Austin City Limits!

posted Nov 27, 10:24 PM by Rick Webb

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Bands: M Ward, Mates of State, Hot Chip, Jenny Lewis, NERD, David Byrne, Man Man, City and Colour, Erykah Badu, MGMT, Spiritualized, Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, Black Keys, Roky Erickson, Beck

I hit Austin City Limits a month or two ago as well.

It was awesome. Very well-run festival. An older crowd than Lollapalooza, but still a good time. We have a lot more in-town friends in Austin, and got to hand out a lot with Charlotte and Tara and Miranda and Ryan 2. And the waitress at the Driskill remembered us, which was sweet. I love the Driskill.

We only went two of the three days, since I opted to get a hair cut on Sunday, and Miranda really really wanted to see Band of Horses. So I gave her my side stage wristbands (courtesey of C3, who are awesome and I am totally in their debt for their ridiculous hospitality at both Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits.

We started friday with M Ward who was great, but not as great as he was with Zooey Deschenel, also he was in a super small tent, and we hadn’t figured out where the VIP areas side stage were. Next we caught Mates of State, who were pretty great, doubly aided by our sorting out the backstage issues. Next the day really kicked in when we caught the entire Hot Chip set from side stage on one of the big stages and oh my god, that was amazing. They are so good. And lots f free wine. Next was Jenny Lewis who was cute and good but sorta forgettable, and then NERD who everyone was freaking the fuck out over, but man, this place was CROWDED by then. The headliners draw MASSIVE crowds at ACL, and it’s not a bi-polar layout like Lollapalooza. It’s tri-polar, which means stages have weird angles and you can’t stand like 400 yards back and still see. Also it’s not flat – there are hills, which makes it even weirder. And everyone camps out and plants flags and stays in one place all day, and the paths aren’t clearly marked, so you’re wandering around a lot and it’s really hard to get from one place to another. This is all compensated for by the massive number of young women in Bikinis, which is nothing short of amazing. Friday was rounded out with David Byrne, who played a mix of old songs, world music songs, and stuff from his recent album with Brian Eno (who was, of course, not present). He was great, but then we got super paranoid about the crowds and left. That went really well.

Saturday started with a band called Man Man, of whom I rememeber nothing, then a band called City and Colour, which we watched with Fef from C3 Presents who had good things about them. They were good in a sort of that-band-from-Almost-Famous kind of way. Next was Erykah Badu, who was cool but on the GIANT stage and we were super far away, and then MGMT, who were, of course, SWAMPED by the kids. Better-seen was Spiritualized, with me seeing their first electric shows in a while, and oh my god, it was so good. Shine a Light and Take Me To The Other Side, I Think I’m in Love, Amazing Grace, Soul on Fire, Walkin’ With Jesus, Ladies and Gentleman We are Floating in Space (with the Elvis Ending), Come Together. Oh man, I was in bliss, especially since I got to see it FROM THE STAGE OMG OMG. This also meant that in the span of a week I had seen both of the main talents in Spacemen 3, as I had caught Spectrum at All Tomorrow’s Parties a week earlier.

We then saw some of Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, who continued in Conor’s misguided foray into big band style country, when he should be just playing with his acoustic guitar. Then the Black Keys, who were SWAMPED but were awesome, and then Roky Erickson, OMG I GOT TO SEE ROKY ERICKSON IN MY LIFE THANK YOU SWEET JESUS. We ended with as much Beck as we could see before we freaked and left before the crowds.

It was a great festival, and I’d go again, but man, it starts so early in the day. All of these bands – like Stars – I really wanted to see were early. It’s tough. They need to draw people in. And if I hadn’t gone to like 6 other festivals, I would have sucked it up, but my festival habit, taken in conjunction with my desperate need for rest after a rough work year, made me tend to arrive a bit later. Still, though, spot on! Thank you C-3 Presents!

Photos are here

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