Austin City Limits Festival 2004
Well after a seriously long hiatus from writing (wait, don't I have to actually start before I can have a hiatus?) I'm back with my first "real" blog entry. The weekend before last, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend all three days of the Austin City Limits music festival. Last year, I only went for one day (mainly to see Jack Johnson and G. Love & Special Sauce). It was strange, too, because I remember last year nobody wanted to go. It was all we could do to find 3 people who wanted to go just for one day. This year, on the other hand, it seemed like everybody and his brother was going- everybody who was anybody was going, and they all took it for granted that we were all going.
So onward to the point. Although I was in attendance all three days, I just didn't have the energy to run around from stage to stage, so I didn't see as many bands as I might have.
Day 1- Friday
I got off work fairly early on Friday due to an area meeting at Dave & Buster's, after which management told us to take the rest of the day off. A small car group convened at my apartment and we headed downtown, making stops along the way for a quick bite to eat and to pick up bottled water.
We made it to Zilker early for Broken Social Scene (a band at the top of my list for the show), and overheard the latter half of Patty Griffin's set drifting across the warm afternoon air from the adjacent stage where she was performing. I was particularly excited about getting to see Broken Social Scene for several reasons. First, I think it's a treat to see a band from as far away as Canada performing way down here in Austin, TX. I used to listen to a lot of Canadian alternative bands when I lived in the Detroit area. I remembered hearing those guys, perhaps on the "Homeboy Show" on the Windsor radio station, 89X, that I used to listen to from my high school days. Second, the band had come all the way down here last spring, for SXSW, but I couldn't seem to round up a single person to go listen to them that night. I had no intention of missing them again this time, and I was glad I didn't. They started right off by playing all of my favorite songs, including the one song they ever got on the radio (to my knowledge) "Stars and Sons," and some great jam songs like "Shampoo Suicide." I was surprised at how good they sounded on "Anthem for a Seventeen-year-old Girl," considering that the one female vocalist had to sing all by herself, without any looping effects.
We stayed at the same stage until Franz Ferdinand came on later. By this time, the sun was setting and it was starting to cool down a bit, but the crush of people ensured that we all stayed uncomfortably warm. I was pleased that the lead singer sounded pretty much exactly the same as he does on the cd. Toward the end of their set it got unbelievably crowded where we were standing, near the sound box. Finally we girls had to insist that we move back far enough that we would be able to move without rubbing up against some creepy guy.
We were already tired, and knowing a long weekend lay ahead, decided to call it a night early on Friday. The line for the shuttle back into town was longer than I'd remembered it being last year. Just as we were approaching the area for boarding the buses, we were shocked to witness several would-be criminals attempt to line-jump by stepping over the barricades. Before any of us onlookers could even say anything, an ACL Fest volunteer quickly stepped up to the plate and yelled at the line-jumpers, preparing to bodily force them out of the line. Scattered applause broke out from within the line and several of us thanked the ACL Fest worker, giving him a thumbs-up sign. He broke into a grin so broad it threatened to injure his jaw. That guy was a hero, at that moment.
Day 2- Saturday
Excitement was building over getting to see the Pixies, a band I must say I don't think anybody in my age group ever expected to get to see live. Once again, we got a slightly late start to the day, but this time it wasn't because of work but because of the weather. It was so godawful hot, we didn't want to wear ourselves out and then be too exhausted to appreciate seeing the Pixies. I had learned my lesson from how hot it was on Friday and was wearing a tank top and a skirt, instead of jeans and a tee shirt. We also brought umbrellas to shelter us from the sun.
We reached the stage early enough to hear Modest Mouse, I had wanted to see G. Love & Special Sauce, but they moved him to a different time slot and I never did find out when he was going to be playing. So we decided to camp out at the stage where the Pixies were scheduled to play later. Unfortunately, the sound was pretty bad during Modest Mouse. We kept hearing the bass from another stage, throughout the show, and it was pretty annoying. Luckily, I've seen Modest Mouse before, a couple of years ago, so at least I know they have the capability to put on a good show.
Saturday must have been the most crowded day. We quickly realized that most cell phones were practically useless. Evidently, the nearby cell towers were totally overloaded because of everybody trying to use their phones at once. I still managed to get a few picture messages of the concerts through to my brother.
After Modest Mouse we listened to Dashboard Confessional. Clearly, it wasn't terribly memorable, because I had to refer to the ACL Fest site just to remind myself who else I saw. I used to be a lot more into Dashboard, but for some reason I've just got sick of it lately. I think I've never got over the fact that the time I saw them at Stubb's, my ears rang for fully three days afterward. I've never forgiven them for the permanent hearing damage I no doubt suffered. However, I must give Chris Carraba full marks for hotness.
