i could go on forever and everest about my experiences at the 2005 austin city limits festival. it was unbelievable.
mad thanks go out to ryan for making it all possible and for being willing to ingest some new and exciting noise. (he informed me on several occasions that the scheduling duties were entirely in my grubbly little hands. i hope i did an okay job!) and thanks must also go out to ugly rita, hurricane, for leaving us high and dry.
now i offer some acl related snippets of jamesthink, mostly about the music. . .
The Austin Collins Band -the first thing we heard. pleasantly derivative. i think if the acb were a location, it would lie just south of whiskeytown.
Asleep at the Wheel -full-blown texas pride picked, fiddled, and pedal-steeled through the park with boisterous charlie daniels-style vocals and good old-fashioned musicianship.
Kasabian -energetic enough, but not mind-blowing. one guitarist spent the entirety of each song coaxing atmospheric noise from his instrument, but not in an original or interesting way.
Steve Earle and the Dukes -i was surprised to see a beardless, short-haired steve take the stage, as i was accustomed to the bikerbarleatherjacket steve. but this new, more conservative look certainly didn't affect his ability to rock. a definite crowd pleaser.The Iguanas -we caught a bit of this New Orleans-based jazz combo because mindy smith didn't make it to austin. they were good at what they did, but the crowd was expecting what mindy smith does. and so were we. we left after about a tune and a half.
Lucinda Williams -Lucinda was in fine form. she and an appropriately rockin' backing band delivered some old classics as well as several new songs with raspy world-weary perfection. i'm gonna go with "drunken angel" as my favorite.
Spoon -i was pumped to see these guys and i wasn't disappointed. their live sound was great and the version of "sister jack" they banged out took root in my soul and kept the "beast and the dragon" at bay, where i could adore them.
The Allman Brothers Band -just the sort of band you would expect to see at the aclf. i missed duane, just cause i do, but the lengthy solos were still there and there were several moments when every person in the crowd had "one more silver dollar." i did, however, keep complaining to ryan during "jessica" that the harmony was louder than the melody in the double lead figures.
Keane -seemingly under-staffed and fronted by a baby face to rival conrad's, this trio managed to produce a very big sound. their songs tend toward the formulaic, each one building to a soaring chorus, but it's hard to complain when the dude sings so well.
The Black Crowes -chris robinson is what mick jagger would have been if he'd been born in georgia and had a brother in his band to fight with. i have a soft spot for these hard guys and "she talks to angels" was everything i wanted it to be. erika, if you're out there, you'd have loved it.
Tracy Bonham -we had front row seats for this owing to my crush on tegan (i know, i know, but i can't help it. rivers cuomo could relate. . .) but she and her sister sara were the second cancellation with which ryan and i had to deal. luckily, miss bonham delivered some killerwellwrittenandwellplayed stuff. she bounced around from guitar to keyboard to fiddle and even busted out short cover versions of "black dog" by the mighty zep and "walking with a ghost" as a sort of apology for taking the place of our beloved canadian punktwins.
Cory Morrow -cliched lyrics and tolerable, if unambitious, "new" country music.
Mike Doughty's Band -sort of recycled soul-coughing grooves with a more acoustic bent. still groovy though, in both a figurative and literal sense.
Aqualung -pleasant waiting-for-bts music. pulled off a nice version of queen's "somebody to love." i still can't read the name 'aqualung' without playing some jethro tull air guitar.
Built to Spill -ahh. this is what i'm talking about. doug and the boys blasted euphoria through my body with their boise-bearded-albertson's-stir-fry-dinner rock. i was a little surprised that they didn't play any new stuff as they have an impending album release, but i certainly wasn't complaining as i sang along with everything from "big dipper" to "i would hurt a fly" to "carry the zero" to a searing "in your mind." They also pulled out their built to spillified version of "virginia reel around the fountain," featured on their live album. but, for me, the real highlight was a blistering version of "you were right." i smiled my face off and banged my head in agreement til my neck turned to jelly. definitely in my top festival five. in fact, i think i'll list my top five at the bottom of this post. stay tuned.Martin Sexton -one of those guys who somehow got way too
much talent poured into him on the conveyor belt of creation. "diggin' me" was a standout and featured martin's "hey, i'm a trumpet" scat singing. he also made excellent use of his distortion mike, approximating an electric guitar that would fool anyone not watching him make the sound with his mouth. at one point he took the opportunity afforded him by an Am-G-F progression to sing page's solo from "stairway to heaven!" another sweet "effects junkie" moment was his atmospheric, echo-laden take on the floyd's "welcome to the machine." but my favorite song here was an unadorned, beautiful in it's simplicity, tear-jerking rendition of "glory bound." amazing. thanks again to m and m for the heads up.The Frames -i only heard a bit of their set, but they deserve honorable mention for their cover of "the most beautiful widow." honestly, any band that three part harmonizes on an old sparklehorse favorite of mine scores some serious points.
Death Cab for Cutie -i must confess to dozing off for about 10 minutes of their set (perhaps because "transatlanticism" is a frequent bedtime album for me at home), but they were quite good. perhaps a little "plans"-heavy, and i would have loved to raise my fist to the middle section of "tiny vessels," but i enjoyed it very much for being tired and probably irritably picky by this time. hopefully i was more tolerable after my nap. ryan?The Fiery Furnaces -i hadn't heard this band until i checked out some streams while making our schedule, but they were good enough to merit a "check them out if possible" inclusion. and it was possible from our position at the cingular stage to "check them out." so we did.
