ACL 2024: Weekend One Review!

Hey y'all.  What a wild weekend.  I know that there have been hotter weekends, but maybe I am just aging more quickly or something because that felt stinkin' blazing hot out there in the sun.  Anecdotally, we definitely saw a few people go down for the count in the crowd, and my daughter said that lots of people in the crowd at Tyler, the Creator were passing out.  Definitely a good year for me to have pushed through my prior skepticism and brought in Pedialyte packets to bump up electrolytes.  The heat and dryness also amped up the dust big time.  Next weekend's dust factor is going to be brutal.

OH!  And fair warning, I 100% had a dude trying to reach in my pockets while in the huge scrum trying to get out of Dua Lipa on Saturday night.  We left Dua early, and the crowd was massive.  We got all the way over to the side where the bars are, and wormed our way towards the Austin High exit.  Huge mess of people trying to get closer to the stage, while a huge mess of people tried to leave.  About level with the T-Mobile stage, I felt a hand trying to get between my hand and my pocket left pocket, where I keep my phone.  I threw back a little elbow and grabbed a hold of my phone and wallet for the rest of the walk, but I never really tried to confront the dude.  Super annoying that these folks are out there trying to pickpocket.  Like this butthead last year.  So, legit, watch your stuff.

And while there were some issues with the lineup that bummed me out, and I it given my own magic wand would have included many other bands, I have to say that we saw some really good music.  Without further meandering, let's get in to what I saw.

Friday:

• Katie Pruitt.  Something about her power and conviction, and just her good music, really nails me.  I told my wife she's like if the Indigo Girls were one Girl and wanted to force you to listen to them.  "Out of the Blue" was lovely.  I used to think that "Loving Her" was my favorite tune of hers, but after hearing "Worst Case Scenario" I just loved it.  Great show.
• Hudson Westbrook.  Heard a song or two here and it didn't grab us.  Heard a Paco Versailles song or two while in line for drinks and that seemed more fun.
• Mannequin Pussy.  Heard a couple songs and we all needed to go somewhere else.  I'm sure there are other examples but I have trouble thinking of a band that is so good when they want to be and so unpleasant at other times.
• Eggy.  Freaking awesome.  I know, for almost every one of my friends at the Festival, the very idea of a jam band sends them running the other way, but I thought this was supremely fun.  I've been in to Goose since they came a few years ago and this felt like in that wheelhouse.  Also, it was in the Tito's tent which made it feel more like an event.
• Sadly, missed on Dexter and the Moonrocks because we wanted to get a better spot for Foster the People.  They were great too - I'm sure Leon Bridges put on a lovely show but Foster was just super high energy and fun.
• Chris Stapleton.  To quibble for a short moment, it would really be nice to get a certain level of entertainment from the headliner - you know - some banter, some unexpected covers, the ability to move your body - something?  Stapleton just came out on stage, stood there, and blasted through the hits.  Literally could have been from his album, he is so damn perfect at his singing and guitarwork.  I loved it.  His voice is wonderful and his music underneath that is harder towards rock than it is towards country for sure.  But our whole group left feeling like it was just odd to have him so unconcerned with the crowd's existence.
• Along with that aside, it was also strange that it felt like his whole stage would just go dark between numbers.  Not only was he silent, but it was like he didn't even want to be seen.

Saturday:

• I felt bad for my friend who I saw in there and who was all confused about the lineup.  After Caamp bailed, they shuffled the whole day, and for folks who mapped out their day before then, he missed out on some stuff he had wanted to see.  The app is very helpful, folks!
• Y'all.  Zach Person is the absolute real deal.  I had previously compared him to Gary Clark Jr., and I still believe that comparison to be apt, but several people around me were bringing up Prince and I don't think they were wrong.  Guitar wizardry and fantastic stage presence.  This show absolutely felt special to me.
• The Beaches.  The lead singer was so hot (from the heat.  damn, y'all) that she came out in what she described as her underwear.  Seemed more likely to be a swimsuit, but either way it was a statement.  These ladies balled out - supremely fun rock and roll show with them jumping and running and generally getting the crowd going.  I also got to yell "itty bitty titty committee," which made me very happy.
• Teddy Swims.  I think I gave this guy a bad rap in my review of him.  I have never been much for the R&B thing, so I just never really understand it or what is good in that genre, but I will fully admit that this dude had a fantastic voice.  Chris Stapleton-esuqe on the voice.  Big crowd too, but I think after Caamp dropped out that was going to be the case.
• Hermanos Gutierrez.  Just fantastic guitarwork.  The folks I was with were not into it at all, but if you are a fan of hearing masters of the guitar push each other along into wonderful little soundscapes, then this is your jam.  Sadly we wandered on.
• Khruangbin.  I think the most fun thing about this show was how confused my whole group was about it.  No one could pronounce the name.  Production did this annoying thing with the cameras for the screens that made them blurry (or all their cameras broke in the heat).  And I realized that this is just another jam band, but with a slightly different angle.  They just fire into a groove and then wiggle around in that groove hole for a long time.  Very little singing.  And I thought it was cool.  My compadres less so.  The ladies all wandered off to pay $25 for a damn margarita and I jammed until we went to grab them to come back to hear Leon Bridges hop on and play Texas Sun with them.  Very cool.
• My friend did Benson Boone instead and he said it was very good.  Dude did a flip off of the piano in one of his big songs and didn't miss a beat on the singing.  Wild.  He also cut off his clothes because it was too hot.  ;)
• Dua Lipa.  I really wish we would have gone to see Jungle.  That was the right move, to go see a great band do their thing and then watch five minutes of this on the big screens before leaving.  I fully understand that people tell me she is a huge star.  I hear you.  But I don't see it.  She is beautiful and very fit.  She has a very strong voice.  But her show was honestly a little underwhelming to me.  Her dance moves seem bare bones and basic.  Like, re-watching again today, she just rubs her body a lot and then walks very confidently before moving her arms in time with her background dancers.  95 year old Madonna was a million times better recently.  She seems cold (and that is likely on purpose).  Her stage setup was a confusing pair of stairs that made it hard to figure where she was at any time versus the group of other dancers wandering around with her.  We stayed for about 10 songs, and they just have a nu-disco sameness to them that eludes me.  I don't mean any of this to be rude if you loved it, I just don't see the appeal for me personally.
• On our way out, we could see/hear some of the Pretty Lights show - that seemed pummeling.  Like, at least the portion we saw was not the kind of groovy and chill stuff that I expected, it was more like Bassnectar/Skrillex attack music.

