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ACL Fest 2004

by mike on September 21st, 2004

ACL FestIt was hot. 95°F or more and 70% or more humidity. People were seeking shelter in the shade of the porta-potties. You know it’s hot when…
We had a blast at the Austin City Limits Music Festival! The bands we saw were fantastic! I was not disappointed in any of the shows, though I did hear some lackluster reviews for some artists – mostly the ones that didn’t show any energy. Here’s a breakdown of the bands we/I saw:

Friday 9/17

  • Bob Schneider – he rocked much more than I expected
  • Blind Boys of Alabama – they really are blind! They’ve been playing together for 60 years.
  • Patty Griffin – we heard a wee bit while wandering
  • Butch Hancock – again, wandering
  • Terry Allen – weird
  • Joe Ely – great show! Makes me want to see him again locally.
  • Los Lonely Boys – fairly disappointing. They talked too much. Need to polish the live show, boys.

Saturday 9/18

  • Big Head Todd and the Monsters – Fantastic! Tied for number two show with The Roots on my list.
  • Bruce Robison – it was fun watching people respond to "What Would Willie Do?" who hadn’t heard it before
  • Holmes Brothers – sang one of many versions of "Amazing Grace" over the weekend
  • Marcia Ball – cracks me up; she’s a middle-aged white woman growling out Louisianna swamp blues and hammering away at the keyboard
  • The Pixies – non-stop rock! No intro, no breaks, just rock. Great show! …but not number one.

Sunday 9/19

  • Mighty Sincere Voices of Navasota – heard one song, which was enough for me to really really like them
  • Guy Forsyth – all he could say was "this is talk like a pirate day – ARRRRRR!"
  • Kelly Willis – sweet sound, good set
  • Mindy Smith – Jodi: “she finished well”
  • The Roots – one of these is not like the other; lots of rap and lots of guitar. No breaks. Great show! tied for number two with Big Head Todd
  • Elvis Costello – we couldn’t break into the crowd, but we could hear; good greatest hits set
  • Spoon – so-so. Others seemed to love them, I was unimpressed
  • Pat Green – disappointed. Modern country, and PG was full of himself. I left early for Cake
  • Cake – the BEST show of the weekend! These guys rocked! I will go see them again! Played two encores, which is unheard of at ACL Fest

All that for a measly $75! Can’t wait for next year.

From → journal

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