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Originally posted by Shape Shifter
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ACL Sunday recap:
After managing to get untied, I crawled to the drawer for the key to the anklecuffs. Fortunately, the delay was slight, and I was able to tend to my sunburned areas before heading to Zilker park for the closing day of ACL.
Sunday was -- surprise! -- hot, and -- surprise! -- a sellout. I had no problem getting a one day pass for the gf from a str8-type at just above face value. We met up with the group easily at a predetermined rallying point. A non-local had by this point discovered the utility of the straw cowboy hat and was sporting same. I continued to rely on the t-shirt-on-the-head technique, and managed to make it though the day without additional damage.
The crowds had arrived early and most of them, like us, wanted to hear
The Roots. You've heard them on the radio, but their live show transcends any of that. Their show was another festival highlight by any objective measure. From white suburban kids to whitish spinning hippie chicks and cats to ultrachic festival-going lawyers, everybody was dancing.
Most of the group then wandered over to catch
Elvis Costello and the Imposters. Maybe he was good, maybe he wasn't. I don't know because we couldn't hear. Major sound problems (festivals are notorious for sound problems, I know, but this particular stage had more than its fair share of them).
So we wandered back to the hippy side of the park for
Jack Johnson. Kinda quiet, kinda mellow, but not too unwelcome at this point. The crowd stayed enthusistic, the second-hand smoke kept pluming, and the hippy chicks kept spinning.
It was a short walk from there to catch
Drive-By Truckers. Their driving Southern-inspired country-rock contrasted nicely with the early urban funk of The Roots, the acoustic-flavored jams of Jack Johnson and the inaudible Costello. They should be able to gain a large, loyal following throughout the South and West, and there is plenty of radio-friendly fare for the savvy country or alt-rock radio programer not controlled by Clear Channel.
My ACL experience ended with critical darling
Wilco. Wilco proved popular with the spinning hippy set, many of whom seemed to have not left the area since The Roots played the same stage much earlier. And why should they? From avant-garde to more Americana roots-type music, Wilco has always proved interesting, and this was reflected in their live show.
My indulgences throughout the weekend left me too drained to stick around for
Cake, though I'm sure others can fill in the blanks here. I went back to CdS for air conditioning, and sustituted water for my Amstel Light/Lone Star hydration regimen. I somehow made it to work in time for my morning meetings sunburned, dehydrated, and sore, and much-envied by my co-workers.
Hope to see more of you at ACL next year.
