Let's see what I can remember...
Friday:
- Made it to the park in time to catch the last song or so by The National Parks. Good stuff. Poppier/more exiting live than it is in the studio stuff.
- Thee Sacred Souls are just lovely. Just the right thing for an early afternoon band where you can just lay back on the grass and hang with friends and a drink. So nice.
- I was too lazy to walk over for Brittney Spencer, which is on me for sure, so we caught a part of the Half Alive set. Pretty good - they even did some of the wild dance move stuff.
- Freaking Portugal. the Man. I was really excited for this set. I really enjoy their studio tunes. The last two times I have seen them the sound was awful and I was disappointed. Guess what? That must just be the way they sound live. I don't understand it at all, but the sound is muddy and unbalanced and it sort of crushed me. Really too bad. But now having seen them three times, at different stages, and if they always sound that way then it must be on purpose. Bummer.
- Little Simz freaking RULED. Holy hell, she is so freaking good. Insanely talented and confident as hell. Definitely glad I got to catch that one.
- I made a major mistake and skipped Maggie Rogers to make sure I was in prime position for the Revivalists. Everyone I talked to said her show was amazing.
- The Revivalists crushed it. I've become a little bit of a fanboy now, but their live show is so freaking fun. Loads of energy and very sing-a-long-able tunes. Awesome. And almost a perfect set - I was hoping for "The Long Con," but otherwise got what I wanted to hear.
- Here is where things went wonky. I went over with a group to the Lumineers, so that I could fetch some younger girls and chaperone them at Kendrick. But by then the news was out that Kendrick was late because of "plane issues." And then the misinformation started flying - people saying he wasn't coming at all. People saying he was just about to start. People saying that he was going to play an aftershow. The funniest part of that was watching the teenagers in the crowd because they left the Lumineers show, and then streamed back in, and then left again, and then streamed back in, and then left again.
- BUT, all of that aside, and despite all of my smack talked about the Lumineers, they sounded freaking awesome. A real deal band with good players up and down the roster. Funny thing though was that they burned the hits early - "Cleopatra," "Ho Hey," and "Angela" were like the first three songs. So, there was a long period of no one knowing the songs until "Ophelia" came along.
- And then Kendrick came out anyway, and we stood on the hillside and watched from a million miles away. Talented dude, man. And the abbreviated set was actually kind of perfect, because he just slammed us with the hits as quickly as he could and skipped some of the slow BS. He even cut a handful of the tunes short, which was kinda rad, just to get more tunes played. (but also, what the hell man? Plane issues? You're the main headliner at the Festival and you can't even get to town that afternoon???)
Saturday:
- Stupid Longhorns. Way to make me skip Die Spitz and then lose anyway...
- Got there in time for the last bit of Declan McKenna. I really like his stuff.
- Ben Kweller is so rad. I loved his show, and just wish that he could be as huge as he should be. I don't understand how popularity really works, but I'm listening to him again right now as I write this because he's so super good.
- ALSO - freaking McLovin' was playing bass for him. Weirdest thing - I looked at the green-haired dude playing bass and told my wife he looked like McLovin', she agreed, and we moved on with the show. Then he talked for a bit, with that distinctive lispy voice, and we were both like MCLOVIN! Strange stuff.
- Mt. Joy are good stuff. We ended up in a sort of weird spot for this one, with one of those speaker towers directly in front of us, and I didn't love that. Kind of hard to just relax and enjoy the shaggy alternative rock when it is being drilled through your head to get to the rest of the crowd. But they have a great vibe - just the thing I wanted from Portugal!
- Caught two songs of Tanya - didn't love it. Part of that is on me - I just don't know her songs well enough - but part of it was also that her voice is rough. Speaking of which...
- Alanis Morissette was freaking super fun. I was with a crowd of 40-something year old women and everyone was scream-singing along to the hits. Awesome time. BUT, I will say that it really seems like something is up with Alanis. Made me think of the way that Michael J Fox can't stop moving all the time - her hands were doing odd things, and she would repeatedly pull away from the mic like she wasn't sure about her note. It was distracting. But also a damn fun show.
- At the same time, my friend was enjoying the hell out of Thirty Seconds to Mars. He showed me video of Jared Leto jumping off the top of the stage with a harness and rope - freaking wild.
- I skipped Noah Kahan, and am truly bummed about it because everyone else saw it and said it was an amazing show. Dangit. But I wanted to be close for the Foos.
- FOO FIGHTERS! This was my favorite show of the weekend without a doubt. I found myself thinking through whether they are actually my favorite band. No lie - I teared up during the first two songs. Which sounds patently ridiculous - who freaking cries during "All My Life"? But whatever. Kick ass show that included a lot of weird little side paths into partial songs by Van Halen, Metallica, Devo, Beastie Boys, The Beatles (and others I am not remembering now). The low point for me was then they brought on Shania Twain. First off, no announcement at all about it, it looked like some Ice Spice-ass weirdo in a red wig just wandered onto stage, and then she massacred the vocals on "Best Of You." Just awful sounding. Not my favorite song in the catalog, but totally ruined it for me to hear her struggling to smear it out. Only other quibble is that they ended early. What is up with my favorite bands not making it to 10?
- Wait, one other quibble - I'm apparently a whiney baby. Some songs ought to be played without interruption. Pearl Jam did this the other night too, where the best, most-exciting, most cathartic, sing-a-long, let-it-all-out moment is coming up in the song, and then they pause to just start talking or playing some gentle riff. NOOOO! When it is time, in "Monkeywrench," to scream that "ONE LAST THING BEFORE I QUIT" bit near the end, the song should BLAST right in to that moment. No interludes! That should have been the hottest, most glorious moment of the show, and instead it whimpered.
Sunday:
- First show was Dope Lemon and it was excellent. We grabbed drinks and sat in the grass off to the side of the staged, and they put on a really enjoyable set. I honestly can't put my finger on why I am liking him so much, but it is just "vibe" I think. Super cool.
- Sunrose were everything I wanted from them. They opened their set with "War Pigs" and holy hell it freaking ruled. That song is so good for heavy bands to cover - shout out the Faith No More version. Also, they were REALLY loud at that tiny BMI stage. Fun stuff.
- Niall Horan was really good! I was sort of on the fence about him, but he just had a really nice demeanor and a clean sound. Seemed genuinely pleased to be up there making music for us!
- Tanner Usery sounds great. Classic singer-songwriter, blustery country-boy-can-survive type stuff. We only stayed for a few songs, but I think he is super talented.
- Hozier was a little disappointing to me, but it wasn't his fault at all. I just was with a crowd of folks who were less interested in being up front, and so we were like eight miles back watching him on the screens. I just don't get the same energy when the show is like that. But, I'll readily say that "Jackie and Wilson" and "Work Song" were really great.
- Now I was able to talk my people into squeezing up, as the crowds sped away from Hozier and left us with a ton of room to cruise up to the front for Mumford. And it was cool that we could, because we were in between the stage and the sound stage thing where they did their spotlight-to-the-sky duet with Noah Kahan. I've made my disappointment well known with them showing up yet again for another headlining set, but at the end of the day I still enjoy the show. Earnest and soaring choruses that everyone can sing along to are just fun at the Festival stage.
I'm not planning on being there next weekend, but I know my wife's eyes are already rolling at the thought of my actually skipping an ACL event. We'll see if I can get a ticket to fall into my lap. ;)
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