Quick Hits, Vol. 53 (Chemical Brothers, Jason Isbell, Iron & Wine with Ben Bridwell, Wilco)

It is raining like crazy in Austin today - makes me think I need to do a post on good rainy day weather music.  I'm going with old Whiskeytown today, but I need to let the idea percolate for a while before I make any pronouncement.

Chemical Brothers - Born in the Echoes.  Look, some old Chemical Brothers is awesome.  That song they used in Vanilla Sky - "Where Do I Begin" - is amazing.  Crazy long and this really cool transition from a spare electro hymn to a banging jam.  And several of their older tracks are fun block rocker dance tunes.  Exit Planet Dust and Dig Your Own Hole, those are what I remember fondly. This finds the Brothers right where those others have left off and keeps the same thrumming bass heavy sound. My favorite track is the Q-Tip assisted "Go," which is reminiscent of the Q-Tip joint on Push the Button, called "Galvanize."  Q-Tip is the man.  That being said, I've listened to this album about ten times by now, and could care less if I ever do that again.

Jason Isbell - Something More Than Free.  I never have really listened to the Drive By Truckers.  I remember seeing them play a raucous and fun show at ACL a few years back, but I couldn't actually name a single song they sing.  Isbell was their lead singer, and if this album is any indication, a hell of a songwriter.  This stuff is legit, hard-scrabble stories of folks getting by over fine Americana tunes.  I think I've heard "Life You Chose" before, maybe on the radio, but if not, then this is the one that should be played on the radio because it sticks in your mind.

Sounds like a great Ryan Adams song.  The title track, "Hudson Commodore," and "24 Frames" are also good keepers on this one.  I dig it.  I think I need to go backwards in his catalog and see what else is going on back there.

Iron & Wine and Ben Bridwell - Sing into my Mouth.  Iron & Wine is a wonderful thing for me, I love the gentle folky sound of Sam Beam's tunes, and Bridwell's main band, Band of Horses, has a pretty similar vibe that should shine with I&W's sound.  I think it works well here, with a pretty sleepy, shuffling set of relaxed and pretty folky Americana.  That said, nothing here sticks to your bones, it is all just a lovely little trip through a chill spot on the map.  Good music, but I doubt I'm going to keep it.

Wilco - Star Wars.  Wilco has always been a weird band for me.  Some of their stuff is great (Being There, the Mermaid Avenue albums with Billy Bragg), some has been anointed as great for decades but I just don't get (Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, A Ghost is Born), and some is super boring and lame (Sky Blue Sky).  I know all the Pitchfork and Spin acolytes will call for my head for a lack of complete and total reverence for YHF, but I bought it when it came out and have heard it many times by now but I just don't connect with any of it.  I guess "Heavy metal drummer" is pretty tight?  I always feel inadequate when the subject of Wilco is introduced to a conversation, or I see that someone used a Wilco song for the first dance at their wedding.  Maybe I'm not deep enough.
This disc kicks off with a rock and roll instrumental and then shifts into a slinky 70's rocker called "More..."  And that sets the stage for much of this album, it is light on the old school Americana that I enjoy the most from them, and heavy on a light 70's rock sound with a touch of swagger.  Here is the most popular track from the album, "Random Name Generator."

I think I'd like to see them live so that I can figure myself out.  This album has grown on me over time, and I think it will continue to do so - the lyrics of Wilco are why people stick around - as I continue to pick up on the nuances of what Tweedy is saying.  We'll see.
I also have to make sure that you have seen the cover of this album, to appreciate the oddball weirdness of having an album named Star Wars, that then has this cover:

Yep.

Quick Hits, Vol. 52 (Rich Homie Quan, Muse, Titus Andronicus, Tech N9ne)

Rich Homie Quan - Summer Sampler.  Another Atlanta guy who appears to have a million mixtapes instead of proper albums (with Young Thug on 98% of all songs), but the opening track from this EP is a sweet little head-bobber.  "Flex (Ooh, Ooh, Ooh)" is made for pumping in the car or by the pool during summer.

I mean, the lyrics are idiotic, but if it doesn't make you bounce a little then you've got deeper problems than I can fix.  And I like that car with 8 speakers in the wall.  I need to go pimp my ride like that.  Also seems like it would be very difficult to get much work done with a full bear pelt on your desktop.  Maybe that's just me.  The rest of the album is fine, nothing as enjoyable as this one.

Muse - Drones.  Ah, Muse.  In general terms, I like Muse.  The Resistance and Black Holes and Absolution were all pretty exciting albums with some good rock and roll under falsetto action.  I can't get behind the Second Law because "Madness" bugs so much.  But this one is solid power prog rock in the same vein as their good stuff.  Solid album.  My only beef would be the same-ness - the luster continues to fade as each album sounds just like its predecessor.  If this one didn't have a theme about evil drones destroying our life as we know it, you'd never know that any individual song was from this and not another album. Not much of a gripe, because otherwise this one rocks out nicely.  I dig it.

Titus Andronicus - The Most Lamentable Tragedy.  At first, I thought I was liking this, but the more I listen to it the less it sounds like something I liked (maybe the Hives?) and more like an hour and a half of whining and bashing on instruments.  29 flipping songs.  Shut up.  No thanks.

Tech N9ne - Special Effects.  This is not especially good rap music.  I remember liking some old Tech Nine and thinking that he had some good stuff on a few Eminem tracks, but this is kind of annoying.  He can have a bit of good flow for a sec, but then his tone will get unnecessarily angry sounding when the lyrics don't seem to support that change in tone.  "I went for A WALK ON THE BEACH!"  "My favorite type of BLOOMING TREE IS THE MAGNOLIA!!!"  I just don't think I get it. There's also a Nickelback song in the middle of the album - well, actually Corey Taylor (Slipknot), but it is not good.  
BUT then "Hood Go Crazy" comes on, with 2 Chainz and B.o.B., and you understand why the rest of the album was made.  He had a hot single, but needed some other stuff to release with it.  This song has a sticky sweet beat and playful (read: idiotic) lyrics that make for a fun ass song.

That video is funny, in that homie is chilling on the side of the hot tub in a big old ratty robe, and keeps making the sign of holding a joint up to his lips to make it clear what he is talking about.  We get it man.  The track right after that one is the next best song on the album, with Lil Wayne and Yo Gotti and this sweet backward-slurping beat - "Bass Akwards."  Too bad you have to wade through 10 other songs to get to these.  Half of this sounds like the filler songs on the Fast & the Furious 19 soundtrack.  Oh, and did I mention there are 24 FREAKING SONGS on this thing?  Holy Hannah.  Keep "Hood Go Crazy" and let the rest of it go.

