ACL Day 1:
Day 1 of ACL was action packed and filled with great bands ranging from Electronic supergroup Thievery Coorporation to time tested, road worn Van Morrison. Roxwel interviewed Ted Leo, Guster, Stars, Okkerville River, Ceutromatic, Bo Jones, I Love You But I've Choosen Darkness and Phoneix. Look for their artist commetaries in the coming weeks.
Friday at ACL gives the crowd an opportunity to melt in the festival, both figuratively and literallly. With temperatures of 98 degrees and humidity of 60%+, half the crowd has shade and grass staked out and the other half is wearing next to nothing while enjoying the free mister tents. CES or Capital Sports Entertainment which has also put on the last two Lollapaloozas in Chicago, deserves some credit for correcting the week points of the festival. ACL 05 was nicknamed Dustbowl 05 with the Austin Dirt playing the Sweaty Crowds. Austin Dirt won 95 to 3, hands down. CES took notes and began working on Zilker Park immediately after the festival ended which included the installation of a new irrigation system. Free water stations and moderatly priced food and water are yet another example of ACL controlling the urge to gauge its partons and instead be giving and friendly to encourage the happy-go-lucky attitude that resonates from the crowd. Everyone remembers Lollapalooza 2002 where the crowd rioted, louted and set fire to vendors in response to $4 waters. Lesson learned, golf clap to CES and ACL.
Music wise, Day 1 held some suprises and disappointments. Van Morrion took the ATT stage at 8:30 just after sunset. Van played mostly songs off his new album and overall the crowd seemed disappointed in his set. John Mayer was across the yard playing to about half the crowd that Van had but they had twice the energy. John mentioned that he had recently taken some time off to work on himself (drug use?), his guitar playing, and his song writing. I guess when your hanging out with ?uest Love from the Roots and Dave Chapelle, its pretty easy to get wrapped up in the musician's lifestyle. The Tragically Hip also put on a great show with much more than just their music to keep the crowd's attention.
A personal highlight was Gnarls Barkley, who played from 4:30 to 5:30 in the mid day heat and still managed to rock the crowd silly. Anyone following Gnarls will know that they only dress as movie characters on stage and during press interviews. Past outfits have been the cast of Star Wars during this years MTV Music Awards and The Wizrad of Oz at Coachella. Gnarls came out on stage in lab couts and nerd garb and singer frontman, Ceelo, later explained that they were dressed up like John Nash from A Beautiful Mind. Their set was comprised of the best songs from St. Elsewhere and covers such as a rarity by The Doors.
Day 2 again promises to be top knotch with Massive Attack, Brazilian Girls, The Secret Machines, Kings of Leon and Willie Nelson, Galactic, The Shins and Austin's own, Willie Nelson. Stay tuned for Day 2's wrap up.