Conor Oberst in Top Form at ACL Live
If I’m honest: happy people bother me a little. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about focusing on the positives to keep yourself from spiraling headlong into depression. But it does seem like if…
Conor Oberst Gives Old Songs New Life at ACL Live This Friday
With his newest album, Salutations, Conor Oberst finished what he started. The songs on last year’s Ruminations, written and recorded solo, were always intended to be fully arranged works played with a band, a goal finally…
Joanna Newsom Dives Into Spellbinding Set at ACL Live
Touring behind yet another critically acclaimed and staggeringly beautiful album, Divers, harpist and avant-folk musician Joanna Newsom performed Austin’s ACL Live at the Moody Theater last week. Like great artists from across mediums and…
Joanna Newsom Plays ACL Live Wednesday, September 7
Touring behind her most recent album Divers, the latest addition to a masterful oeuvre, Joanna Newsom stops in Austin at ACL Live next Wednesday, September 7. From the early days of harp-pop songs on Milk-Eyed Mender to…
Childish Gambino Brings Deep Web Tour to ACL Live at the Moody Theater
Although the wait for Childish Gambino to emerge for his late night ACL show seemed interminable, the crowd had plenty to keep them occupied. As part of the Deep Web Tour, Childish Gambino had…
Sordidly Saved: Nick Cave’s ACL Taping
If you’ve read any reviews of Nick Cave’s performance at a taping for the 40th season of PBS series Austin City Limits this past weekend, you’ll know critics are describing Cave as the Devil incarnate; I…
Devo Plays for Hardcore Fans at ACL Live’s Moody Theater
Wednesday night, quirky post-punk pioneers Devo ended their “Hardcore Devo” tour in Austin at the Moody Theater. The tour nomenclature serves as an apt descriptor for the fans in attendance—those clad in plastic…
Tweedy at ACL Taping: Live Review
Last Friday and Saturday, Jeff Tweedy came to Austin for two nights, including the ACL taping for the PBS shows 40th season we witnessed, where he treated the studio audience to a marked night…
Beck ACL Taping: Live Review
Since an Austin City Limits Taping becomes a permanent document as a television episode that eventually will be released on a DVD, I assumed that Beck’s set last night would be a greatest…
The National’s First Night at ACL Live
I’ve been looking forward to this show for a long time; it has been on my radar since the second and third nights were announced. The National’s High Violet is a masterpiece, but I’m in…
The National Comes to Austin for Three Nights at ACL Live
While I highly doubt anyone reading this blog is being informed for the first time that The National will be in Austin for three nights next Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday at ACL Live,…
These Songs Belong to Everyone: Reflecting on Seeing Neutral Milk Hotel Live
Although during Netural Milk Hotel’s hiatus Jeff Mangum began appearing in public, at shows, more frequently, contributing parts to friends’ records, and even releasing material, it was hard to see a reunion tour…
The National Returns to Austin to the Delight of ACL Weekend Two Ticketholders
If you’re anything like me, missing The National on the second weekend of ACL was one of the biggest let downs of the cancelled day. Perhaps The National felt like they needed to…
Belle and Sebastian at ACL Live
Belle and Sebastian was one of the first indie bands I listened to. I bought If You’re Feeling Sinister at Waterloo Records around 2001 and fell in love fast. I purchased the remainder…
The xx with Austra at ACL Live
The xx have defied all probability since 2009, because they’ve been a buzz band since 2009. Rather than burning out in a blaze of productivity or fading away with a hurried, lackluster sophomore…