The horrible conundrum of hands

My wife and I had a good laugh yesterday at Drew Magary's most recent e-mail grab bag column, in which he answers someone's question about what to do with your hands at a rock concert.  

In thinking of hands-centric music to link here, I considered "No Hands" by Waka Flocka, "Hands" by The Raconteurs, and "Hands on the Wheel" by Schoolboy Q, but the first thing that came to my mind was The Georgia Satellites.  Enjoy.

Freedom rock, man!  Turn it up!

The question:

What do you do with your arms and hands when you’re at a rock concert? You can’t keep them up in the air with the devil-horn fingers forever. Just hanging them at your sides feels awkward. Sticking them in your pockets seem lame. I’ve been taking to tapping them against my thighs to the drum beat so that casual observers will think, “Ooh, wow, look at that—he must be a drummer.”

Magary provides a long answer - go check it out yourself if you want to read it all - but I found it especially funny because we have had this same conversation before, and the wife has frequently made fun of my go-to concert hand position.  Magary says you need to have one hand on your beer, and the other on your ladyfriend; If alone, then one hand on your beer, and the other curled into a fist raised up to "properly unleash the ROCK."  And then his hands go into his pockets.

He is entirely right about one thing - once you start thinking about your hands at a show, or looking around at other people's hands during a show, you realize how immensely awkward it is to figure out what to do with your hands at a show. I've discussed this multiple times before - I think my wife finds it humorous that I have a mental dilemma here.  I think this is why the kids all use the drugs, so that their brain breaks and they quit wondering what to do with their hands.

My ranking of things to do with your hands while watching a show:

1. Hook your thumbs into the waistband of your shorts.  I will not permit any disagreement on this point.  Once you are done with the beer you have for a particular show, you must just tuck your thumbs into your waistband, let the rest of your hands comfortably rest on your shorts, and hang out.  You can make slight space with the barely extended elbows, and if you are really feeling it, you can tap your fingers on your shorts.  Hands may be momentarily removed from this position in order to properly unleash the ROCK for a limited period of time.  An acceptable alternative if wearing a backpack (which I do not condone) is to tuck your thumbs into the shoulder straps like you are the Rocketeer about to take off.
2. Clap.  But only if it is the end of a song or if everyone else is clapping.  If the band gets the crowd clapping, join in.  Try your damnedest to keep the actual beat and don't rush the poor drummer.  But know when to call it - don't be the first one or the last one clapping or everyone is going to think you're an undercover cop and someone is going to pick your pocket or push their friend into you repeatedly while mumbling "narc" under their breath.
3. Raise your hands.  Whether this is (a) jazzing your hands up over your head to feel the moment; (b) pumping your fist in the air to feel the rock; (c) throwing up the number one finger to let Dave Grohl know he is numero uno; or (d) devil horn/Longhorn/sign-language-I-love-you action.  I agree with this dude, you can't do that forever. But when the chorus kicks in or the bass drops or the pyrotechnics fire, sometimes the basic primate urge to throw your hands over your head and scream fires up back in your simian brain, and you just have to handle it.  But this, like hand clapping, is only temporary before you go back to thumbs in waistband.
4. Double-fist drinks.  This seems like a good plan, but is not.  You end up drinking too fast and getting burpy on your fellow concert-goers, getting too drunk too quick, or with warm beer, and none of those are preferable at the show.  I will admit to holding an empty can for way longer than I should just so that I have something to do with my hands.
5. Dance hands.  If you are jamming out at a Widespread show and the acid is telling your hands where to go, man, you just got to let 'em fly, bro.  I see nothing awkward about this move, other than the general awkwardness of being a grown ass man dancing by himself in a crowd of non-dancing people.  Maybe this category also includes marching around in the pit with your hands being used as piston sledgehammers.  Walk it out, bro.  You won't find me doing either anymore, but I understand that you may have different needs.  And this still beats the rest of the list below.
6. Cross your arms over your chest.  First, this is very unpleasant when it is hot outside, like just about every show in Texas. You are just creating an extra hot meat basket on your chest to increase sweat production and funkify your shirt.  May be nice at a cold show though. Second, I imagine this is not the most awesome body language for the artist to see (and yes, I really have considered this before, I'm a nerd).  Open your heart, man! The Norwegian death metal band is going to get their feelings hurt if you don't look receptive to their ditty about eating cats.
7. Hands in pocket.  I can't stand this feeling at a show.  I don't know why, but it just feels almost as frumpy and awkward as just having them down at your side.  Almost.  I did it during the In the Whale show on opening day of this year's ACL because I was feeling for my phone to vibrate when my friend texted/called, and it felt like I was being an asshole.  It's like you're a dejected teenager being yelled at for shredding a public park curb.
8. Hands at your sides.  The questioner is right.  So freaking awkward feeling if you think about it.  I'm sure it is fine if you don't think about it, but I obviously do, and it just feels super unnatural in a crowd for some reason.
9. Hands on your phone.  Put your phone down.  Unless you are snapping a quick picture or writing an important text about where you are standing in the crowd so that your friend and/or drinks can find you, stop using your phone during the music.  You can chill on the couch at home and listen to music while you scroll Pinterest.  Do not take an eight minute garbage video with terrible sound and worse lighting that no one is ever going to watch willingly.  Do not try to talk with one finger shoved in your away ear.  Do not carry on a full text conversation with your bright ass screen distracting me from the dulcet sounds of my favorite band.

That is all I could think of.  Maybe #10 should be shoving your hands in someone else's pockets?  I don't want that to happen either.  Good luck not feeling awkward the next time you go to a show.

Quick Hits, Vol. 51 (Scarface, Reed Turner, Dawes, Boosie Badazz)

Man, if you haven't heard heard the remake of Run the Jewels 2 called Meow the Jewels, you need to help yourself to it.  It is ridiculous, but just cracked me up.  The vocal track is the same, but now they have cat noises prominently featured in each song.  The purr bass line in "Close Your Eyes and Meow to Fluff" is amazing.

Scarface - Deeply Rooted.  Man, old school Scarface is badass.  When he was with the Geto Boys, and then his solo stuff in the mid-90's?  The Diary?  The first 20 minutes of that album is freaking classic.  When I saw them use "No Tears" in the beginning of Office Space, with Michael Bolton spitting those lyrics at the stoplight, I loved it.  And then using "Still" later when killing the printer?  Comedic genius.