Sunday:

• We heard a little Richy Mitch as we walked through the park, and it was pretty solid.
• West 22nd.  Super fun little band.  They just seemed like they were having an excellent time up there bashing their way through what is likely the biggest concert of their life.  Good stuff.
• Malcolm Todd.  Very bad for me.  We stopped by there on our way to flipturn, and all three of us were very ready to leave after two songs.  "Any of you out there in basketball jerseys?  I'd cook you in basketball."  Just bad.
• flipturn.  Loved it.  I definitely enjoyed them during the preview process, but their live show is even more fun and infectious.  They seem to be really enjoying themselves and the slightly odd vocals I had mentioned sounded just right up there.  My friend compared it to Foster the People's vocals and my wife brought up Briscoe.  I think both are right around the right spot.  I will definitely keep listening to them.
• Lots of folks already camped out at this stage for Chappell, definitely made this set seem like it was packed!
• Myles Smith.  Maybe the surprise of the weekend for me.  I liked him well enough during previews, but had considered doing Bakar instead.  Jason wanted to go do him.  Great choice.  Excellent showman, very fun concert with an amazing final singalong with his big hit.  He ended up singing the big hit twice at the end, which was super fun.  Added bonus was that my wife spotted two American Olympians in the crowd before the show and they seemed genuinely pleased to have been recognized.  But this guy is both heartfelt and fun, a combination that nailed it for this hour.
• David Shaw.  Literally forgot about him when I first posted this review, but he was excellent.  Jason, who is related to him through marriage and band-mate-ness stayed for a few songs, but because it was his birthday and he had neglected his family all weekend to jump around during Myles Smith with me, watched a few songs and then hauled for the exit.  Bryan, who went with me to Red Rocks last year to see the Revivalists, spent the show lamenting his new view that one of his top bands was definitely breaking up.  I am not that negative.  To me, this was just a great show of Revivalist B-Sides (and Soul Fight) done in a hot ass tent for a medium-sized crowd.  I loved it.
• Here is where my wife was mad at me.  She had read my schedule post and thought we were walking to Tyler Halverson, but I had mentally audibled into trying to get closer for Chappell Roan.  So, we grabbed dinner and a drink and by the time she realized that we were stuck in the biggest crowd (maybe?) in ACL history, she was stuck with me.  
• Chappell Roan.  Really a great show.  Reminded me of the Zach Bryan show at Two Step Inn a few years back, where everyone there yelled every word of every song and just lived and died with his every move.  She had this audience in the palm of her hand.  With the start of each song, they screamed in recognition.  They sang along to the lyrics, they yelled the little asides, they did the special dances.  This was an event.  And it really threw my issues with Dua Lipa into focus.  Lipa feels like a pre-packaged gourmet chocolate that I am being told is great - looks lovely, the packaging is glossy and perfect, and it definitely tastes like chocolate.  On the other hand, Roan feels like a kick ass homemade dessert that I got to savor with friends and then want the recipe to.  She sped up the slow songs, jammed with her band, ran around the stage.  She just really performed.  My wife's only quibble, beyond being stuck in the middle of it, was that she wished she had known the lyrics to join in.  Oh, and she wasn't a huge fan of thinking about the fact that our girls were somewhere in that crowd, singing along to "KNEE DEEP IN THE PASSENGER SEAT AND YOUR EATING ME OUT IS IT CASUAL NOW" like every other teenager standing near us.  I loved the energy, weirdness, dancing, the whole thing.  Oh, and her cover of "Barracuda" was rad.  You should definitely try to catch this one.
• I'll also note that the number of drones firing around overhead for this show was a little much.  They got some great footage of the city skyline behind the stage and the massive size of the crowd, but they kept catching my eye in the sky in an annoying way.
• Sturgill Simpson.  This dude is wild.  I loved his set.  But if you went over there hoping to hear modern country, or even outlaw country, you'd likely have been disappointed.  It was like a jam band wanted to cover aspects of as many classic rock bands as possible.  I heard echoes of Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, ZZ Top, Allman Brothers, and others as they blasted and roared through a bunch of the tunes from Sound & Fury.  Personally, I would have enjoyed more from Sailor's Guide and Metamodern, but the hard rock guitar heroes vibe was in full effect regardless of the songs.  I will say, dude can't pronounce a word worth a damn!  My wife called him marblemouth (and was definitely tired of the eight-minute long guitar fireworks bits) but I guess because I know the words (other than the new Johnny Blue Skies stuff) it didn't bother me as much.  Good times.
• Although, another dude who never said a damn word.  After his last song, he just said Thanks Austin or something like that and was gone.  So weird why they won't banter at least a smidge.

For all of you second-weekenders, I'll work up those schedules soon!