Finally, after much waiting and anticipation, the time drew nigh for the Pixies to take the stage. In front of where we were sitting, a fairly young and geeky-looking couple had a small toddler dressed in a "onesy" (?? I am thinking this is the correct word for one of those little jumper-type things people dress wee little babies in. I only just learned the word because my cousin has a baby.) Anyways, the "onesy" (or whatever) said "PIXIES" on it. Some random strangers came by and took pictures of the kid. It was cute.
Despite a few sound issues, I really enjoyed their show, and I look forward to listening to more of their stuff. I've only ever had one cd (Surfer Rosa), and honestly, despite the so-called radio hit "Where is my mind?" (at least, I've heard it's been on the radio. I never heard it on the radio myself, but I found the song when I started randomly downloading mp3s... back in the day when I used to do that), I was never really that into most of the songs on the cd. Now I realize that they have a lot of other good songs, so I need to get ahold of some of their other cds and listen to that stuff.
After they finished playing, we came out and the line for the shuttles took my breath away. We kept walking, walking, walking, and we never did find the end of that line. I'm not convinced there really was an end. It's probably like a Mobius strip or something. By the time we had walked like a mile or something we had given up. Pedestrians tooks over many of the roadways south of the river, and one member of our group got a ride to her car so that she could return and pick the rest of us up. We killed time for what felt like several days (in reality about an hour) by lounging on the grass in front of Taco Cabana singing every Beatles song we could remember the lyrics of. (-And some that we couldn't.) I went to bed hungry as soon as I got home, dusty and tired.
Day 3- Sunday
Although most of my friends had been more jazzed about the Pixies than anything else, for me the festival was only just beginning. This is because I was finally going to get to see the band at the top of my list at the festival, Wilco.
We had a late lunch and I bought a whole new outfit, just because I needed another tank top and another short skirt to wear in the heat. Despite this late start, it was still swelteringly hot when we arrived at Zilker park. I hadn't thought it could possibly be any hotter than it was on Saturday, but it was. It felt as crowded to me, but my phone seemed to be working again, so I knew that it wasn't. Most likely a sizable group of people were burned out at this point. Our group of friends had suffered several casualties, but those of us remaining had no thoughts of missing the last day.
We made it early to the stage where Wilco was slotted to play later. We staked out a spot and waited for Jack Johnson to come on. When he did, we were disappointed to note that some people a ways up in front of us still hadn't taken down their massive umbrella, so we set up a rousing cry of "Take down the umbrella!" A small segment of the crowd unified to the point where the people in front of us started to feel threatened, and they obliged. I was happy to note that the crowd for Jack Johnson was much better this year than last, although still not as into it as I'd like to see (I'll tell the story about last year some other time). I was slightly let-down that Jack Johnson's set was almost identical to what he played last year, as well. However, I was happy when he brought on G. Love and some other guy I hadn't heard of before, and they all jammed for a bit.
We fanned ourselves desperately until Wilco finally came on. I was pleased that my waiting had not been in vain. I even forgave Jeff Tweedy for going into rehab and cancelling the show that I'd held tickets for weeks in advance, screwing me out of about ten dollars in service fees. They played just about every song off their newest album, "A Ghost is Born," and a number of selections off the album before it, "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" (so far that's my favorite album of theirs, so I was glad they played a lot of songs off it). Many of the songs off these two latest albums seem to self-destruct at the end, and the sunset provided a fitting counterpoint to the cacaphony produced by the band. I went away with a new appreciation, particularly for the drummer. I never saw anyone play with so much enthusiasm. Meanwhile, although he sounded good, I must admit Jeff Tweedy wasn't looking too great. I found myself wondering if the rehab hadn't worked. Or perhaps it DID work, and that's why he looked so bad- he was going through withdrawl or something. I guess I'll never know.
We stuck around long enough to see Lance Armstrong introduce Ben Harper. I was ready for Ben Harper to just start playing already, without any more delay! I was starting to get ACL'd out. I was disappointed I hadn't gotten to see Cake, also, but I just hadn't had the energy to go traipsing around between stages in that heat. Although Ben Harper had been the highlight of my one-day visit to ACL Fest the year before, we left after hearing just a few songs. Already the smell of a certain smoke, the nature of which I won't elaborate on, was filling the air. We beat the crowd out and went home to eat some pizza and relax.
