Austin City Limits 2008

ACL was greatness... though by day 3 I had the most awful sunburn... I will be dressed like a nun for my next outdoor music fest!

Day 1- Vampire Weekend- They rocked! I love their whole vibe... Then I saw Jamie Lindell. He has a great voice. Very soulful, blue eyed soul... On my way to Hot Chip I heard a little Delta Spirit. I'm not sure if you've heard of Hot Chip, but they are GREAT! Music that makes you want to dance. I wish they played at night because they had what looked like awesome light displays, but you couldn't get the full impact in the day light. I stayed by that stage to hear N.E.R.D. They sounded awful! Even after I move from the side of the stage to the center of the stage, the sound was still bad. I'm not sure if they realized it though. Have you seen the movie Once? If you have, then you know of Swell Season. They are the couple who was in that movie. They won the Oscar for best song in a movie this year. They are amazing live. Buy that time the sun had gone down, there was a nice breeze coming through. The weather was pretty close to the way it was in Chicago.

Day 2- I began the day seeing Fleet Foxes. If you like America or Midlake, you will love them. They have a relaxing, soothing sound. They were crabby to start with; complaining about how early they were playing. But once the crowed filled in and they were getting into it, it was simpatico! After them, I went to see the Swedish born Jose Gonzales. He has a chill vibe also. Or maybe it was the contact high from all the weed that was being smoked around me. I crossed back through the park to see CSS. They are insanely fun! They mainly do dance music. They have one song, “Music is My Girlfriend,” that has been used in commercials. You may recognize that one. And then the first highlight of the weekend was my City and Colour. He’s a Canadian artist that I’ve heard a lot on XM Radio's the Verge station. He’s amazingly awesome. I love to see people who are better live then they are recorded. He has the voice of Jeff Buckley and I’m surprised that he’s not bigger here in the states. But his day is coming! Listen to anything by him, you will become a fan instantly! I heard a little Spiritualized while I was setting up to hear Conor Oberst. They were both okay. Even Iron & Wine disappointed! Beck was ho hum and we left in the middle of his set. He started strong with his hits, “Loser” and “Devil’s Haircut,” and what he played after that made me feel okay to walk away from his stage. I did get to listen to Robert Plant & Allison Krauss while I was waiting for the shuttle back to the car. I guess I should've gone to their stage. It's hard when there are two acts playing at the same time that you want to see. The thing that should have made me choose Plant & Krauss over Beck was the fact that it was very likely the only time to see them play live together.

Day 3-Let me preface this by saying that this is my first time doing all three days. I think that I’m too old for it and I got the worst sunburn. And yes, I know better then to go out with out sun block. My tank top felt like it was slicing into my shoulder. I made it to the park in time to see the Octopus Project. Another techno/dance band. Their stage was packed! They had people dancing and shaking their stuff. I went to see Adele, “Chasing Pavements”. But she wasn’t on her stage. So, I thought that maybe she traded times with the singer who was on stage. That was not the case. She cancelled three weeks before the show, and ACL never posted that information. Her name is even on the tee shirts! I was pissed! Seeing her would have been highlight number two, but no go. I decided to stay in one spot and listened to Gillian Welch. She does folk/ grass roots music. She’s good and Allison Krauss came out to do a trio during her set. But next was the super highlight of my weekend o music! STARS! They are from Canada and I’ve been waiting to hear them for months. The female lead in this band fills in for Feist in her first band, Broken Social Scene. Stars rocked my world… I didn’t want them to stop. Next was Neko Case. She’s great also. I did relax enough to take a nap. The weather was begging me to do it… I hadn’t really heard of Okkervil River, but I really like them. I wish I knew about them in August because they played at Lollapalooza. I stayed for a lil bit of the Rancouteurs. And then I went to see Galactic; a band that I’ve been into since 2000. They were 25+ mins late, so I left their stage to see the next highlight of the weekend, Band of Horses. Those guys are amazing. They played their hearts out. And I ended my weekend with the Foo Fighters. They were amazed at how big the festival was and how many people were there. I stood pretty close to the front. They were better then I thought they would be. Austin has it down! I took a shuttle all three days from downtown to the park and I never had to wait longer then 15 mins for a bus to pick up. They are having the shows the first weekend of October next year. The weather should be even better then it was this year. I can’t wait to do it all again. Wait to do two of the three days again!