Jet -obviously, after only one album, these guys didn't exactly have a wealth of material to draw from. but they pounded through their set, including the ridiculously over-played "look what you've done," with guts and gusto. and they deserved every cheer they received for their rockstar poses. i don't care what anyone says, when these guys get their cold hard screamy riff rock on, they are the real deal.
Bloc Party -their debut album hasn't left my car for a very long time. "like eating glass," "this modern love," and "positive tension" were as amazing live as they are pumping frantically through my accord.
Oasis -all the rumors are true. these blokes come off as arrogant, spiteful, rude, brash. . . and freaking amazing. right from the get-go, as the band came out to the first track from "standing on the shoulders of giants," which shall here remain nameless, we all knew it was going to be a loud, irreverent, and gnarly affair. we got a generous helping from the latest record, my favorite being "the importance of being idle," and a
smattering of classics from "definitely maybe" 
and "what's the story". i would have liked to hear some cuts from their other albums, but what i did get was good enough to leave me satisfied despite the limitations of the setlist.for the most part, noel's singing outstripped that of liam, who at times just seemed to be too lazy to go for the high notes. ("rock n' roll star" was laughably under pitch), but he managed to make up for it with pure manchester attitude. There was plenty of cheeky banter between numbers, with noel playing the good guy to liam's "i'm not acting" bas***d act. but the music was the main course, of course. "cigarettes and alcohol" could have been the theme song for the festival, "champagne supernova" featured more lead guitar embellishments and was the coolest, most moving concert sing-a-long i think i've ever participated in, and "live forever" (dedicated to Louisiana) gave me chills as usual. my personal favorite (on and off the record) has always been "don't look back in anger" and, to say the least, my expectations were met and exceeded. Wow. I could go on, but i won't. wow.
The New Amsterdams -the ex-get up kids frontman had much more sandpaper and emotion in his vocals than he exhibits on the mid-tempo "worse for the wear" album, which was a good thing.
Rachael Yamagata -she had some techinical difficulties, but still delivered a great show. a revved-up revisitation of "known for years" was a pleasant surprise and "paper doll," "letter read," and "worn me down" were excellent as usual. before the show, i asked if i could kiss her hand, and not only did she oblige, she then asked if she could kiss MY hand. i was, of course, fine with that.
Doves -heard in passing. as good as i expected.
Rilo Kiley -we were dying at this point, but we made sure to crash in some shade from which we could still hear rk. my favorite moment was when i caught a girl's eye and both of us lip-synched the words together "the talking leads to touching. the touching leads to sex. and then there is no mystery left." she was kinda cute, but i decided to keep plenty of mystery between us.
Kaiser Chiefs -i don't know how they pulled if off in the heat, but they managed to be just as energetic as their debut record. favorite moment: the breathy backing vocals on "everyday i love you less and less."
The Bravery -they were a nice addition to the festival, in my opinion. there are plenty of bands that have a similar sound, but most don't have frontmen with such cool morrissey-esque hair or such interesting anecdotes between their songs.
The Arcade Fire -Holy canadians in black suits and ties! i could hear them lightly checking their levels to the tune of "wake up" and sure enough, that was their opening number. i almost passed out from heat and joy as they they created a veritable orchestra/choir of art rock goodness. they never let up for the entire hour that they played. along with selections from "funeral" (which you should own if you don't) they busted out "headlights look like diamonds" and a fantastic version of bowie's "five years," during which a trio of drunken british soccer fans and i sang along in blissed-out arcadian glee. amazing. as a side note, this was one of the bands i was worried about "subjecting" ryan to, seeing as their theatrics sometimes rival influential art rockers the talking heads, but he informs that, despite being a little taken aback initially, he has now added "funeral" to his collection. good on ya, brother. good on ya.
Wilco -my favorite set of the festival. we managed to work our way right to the front (about 25 people back from the stage) and man, was it worth it. their set focused mainly on YHF and AGIB, but they did throw in a romping "king pin," complete with austin-approved lyric changes, "a shot in the arm," and "i'm always in love" for good measure, as well as one new song which jeff informed us had been written for austin. i swear they keep getting better and better. they seemed even tighter and more inspired than when i saw them in utah. every song was a highlight, but the mass sing-a-long of "jesus, etc." was a particularly spine-tingling moment, and during "at least that's what you said," which lives inside of me, the hair on my arms stood on end for the entire panic attacking rock out. i was sweaty, exhausted, uncomfortable, thirsty, and in absolute heaven. astounding. i could have died and almost did.
Coldplay -we were, how shall i put this, not close to the stage for this band. in fact, we were nowhere near close to the stage. we were seeming miles away, breathing pure dust and feeling the last of our energy seep out through our toes or evaporate off the tops of our heads. i don't even remember that much about it, and we left a bit early, but "yellow" was stately and magnificent as ever, even in such miserable conditions. a fitting end, i think.
yeah. so, a good time was had by all.
and if anyone, having read about our astoundingly musicool weekend, is feeling a tad jealous right now, i have nothing to say that would ease those feelings for you. it was absolutely incredible. (for further photos and insight, visit ryan at www.stungib.blogspot.com)
