Austin City Limits Day One - Friday, October 11, 2013

Yeah! I FINALLY got to go to a real music festival, and in Austin, which was also a first! I had a lot of fun, but I also came away with a clearer perspective about what to expect from a festival. If you are expecting elaborate stage shows, you won't get it. Even performance quality is a bit spotty. If you are expecting the festival atmosphere and black-box sets with stripped down performances, then you're on the money. I had a good time, but it wasn't a life-changing experience. Worth it once in a while and an excellent vacation centerpiece, but I'm not going to start seeking out all the major festivals as part of a bucket list. It was good, but not that good. Anyway, on to what I saw.

Katie, Dana, and Anita

While in Austin, I stayed with Dana's friend Katie, who lives only a mile from the park where ACL takes place. She was an awesome hostess and really fun to hang out with.

Friday morning, I walked over by myself before the gates opened so I could be there for the first act of the day - the Orwells. I'm really glad I did. They were funny in a train wreck kind of way. It's a bunch of fresh-out-of-high-school teen boys who have a punk-pop sound and lyrics that are about girlfriends, murder-suicide, and other teen boy fascinations. Most of the boys on stage just faded into the background, but the lead singer seemed to be channeling the spirit of a drunk transsexual. He wasn't dressed as a girl, but he was squirming around in suggestive ways that are more common to a girl. For a while he writhed on the ground and sucked on his microphone. He does have long hair, so that was in character. Honestly, I think he was very high. Vocally, he was all over the place. Sometimes he was WAY off key.  Other times he blew me away with a gravelly low sound that was gorgeous and I didn't expect from him. I'm curious what will come from this band in the future. There were a few sprinkles of rain during this act, but it cleared up.


Orwells, 10-11-2013, ACL

I left Orwells early and headed over to Fidlar, which was also a punkish rock band. Fidlar might also sing of the virtues of getting high, but they really had their s**t together on stage. Poised, confident, fun, smart, high-energy - the crowd loved them, me along with it. I would consider seeing them again.

Next was Savages, a third punk-ish band, but all women this time. I don't like their music much, but I'd heard they were amazing live. Honestly, I didn't agree. The singer looked a bit intense, but I didn't see the famous energy. The band made an unfortunate choice of costumes - all black, the same color of the stage, so they were pretty much invisible. Dana met up with me here.

Next, I rushed back across the park for Thao and the Get Down Stay Down, where we met up with Katie. Thao was excellent. One of the best performances of the weekend. Really high energy, excellent musicianship, great performance, plenty of audience engagement. I really liked that show. I would consider seeing them again.


Thao, 10-11-2013, ACL

I had a little break in my schedule when I ate, then I saw a couple songs by Electric Six, which was much different than I expected. Apparently, they have a LOT of albums, and the one or two songs I like by them are not typical. I left quickly and headed over to Fun. for a couple songs, then over to Local Natives for nearly their entire set. I was tired and sat for most of it, so I didn't see much, but they sounded great.

I think I grabbed some food, then went to part of Wild Belle, which looks like a band from the 70s, but sounds like a hybrid of reggae, jazz, pop, and some others. There was a saxophonist in the band. It was very cool and hip sounding. Photo below.

Next was Purity Ring, which was briefly delayed by rain and tech problems. By then, it was dark, and we were using our strobe-light bracelets to find each other. (Worked FABULOUSLY). Purity Ring was amazing (again - I've seen them before) and they had added extensively to their synesthesia music-light show.

Last on day one was Depeche Mode. They had an awesome stage set with impressive lights and video segments, and the lead singer did a fantastic job parading around and keeping the energy up. He sounded and looked great, too. The other band members looked 10 years older than their early 50s actual ages. I did a google image search and you wouldn't believe how young they looked when they started out. You can watch them grow up in photos.  Photo of our view at the show below.