However, this is not old school Scarface.  Some is good, some is bad, a lot of it is derivative and kind of sad because it feels like he is trying to be the newest fad thing.  For example, see "Steer," which is an EDM-ish thing that also asks "Lord, if you're with me, steer."

Uh, can we go back to being hardcore?  That video is pretty heavy, but the music in that song just isn't doing it for me.  Stick with the screwed soul samples, man.  See also "Voices," which sounds very much like he listened to some recent Eminem song with Rihanna, acoustic guitar, and some military drums, and copied the whole thing.  He's also got the John Legend collabo, a Ceelo Green song, eh, just kind of disappointing.  Even the Nas and Rick Ross aided "Do What I Do" is just OK. "Rooted" and "The Hot Seat" are cool enough, but the lyrics in "Rooted" are just generic.  I won't be keeping this around.

Reed Turner - Ghosts in the Attic.  Haunting indie tunes.  Although, I can't get over the fact that this guy's voice makes me think of Aaron Neville.  Which makes me think of those Little People songs that my kids used to make me listen to for hours in the car, which made me a little insane.  Not this guy's fault, but I'm having trouble taking this music seriously at all.  But this is pretty stuff in the chilled out Jose Gonzalez (but with more Americana pedal steel) and Ben Howard (but more American in general) section of my musical mind.  Most popular track on Spotify is "Room for Doubt," with just under 10k listens.

Live version, but you'll get the gist.  I kind of like "Ghost in the Attic" and "Killed That Girl" better than this one.  Cool tunes.

Dawes - All Your Favorite Bands.  Ever since seeing them at ACL a few years ago - a perfect set of sun-kissed, laid-back rock in a Sunday afternoon set spent laying in the grass with a cold beer - I have liked Dawes.  That being said, I find that I love the first album I heard - North Hills - much more than their subsequent output.  Not that this album is bad, but it is more polished and less pure sounding than that 2009 album.  Feels more produced. But I still love the sweet harmonies and relaxed vibe running through this one as well.  The title track is probably my favorite.

They just seem like nice guys who want me to be happy.  I hope they'll be my friends.  I'll hold on to this one for a few more months and see what I think after more marinating.

Boosie Badazz - Touch Down 2 Cause Hell.  Yawn.  Generally, kind of boring. This guy came out of Louisiana as Lil Boosie a few years back, but now he has apparently decided he is grown. And badass with zz's. He's got the obligatory cameos from Chris Brown and Rick Ross on this album, but there just really isn't a standout on here. The most listened-to track is "No Juice," which is a spare beat with brags about how you ain't got no juice, but Boozie has all the juice. Here you go. 

This isn't bad, pretty good thought-free head bob music, up until "Hands Up" near the end. Which is a pretty bad song over a boring beat, but I do appreciate the attempt to stop flossing for a sec to complain about something real.  Those lyrics made me take notice, versus the rest of this blah blah album. I won't keep this album around, but that song stuck in my mind. 

ACL 2016 - Early Bird Passes

Sweet!

Quick Hits, Vol. 50 (Public Enemy, Ghostface Killah, Kacey Musgraves, The Struts)

Happy 50th, Quick Hits.  Thank you for being my diversion from work that gives me something fun to do with my brain all day in between doing less fun things.

Public Enemy - Man Plans God Laughs.  Surprisingly solid.  Everything I have heard from them since Apocalypse 91 has been uninspired and boring.  Well, the title song from the He Got Game Soundtrack was kind of cool, but that is a 20+ year hiatus.  After seeing them live last year, I still wasn't expecting much from a new album, but the beats are pretty tense, the lyrics are still timely and smart, and some of the self-referential stuff they do really works. The title song is the most popular on Spotify, with just over 1.3 million listens.

Their references - "Am I radical?" "bring the noize," "89, another summer," etc. recall the classic P.E. calling cards of the past, and most of these songs contain similar references, but I'd say that most of the "message" in here is relatively watered-down.  P.E. could have had a pretty strong voice right now with the current political climate and Michael Brown et al, but they go just far enough to sound tough but not far enough to actually get back to their radical ways of the late 80's and early 90's.  I do dig the Stones riff in "Honky Tonk Rules," and the song title of "Corplantationopoly" is excellent, but then backed up with pretty weak lyrics.  "Bump bump, bump, bump, how can I say this?  Corplantations spreading that matrix, pity pity, flock to these cities, seem to forgot, punch the robot."  Riiiight.  Fight the power, man.  Punch the robot.  At about 2 minutes a song, its a quick listen that was fun to take me back, but I won't keep it around.

Ghostface Killah - Twelve Reasons to Die II.  Dude.  Ghost just keeps going.  Heavy on the old soul music (sounds like it is played by a live backing band) again, with some Autoharp strumming.  This is further continuation of the complicated story about the his alter-ego fighting with a crime family and those damn vinyl records filled with blood.  Cliff Notes version of the story: In the first album, Tony Starks went up against the DeLuca crime family, who killed him and put his soul/remains into twelve albums.  If those albums are played, his alter-ego sould, Ghostface Killah, comes out (or something).  Now some other guy (Lester Kane) is messing with the DeLuca family, finds the albums, and when he plays them he releases Starks/Ghostface and agrees to give up his body to the spirit in exchange for taking down the DeLuca clan.  Got it?  Also sounds like we'll have a third album in this chain sooner or later.  None of these tracks cracks the top ten on Spotify for Ghostface, so I'll give you my favorite because of a tight guest verse from Vince Staples, "Get the Money."

Tearing up the DeLuca empire sounds fun.  Staples sounds smooth as hell.  Oh, and there is a second disc included on Spotify, which is all instrumental versions of the 13 tracks on the album.  Fully unnecessary.  I dig the story and the execution of this album, but there is nothing on here that is going to bring me back again.  Until #3...

Kacey Musgraves - Pageant Material.  I get that you might not be in to country music, and so you might just dismiss this album out of habit.  Huge mistake.  Like her last album and like the new wave of country stars who wink at the genre and then have some fun with it (Chris Stapleton, Sturgill Simpson), this is funny and a hell of a lot of fun.  She can take that too far - see "Biscuits" with the chorus of "Mind your own biscuits and life will be gravy" - but she hits the nail on the head way more often than she mashes her thumb.  And even that song, I like it a lot and will continue to hum it in my head hours after I've finished it.  The music is good, but you come for the wry observations about life in small town country-land, family relations, and making fun where there isn't any.

