Austin City Limits Music Festival
Zilker Park
Austin, Texas
Friday, September 15, 2006
To describe ACL Fest's roster of artists as "esoteric" would not be far from the mark. They always pick excellent musicians, quite often people you have never heard, or heard of, before, not usually big mainstream artists, with the exception of the headliners. This is not the place to see Ashley Simpson, nor are you likely to see Metallica on the bill.
In fact, there didn't appear to be any metal bands represented at all. This is NOT a "rock festival" along the lines of a Lollapalooza, but more a sampling of what could be described as Austin's own musical direction. There were plenty of punk and wave bands, alternative rock, goth, alternative country, blues and they even found room in the mornings to get religion with a selection of gospel artists and to keep the children entertained with their own "kiddie" stage. Many of the artists defy description or can't be lumped into a single genre well. The worst part, try as you might, with eight stages going it's just impossible to see them all. And if you try, like I did, at the end of the three days, you're so exhausted you need a week to recover.
Taking advantage of the musical smorgasboard, I found myself moving from stage to stage sampling two or three songs from each band, and then moving on to the next stage. Although many people do that, those who do end up tripping over the "tailgaters," the ones who bring chairs, cooler, and the family and park at one stage. I found myself racing between the stages to try to catch many of the artists and luckily only missed one or two.
With no photo pass, I was attending this show as a "civilian" and was limited to using a small point and shoot digital from beyond the photo pit. For this show I picked the Fuji F30 because of its manual controls and its high ISO of 3200, just in case I had low lighting problems to contend with. As I made my way over to the AMD stage to catch Guster, I scanned the other stages to get the basic layout of the festival stages. This was going to be a long long weekend. A total of eight stages, four mains, three smaller stages, and the kiddie stage all spread to the four corners of the park. It was going to take a lot of fast walking and mission focus to acheive my goals.
Guster was just about finishing up their set by the time I got there. Even this early the crowd was already large enough to make it tough to get close enough to shoot pictures. Later, when the headliners appeared, the giant video screens at the main stages would be the best, and for many the only, way to see the stage. From Boston, they sounded pretty cool, with a really mellow alternative sound - their latest album even has a snake on the cover. As their set ended I, and the gathering crowd, began to shift to the next stage over, the AT&T Blue Room stage, just as Wolf Parade hit the boards.
Wolf Parade is a smart sounding band out of Montreal and they had a poppy twangy offbeat buzz. Canada seems to be exporting a lot of these intersting indie/alternative bands to us these days, proving once again that Anne Murray and Celine Dion are NOT the Canadian music world's best musical exports. I stuck around for about four songs; they all sounded pretty interesting. Worth another look, but I needed to start walking and to get a better idea of the layout, the stages and the show timing. I wandered over by the food court, picking my way through the increasing crowd.
I found myself over by the Washington Mutual Stage just in time to catch the last couple of songs by The Gospel Silvertones. After snapping a few pictures I decided to make "base camp" off to the side of their stage under the shade of a large oak tree and proceeded to set up my chair and shed my unneccesary belongings. Sitting back in the chair, I relaxed as I set aside my cooler, the blanket, and all my other excess crap. Popping the top on a half-liter water bottle, I looked over the schedule to get a better idea of where I needed to go and when. I decided to pause at base camp long enough to catch my breath and wait for the Subdudes.
Looking back this was probably a mistake. Although I hung around for an hour and was able to catch my breath, get my bearings and see the Subdudes, I should have kept pushing on and then return to catch them instead, because you can see or miss an awful lot in an hour at ACL Fest. The Subdudes have quite a local following and they hit the stage promptly at their appointed time to a warm reception (in more ways than one). A good bluesy sound with some Cajun spice. I really liked the accordian. After listening to three songs and snapping some good pictures, I decided it was time to move on.
