ACL Fest - Day One

After parking about a mile from the park I made my usual stop at Green Mesquite for some good Texas BBQ. From there it's one crazy mile of restaurants, food carts, bottled water pushers, street musicians and vendors selling everything else from tobacco to tie-dye. When I hit the park entrance I hesitate. Surely it's a trick. There's sunshine. It's 82 degrees. The grass is green. And dry! Time to forget the monsoons, the mud, and the desert-like temperatures of the past. Time for music.

Someplace between Oasis at their loosest and The Ramones at their tightest lies the beat of The Soft Pack. There's a subtle beauty to what this under-appreciated band does. It just seems too simple to be that good. But then I find my heart nodding along with my head and I just can't stop. Why question it? I like it.

Those Darlins--Pixie Chicks/Runaways wannabes were actually a bunch of fun to watch. Still got some growing up to do--musically, that is.

While making the trip to the Food Court I caught a bit of Carolyn Wonderland whose amazing voice can always stop you in your tracks. (Her band don't suck neither.) But between tunes I caught a piece of what sounded like CSN&Y or early America (the band, not the country) bleeding over from the Austin Ventures Stage. It was Chief whose songs don't really sound much like those bands until they suddenly push out that wonderful three part harmony. (That first tune I heard was the fitting "The Minute I Saw It".) Added to some jangly guitar and I'm looking for a Rodeo Sweetheart.

I caught the last couple songs by The Kicks playing the BMI stage. Musically, a great band with a dynamic vocalist/frontman. But while it may be fun to sound like T-Rex, I'd like to see them come up with some much more original material.

Speaking of BMI, year in and year out this smaller stage has attracted some tremendous crowds. This year was no exception with band after impressive band, like The Ettes who gave their better-than-average-garage-band show in spite of a heavy dose of sunshine right in their faces and no breeze to speak of. Lead singer/guitarist/songwriter Coco appeared not to be bothered by it with an explosion of energy throughout the show. While recovering with some fluids backstage afterward she just smiled and said, "Hey, you gotta give 'em a show." That she did.

Since I caught Spoon earlier at The Four Seasons I bypassed them for Slightly Stoopid whose reggae/rock jams had the crowd moving. Here's hoping the newer stuff will be as strong as the old.

For overall best performer in ACL Fest history the award has got to go to Robert Randolph. Over and over he and his Family Band give incredible performances, as they did again this year, even though it took place in the smaller, covered Clear 4G Stage. Clearly a mistake when the crowd spilled way outside it's intended borders. But no one seemed to mind when these guys (and one girl) did their stuff, including all changing instruments and playing as them as well as their own. The performance was like a rockumentary without a film, a revival without a church, like a happening that really was happening. Right when it seemed things couldn't get any higher the band kicked into "Ain't Nothing Wrong With That" and just plain brought the house down.

For the night's closing performances I was forced to use the power of selective hearing as I walked along the "Continental Divide" between two bands performing at opposite ends of Zilker Park. While it has never occurred to me to compare the music of Phish to that of The Strokes, there I was walking, waffling (walfking?) between the backsides of the two largest crowds of the day. I had started with expectations of just hearing The Strokes whose quick, tasty bites of rock were enticing. But as the band was playing I would occasionally hear Phish with their creative musical bantering. In spite of their two definitive styles I found myself wishing they could join onstage for a spontaneous jam session. Alas, my imagination had to make do.