WOOHOO! We did it! Saw some great things I expected, saw some new, interesting, or exciting things, and had an excellent time with a load of folks. I'm still trying to get my eyes to properly work, and Wet Leg is still ringing in my right ear, but that was a blast.
Heard a guy on the radio yesterday that he felt like there was too much "main character energy" in the park - I think that is afflicting the entire world right now, not just ACL - but I also tend to agree. I wish people could just be more accommodating and considerate about other folks and what they have going on.
Friday:
- Spill Tab - could hear her as we walked into the gate, and she was better than I recalled. Definitely more of a rock feel and less of a bedroom pop thing.
- Good Neighbours - excellent! I knew a song or two, but they were not really on my radar until Jason said that he really wanted to see them. But they had a fun bounce and a good crowd. I sort of feel like they will be one of those bands who is back on this poster in three years and I have zero recollection of ever hearing of them before...
- Amble - perfect Tito's tent show. We sat in the shade under that big pecan tree out the back of the tent and let their folky twang wash over us. Loved it.
- King Princess - terrible experience. We made it about a song and a half before the whole group tired of the schtick and we made a run for Dylan Gossett.
- Dylan Gossett - great little country set. His crowd was much larger than I expected, to be honest, and everyone seemed to know the words. He feels destined to grow.
- MJ Lenderman. Man, I was really disappointed in this set. I had talked this up and was so excited for it, and the group I took over there gave it about two songs before they peaced out. I stayed with one friend, and I do think it got better, but it still wasn't the revelatory feel that I get from his newest album. He just sounded sloppy and disinterested. And maybe that's his schtick, but he writes such good songs I wanted to get a good show. Should have done Briscoe...
- Cage the Elephant was freaking awesome. Best thing of the day. Just a real deal show of hits and a lead singer who wanted to show off his skills at holding the crowd in the palm of his hand. Pyro, riffage, danceable jams, this was legit. I loved it.
- Dr. Dog. I also liked this more than I expected. I sort of figured we would all be traipsing across the park to Empire of the Sun (which, I'm glad we didn't because the reports were that the crowd was overly full hell), but this pile of folks made a fun jam.
- Hozier was fine. His voice is top tier, and his band sounded legitimately good, but I think I was just sweaty and tired and uninterested in his preaching after having just seen him two years ago at the same festival. We rolled out early and I got to sing along to "Too Sweet" on the dusty walk back to the AHS bridge.
- Dinner that night was a Gimme Burger that was pretty dadgum tasty. Expensive as hell, but solid burger! We pre-gamed at the newly re-opened Easy Tiger on S. Lamar, and it was kick ass. Also expensive as hell, but very yummy.
Saturday:
- The Heavy Heavy. So fun! Some friends had done their late night show the night before (starting at freaking midnight) and while I think it would have sapped my will to live to miss that sleep, I had a FOMO feel because this show was really great. The Father John Misty cover was preceded by Adrian Quesada coming on to help with a cover of "Texas Sun," which was tight.
- Spacey Jane. Also really good. This is one of those shows where I was fascinated how it is that people around me knew every word of these songs, while to me this is a little-known band of Kiwis. The world is odd. But, I think their rock stylings were groovy and fun.
- Ocean Alley. Nope. They were not bad, but I went there alone and walked up pretty close, in the center. I just found myself pretty bored after a few songs. Wandered off to the rap freakout instead.
- Joey Valence and Brae. A friend I saw after a few songs was like, well, this is wild, but those guys have zero talent. They really left me remembering early Beastie Boys stuff where the actual lyrics took a backseat to the v i b e. I was cracking up at the show though - directly in front of me, two couples had their two or three year old little girls with them, riding dads' shoulders in bright pink earmuffs. Which was generally cute, until I realized these little girls knew the actual lyrics to the wild ass songs. Funny stuff.
- Modest Mouse. A little disappointing, if I am being honest? They came out firing with immediate hits, which was fun. I was pumped for this show, and stayed for the whole thing, but it felt like they didn't play all that I wanted to hear, and the lead singer had a bad case of marblemouth to where he could have been singing in Russian for all I know. A band that I always want to like more than I actually do. He did do a weirdly cool thing I'm not sure I have seen before, were he sang directly into the guitar pickup so that his voice came through that way? Was kinda neat?
- Goldford. Great voice, kind of a mess of a show at the little BMI stage with people talking and walking through. Talented dude though.
