ACL

ACL was fun, but a little of a bust for us.

We attended Friday, seeing Blonde Redhead, LCD Soundsystem, part of Spoon (who turned out not to be very compelling live,) part of Queens of the Stone Age (who were quite good live,) the Kaiser Chiefs, and the Killers. Actually i saw a bit more than that, but thopse are the ones i caught enough to identify songs. I only regret not seeing more of Del McCoury, and choosing Spoon over QotSA initially.

Saturday, we skipped altogether. The White Stripes cancellation played a factor in that decision, but we were having too much fun sightseeing.

Sunday, we showed up for Bloc Party, only to be defeated by heat and overcrowded. Kat & i were fed up with tripping over the abandoned chairs set up for camps at the AT&T tent. There were plenty of shows that i wanted to see, but it simply wasn't worth the claustrophobia. My brother Travis was able to make it into the tent where Preservation Hall Jazz Band was playing, and said it's the best thing he saw at the whole festival. He stuck around to catch part of Wilco, who bored him, and My Morning Jacket, who he said was excellent. He tried unsuccessfully to get us to come back to see Bob Dylan, but we already got our money's worth, as i had lucked out on the $50 for 3 day pass deal.

LCD Soundsystem was my favorite performance. I was a little worried about dragging Kat & Travis to see them despite LCD's great reputation as a live band. (Also, at the time, i was not aware of Travis' near obsession with Daft Punk. I feared that he might be bored with dance music.) Although it wasn't necessary for my entertainment, i was amazed that nearly every sound on the songs was replicated live, no tapes, very little sampling, which was a huge contract to the Blonde Redhead show that we saw earlier on the same stage. Murphy was also one of the most engaging presences i saw onstage at ACL, chatting up the audience, making funny quips, and making a spectacle of himself. For allegedly being a go-to hipster band to namedrop, they seemed like one the most grounded bands that i've seemed in awhile, with a real desire to entertain, not so much striving to impress with credentials.

A trip to ACL next year seems like a longshot. The outdoor festival thing in 90 degree weather surrounded by tens of thousands of people just doesn't seem to be my thing anymore. SxSW maybe?