My favorite moment is the Willie-assisted cover of Nelson's 1965 beauty "Are You Sure."  It isn't actually named on the album, it is a secret song after the final listed track, "Fine."  You may not remember this, but I have a clear memory of the TV show Lost, when Hurley is looking around at the misfit toy survivors spread around him on the beach, and slips his headphones on to listen to this song.  At the time, despite a pretty heavy past of Willie listening, I had never heard that track before, and so I remember being struck by (1) how perfect a song it was for that moment in the show; and (2) how great a song it was in general.  This is a great version, with Willie's unmistakable guitar work under Kacey's knockout voice, and then Willie's old, weathered voice for a bit.

Man, Willie looks like hell.  While I still think I liked her first album better ("Merry Go Round" was devastatingly perfect, and "Follow Your Arrow" great stuff), this one is a keeper for sure.

The Struts - Everybody Wants.  All they've got is a four song EP, but it is over-the-top awesomely sneering Brit rock and roll fun.  "Could Have Been Me" is a wide-open fist pumper that should be used at every stadium in the world to get the crowd on their feet, clapping over their heads while tears stream down their faces.  Very Freddie Mercury, especially with the hoots and hollers during the crowd-sing-along portion.  "Kiss This" is a strutting peacock of a funky dance kiss-off.  Very different from the first track, but just as appealing.  "Put Your Money on Me" cranks up some 70's guitar licks and tambourine for a sunny hand-clapper straight out of K-Billy's Super Sounds of the Seventies.  You'd think they'd add in a soft lover tune here before the EP is over, but you'd be wrong. "Where Did She Go" is immediately cranked up to 11 as well, a pub sing-along fit for any soccer pitch across the world.  This is just four songs, you should go check it out and see what I am talking about - it is awesome.  Here is "Could Have Been Me," in case you are too lazy to go find it on Spotify.

Yeah!  Unfortunately, this looks like the kind of band that will put out this awesome teaser and then implode because three of the members don't feel respected or as loved as the wild child frontman.  I hope I'm wrong and that a full-length is on the way.

ACL 2015: Sunday Weekend Two Recap

With an awesome wife and a generous friend, I managed to sneak my way into one more day of ACL Fest awesomeness.  With a one day wristband in hand and no where to be on a Sunday afternoon, I got out to the park pretty early and did it up right.

Mandolin Orange.  I walked in with these guys playing the BMI stage just to the right of the entrance, and I was sucked in by the mandolin play.  I'm a huge sucker for a well-done mandolin (see Chris Thile, mandolin mega-hero) and these guys were tearing it up.  I don't know a lick of their music, but I'm definitely going to put some into my queue to hear, because they sounded fabulous on Sunday for the three songs I caught.

Daughter.  So pretty.  Reminded me of the Explosions in the Sky music used for Friday Night Lights, except with a lovely voice instead of just instrumentals.  And the singer was a precious little thing, at one point noting that it was very hot, unlike their home in England, and so she was <twee English accent> "slightly melting."  However, after about 4 songs, I was pretty bored by the pretty.  Melt my face or you get nothing!

Speaking of melting, holy Hannah it was hot.  My phone said 97, but it felt like double that for part of the day.  Zero cloud cover, straight sun all day.  And the grass was toast.  Just absolute hay underfoot by Sunday.  Which meant that the dust was pretty bad - not historic dust like 2005, but enough so that I spent the next day hacking up funky stuff and wishing I could use my nose to breathe.  I hadn't seen people wearing masks at the Fest in years, but I saw a handful on Sunday. 

Kaleo.  After leaving Daughter, I wandered up on these dudes in time to hear two songs that were kinda awesome.  I remember one being about the "Back Door!!!", and one being about "Rock and Roll!!!", but I can't find either among the three songs on Spotify.  The songs on Spotify attributed to these dudes are pretty piano rockers nothing like what I heard at the festival.  I wouldn't go listen to the songs on Spotify (the third is in some guttural foreign tongue) but know that they were pretty fun live.

Lord Huron.  Again, over Borns (because I remember Borns being lame) or Sheppard (because that "Say Geronimo" hit isn't even that great).  Amazing show.  Great choice.  And strangely enough, the crowd was a fraction of last weekend - I was able to walk right up to the center and about 20 feet back in the crowd without any trouble.  I could have walked closer if I had stepped over sitters, but was happy enough where I was.  His music is so very lovely, I just couldn't help but enjoy the whole thing with random laughter bubbling up inside me.  He looked like he was enjoying it too - whipping his hat off during excited moments of guitar frenzy and generally bouncing around the stage.  "Fool for Love" and "Until the Night Turns" were a great dance-along, and for some old man reason, I full on teared up during "Meet Me in the Woods."  I'd like to blame that on the tremendous amount of dust in the air.  Also, this time he didn't play "End of the Earth," which would have been disappointing if I wasn't so entirely pleased with the rest of the set.

Sylvan Esso.  I heard them doing a guest DJ spot on KUTX over the weekend, and so I figured I'd give them a shot here over Strand of Oaks.  At no other time could I imagine Clipse getting radio airplay in Austin.  Pretty cool.  But then this show?  Meh.  Kind of rap, kind of electro, kind of boring.  About the time I bagged it and started to walk off, their computer/music machine apparently kicked the bucket and they had to replace it before they could continue.  Huge crowd though, so they're doing something right for some people.

Decemberists.  I know I said I might give Ben Howard a shot here, but I got lazy and decided to stay on the west side of the park.  I was quite a bit closer than last time (we stayed longer at Strand of Oaks than I did for Sylvan Esso), and they put on another great show.  The backup singers (who I hadn't noticed last week) were dancing and jamming, and overall I felt like they got up to more antics this time.  
For me, last week's set list was quite a bit better, as this time they stuck mainly to older albums.  The show opener was "The Hazards of Love," and it lasted for about 12 minutes.  I only know this because someone next to me asked what time it was and I told him that they had been playing that same song for 15 minutes and then had to revise my time estimate. There are four songs on their album by that name with that song title, so maybe they played all four?  I'm not familiar enough with that album to be sure.  Oh, but now listening to that album again, they definitely played "A Bower Scene," because those heavy jams in the middle, I remember those.  When they hit those jams, all of them jammed out and dropped low.
From the new albums, they played "Make You Better" (again, I inexplicably teared up during this one, having kids messes you up, folks), "Down by the Water," and "Calvary Captain." They also played something from a new EP, and an old one called "Chimbley Sweep."  I'm frightened of the chimbley sweep, as, if I understood the lyrics, he's an orphan boy who makes it happen with the old widows.  Near the end of the show, Meloy turned around and started directing individual performances from the different players, and then everyone fell down dead on the floor?  It was odd. I enjoyed my positioning much better this time, but felt like the first weekend show was the better of the two.