All told, the entire episode was more than worth it just for the sake of Wilco. But I can't deny I found myself thinking, several times, no way I'm doing this next year. The crowds were just insane. But- who knows? We'll have to wait and see whether in time I'll forget the sweat, the heat, and the crowds, and just remember the music. ....And we'll see who's in the line-up.
###
So onward to the point. Although I was in attendance all three days, I just didn't have the energy to run around from stage to stage, so I didn't see as many bands as I might have.
Day 1- Friday
I got off work fairly early on Friday due to an area meeting at Dave & Buster's, after which management told us to take the rest of the day off. A small car group convened at my apartment and we headed downtown, making stops along the way for a quick bite to eat and to pick up bottled water.
We made it to Zilker early for Broken Social Scene (a band at the top of my list for the show), and overheard the latter half of Patty Griffin's set drifting across the warm afternoon air from the adjacent stage where she was performing. I was particularly excited about getting to see Broken Social Scene for several reasons. First, I think it's a treat to see a band from as far away as Canada performing way down here in Austin, TX. I used to listen to a lot of Canadian alternative bands when I lived in the Detroit area. I remembered hearing those guys, perhaps on the "Homeboy Show" on the Windsor radio station, 89X, that I used to listen to from my high school days. Second, the band had come all the way down here last spring, for SXSW, but I couldn't seem to round up a single person to go listen to them that night. I had no intention of missing them again this time, and I was glad I didn't. They started right off by playing all of my favorite songs, including the one song they ever got on the radio (to my knowledge) "Stars and Sons," and some great jam songs like "Shampoo Suicide." I was surprised at how good they sounded on "Anthem for a Seventeen-year-old Girl," considering that the one female vocalist had to sing all by herself, without any looping effects.
We stayed at the same stage until Franz Ferdinand came on later. By this time, the sun was setting and it was starting to cool down a bit, but the crush of people ensured that we all stayed uncomfortably warm. I was pleased that the lead singer sounded pretty much exactly the same as he does on the cd. Toward the end of their set it got unbelievably crowded where we were standing, near the sound box. Finally we girls had to insist that we move back far enough that we would be able to move without rubbing up against some creepy guy.
We were already tired, and knowing a long weekend lay ahead, decided to call it a night early on Friday. The line for the shuttle back into town was longer than I'd remembered it being last year. Just as we were approaching the area for boarding the buses, we were shocked to witness several would-be criminals attempt to line-jump by stepping over the barricades. Before any of us onlookers could even say anything, an ACL Fest volunteer quickly stepped up to the plate and yelled at the line-jumpers, preparing to bodily force them out of the line. Scattered applause broke out from within the line and several of us thanked the ACL Fest worker, giving him a thumbs-up sign. He broke into a grin so broad it threatened to injure his jaw. That guy was a hero, at that moment.
Day 2- Saturday
Excitement was building over getting to see the Pixies, a band I must say I don't think anybody in my age group ever expected to get to see live. Once again, we got a slightly late start to the day, but this time it wasn't because of work but because of the weather. It was so godawful hot, we didn't want to wear ourselves out and then be too exhausted to appreciate seeing the Pixies. I had learned my lesson from how hot it was on Friday and was wearing a tank top and a skirt, instead of jeans and a tee shirt. We also brought umbrellas to shelter us from the sun.
We reached the stage early enough to hear Modest Mouse, I had wanted to see G. Love & Special Sauce, but they moved him to a different time slot and I never did find out when he was going to be playing. So we decided to camp out at the stage where the Pixies were scheduled to play later. Unfortunately, the sound was pretty bad during Modest Mouse. We kept hearing the bass from another stage, throughout the show, and it was pretty annoying. Luckily, I've seen Modest Mouse before, a couple of years ago, so at least I know they have the capability to put on a good show.
Saturday must have been the most crowded day. We quickly realized that most cell phones were practically useless. Evidently, the nearby cell towers were totally overloaded because of everybody trying to use their phones at once. I still managed to get a few picture messages of the concerts through to my brother.
After Modest Mouse we listened to Dashboard Confessional. Clearly, it wasn't terribly memorable, because I had to refer to the ACL Fest site just to remind myself who else I saw. I used to be a lot more into Dashboard, but for some reason I've just got sick of it lately. I think I've never got over the fact that the time I saw them at Stubb's, my ears rang for fully three days afterward. I've never forgiven them for the permanent hearing damage I no doubt suffered. However, I must give Chris Carraba full marks for hotness.
