ACL 2018: Second Weekend Review

What a great weekend of music.  Back to reality, right?  

My sinuses are clogged with dust and grass.  My eyes are still filmy and fuzzy.  My neck is sore (thanks Metallica!).  My ankles are sore (thanks Chvrches!).  My left ear has a nice constant ringing.

But was it all worth it?  Absolutely.  Saw some great music and spent some good times with friends.  Also saw some really poorly done music that was disappointing, and missed out on a bunch of stuff I wish I could have seen, but let's focus on the good here.

Transportation:

• Saturday, we decided to go with Lyft the whole time and see how that worked out.  $17 to get from my house to the Crown & Anchor for lunch and football games, then $13 to get from there to the park.  Afterwards, we walked up the hill to Deep Eddy to have a beer and wait for the surge pricing to die down (and Deep Eddy was totally packed, which wasn't cool) and then paid $24 to get back up to north Austin.  So, definitely cheaper to just pay to park somewhere close to the Fest, but also nice to not even worry about having to drive.
• Sunday, my buddy and I did the free bus shuttle from downtown.  Yet again, getting on and off was quick and super easy.  I thought it would be miserable, but actually very convenient.

Food:

• Went back to the empanada stand again, despite knowing full well that they wouldn't be good, and received the same dry meal as last time.  I just hate waiting in the lines, so I go to the short lines and end up with dry empanadas.
• Was also disappointed in the Mighty Cone.  The issue is the tortilla - just a bad, cold, dry flour tortilla.  The chicken was good, and the slaw was tasty, but the tortilla blows.  Which is crazy, we have so many places that make legit tortillas here, how can this still be a problem.
• Peached Tortilla's bahn mi tacos were super good.
• Taco Deli's fundido tacos were also just as good at the park as they are in the store.  Dang yummy, and they had a thing of the Dona sauce to drown them in.  Yummo.

Tunes:

• Reignwolf.  Totally awesome show.  He did crazy stuff with his guitar that made me rethink how an electric guitar is played.  Like doing chunks of the show one-handed while using his other hand for a drum stick or the microphone.  Or playing the guitar like it was a stand up bass.  Wild, but damn good rock and roll.
• Alvvays.  Another good show, I loved it all over again.  Just sparkling and bright pop rock tunes played well.
• David Byrne.  I'm still annoyed that my friend split up from me to go see Sir Sly instead, but this show was fabulous.  He did the same deal as last week, with the grey suits and the big band of people jamming out around him, and its so great to have someone who planned out an entire show, with costumes and choreography and forethought - instead of 90% the bands who just step out onto the stage and play their tunes while the light show does all the work.  Byrne is amazing.
• Manchester Orchestra.  Also awesome.  Much harder than I expected from listening to their tunes beforehand, they threw down a legit grunge-tinged rock and roll show.  The crowd was super into it as well, which always helps.
• Brockhampton.  Third time to see these guys in the past week, and while it was another good show of high energy and fun tunes, I don't need to see them again for a little while.  All three shows were almost exactly the same, down to them asking the crowd if everyone is OK like 20 times per show.  YES, DAMMIT, WE'RE OK!  But their tunes are highly fun to jam to in a crowd.  Good stuff.
• Paul McCartney.  Another insanely good show.  I can't stress enough how fun it is to hear Paul freaking McCartney sing some of the greatest pop songs of all time.  And the whole crowd, just happily singing along to classics like "Blackbird" and "Can't Buy Me Love."  And Paul was funny up there, kind of mugging for the people and yelling back at them and just kind of playing along.  Still awesome on the bass, the guitar, and the piano.  So glad I got to experience that twice.
• The Wombats.  Better than expected.  I knew I'd like the Joy Division song, but they really brought a lot of energy and excitement to the early portion of the day.
• The Breeders.  OK.  I kind of wish I had bopped over to catch Japanese Breakfast instead.  They sounded good, but I'm just not that into their new album.
• Brandi Carlile.  I am so bummed out that Highly Suspect cancelled their show at the last minute because of some injury in the band.  SO BUMMED.  But, it meant that I could go see this great show instead, after multiple people had told me that she was a must see.  It was a very good show.  Her own music is lovely, and as usual I got nice and uncomfortably damp in the eyes during "The Joke," but then at the end of the show she brought out Pearl Jam's Mike McCready to jam on some Led Zeppelin, and it was AWESOME.
• Chvrches.  This might have been my favorite show of the whole weekend.  We ended up very close, like 5 people back from the barrier, and so we were right in the mix of people who loved these songs and were pumped to be there.  Which always amps up the excitement of the show, when the folks around you know every word and are ready to jam out.  They played everything I wanted to hear, sounded great, and it just clicked perfectly.  Awesome show.
• Metallica.  Another top notch show, with a great (but not perfect) setlist of the hits (I would have liked to have heard "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" and "Fuel"), and all of the dudes in the band still absolutely rule at their jobs (we're going to act like the attempt to cover "Whiskey River" never happened).  My neck is still legitimately sore, two days later, from the uncontrollable need to thrash around during those songs.  I'm ready to do it again!
• Parquet Courts.  Surprisingly great.  I could have used a little less yelling in the vocals, but the music underlying the songs was super fun and well-done.  I've become a fan.
• X Ambassadors.  Meh.  Their crowd was GIGANTIC, like shockingly large, but we stayed way over to the side to have a beer and hear a little bit of this.  It wasn't terrible, but wasn't anything I'd go out of my way to try to hear again.
•  Shawn Mendes.  Shockingly good.  I mean, the guy can really sing, and he definitely knew how to work the crowd and get the girls screaming.  Crazy part to me was how many older (like 25-ish) ladies were also screaming their heads off and dancing.  Some of the slow songs were pretty lame - although I know they aren't aimed at my loins - but when he played the faster songs or the hits, it was pretty fun.
• Arctic Monkeys.  I'm still super confused about what these guys are trying to do.  Is it a purposeful attempt to drive people away from loving their music?  They opened the set with one of the yawn-tastic new tunes, and then did the same when they came back for the encore later on.  I mean, talk about letting the air out of a crowd.  I can't think of another headliner I've been to at ACL that had that many people walking out during the show, it was a pretty constant stream coming past me (I was center stage, about 100 feet back, in one of the big mud puddles in front of the sound stage).  However, I will readily admit that hearing "Arabella" and "R U Mine?" and "I Bet That You Look Good on the Dance Floor" ruled.  Those parts were extremely good and fun.  I just don't understand what is wrong with making a whole show be good and fun instead of only little slices in between boring funeral lounge music.

I'm exhausted all over again just going back through it all.  A lot of new cool experiences and good memories from another weekend in the Park.  Now I need to go take a nap and clear my sinuses.

ACL 2018: Second Weekend: Friday Thoughts [EDIT]

Weekend Two, baby.  For the first time in years, this will be my primary weekend this year, which will be fine (I keep trying to convince myself).  I just fear that all of the grass will be dead (edit, it is very dead.  And in front of the Amex stage?  Total mudpit as of last Sunday).  And Greta Van Fleet and Nelly will already be gone.  And East Side Kings will have run out of Poor Qui Buns (edit, they stopped even having them on the menu!  Life has no meaning!).  And we'll get another torrential rain that will cancel Sunday (60% chance for rain as of Tuesday).  OR the weather will suddenly cool off and it will be the greatest ever weekend of ACL (high of 78, baby!), one that Sir Paul himself will write a song about to be played by his gravestone on a loop.  Yes, that is the positive vibe I'm going to adopt.

Friday, baby!  Opening day of the weekend!  Last year, I took my buddy to Freedman's for the pre-show lunch and drinks, and it ruled.  But Freedman's is closed (R.I.P.) so I need to come up with a new spot.  Pool Burger would be tight, have a few Tiki drinks and then just wander on down towards the park?  Or maybe Loro?  Hmmm.  Already excited about that part of the day.  Even if it means missing a few bands at the start...

[MORE EDITS to this!]  Two more artists have been removed from the poster - Cuco because he got into a car wreck, and Borns because he apparently groomed young girls so that he could sexually assault them (or something, sounds creepy AF).  Of course, fans on social media are all pissed off, as though Borns was the ONLY REASON they were coming to ACL, which is stupid.  Anyway, I've adjusted the schedule yet again to show these changes.  WHICH SUCK, by the way, because they moved a bunch of stuff around, and now you can't see both Big Thief and Alvvays, and some other issues...

