ACLFest - Day Two

Day two of the festival got off to a smoother start - no nerves, much more sleep (we decided to call it an early night on Friday instead of checking out the MSTRKRFT after party), and breakfast at Maria's Taco Xpress had us in great moods and ready to face a long, long day of music.  We got to the park in time to check out Phoenix, one of my must-sees for this year's festival. I caught the band at Vanderbilt's Rites of Spring music festival last year and they definitely impressed - their live show kicks the rock up a notch or two, bringing a few more jagged edges and guitar solos to their smooth French-pop sound.  At ACL they sounded much the same as they did on that chilly night in Nashville, and despite the fact that the sun was beating down and the temperature was well above 90, they got the crowd bopping and dancing to their set. "If I Ever Feel Better" was once again a highlight, but it was a treat to hear songs off of the band's most recent album, It's Never Been Like That, as well.

Phoenix - "Napoleon Says"

We started making our way down to the other end of the park to see Ben Kweller, but Ghostland Observatory definitely grabbed my attention on the way.  Missing their set is one of my few regrets from this year's ACL - I hear it was absolutely amazing and I really wish I could have seen them.  When we stopped to watch, front man Aaron Behrens was shimmying around on stage in tight jeans, a pink t-shirt and pigtail braids, while Thomas Turner stood behind him - in a shiny blue CAPE.  We caught about a song and a half, watched the crowd go nuts, and then continued down to see Ben Kweller.

I'm sure at this point you've heard all about poor Ben Kweller and his ACL nosebleed.  Unfortunately I don't have pictures (or maybe fortunately, because it was pretty gross), but let me tell you, it was an awful, awful nosebleed.  Kweller came on to the stage and mentioned that he had just had one, and had to seek out medical attention from the on-site EMTs to get it under control.  We were pretty far back, but I'm pretty sure that once he started playing his first song, "Wasted and Ready," he started bleeding again.  The boy was a trooper though - he apologized profusely when the song was over, wiping his nose with a white towel and continuing with "Penny on the Train Track," blood dripping onto his guitar as he wiped his face when he wasn't playing or singing.  More apologies followed (something along the lines of "is this wigging you out?  If it is, I'll stop, but if it doesn't bother you, I don't mind, I'll bleed to death on stage"), and then he went into his third song, "Run," which he finally had to cut short.  After several attempts at clean up and some obvious frustration, Kweller finally asked if anyone in the crowd had a tampon.  In one of the most rock 'n roll moments I've witnessed, the 25 year-old singer then opened the tampon, stuck it up his nose, and played "This Is War," one of the more rockin' songs on his new album.  (Towards the end of the song, he had to pull the tampon out, and later explained - "it expanded too much.")  One more song followed - "Falling", which Kweller played on the piano, but after he had bled all over the keys, it was time to call it a day.

Ben Kweller - "This is War"

Next up for us was more food and water, and I wasn't able to catch Nada Surf's set, but did hear the band playing "Popular" as I waited in line for the bathrooms - and I still can't believe they played it. The next actual band I watched was TV on the Radio, who started off an hour and a half of tough decisions at 4:00. Their set lasted until 4:45, which ran into The Shins (4:30-5:30), Los Lobos (4:30-5:30), The Long Winters (4:30-5:15) AND Elvis Perkins (4:40-5:20). Fortunately, we had tickets to see Los Lobos that night, so I didn't have to worry about trying to catch them. I stayed for about half of TV on the Radio's set, and was treated to a few songs off of their excellent new album Return to Cookie Mountain and an overall fantastic performance - this is a band I definitely would love to be able to see again live.  Wind chimes on the end of a guitar?  Rock.

Next I headed over to the Washington Mutual tent to see The Long Winters, and I'm glad that's where I decided to go.  Their latest record has been slowly but steadily growing on me, becoming one of my favorite releases of this year, and just being able to hear "Teaspoon" played live was one of the best moments of the weekend.  The rest of the performance that I saw (I was there for about a half hour) was absolutely excellent - John Roderick has one of those personalities you just hope to see on stage.  At one point, his guitar strap snapped off while he was playing, leaving the front man to lift the guitar high to his chest for the rest of the song, rocking out while trying not to drop his instrument.  When the song ended, he joked about not paying extra for the "strap roadie," and when someone yelled out that he did a great job, Roderick credited his guitar-balancing skill to all the guitar poses he practiced in the mirror.  I left early to see Elvis Perkins, but my half hour with the Long Winters was one of the best moments of the festival.

The Long Winters - "Teaspoon"

After such an excellent performance, it would have been incredibly easy for the next act to disappoint me, which is why I'm glad I went to see Elvis Perkins.  I missed him when he was in Nashville recently... well, to be honest, I just didn't go - and now I'm so, so very glad I had the opportunity to see him play in Austin.  Not only was he one of the most talented musicians I saw all weekend, he and his band mates gave one of the most charming, engaging, and intimate performances I saw at the festival.  I'm crossing my fingers for another Nashville show soon, but in the meantime I have his debut album, Ash Wednesday, to listen to on repeat.

Elvis Perkins - "While You Were Sleeping"

After Elvis Perkins, I reunited with some of my friends and hung out near Calexico, but mostly just chatted and drank beer and didn't pay much attention to their set. Next up was What Made Milwaukee Famous, who I had been looking forward to seeing since I received a copy of Trying to Never Catch Up, but while they sounded great live, I wasn't as impressed as I had hoped to be.  But the earlier TV on the Radio/Long Winters/Elvis Perkins trifecta definitely had me spoiled, so I hope to check out WMMF another time.

I did pop over to see a bit of The Raconteurs, but the crowd was so massive I really didn't want to bother.  Instead, it was back to the tent for Brazilian Girls, who had the place completely packed by the time it was dark.  My friends had told me that Sabina Sciubba was quite the impressive front woman, and since I had enjoyed what I had heard by the band, I definitely wanted to check them out. They promptly exceeded my expectations - Sciubba took the stage in a short little dress, boots and a mask, and began strutting around the stage.  Even with her face completely concealed, she had the crowd eating out of the palm of her hand, and I don't think I've ever seen someone completely own a stage the way she did.  We easily could have been in a dance club and not a park in the middle of Austin, with the crowd pulsing to the beat and everyone in sight dancing.

Brazilian Girls - "All About Us"

After that, the day came to a pretty tame close - we caught the end of Iron & Wine, and then Willie Nelson's set on the AMD stage, which was the perfect opportunity to sit down on our mat, sing along and drink a bottle of wine. Once he wrapped up, it was off to Antone's downtown for the Los Lobos afterparty, which was a great show but proved to be too much for my poor little abused feet - I was a little too worn out to dance (or even stand up by the end of the night).  Still got to hear "La Bamba," though.