Finally, after much waiting and anticipation, the time drew nigh for the Pixies to take the stage. In front of where we were sitting, a fairly young and geeky-looking couple had a small toddler dressed in a "onesy" (?? I am thinking this is the correct word for one of those little jumper-type things people dress wee little babies in. I only just learned the word because my cousin has a baby.) Anyways, the "onesy" (or whatever) said "PIXIES" on it. Some random strangers came by and took pictures of the kid. It was cute.
Despite a few sound issues, I really enjoyed their show, and I look forward to listening to more of their stuff. I've only ever had one cd (Surfer Rosa), and honestly, despite the so-called radio hit "Where is my mind?" (at least, I've heard it's been on the radio. I never heard it on the radio myself, but I found the song when I started randomly downloading mp3s... back in the day when I used to do that), I was never really that into most of the songs on the cd. Now I realize that they have a lot of other good songs, so I need to get ahold of some of their other cds and listen to that stuff.
After they finished playing, we came out and the line for the shuttles took my breath away. We kept walking, walking, walking, and we never did find the end of that line. I'm not convinced there really was an end. It's probably like a Mobius strip or something. By the time we had walked like a mile or something we had given up. Pedestrians tooks over many of the roadways south of the river, and one member of our group got a ride to her car so that she could return and pick the rest of us up. We killed time for what felt like several days (in reality about an hour) by lounging on the grass in front of Taco Cabana singing every Beatles song we could remember the lyrics of. (-And some that we couldn't.) I went to bed hungry as soon as I got home, dusty and tired.
Day 3- Sunday
Although most of my friends had been more jazzed about the Pixies than anything else, for me the festival was only just beginning. This is because I was finally going to get to see the band at the top of my list at the festival, Wilco.
We had a late lunch and I bought a whole new outfit, just because I needed another tank top and another short skirt to wear in the heat. Despite this late start, it was still swelteringly hot when we arrived at Zilker park. I hadn't thought it could possibly be any hotter than it was on Saturday, but it was. It felt as crowded to me, but my phone seemed to be working again, so I knew that it wasn't. Most likely a sizable group of people were burned out at this point. Our group of friends had suffered several casualties, but those of us remaining had no thoughts of missing the last day.
We made it early to the stage where Wilco was slotted to play later. We staked out a spot and waited for Jack Johnson to come on. When he did, we were disappointed to note that some people a ways up in front of us still hadn't taken down their massive umbrella, so we set up a rousing cry of "Take down the umbrella!" A small segment of the crowd unified to the point where the people in front of us started to feel threatened, and they obliged. I was happy to note that the crowd for Jack Johnson was much better this year than last, although still not as into it as I'd like to see (I'll tell the story about last year some other time). I was slightly let-down that Jack Johnson's set was almost identical to what he played last year, as well. However, I was happy when he brought on G. Love and some other guy I hadn't heard of before, and they all jammed for a bit.
We fanned ourselves desperately until Wilco finally came on. I was pleased that my waiting had not been in vain. I even forgave Jeff Tweedy for going into rehab and cancelling the show that I'd held tickets for weeks in advance, screwing me out of about ten dollars in service fees. They played just about every song off their newest album, "A Ghost is Born," and a number of selections off the album before it, "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" (so far that's my favorite album of theirs, so I was glad they played a lot of songs off it). Many of the songs off these two latest albums seem to self-destruct at the end, and the sunset provided a fitting counterpoint to the cacaphony produced by the band. I went away with a new appreciation, particularly for the drummer. I never saw anyone play with so much enthusiasm. Meanwhile, although he sounded good, I must admit Jeff Tweedy wasn't looking too great. I found myself wondering if the rehab hadn't worked. Or perhaps it DID work, and that's why he looked so bad- he was going through withdrawl or something. I guess I'll never know.
We stuck around long enough to see Lance Armstrong introduce Ben Harper. I was ready for Ben Harper to just start playing already, without any more delay! I was starting to get ACL'd out. I was disappointed I hadn't gotten to see Cake, also, but I just hadn't had the energy to go traipsing around between stages in that heat. Although Ben Harper had been the highlight of my one-day visit to ACL Fest the year before, we left after hearing just a few songs. Already the smell of a certain smoke, the nature of which I won't elaborate on, was filling the air. We beat the crowd out and went home to eat some pizza and relax.
All told, the entire episode was more than worth it just for the sake of Wilco. But I can't deny I found myself thinking, several times, no way I'm doing this next year. The crowds were just insane. But- who knows? We'll have to wait and see whether in time I'll forget the sweat, the heat, and the crowds, and just remember the music. ....And we'll see who's in the line-up.
###
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home