ACL 2012

Well, reader(s), I thought I'd fire up the ol' blog for my musings on the Austin City Limits Music Festival for 2012 - mostly so I can remember them in 2 weeks.  I'm getting old, y'all!

Friday

First Aid Kit - Two Swedish sisters with sweet, lovely music.  Such a great way to start out the weekend.  Definitely look into them, key track - "Emmylou"

Delta Spirit - Excellent rocking roots/rock band.  They have both a soulful and an upbeat vibe - so fun!!  The lead singer climbed the scaffolding towards the end of their performance, it was impressive/scary.  They were having so much fun, you couldn't help but join in!  I'm glad my husband was so insistent on making it to their set.

Alabama Shakes - Only caught about 3 songs of theirs.  They played at the Barton Springs stage which is such a nightmare to get in front of and to find a spot where you can hear.  They sounded great from what little we could hear, but not a good enough experience all the way around to try to fight to enjoy it.

Weezer - Loved it!  They cranked through the hits and were unapologetic about it.  We caught about 45 minutes of their 1 hour set and I think we heard at least one song off of every one of their albums.  I felt like I was in high school again, playing pool in my friend's rec room, and singing along to "The Blue Album."

Florence + the Machine - Left Weezer early to catch the end of Florence's set.  She sounds great live, but seemed to take the show a little too seriously.  I know she was having a great time, but referring the "the festival" over and over just isn't very Austin-y (I guess I like to think we're the only town with a festival and we do our own stuff, thank you very much - spoken like a true Austinite).  Upside is she saved her 2 singles for last - so I got to hear those.

M. Ward - Still the coolest guy in music.  He just plays honest, timeless stuff and sounds great doing it.  Loved chilling out a little bit at a smaller stage.

The Black Keys - The Black Keys closed Friday night and it was perfect.  They were high energy and really seemed to be in their element.  We were able to get up pretty close, so it was great to be around people who were as into it as we were.  They even played some stuff just the 2 of them.  Excellent, excellent way to end the night.

Saturday

Civil Twilight - Caught about the last 3 songs of their set.  My husband wanted to see them.  I thought they were fine, they sound a little Coldplay/U2-ish to me, so they don't do much for me.  It was enjoyable, though.

Rufus Wainwright - As I told my mother, Rufus was transcendent.  He was my main draw for this year.  He came out in this crazy, stripe/swirl, silk suit and sang his entire 1st song a capella and we were totally eating out of the palm of his hand for the rest of the set.  He played "April Fool's" off of "Poses" and played a bunch of stuff from his newest album.  He also paid tribute to both of his parents by doing one song by each of them (downside was his back-up singer sang "I Don't Know" by Kate McGarrigle and his pianist played for her - for an hour set, I would have liked for him to stay on stage).  He also did a Judy song and overall just killed it.  So glad I knew nothing about his live performance before Saturday, it was just incredible.

Metric - This set was really interesting because it was a slow, ethereal build.  It was good, but chill, but then about 30 minutes in they really broke out with the fun, dancy stuff.  The last song mellowed back out, but was a tribute to choosing a rock & roll lifestyle called "Gimme Sympathy."  Can't wait to get more into them.

Punch Brothers - This was a ridiculous/awesome display of bluegrass/musical talent led by Chris Thile (formerly of Nickel Creek).  All impeccably dressed with impeccable harmonies and a multitude of solo's.  If you're into this new-ish folk/bluegrass movement - check them out.

The Shins - Caught the second half of their set, it was pretty chill, but enjoyable.

Jack White - We got to see him with his all-female backing band, The Peacocks (I may be biased, but I'm glad we got them rather than his all-male band).  They were all incredible musicians and I think I'm in love with his back-up singer.  He played some stuff off of his new solo album, but also included songs from The White Stripes, The Raconteurs, and The Dead Weather.  The set moved really quickly and unfortunately ended 15 minutes early.

Sunday

Stars - This is, I think, the 3rd time we've seen Stars.  They are a really interesting band in that their songs cover the gamut of moods and a lot of them were about death.  Either way, I like them enough to keep seeking them out.  Definitely worth a listen.

The Devil Makes Three - This 3-piece is a tour-de-force in bluegrass/folk/drummer-less bands.  They have a singer/guitarist, stand-up bass player/back-up singer, and a multi-instrumentalist (mostly banjo)/back-up vocalist.  They were so good that we ended up blowing off the other act we were going to catch after watching them for 20 minutes or so.  I will be seeking out their music and their shows from here on out.

The Civil Wars - Even though they were on a main stage in front of thousands of people, this duo kept the subtle-ness and intimacy they are known for.  Even though their songs are kind of downers, you could tell they were really enjoying the experience.  Plus they did a pretty cool cover of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean."

The Lumineers - I guess you could say we heard The Lumineers.  We, at least, certainly tried to.  Due to some poor planning/forecasting on C3's part it was a total cluster to get to this stage, but from what I heard - I wished I could have heard more and seen it.

Old 97's - Don't worry, the Austin Ventures stage cleared out in enough time for me to get pretty close for one of my favorite bands ever!  They are currently on a 10th-anniversary tour for their album "Too Far to Care" and they played a bunch of those and songs off of most of their albums (nothing off of "Satellite Rides," my fave, though).  Such a great live band, live show, whatever - go see them and buy all of their albums.

Avett Brothers - Again, caught the 2nd half of their set.  I had no idea they would be so high-energy!  They really relished the huge crowd and played the hell out of their instruments.  It felt like a much more intimate show than it should have.  They brought out Chad Smith (the drummer for the Red Hot Chili Peppers) to drum for one song - so that was awesome.  They did an encore and played "I and Love and You" and it killed me all over again just like the first time I heard it - so earnest.  My biggest scheduling complaint for the weekend was putting them against the Old 97's.  I wish I could have seen both complete sets.

Childish Gambino - This is Don Glover's (from "Community") rap persona.  I was under the impression that it was going to be funny, although I never really looked into it at all.  He had great word-play and rhythm and the energy was high high high.  I guess I was expecting it to stand out a little more, though.

Well, that's that.  2012's in the books, as they say.