List off the top of my head: Janelle Monae - great performer K'Naan - surprisingly good Decemberists (IFC Party) - small venue, intimate show Hold Steady (Red 7 Day Show and Rachel Ray Party) - all sorts of crowded at both shows, heavy on the Stay Positive CD Delta Spirit (Q Magazine Party) - Liked them alot more at the Parish then in the festival setting, working at the party so only caught 3/4 of the set Asteroids Galaxy Tour - Honestly went b/c near venue and not many options at this early hour (and the song in the IPOD commercial isn't so bad). Sounded alot like Duffy) Thao and the Get Down Stay Down - Would have liked to see more, but the Parish were only 20 minute sets that night instead of usual 45...coming back though with Langhorne Slim next month) Blitzen Trapper (NPR party and official showcase) - One of my favorite bands so biased, but the NPR party was amazing and the sound in the Parish was great as is usually the case. Samantha Crain and the Midnight Shivers (Paste Party and Official Show Case) - Good surprise Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - Love his work with DBT, but haven't felt his solo material...the bro-man crowd and terrible sound at Habane Calle didn't help Loney, Dear (Some day party at Flamingo Cantina) - Disappointingly blah Ladyhawke (New Zealand tent party) - Working the party, so didn't give it the full attention in deserved Felice Brothers (Lucero Family Picnic) - Another of my favorites, just had to find the time to catch them once and was happy I did Black Lips - Second time to see them...just don't feel it. King Khan - Sure it's quirky, but it loses appeal after a few songs Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Pitchfork buzz band that I had a hard time differentiating from other hipster 'it' bands Eugene Mirman - funny set Matt and Kim - Why at Opal Divines?...missed most of the set walking over there Elvis Perkins (Wednesday Mohawk day party) - He and his band always sound a ton better live than on disc Tallest Man on Earth (Little Radio day party) - Kept thinking he was channeling Jon Dee Graham, which isn't bad Megafaun (Little Radio day party) - Nice set, some Fleet Foxes meets Akron/Family type vibes going Dent May and his Magnificant Ukelele - Would have liked to see more...once again the walk to the bars west of six cut off alot of the set for me Or, the Whale (SFxSXSW day Party) - Saw them for the first time in Portland last month and had to see again. Luckily working this party. Really worth checking out if enjoy roots/americana. Corb Lund (New West Records day party) - Enjoyable set, but the lineup for the New West party was the weakest in the past four years. Langhorn Slim - Good band to catch live, but was honestly fading at that point...1 am start. Monotonix (Don't Mess with Texas 3 and official showcase) - There is no way to explain this show. There are not three other musicians who bring the sterotypical 'rock' show better than these. No fire or nakedness as is often the case, but the entire show did move to Red River for the finale. Akron/Family (Don't Mess with Texas 3) - I have yet to figure out how to catagorize their sound. It flows through a ton of genres, all good. Lucero (Don't Mess with Texas 3) - You know what you're getting here. Scotland Yard Gospel Choir - Just signed with Bloodshot. Liked the music, not the singers voice. Balmorrea - Post-rock in the vein of Noise Revival Orchestra. Whispertown 2000 - Huge buzz, but a little low on energy. Port O'Brien - M. Ward's favorite new band. Not mine. BLK JKS - I liked their sound, but once again fading at that point...will have to catch again. Indigo Girls - My SO wanted to catch their set, I obliged. Justin Townes Earle - Did he just fly in from 1950? Great old school/outlaw county...better than the stuff his dad is churning out. Mumford and Sons - Incredible bluegrass...from England? Really one of the top three surprises. And the Devil Makes Three (Sonicbids day party) - Caught in the shuffle, didn't really set themselves apart. Dead Confederate (Sonicbids day party) - Love the southern rock sound, so I wanted to give these guys another chance. Just didn't do it for me. Moth!Fight! (Soundcheck Magazine day party) - Anything at all associated with the Octopus Project is a go with me. Look forward to seeing a full set in the future. Department of Eagles (Waterloo In-Store) - Had to make room since I couldn't get into their official showcase Missed or Couldn't Get In Avett Brothers (Paste Party and official showcase) M. Ward (official showcase at Church) Department of Eagles (official showcase at Church) Octopus Project (official showcase) Beach House (Red 7 day party, got in but couldn't see and was an absolute sauna in there).
