Today, for the third year in a row, I set out to Austin City Limits. For those of you who don’t live in Austin, ACL is an annual three day music festival. For us, a three day pass is a bit of a splurge but if you buy the tickets right when they are released–before anyone knows who will be playing–then it is much more affordable.
So far things have been great. The crowd happily enjoyed the October weather. Memories of heat and dust and even the prospect of rain didn’t seem to bring anyone down. I arrived on the scene at about noon, early enough to enjoy some bands without having to fight the crowd. In the morning I was impressed with The School of Seven Bells but I think the best show of the day went to Raphael Saadiq. Saadiq and his band took control of the stage, encouraging everyone in the audience to dance around and be involved. Each of his band members brought so much energy to the table that it was near impossible to sit idly. During these festivals you see a lot of bands but all too often they think that all they need to do is sit on stage and sing their songs.
Peter will argue that the show of the day should go to Them Crooked Vultures. I think he described the show as “taking us into the fourth dimension to pray at the temple of rock.” I enjoyed the show but somehow I can’t say that I experienced the “tidal wave of super-human emotion” that he did.
{Image credit: Austin Chronicle}
