Monday, September 17, 2007


 

Whew.  It's over.  I can now rest easy knowing that I survived my first Austin City Limits.  On my end, I saw 16 full sets of music and numerous moments of other performances.  I also made my feet hurt a lot and got a slightly bad sunburn on the back of my neck.  You can make up your mind as to which one you think outweighs the other, but I'm confident in saying the music.  Here is my rundown of the third day, which consisted of me seeing Fionn Regan, the National, DeVotchKa, Regina Spektor, Wilco and Ghostland Observatory.  Enjoy.

I couldn't seem to get my act together early enough to see Nicole Atkins and the Sea, which was disappointing, but I did get to Zilker Park in time to see Mercury Prize nominee Fionn Regan take the stage.  Actually, I could have been late and still caught Regan's set, as he had the longest setup time ever for a guy with an acoustic guitar.  And to think he had other people setting it all up!  If Annie Clark can setup multiple instruments by herself then this guy can walk up and plug in his guitar.

Anyway, I thought he put on a great set once he finally got started.  His sound is creative and inspired, so even though singer/songwriters are a dime a dozen he really stands out and makes the genre his own.  I have to admit though, I was really surprised at the large crowd of fans (not just people wandering around) that showed up.  I was unaware of his popularity.

At 1:30pm I walked over the see the National play.  I'm really not a huge fan of the band's latest effort, the Boxer, but since most people I know are completely in love with it I figured I should at least give it a shot live and in person.

Well, I can't say that my mind has changed all that much.  I think they're great performers, but seeing them in a field and not in a dark club at one in the morning seemed a bit strange.  I also think that most of their songs feel and sound the same.  They start off slow and then build up to a chaotic climax.  Maybe one day it will click and I will see what the big deal is about the veteran act.

I took a break after the National and then waited around for DeVotchKa to come on at 3:30pm.  I'm not overwhelmingly familiar with all of their work, but on the insistence of some fellow colleagues I made sure to stick around for the entire set and not bolt over to see Common.  Fortunately, I wasn't disappointed.  Those guys had the crowd dancing and having a good time as soon as they started playing their special brand of gypsy-punk.  I can't wait to catch them again at some point in the future.

After another quick break I caught a really nice set from Regina Spektor, who may have been the happiest person in the world when she walked out on stage and saw thousands of people anxiously awaiting her arrival.  It looked as if her face was going to rip from smiling so large.  After a few songs though, she quit gushing and went about showing why all of those people showed up; she's talented.  I figured that she was going to sound good, but I have to say that I was surprised at just how dynamic she was sitting in front of all those people with just a piano and her voice.

I was very tempted to once again rest my legs between 6:30pm and 7:45pm, but I decided to suck it up and see Wilco.  I'm glad that I made this particular decision, as the guys had some heavily inspired moments that I would have missed out on.  However, their set kind of reminded me of the National's.  They aren't really a band that should be seen in the middle of a field.  I would have greatly preferred to have seen them indoors at some place where the sound is full and the mood a little more appropriate.  Still, the guys do know how to put on a show regardless of where they're at.

I ended my ACL experience with the greatest performance of the weekend.  It was Ghostland Observatory and a shit ton of badass lights and lazers.  It was literally the pinnacle of everything that a huge show at night in the middle of damn field should be.  The local duo even managed to sum up my ACL experience in just 45 minutes of music.  They were chaotic, exhausting and, most importantly, an absolute blast.

I mean, they were so good that I afterwards I decided to skip Bob Dylan.  That's right, I skipped him.  In my mind there was no way that it was going to get better than what Ghostland Observatory did.  It was perfect.

This is a good example of how crazy the lights got at certain points.


Here the lights are slightly more calm, but still in full force.

- John Laird -



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