The ACL Festival Files, Sep. 15th, 2006

I ended up going to the first day of the 2006 Austin City Limits Festival and I had a great time listening to the bands and not getting (too) sunburned. The lineup was splendid this year and I was able to see a handful of performances on Friday that made the 4 hour drive worth it. Time to break it down:

Wolfparade These Canadians started off my ACL experience with a much needed jolt of energy, after I had spent the last 2 hours looking for parking and taking a shuttle from downtown Austin. The band had an hour set and played mostly from the album Apologies to the Queen Mary. I got pretty close to the stage and the highlights were "I'll Believe in Anything," "Dinner Bells," and "This Heart's on Fire." One Lone Star Beer in a can was consumed.

Gnarls Barkley Cee-Lo, DangerMouse and a mini-orchestra came out on stage in lab coats but I couldn't see much from a mile away. There was a huge jumbo-tron screen that gave the audience closeups of C-LO's chins and DM's white-boy fro and for that I was grateful, I think. They played thier songs and did some cover songs. I guess they got crazy. One bottle of water consumed.

Okkervil River This Austin band is just a sweet treat to see in concert. The band's overall sound suffered a little in the outdoor/festival setting but the good songs broke through and had an impact nonetheless. "The Latest Toughs," "A Stone," and the infectous set closer "For Real" were my favorites.

Cat Power Miss Marshall was with her Memphis Rhythm Band and sounded excellent with the supporting players. She took charge of the stage playing stuff from her newest album The Greatest and did a few covers. She did the Stone's "Satisfaction" with the whole band and sang that Gnarls song with a repeated chourus of "You're fuckin' crazy/Yeah, You're fuckin' crazy." One plastic cup full of lemonade mixed with pieces of dirt and grass consumed.

Sparklehorse Mark Linkous was one of the reasons I went to ACL this year and he didn't disappoint me at all. The rest of Sparklehorse were really tight and played some old favorites of mine. It reminded me of the time I saw the Pixies at 2004's festival. Knowing every song and just enjoying the euphoria that comes with recognizing and hearing your most cherished music is what going to Austin City Limits Festival is all about for me. The best songs of the set - "Hammering the Cramps," "Spirit Ditch," "Gold Day," "Pain Birds," "Apple Bed," "Happy Man," and a new one, "Don't Take My Sunshine," was great too.

Here's a video of Sparklehorse playing "Gold Day" at ACL 2006 (i didn't film it):
Sparklehorse

Aimee Mann Performance I wish I'd seen on Saturday:



Who played this year? Check it out: