Spread out over two weekends for its 2013 installment, ACL arrived more massive and imposing than ever before. Since you’ve likely already seen coverage and heard wide ranging opinions about the festival and its inaugural two-weekend format, we’re keeping our post-festival coverage streamlined, emphasizing what we liked, and why.
While ACL continues to inhabit a strange space in a Bermuda triangle of townie, singer-songwriter-loving, middle-aged dudes, young, college-radio-listening hipsters, and the general masses (“Lionel Richie was awesome!”), they inhabit that space pretty well. As a music blog primarily focused on independent music, we found there were just enough fresh artists each day to warrant attention. We were also excited to see some of our favorite local acts, Dana Falconberry and Bobby Jealousy, get some lineup love. Beyond these artists, Austin crowd pleasers, throwback staples, and bands of the moment such as True Believers, Depeche Mode, and Fun. respectively rounded out the lineup.
Regarding the lineup, I was particularly impressed by the inclusion of up and coming acts such as Wild Nothing, Parquet Courts, Savages, and Autre Ne Veut—more on each of those bands to come today and tomorrow. Bigger but equally as praiseworthy artists included Grimes, Local Natives, and Tame Impala. And ACL gets major points for The National, Wilco, and Atoms for Peace, none of whom I managed to see.
Wild Nothing’s shimmering dream pop served as a perfect soundtrack for the light rain that fell briefly just as the festival kicked off. Devoted fans didn’t seem to mind the shower at all as the band performed excellent songs such as “Shadow” and “Paradise” from their most recent effort “Nocturne.” The rain cleared quickly but served as an omen for an eventual disaster on the festival’s final day.
In stark contrast to Wild Nothing’s mellow beginning to the festival, Fidlar soon diversified the atmosphere of the festival with crunchy garage tracks such as “Cheap Beer.” The band’s raucous energy and rocking out on stage provided a rare moment of caustic rock n roll for ACL.
Savages, a band that only just released their debut album in May, took the stage at 1:00. With such little experience under their belt, the London based band sounded tight, and lead singer Jehnny Beth’s intense stare commanded attention even in the context of an early afternoon set. Although certainly less aggressive, the overall appeal of the band sounds something like a more streamlined, female-fronted version of Joy Division. Playing a huge festival less than half a year after your debut sets the expectations high for this young band, and their sophomore effort should be an important indicator of their lasting power.
I’d seen Thao before with Mirah, but I have to say I enjoyed her raucous energy and loose indie rock better this time, playing on her own. There’s a certain free form flow that Thao embodies as she bounces onstage, her dark hair tossing wildly. The brief few songs I watched were solid and enjoyable.
To get a quality spot for Vampire Weekend, I got to the Honda Stage early and mired myself among the throngs of high school kids waiting to see Fun. If you’ve read this blog before, you may have recognized that we try to emphasize music we like. Why spend word and time on negativity? If it’s not for us, there’s plenty to write about that we love. Unfortunately, since I had to wait an entire hour before and after Fun.’s set as well as to sit through it, I feel compelled to comment. Objectively, the music is simple pop designed around plenty of anthemic Oooohs and Oh whoa ohs and a few Whoa Uh oh ohs. Subjectively, Fun. delivers processed pop like shiny wrapped hard candies that dissolve into sugar and a few drops of food dye after a few minutes. Nate Ruess’s plastic smile and tongue hanging out feel bought and sold, the furthest thing from genuine one can imagine. I don’t know the guy, so maybe I’m off, but the stage antics just don’t ring true.
Following their set, Vampire Weekend set the stage with an enormous mirror and columns dangling from the stage rafters, and I was please to find as many enthusiastic fans there to see Ezra Koenig and co. With their drum head emblazoned with the title of their recent album Modern Vampires of the City, the group played a good share of material from that effort, but also provided plenty of favorites stretching back over Contra and their eponymous debut. “Giving Up the Gun” and “Oxford Comma” received particularly enthusiastic responses from the crowd. While I’m apt to point out that Paul Simon’s Graceland integrated similar Afrocentric percussive elements in 1986 that now make Vampire Weekend intriguing, the quartet does exhibit amazing stage presence as well as instrumental and vocal dexterity. I saw them early on in their career at an installment of SXSW and again recently for an ACL taping, and without a doubt, they’re stronger and stronger.
Purity Ring closed out my first night at ACL with the best set of the day. Moments before the set began, the sky finally opened up and a steady rain begin to fall on festival-goers. Thirty seconds into the first song, a loud pop burst from the speakers and all sound and light from the stage ceased. Without a way to address to the crowd, frontwoman Megan James simply waved apologetically from the darkness of the unlit stage.
As some lights began to come back on, the crowd waited, watching the spotlight rays illuminate swaths of falling rain. After only about ten minutes of flashlight searching, a few synth notes sputtered from the speakers and the crowd cheered wildly. Purity Ring navigated their brief body of solid material—songs such as “Fineshrine” and “Belispeak.” Behind them, the duo’s trademark lanterns that look like giant alien eggs glowed eerily, adding to the distinctly surreal nature of the rainy, late night set. At times, James pounded a huge drum and the stage lights pulsed to a bright glow before dimming again.
With the weather adding to the show’s appeal and Purity Ring’s emphasis on a total aesthetic appeal of visual and aural stimulation, their set rose above any other that I would watch all weekend. Here is a band carving out their own space in music with arresting, intricate music and captivating live performances. More coverage with ACL Day Two follows tomorrow.
Check below for more pictures of all of these artists. All photos © Bryan Parker & Pop Press International. Click any image to open in slideshow viewer.