caught the thermals>lucero>monotonix>circle jerks>black lips at waterloo park sat. afternoon/night and it was AWESOME. we missed king khan and the shrines which was a definite bummer, but secured us a spot right in the middle in front of the main stage and didnt have to leave except to grab high lifes and rum and cokes or to take a piss. the thermals - nice surprise, kind of a pop-punk with a good front man, good tunes, and solid energy. lucero - right up my alley w/ their alt country/southern rock style... crowd started to build up when they hit the stage monotonix - WOW... 3 piece band from tel aviv who play their entire set while either sitting in the middle of the audience or while actually crowd surfing (or in the lead singers case, jumping off the scaffolding or while mooning the crowd while standing on a kick drum WHILE crowdsurfing)... out of control. kinda of a punk/blues thing going on but who cares what they play when the drummer is actually playing his set whikle being held up by the audience! it was pretty awesome... at one point they set up directly in the middle of the audience with the audience forming a circle around them and made everyone sit down (including themselves) and they quietly played a song, then all of a sudden broke into a loud part and everyone in the band and the audience all in jumped to their feet in unison and they just continued to rock the ***** out. easily one of the coolest concert-going experiences i've ever been a part of. the lead singer looked like gallagher in a spandex leotard and speedo, btw. circle jerks - nothing like some old school southern cali punk to keep the energy high... they tore through their set in typical punk fashion, all the while talking **** to and about everyone and anyone and lead singer rambling about being addicted to cocaine. it was early on in their set where throwing beer cans and plastic cups became fashionable, and this trend continued for the rest of the night (and one in which i gladly partook in ). they played their punk anthem "wild in the streets" which the crowd ate up black lips - headliners and for good reason... these guys just flat out rock. king khan made a guset appearance which was expected but nice. before one song their lead singer said something about being fat as a kid and as they broke into the song all the folks standing on stage started throwing what had to have been 1000 mickey d's quarter pounders into the audience... people were throwing them back onstage along with more beer cans and cups. just nuts. what was even better was the fact that they came to play and played well... they only had like 40-45 mins. but they played a heavy dose of some of their popular older tunes as well as some of the hits off their new one. that probably reads like some incoherent rambling but it was easily one of the most entertaining and insane 5 hrs of music i've ever been a part of.
I saw Monotonix open for Team Robospierre and Matt and Kim in Brooklyn last July. The lead singer of Monotonix got up on the bar, and then he proceeded to pull his pants down and tried to defecate on the microphone. It was insane. Did anyone catch Handsome Furs at SXSW this year? Or Grizzly Bear? Or Metallica?
anyone go to the BB Showcase (Dinosaur, Jr, Pete and the Pirates)? although i didn't go, my company was there, working a demo that could turn into an extremely cool project in a could of months.
Wanted to catch Grizzly Bear, but no such luck DD/MM/YY (Day Month Year) put on a great show. So did Abe Vigoda. Did anyone catch the Vivian Girls? Saw them at the Lamar Pedestrian Bridge at like 3AM. So much hype for such a crap band, I don't get it.
I shot the show for C3. I've shot dozens of shows at Stubb's and I must say that this is the most energy I've ever felt in that venue since the famed Ween show many years back. The band was a bit sloppy...but it just didn't matter. It was Metallica playing in a 3K capacity venue. It rocked. 2 new songs and the rest was Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets & ..and Justice for All. They did 2 encores and really seemed to appreciate the response they got from the crowd. I'm a lukewarm Metallica fan who walked away from that show feeling like I need to dust off the old stuff and give it a listen. They earned my respect that night. Best show I saw though was Jane's Addiction. Basically an hour and half of greatest hits in a small warehouse on east 12th. Free boos and food but a real late start. Met Perry and his wife. Really pissed I missed Dan Auerbach's shows. Everyone I know that saw him, says it was the highlight of their festival.
I (along with countless others) was really hoping to get that email notification saying that I won tickets, but alas I did not I can imagine that being a great show.
if you were trying to make me jealous you did a bang-up job, chief. and to whoever mentioned the vivian girls, i completely agree. i'd heard of them before so i figured they must be at least decent but they were extremely mediocre. from where i was standing it looked like i would stick both front girls, though.
Some early ACL headliner rumors... Pearl Jam Beastie Boys Dave Matthews Band Kings of Leon Ghostland Observatory I believe this is the 3rd consecutive year both Pearl Jam AND Beastie Boys have been on the rumored list. I'll believe it when I see it. Can't some one please explain the appeal of Ghostland Observatory? I caught some of their set at ACL in 2007 and it made my ears bleed. They were possibly one of the worst bands I've ever seen.
every year pearl jam, bruce springsteen, and neil young are "rumored" to be headlining and every year it doesn't happen. and i could try to explain the appeal of GO to you but i'd have to lie through my teeth... other than the fact that they're from austin, of course. unfortunately for them that doesn't make their music any more bearable
don't forget the radiohead rumors. But they won't show up. They're not down with ACL, too many happy people. but.. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/4h5kR5_zpgQ&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/4h5kR5_zpgQ&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
If Oasis is there again, I'm selling my passes. I tried my best to avoid hearing any bit of their set when they were there last time. Unfortunately, I had to get a beer and was in earshot. I think I died a little that day.
Not my intention at all, however, I feel blessed to have gotten to see what I did. As far as ACL goes, nothing is set. This is straight from the guys that book the show. Early front runner is Jane's Addiction who will reunite and play Lalapalooza. It's still real early...so everything is subject to change. ACL is so late in the festival season, sometimes it is hard to keep the top acts on tour for so long. That's why you haven't seen a 'Radiohead' or the like. One of the big debates going on right now is what U.S. band is big enough to close a festival? If you take away reunion bands, the list gets pretty short. The boys at C3 would like to book an American headliner this year but they are struggling to find a true headliner that fits into the 'ACL' vibe. One more note about ACL...expect even less country type acts this year.
What was cool about it was the way the band performed. I have grown to expect some of these guys to just put on a lame show to collect a paycheck and go. They brought it. I've got footage but am waiting to get clearance to share. If I get clearance, I'll post it for anyone interested.