Chance the Rapper.  I wanted him to be better.  I really wanted to enjoy this.  But I just couldn't get into it.  I fear that rap is passing me by.  Big crowd, and I could only squeeze into the back.  It looked like those up front were into it, hands in the air and bouncing around, but the folks around me were pretty chilled.  Oh, and I saw a drug deal next to me. While I have never purchased drugs in a festival setting, it would seem to me that trusting the skeezy-looking guy in the STILL TRILL baseball cap and neck tattoos to pull real and/or good weed out of his sock in exchange for your $40 would be a bad proposition.  I heard the girl ask him something and the reply of "yeah, that's four ounces of the good stuff."  Good luck kiddo.  Hope you didn't die from smoking oregano doused in skunk juice.

Kurt Vile & the Violators.  I so wanted to hear "Pretty Pimpin'," because now that I have given that track a chance, it is a smooth, cooooool ear worm.  Love it.  But I just heard a few songs as I waited for the next band at the nearby Tito's tent.  He sounded nice - pretty simple seeming guy.

GRiZ.  Holy crap.  Next time I bag on EDM artists, remind me of this show.  I had more fun bouncing around with the children at this stage than I did for just about any show of the whole weekend.  Pre-show, I was hanging with Jeff from Kansas City (who called me "sir," a-hole) and I asked him how old the oldest person in the tent was.  He guessed mid-30's, and after I told him I was 39, he got very excited and told me he hoped he was still doing this stuff when he was 39.  For real doh, I was without any doubt the oldest person I could see in that tent.  This guy plays electronic dance music with his laptop and some other little dials and switches up there on stage, but he also fires out a real deal saxophone to jam in the middle of songs.  And it totally and completely works.  Everyone in that tent was jumping and bouncing and sweating along to those tunes.  Speaking of sweating, I had this very clear memory while in that tent of the mosh pits of my childhood at Liberty Lunch, where the actual air you are breathing is very obviously the hot, wet, smelly air that the people around you just expelled out of their bodies.  I mean, it was suffocating in there.  And I got soaked. But freaking fun!  A young couple near me also complimented me on my knowledge of Dr. Dre lyrics during the show.  Don't test me on the opening bars of "G Thang," yo.  I am the man.  Oh, and that reminds me - kids these days! - everyone in that room knew the opening bars to The Jackson 5's "ABC," Earth Wind & Fire's "September," and some other old ass song where I was shocked that people under 40 even knew what it was.  People literally singing along to Earth Wind & Fire at the top of their lungs?  What is in those drugs?

Dwight Yoakam.  Dwight is the freaking man.  His voice sounds spot on the same as it did 30 years ago, twangy and full, and he jammed a pretty classic set sprinkled with a few of his new tunes.  His band members were cracking me up - lots of sequins going on behind the big man in that band.  But it was a solid performance, nothing big or bombastic, just a spot on trip through hits (and new songs that sound exactly like the hits).  "Streets of Bakersfield" is my jam.  "Ring of Fire" and "Dim Lights, Thick Smoke" were fine cover versions.  I didn't stay for the end, but it was a good one.

Florence + the Machine.  Best show of the weekend.  It is close in my head with the Alabama Shakes set, but this was knockout, real-deal-headliner stuff.  Florence's voice is HUGE - and I even think they had the sound dialed back for the portion of the show when the Weeknd's stupid thumping mess was still farting around at the Honda stage.  And she puts on a true show - running back and forth across the stage, twirling around, hyping up the crowd, walking down among the front row people to touch them and sing out to the rest of the crowd.  I was also trying to get a picture of her outfit because I thought it was funny - looked like what the Texas Pom girls probably wore in the 30's. White pants, burnt orange shirt, white vest.  At one point, she ran down the VIP runway thing to the sound stage in the middle of the crowd, back behind me, and stood up on something to raise her arms up over the crowd and sing straight to the gathered masses.  It was awesome.  And then, for some reason, she started talking about how we all had things we should get rid of and it was time to take off something you didn't need.  So I took my hat off and waved it over my head (like half the crowd around me), but then she sprinted by without her shirt on, ran offstage, and then came back out with shirt back on.  Woo hoo!  PG-13 show kids!  Anyway, killer showmanship stuff.

While the theatrics made the show more fun, the music made it great.  In the past, I have kind of ignored Florence the way that I did Fitz and the Tantrums.  When the radio plays the same songs a billion times (see "Dog Days are Over," "Shake It Out," and now "What Kind of Man"), I start to tune it out and devalue the individual songs.  But these are huge, expansive rock tunes that absolutely killed it live.  Obviously different from the Foo Fighters, no one was pumping their fists in the air or anything, but the sing-along aspect of this show was goosebump-inducing fun.  When they kicked off "Dog Days" and this huge moon lit up over the stage, and the whole world was jumping and singing and losing it?  Awesome time. If you get the chance to see them live, I'd definitely recommend making it happen.

HUGE thanks to the wife and my buddy for making this one happen.  Fabulous day of Jack time.  I owe you both one (or three)!

ACL 2015: Guest Post for Saturday Weekend Two

Frequent commenter and avid dulljack fan Joseph made it out for Saturday of Weekend Two and gave me his thoughts on his day for sharing here on the blog.  Sounds like a good day of mostly music I saw, except that he got to do Modest Mouse, which sounds sweet. Enjoy!

My quick analysis (on a relatively short day…I don’t know how you do 3 days in a row…you are my hero).  While we were on the festival grounds for just 6 hours, I have a lot of thoughts about things:

We set up in the outer belt of chairs at the Honda stage for Father John Misty at 1:40 or so, and thus could hear San Fermin at the neighboring stage.  My thoughts of the day in fairly chronological order:

• San Fermin – Perfectly average band who thinks they are awesome.  If their talent and/or songwriting ever catches up to their confidence, they will be bigger than U2.  I mean, they thought they were KILLING IT…and they were – meh.  Kudos to them though.
• Wait…UT is beating OU? What?
• Father John Misty – it was a 50/50 comedy/singing show.  I haven’t laughed that hard at someone in between songs in a long time…complete elitist and snob who I want to be best friends with.  His music was powerful and fantastic live.  Huge fan.
• UT BEAT OU? What the f?
• Houndmouth – I think seeing them right after Father John Misty hurt my enjoyment at first, just b/c Misty has SUCH a powerful, gorgeous voice.  The Houndmouth singers are pleasant, but not powerful…so they kind of paled right off the bat.  Once I stopped comparing their voices in my head though, I really enjoyed the show.  Very fun music and “Sedona” was great live to hear everyone singing along.  Fun band.
• Girls are not wearing very many clothes as we walk back to Honda.  Stay on target. Stay on target.
•  Sturgill Simpson – How have I not been listening to this guy all of the time?  My new favorite country artist.  We loved him and I want to high five him all the time.
• Walk the Moon – We went to get food after Simpson (East Side King….holy hell, so good) and actually got in line at the beer tent right behind mutual friends of Jack and I.  Small world!  But as we were walking back to our chairs, it was a battle to get there through the MASS of people gyrating to Walk the Moon. People were losing their freaking minds and singing along to, let’s face it, boring ass mediocre pop music. It’s fine and completely forgettable.  I mean, they are better than Maroon 5 and Train, but so are most street buskers.  Yet, people were going nuts as if it was a surprise Kanye concert. My point is, I hate people.
• Modest Mouse – Put on a great show! Lots of stuff from their last 2 albums and Good News for People Who Love Bad News.  Since I’m a sap, I started crying during “Float On” because I was thinking about Clancy (and it’s one of my 5 favorite songs of all time anyway) [ed. note: Joseph's dog Clancy is amazing, but sadly not long for this world].  One of my favorite bands and a good show.  Plus some girl was literally crying in the first row the ENTIRE show, which was pretty amusing too.

Our plan was to stay for TV on the Radio and then leave, but we were tired (boys have not been sleeping well) [ed. note: Joseph made twins with his wife and now has to suffer the consequences], and decided to beat the lines for Uber and head out.  Gave our wristbands to some teens outside and made their night, then got home just in time to put the boys to bed, and then watch old shows for a few hours.

Good, good day.

Sunday Weekend Two!

What?  But I thought you only looked at Weekend One.  You are a Weekend One snob!

Nope.

Because of the awesomeness of my wife and a friend, I just score the hall pass and a wristband to check out Sunday all over again this weekend!

I am more than a little bit excited to go back.  And I'm extremely pumped about seeing Florence and the Machine!

Extremely truncated schedule for Sunday:
2:30 - might go try out Borns, or may just go do Lord Huron again, because he was fantastic
3:30 - Either Sylvan Esso or Halsey.  Probably Halsey.
4:30 - go give Ben Howard a shot this time.
5:30 - I want to go watch Chance the Rapper again and see if I can figure him out.
6:30 - GRiZ!  I heard great things about this guy's show.
7:30 - Dwight Yoakam.  Same here, multiple people told me he was awesome.
8:30 - FLORENCE!

I'm psyched!

ACL 2015: Sunday Recap

Man, by Sunday morning I was kind of a mess.  Calves and feet were sore from walking and standing for hours on end.  Nose was all stopped up from the dust and grass.  Sunburned - even my freaking lips got fried.  Right ear still ringing from the Foo Fighters.  Nothing two big beers and a pile of Pluckers can't help though!

While I was a tad sad to miss out on Ume, I am very glad that we took it easy on Sunday morning before going out.  I was tired.

Lord Huron.  One of the most beautiful sounds of the weekend, I love his music.  This was a perfect Sunday afternoon jam to enjoy in the grass while sipping a cold one and chatting with my niece and friend.  I've come to love this type of band in this time slot, and these guys didn't disappoint.  "End of the Earth" was gorgeous.

Strand of Oaks.  Fun, kick ass rock and roll.  These guys tore through my favorites like "HEAL" and "Goshen 97" with abandon, also playing even the more soft/introspective tunes like "Shut In" (which is damn nice, if sad, if you haven't listened to it) with more of a rock edge than on the album.  The lead singer is a big ol' tattoo'ed beard-o, too, but he was smiling and having a great time up there on stage during the tunes.  Good stuff.

The Decemberists.  While he didn't necessarily heed my instructions to just play the new album from start to finish, they did give me a nice heavy dose of the new album and the one just before it, which were grand.  They definitely sound great in a live setting, Not staying too far from their album sound, but good tight harmonies from backup singers and clarity to enjoy their lyrics.  I don't know some of the songs they played, I swear one went on for 30 minutes of the show, but it was a fun time.

Chance the Rapper.  Sadly, this guy was not especially impressive to me.  I get it that he has a good flow and mixes in clever lyrics and wordplay, but using the live jazz band as his backing track was not doing it for me.  I ended up sitting on a blanket with old friends chatting with this in the background once I realized what was going on.  So, honestly, I didn't give it a full chance to work, but so it goes.

Of Monsters and Men.  Sweet stuff.  The crowd was psyched, and they ripped right through "Dirty Paws" at the outset, with "Crystals" surprisingly tucked right in the middle of their set.  This is not a band that is doing a lot of theatrics or movement, it is all about some really nice indie rock that can get pretty cranked up in the live setting.  "Wolves Without Teeth" was awesome, and they ended with a handful of songs from the old album, including "Little Talks."  My friend and I thought this a few times, that it was interesting how many bands didn't end with their biggest hits, as we would have expected.  Foos playing "Everlong" first.  Walk the Moon playing "Shut Up" before the end of the show.  These guys with "Crystals" in the middle of the set.  Nothing wrong with it, just interesting.

Hozier.  Fantastic.  His original tunes, especially "Take Me To Church," "Angel of Small Death," and "Jackie and Wilson" impressed - he sounded fantastic and excited to be there. I thought he fell off some when trying to do covers - his version of "Blackbird" was not especially well executed, and the Ariana Grande thing was wrong place, wrong time to me. But when he stuck to his own stuff, it was powerful and fun.

The Strokes.  Yawn.  I mean, they did their songs just fine.  The lead singer still looks like he cuts his own hair with his eyes closed using two spoons.  He still sounds like he's just mumbling and wailing through his boredom.  The band still sounds raw and grimy.  I guess it was spot on for what people expected, but I just could have cared less.  I got relatively close even after having been to Hozier to the end - not a huge crowd for these dudes - but even among the people who should have been most interested in the band, I wasn't getting much energy.  A clear sign of a reduced crowd, I was getting texts all of a sudden once I got over there from the Hozier stage.  I stayed for about 6 songs and then decided to go wander over to the Weeknd.

