27th
so I don't forget
day one:
Yeasayer. Great way to start the day. Much better (and much more sober?) than when I saw them before.
Jakob Dylan. Impressive. Such a great musician. And so handsome. Did I mention handsome?
Jamie Lidell. A cross between Maroon 5 and Jamiroquai, but more pop-ified. The preppy girls around me were REALLY into it and knew all the words. I wasn’t feeling it but I see the appeal. He was wearing cute, nerdy glasses.
M. Ward. I was impressed by the crowd he drew to one of the smaller tent stages since I’d never heard of him before the She and Him album. His gravely voice combined with his acoustic picking guitar style was great. It was hard to get into the set since we were pretty far back and couldn’t see him. I’d listen to this at home, though.
Hot Chip. Mark said we had to check this out since his “housemate in uni was shagging one of the guys” and also, I’m guessing since as a fledgeling musician, seeing a bunch of Cambridge blokes on stage at ACL is sort of his dream personified. I wasn’t feeling their electro-whatever.
Mates of State. Oh wow, they are great live. They are the cutest, coolest married couple with kids from Connecticut that I know of! They met in art school and have been married for 8 years but seem to really like each other in a non-obnoxious way. Jason was wearing a heather blue henley and playing the drums with major energy. Kori was wearing a black embroidered dress and kickass boots with gray knee socks peeking out. She played the keyboards while looking over at Jason. Super cute. They were backed by a male/female cello duo and a guy playing violin/bass. So good.
Jenny Lewis. She has really grown into her sound. Her new stuff is real rockabilly, which seems very ACL-appropriate. She has a big backing band and they were great, though of course her voice is what really shines. She is captivating on stage as she was before (I saw Rilo Kiley at Coachella 2005, the last festival I attended). She was wearing a short denim jumper/romper and she has the best bangs.
The Swell Season. Ok, I admit it. I saw the move “Once” three times (plus the making of) and have listened to the soundtrack about a million times. These guys make the best music together, and we saw them right as the sun was setting. They are a bit shmaltzy, and Glen Hansard tried a few tunes that felt flat with the crowd, and one of the keys on the piano broke, but they were still so good. The crowd went crazy when he covered a Van Morrison song. I was a little worried that Marketa was really ill or something because they barely showed her face on the big screen and when they did she looked deathly pale.
The Mars Volta. Not the most accessible sound, but on the main stage closing the night they were unbelievable. They are true performers. This is a real arena rock band. They are the closest thing to a Led Zeppelin that our time has, but mixed in with a little Jimi Hendrix psychedelic touch and maybe a bit of Rage Against the Machine. I didn’t recognize anything that they played (I’m familiar with their first 3 albums) but it didn’t matter.
Other notes:
It’s been 90 degrees and the field got really dusty by the afternoon.
Our feet got super dirty (sunblock plus grassy fields=dusty feet).
Seriously people, why are you all drinking beer? I can barely get enough water!
Part way through the afternoon, Frank produced a slightly fizzy, icy bright pink drink from one of the vendors that, I swear, just four sips of completely revived me from all the heat.
