My lungs would like a word with their owner. Holy crap, it feels like I have a pound of pure sand in my lungs today. Ugh. While walking out of the park last night, those huge floodlights really highlighted the thick clouds of dirt and dust hanging over the top of all of us. Foul.
But you know what? The dirt will be absorbed into my body and I'll become a strong rock-based superhero guy (probably) and I'll forget that this was a dirt year, and instead I'll remember the good stuff that I got to see. I'm listening to Paramore some more right now, because that show was freaking ridiculously fun. "Rose Colored Boy" is a straight jam.
Friday:
- Kevin Morby was a little slow. He kicked off the show with the new single - "This is a Photograph," which is loud and exciting and fun and lyrically interesting. And then he downshifted into a more downtempo thing that left me wanting a little more hype. He sounds good though. I'll keep listening to him in general, but that might have been a better show for a small, indoor venue.
- We heard a little of Noah Cyrus while getting some drinks, and she sounded really good. "July" really is a lovely tune.
- Zach Bryan was excellent. I really think he is going to be big. Such a good songwriter and he's got that relaxed surety of someone who knows they're legit. My daughter didn't like it, but I think that was mainly because she didn't know any of the songs.
- Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats. Super good. That was the third time I have seen them this year, and they're just great entertainers. The whole band is in to the schtick. Fun show for sure.
- Billy Strings is the damn truth. I loved this show. Every member of the band is just so freaking good with their individual instruments, it's just a cool experience to let it all wash over you - watch their little fingers work so dang hard. Funny thing, makes me both wish that I could learn to do that, but also too intimidated to ever try.
- The Chicks played a better set than I had been led to expect from looking at old setlists, but they still played (IMO) too many of the new tunes. By far, more songs from the angry divorce album than from any of the other discs. But I got "Travelin' Soldier," Goodbye Earl," "Wide Open Spaces," and "Cowboy Take Me Away," so it feels like I got enough of the things I wanted the most.
- Taco Bronco for dinner was a win. Really good tacos.
Saturday:
- The Aquadolls. We sort of heard this one as we walked in to the park and got ourselves situated. Angrier than I expected, I remembered the tunes being more surf rock, kind of California breezy, but much less so in practice.
- We walked past Slayyyter on our way in and WTF, man. Just terrible stuff.
- Cimafunk was one of the best things of the whole weekend. Just the highest energy, greatest fun, the reason to listen to music. I couldn't tell what he was saying in any of the songs, as he's Cuban and wasn't using English, but the whole band looked like they were having a blast. They invited part of the crowd on to the stage to dance as well, and this one woman looked a like a plant - like they snuck a 20 year old J.Lo into the crowd to dance her ass off for the room. SO fun.
- We heard a little bit of the Adrian Quesada Boleros Psicodelicos while walking to another stage, and that wasn't for me.
- Heard a little of Samia, and it was pretty good, but by then we'd found some friends and I was chatting instead of really digging in to the tunes.
- Wallows. Didn't see the whole show here either, our timing got off because the stage start times got staggered. But I thought they sounded good.
- Manchester Orchestra was fantastic. I know I've said this before about them, but it is always a surprise that their studio albums make them sound like a quieter, sweeter band, but then you see the live product and it is a full-on punishing rock and roll show. I dug it.
- Bog Boi ruled. Played a bunch of classic Outkast bits as well as his own hits, and even the "International Players Anthem," which is the JAM. He felt like a guy who truly knew the assignment of why he had been asked to come to that stage - very entertaining, hype, played a perfect setlist. Now, it would have been dope to get Andre 3k up there with him to do the other verses in those songs, but beggars and choosers and all of that.
- The War on Drugs was another great rock show. We didn't stay for the whole thing to get collected and in a spot for P!nk, but I really enjoy those guys.
- I have to apologize to P!nk. I have been a punk about the fact that she was a headliner for this whole time, and then she came out there and probably threw down the most exciting of all of the headliner shows. High energy, pumping up the crowd, the whole thing. And she flew. Other folks may already know all about the flying, but it was honestly shocking. She was legit rotating in the air, while also shooting sideways faster than I would have expected, and yet still singing her song. My gripe with the show was that she did too many covers - I don't need to hear 4 Non Blondes ever again, and that I dislike that treacly Cover Me With Sunshine song with the little kid voice in it. But, I'll readily admit that that was a real-deal SHOW to end that night.