As I did last year, I've changed up the preview format so that you get hour-by-hour thoughts and layouts.  Previously I had ranked all of the bands and that was insane, and also completely useless, because who cares if Sofi Tukker is my 83rd favorite band?  What you need to know is a choice during each set, where the artists are actually duking it out on the poster.

A few prelude thoughts:

• The comments for each band are those "One Liner" things that I added to my reviews. It helps me to remember who they are (sometimes) and provides some detail on the kind of music they play.  
• I've made each band name a link so that you can go read the full review and listen to some tunes if you are unswayed by the One Liner.
• The first column in each box is the stage where the band is playing (in case you thought I was just playing a weird word association game).
• 2:45 and 4:45 and 6:45 are tough calls.

Playlist!  This is mainly going to be the bands I recommend, with a few extra songs if they are notable or I couldn't make a definitive choice of bands.

Let's get down to it!

11:15

Miller Lite	Curtis Roush: Chilled grooves from a member of The Bright Light Social Hour
Barton Springs	NOTHING
Tito’s	The Gospel Stars: Gospel
BMI	The Blancos: Brooklyn dudes singing platitudes over hip hop beats.
Home Away	NOTHING

Ooooh, I had forgotten about how crappy the Blancos are!  Delicious to remember that garbage!  Nothing in this is going to make me burn to leave the office early on Friday, although Curtis Roush would be my choice if you were already going to be there at the opening bell.  Just go chill on the grass (or what is left of it by second weekend) and enjoy some relaxed tunes.  I think this means I'm not going to the park first thing anymore.

12:00 to 12:45

Honda (12:00)	Alice Merton: The "No Roots" lady.
Tito’s Tent (12:15)	Fatai: Powerful voiced coffee house tunes from Aussie Voice finalist.
Kiddie Limits (12:30)	School of Rock: Kids jamming cover tunes based on what they learned at private lessons
American Express (12:00)	Natalie Prass: Funky indie singer songwriter with a great voice

Easy choice.  Natalie Prass is very fun.  I know others think I'm dumb to not love listening to Merton force the word "roots" into my ears 342 times in 3 minutes, but I choose not to suffer through that.

12:45 – 1:45

Miller Lite	Ben Kweller: Piano heavy indie rock in the Ben Folds vein
Barton Springs	The Coronas: Irish indie rock that belongs on a CW drama
Tito’s (1:15)	Ravyn Lenae: R&B lady from Chicago with a little freakiness.
BMI	Nicole Atkins: Crooner who apparently sounds like a Brill Building singer
Home Away	Magic City Hippies: Kind of crappy white boy funk pop

My two original suggestions for this hour are gone now.  No more Lewis Capaldi (Strong-voiced blue-eyed soul from Scotland).  Big Thief got moved from here back to 2:45. Cuco (Terrible Spanglish indie bedroom slow jams) is out entirely.  As this article shows that he was in a car wreck last night and is cancelling the rest of his tour.  

Ben Kweller got added in here, and then The Coronas and Magic City Hippies got moved back into this space.  So now this is a totally different hour of music.  I guess, from these choices, I'm going to go with Kweller.  Kweller is a good time!  This was a harder decision with Kweller against Big Thief, but now not so much.

I heard good things about the Coronas after weekend one, FYI.

1:45 – 2:45

Honda (1:40)	Reignwolf: Real deal blues rock and roll with raw guitar shreddage
Tito’s Tent (2:15)	Duncan Fellows: Surprisingly fun indie rockers from Austin
Kiddie Limits (2:30)	Ralph’s World: Kiddie Limits silliness
American Express (1:45)	Bishop Briggs: One hit wonder with that "River" song, and some forgettable other alt-pop

Personal opinion here.  I know a lot of people will want to do Bishop Briggs because she has that one really big hit song.  I would counsel against that.  I think Reignwolf will be the best of this group, although I also enjoy Duncan Fellows and would likely enjoy that show too.