The Weeknd.  I don't get the appeal at all.  Well, that isn't entirely true.  "I Can't Feel My Face" is an unstoppable jam, I fully get it.  But the rest of the music?  Gloomy R&B? Festival closer?  When I got over to this crowd, the vast majority of people around me were playing on their phones or talking and not really paying attention.  One couple near me were rapt with attention, but one big group to my right was sitting among the standing crowd to just look at their phones.  I happened to get there in time to hear the big hit though, and you would have thought there was a prize for the best fan-shot video of the song, because I swear everyone around me filmed the entire song with their phone.  Which is, frankly, dumb. That video is going to suck, and you'll never actually sit there and watch the whole thing, and your friends certainly aren't going to care to watch a bad video with bad sound of a song they can watch on YouTube right now.  Just weird.  But the crowd went wild behind their phones for that track, and I decided I should go back and hear the Strokes finish their set.

ACL 2015: Saturday Recap

After some high stakes little kid soccer games in the early morning on Saturday, we made it out to the festival in time to snag some lunch and go watch one of my friend's requested bands.

Echosmith.  My friend Jason kept making excuses about why he wanted to see these guys, all of which were, quite frankly, unnecessary.  I think their music is pretty good.  And they were really good live as well - with a strong lead singer and two legitimate pop hits in "Bright" and "Cool Kids." However, there is a funny thing with me and some lead singers with how they say "Thank you" after every song.  Sure, we should appreciate her politeness and all that, but (1) say the entire words, not "ThaQ!" and (2) there is no need to say thanks after every single song.  I remember Bjork doing this on her live box and it was distracting.  Whatever, I have issues.  I liked this band and I'm not afraid to admit it.

We took a little break in between shows here, so while I heard some San Fermin and Charlotte OC, I wasn't really listening.  I was eating some BOMB chicken thighs from East Side Kings.  Holy crap, so good.

Father John Misty.  Wins the emotional fire award for sure.  I bet he dropped to his knees in apparent overwhelming emotional pain 50 times during the show.  The knees of his pants were literally grey by the end of the show.  Even though that was a little distracting, he put on a hell of a show. Clearly sang his lyrics (which is the main reason to see the guy) while using the entire stage and making it an event.  He went down to the audience a few times, spun the mic on its cord, shuffled and swayed, it was fun to see him goofing while singing his somber lyrics.  As I figured, "Bored in the USA" was freaking brutal, just so powerful and convicting.  When the crowd joined in to the laugh track near the end of the song, I thought I was going to tear up.  But then I pounded some more Tito's brand Handmade Vodka with my Drake-approved Sprite and looked at my iPhone 6S brought to you by AT&T instead.  Great show.

Houndmouth.  Shaggy, jammy fun.  These guys play a show like they are having a great time together, and I liked the sound a lot.  Kind of Americana, kind of jam, with load of harmonies, this was a good band and a good show.  The crowd singing along to "Sedona" was a highlight.

Sturgill Simpson.  Fabulous show.  I know I already saw him just recently, but he is tight as hell and just caught the whole crowd up in the fun.  I also got to impress those around me by reaching back into the memory banks to note that "The Promise" was a When in Rome song.  Simpson isn't doing a lot of theatrics or movement around the stage, but I honestly didn't notice.  He sounds so great at what he does.

Walk the Moon.  Dude.  People went a little wild for these fellas.  They were good stuff, but people around us were dancing like it was the last night on earth.  I rolled out before the big hits played so that I could squeeze a little closer for Alabama Shakes, but these guys put on a hell of a fun show. When they played "Shut Up and Dance," even the people way over at the Honda stage were jamming out.  Its like a mind control drug, that song.

Alabama Shakes.  Best show of the weekend for me.  Brittany Howard's voice is an amazingly powerful force, howling and cooing and just weaving perfectly within the funky soul rock of the rest of the band.  Their new album is top notch, and they can play the living hell out of it on stage.  While I'm still sore about missing out on A$AP Rocky, Jose Gonzalez, and Rayland Baxter (who's new album is sweet!), I don't regret it after seeing this show.  I was feeling every second of it.  I also made friends with a chatty dude from Mexico named Jorge, who shared some of his bourbon in exchange for some of my vodka.  Foreign Exchange program, baby!

TV on the Radio.  Man, "Happy Idiot" is such a freaking excellent song.  I just can't help but jam out and enjoy myself during that track.  We ended up with pretty good crowd position for this show, but I felt like the majority of people around us were not very into the music.  I thought it was fun - highly danceable and high energy for the most part.

Drake.  My friend and I walked over to Drake, but never even tried to get much closer than the asteroid belt of chairs.  I just can't get my head around Drake.  I fully understand that he is huge and well-adored, but I want him to rap more and quit the R&B sing-song so much.  And all he freaking does is just talk about how cool he is.  The opening track, titled "Legend," literally just repeats how he's the holy one and if he dies he'd be a legend.  Yawn-o-rama.  I'm frustrated by him because I feel like I ought to like him (he thinks I ought to like him too, apparently), but I'm pretty ambivalent about his music.

Deadmau5.  After a handful of tunes from Drake ("Oh my God, Oh my God, If I die, I'm a legend!"  Really, guys, I'm a legend, dammit!) we wandered over to see what Deadmau5 was all about.  Blech. I cannot understand the attraction at all.  Everyone else much be on drugs.  Some EDM mastermind out there understands why Skrillex, Disclosure, and Bassnectar would appeal to me but this sounds awful, but I can't be bothered to go hunt it down.  I do not want to hear these sounds anymore.  We jumped up and down for a few songs while I yelled the word "MOUSE!" over and over, and then walked on home.

ACL 2015: Friday Recap

Friday:
Holy crap, 11:00 was an early start time to the day.  I was among the initial crowd allowed into the gates, and it was actually a lot of people stacked up for that opening.

In the Whale.  Tiny crowd, definitely less than 100 people.  But their music was insanely high energy, and the crowd was enjoying it.  I have to say that there was a little more screamo vocals than I expected from their EP, but it was still a fun show.  They also noted that they put out a real deal album in the Spring.  I need to hunt that down, because it is not on Spotify.
The drummer, while not the lead singer, took some time to try to hype up the crowd, which was fun.  At one point he got us all to crouch down until the music climaxed and then jam out.  He told us to forget the sunglasses on our face or the beer in our hand and just let it all out.  If you go check out their facebook page, you can see a video of it, but I'm not smart enough to load that here.  He also ripped on "hipster bands who just push the space key and don't give a damn" (or something to that effect, he bagged on hipsters multiple times). He also gave a funny shout out to his parents, telling people to look for the only black people in the audience.  This was worth it to go early.

Leopold & His Fiction.  I stood there for two or three songs, and this was some good sounding rock and roll.  Not as tough as I recalled from their albums, a little prettier and less hard than I remembered.

American Aquarium.  I heard a few songs while waiting for my friend to get in the gate, and they were really good.  Way more tuneful and interesting than I remembered when I listened to them a few months ago.  Kind of wish I'd have watched more of this instead of Leopold.