- A terrible Frito pie for dinner was a fail.
Sunday:
- This day was definitely the one with the majority of the bands I wanted to see the most - which is of course the opposite of my fourteen year old daughter who did freaking Silent Disco instead of the headliners! Where did I go wrong?!?!
- Moving slowly today as well, so we missed out on Taipei Houston and DEHD.
- Goth Babe was better than expected, did a great Killers cover. Larry June wasn't special. Gave him a little bit and then just wandered on.
- I tried BIA, and like Larry June, nothing special. She did the new usual, where her DJ played some other popular tunes to get the crowd psyched up, but those earlier tunes were honestly more fun than her originals. I will say that she and her four friends could dance really well! I left there, hoping to see some of Muna, but they must have ended early.
- Really annoyed at myself here, as we missed the first few songs of Spoon because I got the stages wrong. Walked up into the Oliver Tree nightmare (which was kind of fun because my friend got to experience the hell of that garbage - he asked if it was an SNL skit) before realizing our mistake and having to trek all the way back to the other side of the park. Which was a bummer, I was psyched to see Spoon.
- Spoon was great though. I really don't understand how they aren't a bigger band. Is it a marketing issue? Did Britt Daniel piss off the CEO of his record label? I just feel like they're as good as many of the rock bands that have blown up much larger, and yet they don't get that love. Also interesting, big outflow of people in the crowd after "The Underdog," which I wouldn't have tagged as their big hit.
- Paramore, as mentioned above, were fabulous. One of the top shows for sure. I just don't understand why I never noticed them during their actual popular period, but the lead singer is so fun. High energy, goofy, interactive with the crowd, beautiful, and with a killer voice. The crowd around me was roaring her songs right back to her, made it feel like a really cool show.
- Here, we squeezed up closer for the Chilis, so I missed out on Goose, which I'm sad about. Also, we expected to be able to hear Mumford (who was playing the T-Mobile stage that aims at AmEx), but we legit couldn't hear a lick. Really weird. I don't know if they had the sound super down for some reason, of if they've done some speaker magic to shield sound, but that was sad. I wanted to hear him.
The setlist was great too - they played some new tunes but not a ton. They didn't dig back as far as I would like (of course) but it felt like we were getting a legit greatest hits show (with some new stuff in there). I didn't realize it until scrolling Twitter later, but they debuted "Eddie" for us as the first time they had ever played that tune on stage. It was good times! I got to sing along to "Pea" while almost everyone around me was silent and wondering what was happening!
But something was definitely off with Keidis. It looked like maybe his in-ear monitors weren't working right, because he kept getting help while the rest of the band was jamming. And we noticed a few times where his vocals slowed way down, like slower than the rest of the band, who had to change tempo to sync. One song he was pretty flat in the lyrics. And I guess he must have just gotten sick of it and ended the show. Which sucked ass.
About an hour in (for a two hour show), they kick out "Give It Away," which was rad, and loud, and fun, and everything sounded good! And then they said THANKS and left the stage. Everyone stood there looking around and being like, uh, what? But then a few minutes later the band came back out, and played "By The Way" - which also sounded really good! But then they left the stage and were like "Thanks Austin! Hope we do this again soon!" or something like that, and the roadies started taking apart the stage. Like, 40 minutes early! As we started to walk away, everyone in the crowd was just like "what is happening? That can't be it!" But that was it. We got to catch the last bit of Kacey Musgraves singing "Slow Burn," but then she ended on time, and randomly behind us, where the Chilis should have been ripping off a sweet rendition of "Fire" or "Otherside" or SOMETHING, a huge fireworks show started firing off to an empty stage. I'm sure the plan was messed up by the Chili's bailing early, but it really felt weird. Like a birthday cake lit for a birthday boy who didn't show at the party.
But whatever! At the end of the day, I got to see great sets by Cimafunk, Manchester Orchestra, Nathaniel Rateliff, The War on Drugs, Spoon, Billy Strings, Paramore, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Chicks, Big Boi, Zach Bryan. Hell, even P!nk was fun. If I can just clear out my lungs, it'll have all been worth it!
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