2:45 to 3:45

Miller Lite (2:40)	Alvvays: Top notch indie rock with pretty vocals and that Archie song
Barton Springs	Big Thief: Chilled out indie rock with high quality lyrics.
BMI	Sasha Sloan: Sad electronic indie you can relate to.
Home Away	NoName: Super chilled Chicago lady rapper

With the shuffling of artists, this gets even harder.  I don’t want to see Sasha at all, but the other three are all solid.  I saw both Alvvays and Big Thief first weekend, and I really enjoyed both shows.  That being said, if I had to pick between the two (and I do), I'm going with Alvvays.  Their show was perfection last weekend.  And they made fun of Ted Cruz (as Canadians do).

Also, NoName just put out a legit enjoyable new album, so you're not going to go wrong listening to her relax your soul with some chilled out raps.  

3:45 to 4:45

Honda (3:40)	Sir Sly: One alt-rock radio hit and a bunch of fun danceable rock.
Tito’s Tent	Golden Dawn Arkestra: Psych instrumental freakout jam music, but with horns
Kiddie Limits (4:30)	Lard Dog & the Band of Shy: Kiddie Limits silliness
American Express	David Byrne: Talking Heads singer still making funky, weird rock

Another hour that got shuffled.  Borns (One good album of psych rock pop, then one less good album of synth pop) was supposed to be this hour, but has been removed.  Sir Sly moves into that slot, which is too bad.  I heard them playing from afar last weekend and it sounded good.

But, that being said, its David Byrne all the way.  And its too bad, because both of the other guys are pretty solid.  David Byrne's set weekend one was freaking weird and totally awesome.  He puts together a legit performance and it was very cool.  Like, it made me realize how fun it is to have a performer doing something other than just standing up there playing their songs.  Make it a performance!  Super cool, highly recommend.

4:45 to 5:45

Miller Lite (4:35)	Lily Allen: Raunchy, but funny in lyrical realism, British pop star
Barton Springs	Jungle: Grooving funk soul
BMI	The Arkells: Old Arkells = good alt rock; New Arkells = generic indie dance rock
Home Away	Manchester Orchestra: Very good indie rock, in between Iron & Wine and Gaslight Anthem.

With Greta Van Fleet removed from this hour (in favor of Lily Allen), this hour gets a little more interesting for second weekend.  There is no easy choice.  Allen is raunchy and funny and likely puts on a very entertaining show of pop.  Jungle is very cool and Manchester also has a clean, classic sound that I very much enjoy.  If the Arkells would guarantee only playing their old stuff, then I’d choose that.  As it is, I think I’d probably choose Manchester, but would be open to taste testing the other two.

5:45

Honda (5:35)	Khalid: El Paso's favorite surprise high school star now doing hooks on major hits.
Tito’s Tent (5:30)	Gryffin: More generic EDM
American Express	The National: Depressing ass music loved by many people I like

It’ll be a game time decision for me to choose trying out the pop R&B stuff from Khalid or the depression indie from the National.  I’ll likely choose the latter, but we’ll see.

Full disclosure, I just tried the new National album a few more times today, and its growing on me.  Like a sad tumor of depression, but its worming its bummed out way into my brain.

{EDIT] I heard Khalid from the side of his stage as I waited for BROCKHAMPTON last weekend, and it didn't sound that great.  Seemed kinda boring.

6:45

Miller Lite (6:35)	BROCKHAMPTON: Self-described as THE WORLD'S GREATEST BOYBAND!  Off-kilter, fun hip-hop from a large crew.
Barton Springs	Father John Misty: Most interesting lyricist at the Fest
Home Away	Hozier: Massively popular Irish blues rock who needs to release another album

This one got easier now that BROCKHAMPTON has set up an after show, so that I can still go see them without ruining my chance to see either FJM or Hozier.  Now, that choice is still super hard, as I’ve seen both and they are both amazing live shows.  If you aren’t doing the After Show, then go see BROCKHAMPTON.  If you are doing the After Show, or hate original and fun rap for some reason, then I think I’ll say Father John Misty.

[EDIT] I kind of broke my own rule here, and did BROCKHAMPTON despite already having tickets to the Saturday night show.  They were awesome.  I was deep in the middle of the crowd, and my old ass jumped around and yelled incoherently with 10,000 kids between 13 and 20.  Very entertaining.