Abandoning my base camp to the mercy of the crowd, I began to wander off towards the sound of a very hard rocking female vocalist. Making my way over to the BMI stage I caught Daniella Cotton and her band blasting away at their set. While she has been compared to Bonnie Raitt, I wouldn't make that comparison myself. The New Jersey native has a hard edged, blues rock style that is all her own. I listened to her for a bit then hooked it over to the small Austin Ventures stage in the middle of the park.
Local Austin indie favs Okkervil River were halfway through their set by the time I got there. Acoustic and electric guitars in a mis-mash of folk and rock, with a raspy edge complemented with a crashing percussion, and edgy, wirey vocals. They brought in organs, and mandolins as well. This is one of my must-see-agains from the show. Since they are locals I'll probably run across them again soon in one of the clubs in the "hard core " district down on 7th St.
After Okkervil River finished their set I headed over to the Heineken Stage where the crowd was starting to build for the band Gomez. I got a chance to chat with a Brit who was vacationing in the states and doing all the big festivals like Coachella, Bonaroo, and ACL Fest. He seemed somewhat disappointed with the bands at the fest, expecting it to be more of a traditional "rock" festival after last years bands like Coldplay and Oasis. I explained to him that ACL fest was based on the ACL television show and that its long history was rich and varied, and the musical stylings wandered from country to rock to alternative, and that the festival's mix usually represented this. He encouraged me to stick around for Gomez's set, and I admit that I liked their sound. They seemed to have a pretty dedicated audience following them around as well. They had a sound that was very complex, difficult to pin down, a little more mainstream, a little sweeter and poppy-er than some of the other bands coming out of the U.K.
Thievery Corporation on AT&T's Stage was next, and they were a blast. I must have a thing for large stringed instruments, because if a band has a stand up bass, cello, or sitar it seems that I am bound to enjoy them, and Thievery Corporation's set complete with sitar and belly dancer(?) seemed to suit me to a T. Musically they are a melenage of dub rasta, electronica, funk, dance, and jazz, and sonically they are like wow, far out man. I liked them a lot. Good music to chill or dance to, in the background or foreground. I hope they play again soon locally, I would love to see a full set in a club. I checked out a few songs before heading back to the Austin Ventures stage.
Long-time Austin performer, part of the old Lubbock mafia that includes Joe Ely, Jimmy Dale Gilmore's plaintive soulful wailing is something I've always enjoyed. I once had Thanksgiving dinner with Jimmy Dale and Kinky Freidman at a family friend's house, and we had a great time reminiscing about Austin's music scene in the 70s and 80s. Jimmy Dale has a distinctive alternative country style that once you have heard it there is no mistaking it for anyone else. His sound is far from the mainstream stuff coming out of Nashville. It was great to see him perform at ACL Fest; it's probably been five years since I last saw him play. He's always an ACL favorite, whether on the TV show or at the festival, and I saw many familiar faces in the audience.
By the end of Jimmy Dale's set I was starting to fade and fast. I probably had one more set in me for the day; the sun and the walking had just sapped my strength. I gathered up my base camp, surprisingly nothing had "walked away" on its own, and headed over to the BMI stage on the way to the exit.
What can I say about Trish Murphy except WOW! Certainly one of my highlights of ACL Fest. Hers was one of the only shows I watched til the end all weekend.
I deposited all my stuff in a big pile under the branches of an enormous live oak, and sat back and just listened for a couple of numbers before making my way to the front to take pictures. With both a hard edge with her bluesy rock guitar, and a lighter, feathery acoustic side, Trish has a great sound and it's hard to believe she hasn't been picked up by a major label. As Trish wrapped up her set, I began my long trek back to the shuttle bus and then the car. Day One for me was over without seeing the headliners, but as I left I noted that the crowd had swelled to massive proportions and if I was to see the remaining bands it would only be because of the giant video screens. Tomorrow would be another day,
and as I re-adjusted the folding chair and cooler slung over my shoulder, I swore tomorrow would be different.