Lolla

Day One: I made it to the park in time to see Rogue Wave. They were good, but their ‘Lake Michigan’ song is there best. I took a break and then headed over to the Kid’s Stage. Jeff Tweedy performed a 45min set. He decided to play on the ground and not the stage. He wanted to be at the kid’s level. He was greatness! On my way to the stage where the Kills were playing, I took a moment to catch some of Louis XIV. The Kills were not so good. The female lead seemed drunk, hot, & dehydrated. So instead of watching her suffer through the rest of their set, I headed across the park to hear Duffy. By the time I made the trek, she was singing ‘Mercy.’ She sounded amazing! I then decided to get out of the park for a while to cool down. I went to the Art Institute of Chicago for two hours. It’s an amazingly large place, and I didn’t make it through it all. I headed back to the park to eat dinner. As I was walking back I could hear the Raconteur’s. They were playing their new stuff, but they sounded solid. Once I made it back into the park, I ate while listening to CSS. They were good. I’ve only heard a few of their songs on XM Radio. But I enjoyed what I heard. After they were finished with their set, I went and took my place to listen to Radiohead. I found a lounge chair with a perfect view of the stage and the jumbo screens on a hill and I kicked back with the cooling winds blowing off of Lake Michigan, and waited for the guys to take the stage. They played new song after new song. And I didn’t want it to end! But alas, I had to start heading back to Oak Park. I missed the last three songs they did, but what I heard made me happy that I went to the park alone that day.

Day Two: My friend Falyn joined me. We made it to the park in time to see the Ting Tings. Even though they repeat words to their songs 50+ times, they know how to put on a show. We walked over to the opposite side of the park to see DeVotchKa. While we waited for them to take the stage we ate & had to suffer through a Dierks Bentley set. I use to be a big country fan, but he should’ve played day one and not day two. If you haven’t heard of DeVotchKa, you need to look them up. Tuba’s and upright basses make it all better. They were awesome. I add them to a band that I prefer to hear live. While walking around, we heard a little of the Spank Rock set. It wasn’t good enough to make me run out and buy their CD. Next stop was one of the main stages to see Broken Social Scene. BSS was worth the entire trip alone. They were excellent! I want to own everything they’ve done! Did you know that Feist was an original member? The female lead for them now is from a band called Stars. Stars are playing at ACL and I will be camped out at their stage! If you’ve never heard of both of those bands, it will be in your best interest to look them up! After BSS, was Wilco! A perfect cap on the day. They played for 2.5 hours. They covered the new, the old and the stuff that they would only play for true fans and I was so glad to be a part of that moment! Their stage had the entire skyline lit behind them. I am happy to say that I’ve seen Wilco in Chicago.

Day Three: Your guess is as good as mine. I skipped this day. I’m totally regretting it! I think as punishment for this decision my return flight was cancelled due to the weather. Later that night, there were tornadoes in our area. The sirens went off and we had to go to the basement of the apartment building where I was staying. I felt like I was home in Texas! The following day, I was supposed to fly out at 11:45 am. I took the El from Oak Park to the O’Hare. Then my flight was delayed for an hour. Once we boarded the plan, we sat the gate for another hour. My connecting flight in Kansas left at 2:30, and I wasn’t on it cause we didn’t land there until 3:00! I was re booked on the 5:55, but it was cancelled that morning right after I was put on that flight. Then every other flight out of Wichita was cancelled except for a 4:40 flight to Chicago. Yes Chicago! Once arriving back in Chicago, I had to wait two hours for my next flight which was at 8:55. It was delayed for an hour! I arrived in Dallas at 11:55. I didn’t get home until 1:30am. And yes, I went to work 6 hours later!

Remembering

From the time I could remember, music has played a major part in the landscape of my life. My parents would tell me stories of the times that at 15 months old I would bang on a piano, with one leg waving in the air, singing at the top of my lungs "Flash Light" by Parliament- Funkadelic. The first rock song that I recall with a funk influence was "Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen. Without having videos or MTV at home, it was until in recent years my mom realized that Queen song the song. The next song that I remember having a major effect on me was the 1983 song "Island's in the Stream" sung by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton. My mom, who was completely engrossed (and me and my brother) in R&B and Soul music was totally enamored with this song. She would play it and sing it all of the time. I recall that this was the first song that I heard repeatedly that was nothing like the songs that I was surrounded with up until that point in my life. It made me turn the dial on the radio and realize there was more out there. And that moment changed my life.

The Creation

I talk about music so much that it's the opinion of friend's that I should start a blog. I fought it because I'm not sure how much I will keep up with it. But I do hope that it will help me return to the person I once was that use to go out to concerts in the Dallas area.


My first few blogs will be excerpts from emails that I sent to a friend recapping Lollapalooza and ACL (Austin City Limits Music Festival).