Saturday, September 15, 2007


 

I hate festivals.  I mean, you have no idea how much I despise being in the middle of a billion people as the sun is doing its best to melt you. With that being said, I had a blast over the course of the first day of Austin City Limits.  I took it easy, stayed hydrated and watched the Heartless Bastards, Blonde Redhead, M.I.A., Spoon and Bjork put on performances that I won't soon forget.  Here's my rundown.  Come back tomorrow for Saturday's happenings.  Enjoy.

The Heatless Bastards came on at 1:30pm and were the first act that I caught during the day.  I had never seen them live, and given that I'm a fan I was hoping for a quality set, which they delivered effortlessly.  Most bands wouldn't have been able to pull off such a crisp sound in the middle of the day with a not so huge crowd lumbering around trying not to pass out.  Kudos to the trio for bringing their all.

I caught Blonde Redhead's set at 3:30pm.  Before that though, I took a stroll around the grounds and ended up watching a trailer go up in flames.  It was kind of bizarre and random, but I guess that kind of stuff happens when there is so much stuff going on at one time.  Does anybody know if people were hurt?

As for the band, they showcased why they've been around so long; they're consummate professionals.  The entire hour that they played was loud, dance-worthy and borderline epic.  I saw a lot of people bobbing their heads and actually making an effort to pay attention to the band instead of knocking back the alcoholic beverages and applying sunscreen.  That's rather hard to accomplish in the afternoon at a festival.

After another hour long break I decided to skip LCD Soundsystem and see M.I.A. at 5:30pm instead.  I was a little worried that I was making a bad decision, as I had heard not so good things about the Arular tour, but the girl bounced out onto the stage and put on a great show that had every eye within seeing distance trained solely on her.  She certainly is a dynamic artist that's as entertaining as anyone could hope for.
 

Pull up the people/Pull up the M.I.A.

My only complaint was that before the last two songs she invited everyone on stage, which resulted in this:
 

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Can you spot M.I.A.?

Once they all got up there she then told them all to get off so that she could finish her set.  Now, if I heard correctly she asked for people to bring her some "green" when they came, so it's entirely possible that all those backup dancers were just used as a distraction for some swift hash handoffs on stage.  You would think there would be an easier way to obtain such a thing without killing the pace of the performance.  But, what do I know?

Right at 6:30pm M.I.A's set ended and Spoon's began.  Luckily, the stages were close and I didn't miss out on anything.  I thought they played a little tight, but overall I enjoyed hearing most of Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga and an assortment of tunes from their back catalog.  I just kind of wish that they would have left me with the desire to see them again.  Instead, I kind of feel like I've seen all their tricks.

After Spoon I hung around and maneuvered my way up to about 50 or 60 feet from the stage and then readied myself for Bjork.  Though, I actually didn't get excited until about five minutes before she was set to come on.  I think it may have been because of how it took me a little while to realize I was about to watch an artist that I've adored since I started listening to music.

Anyhow, she fucking slaughtered me.  I don't think I'll ever recover from the mind-blowing, sense-overriding performance that she put on.  It was an hour and a half of pure brilliance that kept me enthralled and left me wanting more.  I know she doesn't tour the US much, but trust me when I say that Bjork is good enough to warrant jumping on a one way flight to Iceland or wherever she's playing.

And just in case you think I'm exaggerating I have this picture to prove otherwise.  She was so awesome that the speakers caught on fire right before the encore.

- John Laird -



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