kill you) but he played song after song after song...drum machine and beat boxing parties...I love Beck forever.
Sunday:
The Kills--Very good...bitched about it being hot and the sound mixing when they did not need to. Kind of pricks but very good so that fits.
Gillian Welch--I love her. So pretty. So good.
Stars--Okay, I like this band. They are the poor man's Deathcab for Cutie. They were okay live.
Colour Revolt--My good friend whom I worked with at CAPA London is friends with the bassist for this band and I've heard so many stories that I really feel like I "know" these guys. They are really good and they had a great crowd and I'm really happy for them.
Saw a bit of Neko Case. Hooray!
Okkervil River--Not as great live as I'd hoped but I had really high hopes. I really enjoyed them.
Gnarls Barkley--Saw him because friends wanted to...not impressive, but I had this feeling I'd be really annoyed with the crowd at The Raconteurs and it was really nice to have some company so I passed them up. St. Elsewhere is a great album...but I don't think a single person in the crowd knew any one of their songs besides "Crazy." They did, however, do a cover of Radiohead's Reckoner that was the best thing done...ever.
Tegan and Sarah--They were so cute. I want them both to come home and say quippy little things that are slightly crass all day followed by "thank you so very much" in their Canadian accent.
Foo Fighters--We left early. I had to take my dear friends back to their call at Barton Creek mall. The thing is, everyone at the festival was at the Foo Fighters and we were privy to psychotic fights and frat boy dude bro shovings and pukings and just a terrible crowd experience overall. If this were Beck closing the show (better idea in my opinion) I would've stayed of course. But it wasn't. And I also realized I don't really care a bit about what the Foo Fighters have done since The Colour and the Shape and the single "All My Life." Yay. Supposedly one of their last concerts...whatever. That's what I say. Whatever.
Okay, that's it! That's what I have to say...I just wanted to type all of that.
Esteban Eugenio Del Reese is in town and I hope hope hope I get to see him soooooon!
The following is really for my own benefit, a recap of my ACL weekend:
Friday
Autamatica--Reminded me of Ash because they were Irish except more "hard" and more female vocals
The Hensley Ensemble--I am a sucker for gospel choirs
Yeasayer--Awesome. Straight up. I really like those guys and they were really good live.
Vampire Weekend--I was skeptical and refused to be sold on this band. It was hilarious as they could not even fill an hour time slot with music (as they have none) however, they put on an amazing show and do sound very good live. I recall any snarky statements I had in the past about them being "overly studio produced one trick pony tripe" They were great. I'd also like to fuck the lead singer. Just putting that out there.
Gogol Bordello--New to me but not everyone in the crowd. Really neat stuff!
Hot Chip--Rocked it outta the park. I fucking love this band so much.
N.E.R.D.--Pharrell is so hot. And no he did NOT just cover the White Stripes! Oh yes they did! They also pulled every girl up on stage they could to dance to "She Wants to Move" and everyone was dancing and shaking. I love you, N.E.R.D.!
After the concert I listened to a little of G. Love and then a little of Alejandro. Alejandro is oh so Austin. I never want to hear him again thanks to my excessive listening to KGSR at work.
Manu Chao--He dicked around and talked way too much but when he played he was great.
Saturday:
Old 97s--They were great. Played a lot of hits. Lots of other random things they wanted to play. There are some bands I just like to see live no matter how many times I've seen them before. During this set, a group of 15 year old boys tried to smoke me out. I declined.
The Fratellis--Okay. I may have been the oldest person in their audience...but I'm sorry, I really like their cutesy acoustic song "Whistle for the Choir" (which they closed with). I love them Scots. I don't care.
Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings--Damn I only hope I can be that amazing when I'm her age. So good! I left a bit early for...
Man Man--MAN MAN FOR THE ACL WIN FOR A BAND THAT ISN'T BECK. So good. So so so so so so so good. SO GOOD. SO GOOD. These guys and Yeasayer were two bands I'd liked and really wanted to see live...SO GOOD. SO GOOD. I danced the most.
Erykah Badu--Kind of sucked...left early to eat.
MGMT--Not as impressive live as hoped.
Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band--Was never into Bright Eyes, but his new project is gooooood good. Sounded amazing live.
Iron & Wine--Very tough choice between them and Black Keys, but Sam Beam was closer to Beck's stage...and if I&W hadn't put out their latest album I wouldn't give them a single thought. Great. Left early to fight my way to the front for:
Beck--I died. Thrice. He cut his set short 15 min so people started to bitch (don't fucking do that to Beck, I'll kill you) but he played song after song after song...drum machine and beat boxing parties...I love Beck forever.
Sunday:
The Kills--Very good...bitched about it being hot and the sound mixing when they did not need to. Kind of pricks but very good so that fits.
Gillian Welch--I love her. So pretty. So good.
Stars--Okay, I like this band. They are the poor man's Deathcab for Cutie. They were okay live.
Colour Revolt--My good friend whom I worked with at CAPA London is friends with the bassist for this band and I've heard so many stories that I really feel like I "know" these guys. They are really good and they had a great crowd and I'm really happy for them.
Saw a bit of Neko Case. Hooray!
Okkervil River--Not as great live as I'd hoped but I had really high hopes. I really enjoyed them.
Gnarls Barkley--Saw him because friends wanted to...not impressive, but I had this feeling I'd be really annoyed with the crowd at The Raconteurs and it was really nice to have some company so I passed them up. St. Elsewhere is a great album...but I don't think a single person in the crowd knew any one of their songs besides "Crazy." They did, however, do a cover of Radiohead's Reckoner that was the best thing done...ever.
Tegan and Sarah--They were so cute. I want them both to come home and say quippy little things that are slightly crass all day followed by "thank you so very much" in their Canadian accent.
Foo Fighters--We left early. I had to take my dear friends back to their call at Barton Creek mall. The thing is, everyone at the festival was at the Foo Fighters and we were privy to psychotic fights and frat boy dude bro shovings and pukings and just a terrible crowd experience overall. If this were Beck closing the show (better idea in my opinion) I would've stayed of course. But it wasn't. And I also realized I don't really care a bit about what the Foo Fighters have done since The Colour and the Shape and the single "All My Life." Yay. Supposedly one of their last concerts...whatever. That's what I say. Whatever.
Okay, that's it! That's what I have to say...I just wanted to type all of that.
Esteban Eugenio Del Reese is in town and I hope hope hope I get to see him soooooon!