- Doechii. Surprisingly, maybe the best show of the day. Definitely the best performer - dancing, running around, jumping, twerking, and her flow was impeccable. So freaking fast. Lyrics definitely on the nasty side, but she was a great time. At the start of the show, I think she already had a little hole in her jeans, but a few songs in that had turned into a huge rip. She was funny then, asking everyone not to look at the booty and trying to cover it up with one hand as she danced.
- Djo. Started meh but came strong. I think walking away from the pure entertainment of Doechii so that this guy could start his set with a sleepy, quiet opener, didn't get me going. But he turned it on later and got it going with rock and funk and some synth pop too. He sounds like Paul McCartney at times. The number of phones that shot up to immediately record "End of Beginning" actually made me bark out a laugh. So weird. Great song though. He did a little electronic jammy bit in the middle that I enjoyed too.
- The Strokes. Yeah, sure, fine. The hits sounded good. Also laughed out loud when I saw half of the crowd around us leave when "The Adults Are Talking" ended so that folks could go catch half of Carpenter. Wasn't bad, it just wasn't that captivating.
- Dinner tonight was deeply weird, not even sure what place it came from, but I had a piece of spam on rice and some edamame with rice? Dunno, I wasn't feeling that hungry and just wanted to knock something out.
Sunday:
- Lucius. I wanted this to be the perfect little harmony-laden start to the day, but it was kind of uninteresting. I liked when they all had drums and were going to town on those, but otherwise we sort of ended up just chatting in the shade before wandering off.
- Wet Leg. YES. Just what I wanted this show to be. Way too loud, totally raucous, and a little naughty. The band was excellent, the singing was spot on, and the crowd was way into it. Awesome show.
- Wild Rivers. Now I'm just going to sound like a jerk who doesn't like pretty things, but I saw Wet Leg melt faces and then going to this gentle vibe show was a letdown. We didn't stay.
- Passion Pit. Not good. My daughter agreed and left immediately after they did a bad, wrong-sounding rendition of "Sleepyhead." But more importantly:
- WTF man. Every year, people talk about whether or not C3 sold too many tickets. I have no clue how many they sell, but here is my theory for what happened at this point.
- Only three things scheduled for this hour - a semi-washed up rapper, a semi-washed up indie electronica thing, and a Spanish language dude no one knows. And dinnertime!
- I didn't see the crowd for Feid, so I don't actually know if it was empty. But walking under that big pecan outside of the Tito's Tent, where a billion people were either waiting for Passion Pit, or trying to get food, or trying to go to the bathrooms, or just being assholes, was hell. This was a massive screw up. After PP sounded bad, we ate something and made an end around for T-Pain, and you would have thought Chappel Roan was back because that crowd was so massive. Having only two options at 6:30, one of which is among the food area, was a total trainwreck.
- T-Pain. I have no clue what to think of this show, even after a day. One friend texted me saying what an amazing show he was seeing, while I was standing among eight billion people yelling DJ Khaled lyrics and then watching the guy sing a small portion of "Tennessee Whiskey." It was a like a Jukebox show at some crappy Vegas bar - he just repeatedly played portions of other people's songs, and then he got the crowd to sing "Don't Stop Believin" for him. I get that it is fun to sing along to "They Not Like Us" or whatever, but why am I at a T-Pain show to hear that? He wasn't even rapping it, he just was hanging around while it played? I did enjoy his interlude about how dumb it was for him to have chosen a full leather suit to perform on the hottest stage on the planet, but musically, I didn't understand the point.
- The Killers. Great set overall - definitely an entertaining festival-ending party. Two good Willie covers, too! I'll say that when they get beyond their hits, which are unquestionable excellently fun songs, their show is a little cheesy. Brandon Flowers very much takes on the Vegas showman persona with his high watt good looks and sparkly suit, and when everyone is belting "Somebody Told Me" or "Smile Like You Mean It" with him, that is money! But when he starts into the terrible platitudes of "For Reasons Unknown" or some other deeper cut, it's not the same at all. Thankfully, they did not play "The Man." And chanting the silly ass "I've got soul, but I'm not a soldier" for what felt like ten minutes was actually kind of cathartic. Good stuff.
- Had the Crunch Wrap from some BBQ place for dinner and it was very yummy.
As usual, not perfect, but a damn good time. Logistical thoughts:
- Lines to get in were never that bad. The mass of humanity trying to leave and cross the Austin High bridge after the final show was HELL. I might consider a less bottlenecked exit next year.
- Bars never seemed too packed and same with bathrooms.
- Never felt unsafe or like someone was trying to steal my wallet/phone.
- Cell service was ass. Again.
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