7:45

Honda (7:35)	Odesza: Chillwave electronic tunes.
Tito’s Tent (8:00)	Silent Disco
American Express	Paul McCartney: The Beatle

Although I’ve heard good things about Odesza’s live show, you have to choose the Beatle.  Also, if you go to Silent Disco while Paul McCartney is playing, then something is wrong with you.  At least, if you go to Odesza, walk over to the other side when the set is over and sing along to "Hey Jude" with all of us.

[EDIT]  Dude.  McCartney was fabulous.  His set list was top notch and he sounds great on both the guitar and the piano.  Very good show, I'm pumped to get to see him twice.

ACL 2018: First Weekend Review

Happy First Survival Monday!

Ain't it fun to go back to work, ears ringing, feet swollen and shoved into dress shoes, eyes still pushing silt out of their corners like a diamond mine in Sierra Leone?  Magical.

Let's have a quick rundown of the good, bad, and ugly from the first weekend, which can hopefully inform you (and me) for next weekend.  We'll get to the music after some logistics discussions.

Transportation:

• Friday, I left my car at the office downtown and caught a ride to the Austin High bridge and walked in.  That worked well.  But then I walked all the way back at the end of the night.  Google maps says this should be 3 miles, but I firmly believe it was actually 93.  My dogs were barking.
• Sunday, I parked at the office again but walked the family over to Republic Park for the free bus shuttle.  I don't know about other times, but going at 12:30 and coming back at 7:30 was amazing.  Easy, air-conditioned, very little waiting.  I worry what it would be like at 10 pm when the last show is done, but it worked very well for us.

Food:

• Sloppy Nachos from Salt Lick.  Big pile of cheap tortilla chips covered in finely chopped brisket, queso, and jalapenos.  Pretty good, but definitely messy.  $12
• Pizza Rolls from Southside Flying Pizza.  Fine.  They were quick and easy to eat but a little doughy.  I think they were $9?  
• East Side Kings no longer sells the Poor Qui Buns and I'm very sad.
• Chicken tacos from East Side Kings.  Winner.  These things were amazing on Friday night.  Can't remember a price.

Beer:

• Actually had the presence of mind to take a photo of the regular bar menu this year.  Miller Lite (4.2%), Coors Original (5%), Sol (4.5%), Redd's Apple Ale (5%), Pilsner Urquell (4.4%), and Imperial (4.5%).  So you're still better off just going with the Banquet beer.  $9 a piece.
• They also have red, white, and pink wines - $9 for a tiny plastic cup or $29 for a carafe.

The Tunes:

• Big Thief was very good.  Surprisingly rocking in comparison to what I had prepared my compadres for.  The lead singer sounded so beautiful.  Their drummer looks like Father John Misty.
• Gang of Youths was, if I'm being totally honest, not very good.  You could barely understand anything the Jon Snow-looking lead singer said.  The music itself was pleasantly rockin', but I should have wandered over to Bishop Briggs or something.
• Alvvays was amazing.  Every song was just perfect, glittery pop rock.  And they insulted Ted Cruz, randomly, in the middle of the set, saying that even though they were from Canada they were embarrassed by him.
• David Byrne.  Holy smokes, David freaking Byrne.  I snuck my way up pretty close to the stage for this one, and it was a visual and auditory spectacle.  He had this cool silver chain stage backdrop that created a smaller stage on three sides, like grey chainmail.  And he started the show sitting at a table, in an all grey suit (pants, jacket, shirt), holding a plastic brain and singing the chilled closer to his new album.  By the next song, he has 12 total people out there on the stage, jamming and dancing and drumming.  Great show - too short, I could have stayed for two hours.
• Greta Van Fleet.  Yes.  I know the world is likely tired of me talking about these dudes, but this show was a freaking jam.  For the second song, they took "Highway Tune," that song up above, and turned it into a Pearl-Jam-esque ten minute jam session that sounded like it should have closed out the whole festival.  These dudes look like high schoolers but stalked the stage and shredded like old pros.  Totally awesome show.
• Brockhampton.  Even though I was going to the late night show on Saturday, I just decided to give in and go do this.  This is going to require multiple bullet points:
• So I skipped Khalid (but could kind of hear him from the stage next door, and was not impressed by what I could hear) and The National (the review from an old guy, who only saw them because he was waiting for McCartney, at church on Sunday morning was "all their songs sound the same, just a bored monotone, is that a popular band?") and Father John and Hozier.
• The crowd right in front of the stage was PACKED.  Like uncomfortable.  Like, I think I could have picked up my feet and remained suspended in the air.
• And I was the oldest guy there by 15 years once my buddy Joseph saved his own life and escaped.
• But the energy in that crowd was amazing.  Like, their new album came out two weeks ago and somehow every kid there new every lyric and was ready to jump and bounce and fight for it.  It was wild.  Also, the energy on stage was cool - they jump and kick and dance around.  Its all very exciting.
• The guys were good.  Their beats are really very solid - I hadn't fully appreciated how cool their beats are until now and seeing them twice in the past three days.  Their musical aesthetic is super weird, like shifting from introspective raps about being homosexual, to screaming angry raps, to stupid party raps, all the way over to full-on R&B singing.
• Sir Paul McCartney.  Was so very good.  He played an excellent set list of Beatles tunes and other bits, starting with "Hard Days Night," and also doing "Back in the USSR" and "Blackbird" and "Hey Jude" and "Something" and "Let It Be" and oh man, it was very very good.  I will readily admit that his voice is not as good as it was back in the day.  He gets thin on the high notes and warbles a little bit where he didn't used to struggle at all.  But on the guitar, and on the piano, and in the majority of his vocals, he freaking rocked it out.
• Yungblud.  Wow, welcome to f-bomb town, kids!  This show was actually damn fun, he was manic and wild and very hyped up, but if he used less that 50 "fucks" I'd be shocked.  And if he stuck his tongue out less than 300 times, I'd be shocked.
• Although, my 10 year old daughter looked up at me at one point and asked if he was lip syncing.  And so I had to explain to her about backing tracks and what those are used for.  To which she replied that it seemed like cheating, and I have to agree.  If you're going to use a backing track, then you can't forget to sing along the whole time.  This happened with Eminem a few years ago, where Yungblud would pull the mic down to strut or stick out his tongue, and yet we would still hear him "singing" the words.
• Also, I heard The Nude Party and Wilderado were amazing, but I missed them.
• Twin Shadow was awful.  The speakers were louder for that than they were for McCartney, and it was just brutal to stand there and try to listen to it.  We survived about three songs, with one kid holding fingers in her ears, before we went to get a snack.
• The wife and kids went to Elle King, and they sort of enjoyed it.  I apparently wandered off just in time for some melt down action from the girls.  Score!
• Injury Reserve was freaking ridiculous.  I met up with my friend Cary and his 15 year old son there, and the show was pretty much just mosh pit after mosh pit, with two hundred or so 12 to 22 year olds jumping and slamming each other anytime the music got even slightly hype.  The show was pretty good, but it was very distracting trying to brace myself for getting rammed by yet another shirtless kid grinning as he elbowed some girl in the side of the head.  "All This Money" and "Oh Shit!!!" were very good.
• Janelle Monae is amazing.  Her dancing, her vocals, her crazy costumes (including some very interesting vagina pants) were all fabulous.  And she did the whole show, which had to be hot as all hell in those different jackets and costume pieces, with a smile on her face and never pausing.  I loved that show.
• I had hoped to take my son to X Ambassadors here, as he was sagging and some rock would have been welcome for him, but the girls won out in wanting to be near their friends at the other stage.
• Also, while at that show, my wife wandered off to get popsicles for the kids, so I was talking to my buddy Noah and holding my youngest on my shoulders to let her see the stage (and not just look at the screen).  The lady dancing around behind us leaned up to Noah after a bit and told him that our little girl was very cute.  ;)
• We skipped the next hour of shows to wait for Camila Cabello.  The show was, honestly, very bad.  But, I loved the first half of it because my youngest had begged me to get her close for the show, and I got her about as close as I could go, which was probably 40 feet back from the stage.  Poor kid, everywhere she looked was butt.  While we waited for the show to start, about 45 minutes of standing in the mud and waiting, she just had her face directly in about 4 butts.  As soon as the show started, I picked her up and held her to watch the first five songs, and she loved it.  Singing along to two of the hits, raising her arms up when told, joining in with the screams for "make some noise!"  That part was very cool.  Then we extricated ourselves from that zone and found the rest of the group and sat for the rest of the show, which involved a lot of talking and generally bad music.  ALSO, she called us Dallas three different times.  I'm sure its hard to keep cities right in your head when on tour, but come on.  The kids loved it, but that was not good music.
• Also, the crowd up front also hated the show.  Well, hated is probably strong, but you could tell that everyone up there was just getting close to see Travis Scott later, not listen to Cabello squeak her way through that bad song about heroin and morphine.

