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October 11 ACL Festival 2009 - The Music Highlights of this year's fest were The Dexateens, an ultra-cool band from Alabama, and Torchy's Damn Good Tacos, which I ate for every meal I consumed on the festival grounds (with the excpetion of that 1 disappointing burger). Friday Avett Brothers - Favorite show of the day, but certainly not the best I've seen them (and I've seen some Avett's shows this year). They were pretty subdued and felt a little flat to me.....impressive, none the less. The Walkmen - Heard them playing while standing in line for a drink. Really liked what we heard and stuck around for a couple of songs. I need to check out some of their recordings. Dr. Dog - Good fun. I looked forward to seeing these guys because I dig the tunes I've heard on a couple of mixes friends have sent me. They sort of fall into that rough-voiced-Americana-rock that I love some much. I'd pay to see them live again. Phoenix - Back in 2005 (I think) they were my one of my favorite performances of the festival. Pretty lack-luster this time (still enjoyable, but nothing to write home about). They were very obviously appreciative of the awesome turn-out for their set, though, which was certainly endearing. I'm loving the heck out of their Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix album, though it's too early to say if it will be on my "Best of 09" list. John Legend - Heard this totally by accident. After the Phoenix set, it was time to find a place to sit and enjoy a cold beer. The grassy spot we found to sit just happened to be in ear-shot of J.L. Not really my thing, but I can certainly see the appeal. Reckless Kelly - Again, hadn't planned to catch the RK boys, but we were drawn in as we were walking to the food stands. I really thought I'd out-grown RK several years ago, but Kelli and I both agreed that it was really great to hear them if for no other reason than old-time's sake. We stuck around for 3 or 4 songs. Andrew Bird - I confess to not knowing much about Andrew Bird and haven't really sought out his stuff because, frankly, I was just guessing it would be a total snooze. Surprisingly, he translated amazingly well to an outdoor festival. In spite of all the whistling, it was probably my 2nd favorite show of the day. Kings of Leon - Love the Kings. Not a big fan of their recent direction. We listened to 2 songs (both off the new album) and decided to head for the hills. Saturday The Dexateens - Favorite performance of the festival. I'd drive to Alabama to see them again (and may have to do it since they dont' get out of the South very often). The festival guide called them a Southern-fried Ramones, and I'd say that's pretty accurate. I haven't found an album yet that captures their live sound, but if you know of one, please let me know. Deer Tick- Born on Flag Day, their release from this year, likely will end up on my "Best of" list for 2009 -- fans of Lucero would probably dig them. Granted, it was pretty early in the day, but they didn't seem really thrilled to be there. However, the Dexateens had just played an awesomely energetic set just a few minutes previously, so the early hour doesn't fly too well with me as an excuse. Alberta Cross - UK'ers doing their best to play Americana. I knew nothing of the band and went purely based on a friend's recommendation. Cool sound that at times reminded me of Band of Horses. It was a good performance, but I couldn't help but think they'd have come across better on one of the smaller stages. They played on the Livestrong stage (the same one that Pearl Jam would play on the next day), and were sort of gobbled up by the enormity of it. Enjoyable, for sure, but didn't blow me out of the water. That said, based on the live show, I do plan to check out the album. The Felice Brothers - second favorite performance of the day. I can't say enough good things about how great these guys are live. What's not to love about good hillbilly crime songs? Don't miss if they're ever in your area. Sam Roberts - Sam was one of my favorite discoveries of the '05 (?) festival. That year, he played outside on one of the medium sized stages. This year, they stuck him under a pavilion where the sound was horrible and the old gray-hairs hiding from the rain in their lawn chairs were completely in the way of anyone trying to enjoy a rock show. Still love him....crappy gig (not his fault, though. ACL should know better). By this time in the day, we were both thoroughly soaked to the core and really weren't that gung-ho about the later acts, so we called it a day. Sunday Skipped the morning and made a trip to Juan in a Million -- an excellent little dive with great Mexican breakfast. In my mind, there's not much better than a good breakfast taco, and theirs are among the best I've had.  The Dead Weather - Love, love, love the live show. We fought the mud and the crowd and got fairly close. My favorite part was toward the end of the show when, Alison, covered in sweat and obviously spent, laid down on the drum riser right in front of a fan, lit a cig, and looked up like an admiring fan-girl as Jack White played guitar (and who can blame her, really?). Dan Auerbach - I made the mistake of fighting my way out of the Dead Weather crowd in search of a port-a-john. I say mistake because Pearl Jam was set to play the same stage later. So, by the time my "mission" was accomplished, the already large crowd had nearly doubled in size and there was no way I could get back to where I was. I'm not a huge Pearl Jam fan anyway, so I decided to take the opportunity to listen to a few songs at the stage where Dan Auerbach was playing. I really do need to pick up his solo record. I'd already been planning to catch Dan when he plays 1st Avenue later this fall (Justin Townes Earle opens...how could I pass on that combo?) and hearing the couple songs in Austin pretty much sealed the deal. Pearl Jam - I couldn't see shit from my vantage-point, but even as I non-Pearl Jam fan, I must admit it sounded pretty epic. TrackbacksThe trackback URL for this entry is: http://tonyaamen.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!21AF156C391AF80E!1418.trak Weblogs that reference this entry
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