The Maccabees.  Sweet.  They started off with "Marks to Prove It," which is probably my favorite of theirs now, and it was kick ass.  Good show, although we only stayed for about 20 minutes.

Residual Kid.  In the Kiddie Limits area.  And they just didn't have the sound turned up enough.  They sounded pretty good - the same heavy rock and roll slash grunge sound that they give in their recorded music, but the scene was just weird.  About 8 people standing up by the stage, about 50 sitting right behind them, and no one even really appearing to be paying attention to the music.  I think I need to hunt down a real show with these guys in a smaller venue where people are there to jam.

Royal Blood.  One of my top shows of the entire weekend.  I'm fully on board with these dudes.  First things first, I don't think I realized previously that this band is just a bass and drums.  There is no guitar.  I don't understand how they make that bass sound like it does, but they must use weird tuning or something because they somehow provide the same experience as a four piece band with only two dudes.  Huge crowd for this show - surprisingly big for a 2 pm show.  For the most part, they ripped through their album and I felt like I knew the majority of the songs.  Power rock and roll, the real deal.  If you can make it to see them sometime, you should definitely do it.

Leon Bridges.  This guy is the freaking truth.  I normally would never aim for soul music, but this stuff is beautiful and soulful and so spot on well done.  My friend leaned over to me and asked if we had gone back to the future to hear the band from Back to the Future.  The whole band was great, from the backup singer (spot on harmonies) to the drummer in the huge cowboy hat.  And Leon likes to dance - you could tell he just wanted to groove up there with us.  Silky smooth voice - so damn pretty.  Hard to believe he was just recently gigging for change with that voice.  Would have been a cool find for people in Fort Worth. My one beef with the show was that the microphone was having some troubles - it would glitch out every once in a while and no one did a thing about it.  When he ended with "River," I thought people were going to cry.  So beautiful.

Run the Jewels.  As I waited in line for beer, we heard the opening two songs of Run the Jewels, and holy hannah Killer Mike is an angry mo-fo.  "Run the Jewels" and "Oh My Darling Don't Cry" were absolutely crushing, with zero punches pulled.  They sounded great. Pro tip - if you don't want your kids to hear curse words, you should avoid RTJ.

Moon Taxi.  These guys did not disappoint, although I feel like their sound has grown more slick as they have matured over time.  Less raucous and raw and much tighter on their playing than the last time I saw them.  Enjoyed their set mainly from the lines to buy food though, so I can't say I was entirely tuned in.

Tame Impala.  Top five show of the weekend for me.  I just can't stop hearing "Let it Happen" in my head, and they crushed it.  Their tunes, especially live, are still psych rock, but they are still danceable and more fun than just a straight rock show. I had a blast listening to them do their thing.  Crazy, trippy imagery on the big screen behind them the whole time - pulsing light designs and eyeball lasers.  Crowd was lighter than I expected so we actually got up in front of the sound stage thing.  Which was sweet, for one to see the band better, but when you are in the thick of the crowd at a show like that, I think it increases enjoyment as you join in with everyone else.  Well, we did not join in with the two twenty-something dudes behind me.  
Dude 1: "Dude, did you eat all of that molly, or did you keep some for me?"
Dude 2: "Uh, no, man.  I took it aaaaaaaall."
Dude 1: "Aw.  I gotta go find Greg before this starts."
Nice.

After that show, we squeezed up a little closer and were probably 20 feet from the thrust stage that came out from the main stage.  I am tremendously bummed out that I couldn't hear Gary Clark Jr.  He played the stage closest to the Samsung, but you literally couldn't even tell that someone was playing from where we stood.  Which sucks.

Foo Fighters.  This one was really fun.  Before the show, a huge curtain came down in front of the stage as the roadies got the drum kit and Grohl's huge Game-of-Thrones-with-Guitar-Necks wheelchair set up.  (Grohl broke his leg a while back and still apparently can't walk without crutches).  

The throne from our spot

From behind the curtain, Grohl started screaming (literally screaming) and getting everyone hyped up with a few power-rocker flourishes like "AUSTIN ARE YOU F'ING READY?!?!?!" Here is the deal.  Dave Grohl is a freaking caricature.  I think he is great, but his schtick is laid on really heavy.  As the crowd hit a fevered pitch of screaming right back to Grohl, that huge curtain got sucked away in a spinning black hole and the band blasted into "Everlong" and "Monkeywrench."  And it was seriously awesome.  If you just let yourself go and jam out, this was insanely fun.

However, I have to say that I feel like they were better the last time they played ACL Fest. First, the mix sounded bad from where we were.  Dave Grohl's screams came through just fine, but a good portion of his lyrics were hard to hear or obscured by the band.  Second, while it was cool to see him get driven around the stage in his throne, I felt like Grohl did more vocal freakouts to make up for the fact that he couldn't do physical ones.  Finally, I just don't like their more recent albums as much as I loved their first three or four.  So while it was really cool to have Gary Clark Jr. come out and assist on the Sonic Highways track "What Did I Do/God as My Witness," I just think that and "Congregation" (and Skin and Bones," and "Times Like These," and "Best of You," and "The Pretender") are just weaker songs than their original stuff.

That being said, most of these songs are perfect stadium rockers with huge, repetitive
elements that made for a really fun sing-a-long jam.  "Something from Nothing," from the new album, sounded fantastic, as did classics like "My Hero" and "This is a Call."  And I think Grohl is genuinely funny when doing his "Are you ready to raawwwwwwkkkk!!!" thing. So while I can nitpick things like the vocal mix, I can't deny that this one was a really fun show.

ACL 2015: Recap

Hell of a good weekend.  On Monday morning, I was sore and tired, with about 1/3 capacity for my voice.  My calves and neck got sunburned all to hell.  And I probably gained 10 pounds.  But it was a fantastic time.

It is hard to sit down and write this.  Honestly, I'm sad that the weekend is over.  I've been anticipating some of those bands for so dang long that its a major bummer to have their sets dead and gone.  For some, I can still see them playing right now, or hear the crowd yelling along with me. Others, I know I saw them, but nothing stuck in my brain at all.

Before I get to the good stuff, I just want to note that the weather was absolutely gorgeous. After all the years of mud-fest, dust-bowl, and temperatures bordering on 100, having high temps of 88 or 87 each day was wonderful.  Not to say it isn't hot in the direct sun anyway, but it really felt fantastic. Oh, and sorry to those of you going out second weekend, but the grass is trashed.

Daily recaps on music and food coming soon.