Whew.  For a weekend that I didn't even really go to the Fest, it sure looks like I really went hard on the Fest!  The weirdest part about Sunday was that I didn't pregame at all - not even a beer with lunch and didn't have my first beer until the 3pm Injury Reserve show.  Not a big deal, but certainly different than the normal move of a beer as soon as I walk in the gates.

Pumped for next weekend and the full experience.  Have a good recovery week, Austin.

ACL 2018: First Weekend Saturday Thoughts [EDIT]

Aw man.  I know I said earlier that first weekend Friday may be the best night of the whole weekend, but I don't know, dude.  Metallica?  Nelly?  Chvrches?  Some of these are very exciting.
I don't usually make it out there first thing on Saturday, but in the past I've done that if there were top notch early things to see.  This year I'll probably take the time to go eat and drink well before making my way down to Zilker, but maybe I'll push it to get down there to see Dizzy.  But the early stuff today is not must-see for me.

A few prelude thoughts:

• The comments for each band are those "One Liner" things that I added to my reviews. It helps me to remember who they are (sometimes) and provides some detail on the kind of music they play.  
• I've made each band name a link so that you can go read the full review and listen to some tunes if you are unswayed by the One Liner.
• The first column in each box is the stage where the band is playing (in case you thought I was just playing a weird word association game).

Playlist!

12:00 – 1:00

Miller Lite	PARIS: Soundcloud rapper/singer who needs a new name
Barton Springs	Molly Burch: Torchy tunes with a sad bend but a nice voice.
Kiddie Limits (12:30)	Red Yarn: Kiddie Limits music with a barnyard/animal theme
Tito’s (11:45)	Bells of Joy: Gospel
BMI	Dizzy: Super chilled, dreamy pop from Ontario that I actually enjoy.
Home Away	Slenderbodies: Whispery, falsetto indie pop that still somehow grooves

These early morning offerings are pretty bland.  If I’m there this early in the day, I’d choose Dizzy. Although a few weeks after posting this, I've still been singing one of the slenderbodies songs in my head.  So maybe they're better than I thought.

12:45

Honda	Supa Bwe: Another sing/song rapper without much good to say.
Tito’s Tent	Jackie Venson: Austin blues rocker with a killer guitar.
American Express	Alice Merton: The "No Roots" lady.

Pretty weak hour, so I think I would probably angle for seeing Jackie Venson to see if she is as legit in person as she seems.  Local product too.  Also, I think listening to everyone go crazy for that freaking "No Roots" song, after napping through the first 42 minutes of Merton’s show, would make me crazy.  I witnessed this same thing with Capital Cities a few years ago, with that garbage "Safe and Sound" song, and it made me irrationally annoyed.

1:30 to 2:30

Miller Lite	Durand Jones and the Indications: Retro Soul goodness with a great live sound.
Barton Springs	IAMDDB: Generic mix of rap and R&B from a Brit lady
Tito’s (1:45)	Ikebe Shakedown: Funky instrumental jam outs with tons of horns
BMI	Naked Giants: Highly fun pop punk rock bounce from Seattle.
Home Away	Verite: Moody electronic pop and 1975 covers.

This hour is all over the map.  You can literally just choose the type of tunes you want.  Durand Jones is good, if you are looking for retro soul.  Ikebe Shakedown are super funky and groovy, if you want instrumental groove.  But Naked Giants are probably the best thing in this slot for my money.  I’ll likely go there.

(although I have to admit that I couldn’t recall the style of music for any of these bands, except for Ikebe, when I saw this line on the poster.  Not a great sign for their memorableness).

2:30 to 3:30

Honda	Mon Laferte: Spanish-language music I don't understand
Kiddie Limits	Kupira Marimba: Marimba music for kids to boogie to.
Tito’s Tent (2:45)	Curtis Harding: O.G.-sounding soul man.
American Express (2:15)	The Wombats: Highly fun Brit rock and roll with that Dance to Joy Division hit

On the one hand, Curtis Harding is pretty freaking cool.  I might be swayed to go over there and eyeball his style.  On the other, upper hand, I think I’d likely prefer high energy rock and goofiness of the Wombats.

3:30

Miller Lite	SMINO: Singer/rapper leaning more to R&B soul than hip hop.
Barton Springs	Japanese Breakfast: Great melodic indie rock to go with thoughts of sushi pancakes
BMI	Sweet Spirit: Local pop rock good time
Home Away (3:15)	The Breeders: Alternative rock's girl group from the 90's (yes, you remember "Cannonball").

Kinda tough call here.  Japanese Breakfast is one of the new things I’ve found through this process that turned me into a fan.  But the Breeders are a part of my 90’s alt rock upbringing.  I might make my buddy choose for me.  I think I’m leaning Breeders.

4:30

Honda	Brandi Carlile: Great lyricist walking the line between rock and Americana
Kiddie Limits	SaulPaul: Acoustic hip hop (but also real beats) for the Kiddies
Tito’s Tent	Sofi Tukker: Electronic dance music for the dumbing down of America
American Express (4:15)	Highly Suspect: Excellent alternative rock

This is where Saturday could become your hard rock day.  Interesting the way that the Fest has cooked up a three show run here at the AmEx stage where you could just dig in for a series of mosh pits and head bangs from 4:30 to 10:00.  If it weren’t for Chvrches, I’d be tempted.  Anyway, Highly Suspect will get my vote here, although Brandi Carlile is very very good.

For real, I'm playing the playlist up above as I painstakingly put together all of these little charts, and "Little One" just came on.  I've heard that song 40 times by now, and yet I still broke into goosebumps during the chorus and needed to belt it out.  Definitely doing HS.

5:30

Miller Lite	Blood Orange: Bummer R&B crooner over down-tempo synth beats
Barton Springs	Sharon Van Etten: Perfectly pleasant folky rock that I've already forgotten
BMI	Flor: Surprisingly fun indie pop rock.
Home Away (5:15)	Bazzi: Generic R&B guy made famous by a meme

This one is only hard because most of this is not good music.  I guess, when presented with these four choices, that Flor would be my choice, although I have to confess that before I just looked back at my review, they had slipped entirely from my mind.  At least I could remember that Blood Orange and Bazzi are terrible.

6:00 to 6:30

Honda	Chvrches: Excellent electronic dance pop from Scotland
Tito’s Tent	San Holo: More generic EDM
American Express (6:00)	Deftones: Mid-90's hard rockers with a few great tunes and then some Incubus and screaming sludge.

Chvrches, all day, for me.  A case could be made to go see the Deftones and relive some of my Nu Metal days, but I really want to see Chvrches again.  Also, they have shifted the times slightly, so you could theoretically go see 20 minutes of Deftones and still make the whole Chvrches set.

7:00 or 7:30

Miller Lite	St. Vincent: Quirky electro-indie rock
Barton Springs	Residente: Spanish-language EDM and hip hop from Puerto Rico
Home Away (7:00)	Nelly: THE St. Louis Rapper, as far as I'm concerned, with loads of hits you know

This is a harder call than it should be.  St. Vincent is legitimately good, and from what I have read, she puts on a great live show.  But come on, man, I’d just have to go bump and grind to Nelly.  I don’t think I could live with myself if I missed out on “Hot in Herrre.”  I’m very sophisticated.

8:00 or 8:30

Honda (8:30)	Justice: Old school electronic dance party
Tito’s Tent (2:45)	Silent Disco
American Express (8:00)	Metallica: Metal Gods

It is honestly too bad, because I think I would have enjoyed Justice.  Of all the electronic stuff coming to this year’s fest, they are the most approachable for an old person like me.  That being said, I would not miss out on Metallica.  I know I have been beating this into the ground, but they are seriously great live.  Even if you’re scared, just go anyway and let yourself be taken in by the power.  Also, note that Metallica's set just recently expanded to two hours (instead of just an hour and a half).