It seemed like a good first post would be the summary of my 12 day vacation to sunny Austin TX.
So here goes:
I ate lots of BBQ, drank lots of Lone Star, and saw tons of shows. Here's what went down:
My first night in Austin (Wednesday, the 15th) i saw Charlie Robison play for free out under the stars at Hill's Cafe. it was a lot of fun. Charlie is one of the new 'outlaws' coming out of TX. he's also married to one of the Dixie Chicks--one of the hot ones. he put out a couple albums on a major label, but major labels had a hard time w/ him. so he's got a new record deal on a smaller label. the new songs he played sounded great. Highlights for me were hearing "Sunset Boulevard" and of course, his 'hit' "My hometown".
Thursday night i saw comedian Zach Galifianakis at UT. He was funny, but played a short set. The opening act was actually the highlight for me. I did not know there would be an opening act, but there was--- Brad "Chip" Pope, from MTV's Austin Stories fame. That was awesome. Austin Stories was one of my favorite shows of all time. If you've never seen it, try to hunt down some episodes on limewire or kazaa. (And if you find them all-- there's only 12, or if you have them all--please let me know; funniest show ever).
Austin City Limits Music Festival 2004
Friday was day 1 of the Austin City Limits festival, the main purpose for my trip. First band i saw was the Killers. I didn't know anything about them, but i've been hearing lots of hype, so at the last minute i decided to check them out. They have kind of an 80s new-wave feel. LOTS of kids in the audience. at 29 i think i was about 11 years older than most in attendance. i enjoyed their set. they didn't blow my mind or anything, but it was ok. At times they sounded a lot like Alphaville. Alphaville was cool.
Next up was Austin superstar Bob Schneider. He was great. If you've never experienced Bob, you should really check him out. His live shows are always a blast. His CDs are pretty good too. He played a bunch of songs off of his new album plus 4 or so off of his biggest album-- "Lonelyland", and ended w/ the crowd favorite "Tarantula". Good times.
Next up was Roseanne Cash. She was really really good. She opened w/ "I still miss someone" (which is an awesome Johnny Cash song in case you don't know). Very powerful. She also played "runaway train", "the wheel", and a cover of CCR's "have you ever seen the rain". The highlight for me was hearing her play Seven Year Ache, which is one of the all-time great songs. It sounded excellent.
Up next, i had a dilemma: Sloan or Neko Case. 2 bands that i know very little about. Sloan was playing right next to where Roseanne was so i stopped there and refilled my bourbon. I wasn't impressed, so we strolled on to Neko. Unfortunately i wasn't too impressed w/ her either. She was fine, but didn't blow me away or anything.
**disclaimer: at the fest, if there are bands that i don't know, it is sometimes hard for me to be impressed since the atmosphere is so crzy. i have lots of friends who's musical taste i respect, and they LOVE neko. anway-
The evening went uphill from there though as the TX legends began to take the stage (and on smaller stages too, which was great). I was in the front row to see Butch Hancock (1/3 of the Flatlanders). He was really good. Unfortunately the bourbon had kicked in full effect for his set, and my memory is a tad fuzzy, but i really enjoyed it.
After that, on the same stage (so i was still front row) was the enigmatic, but tremendous Terry Allen. TA was my favorite of the day. He is so great, and hardly ever plays live anymore. If you don't have it, which you probably don't since hardly anyone does, do yourself a favor and go out and find a copy of TA's "Lubbock on Everything". It's one of the finest Texas records ever made. (The Flatlanders, Robert Earl Keen, Little Feat, David Byrne-- all love Terry Allen. He's tremendous). He played a good mix of old and newer stuff.
It should have been a West TX triple shot, but i snuck away briefly to catch a little of Ryan Adams set. He was ok. I wasn't blown away though. I enjoyed 'my sweet carolina', or whatever it's called. Then we went back to finish off the TX trilogy w/ Joe Ely.
Ely put on an electrifiying performance. i had planned on only catching a couple Ely tunes and then going to check out Franz Ferdinand, but i never made it to Franz. Oh well. Los Lonely Boys and Sheryl Crow were the 2 bands that ended the night. I just saw Los Lonely a couple months ago, and had no desire to walk across the park to get to Sheryl, so i headed out.
It was quite exciting to see so many members of the Lubbock mafia. Too bad Jimmie Dale couldn't have been there.
Day #2: it's only rock and roll, but i like it
Day 2 of the festival was yesterday. Once again, it was REALLY hot, and REALLY crowded, but i had an excellent time. The music started out with The Soundtrack of our Lives. I had only heard 1 of their songs on the radio and had no idea what to expect. Holy crap. They were totally awesome and totally rockin. They've been the biggest surprise of the fest so far. Great stage presence, great show. I really enjoyed them.
Up next was Josh Rouse, another singer i didn't really know. Quite different from TSOOL. Very mellow. i wasn't in the right mood for that after the rock spectacle i had just seen. But he sounded good.
After that: more rock! My biggest personal conflict of the day was choosing between the Old 97s and Big Head Todd and the Monsters who were playing at the same time. i love the Old 97s--they always put on a fun show. BUT i have a special place in my heart for Big Head Todd. "Sister Sweetly" is one my favorite records of all time, and the 2 times i saw BHTM back in the day, they were great. So i was torn.
I decided to gamble, and see the Old 97s for 25 minutes, and then run across the park to catch the end of BHTM's set. The gamble paid off. big time. Old 97s were fun. i only got to hear about 5 of their songs. i think 2 of the 5 were off their new one, they sounded good and were having fun. but i had to risk leaving, all for the hopes of hearing Big Head Todd sing "broken hearted savior". As i approached BHTM's stage i could hear them kicking into "circle" (my second favorite Todd song). So immediately i was happy. They also played "Tangerine", the Zep classic which has been a Todd staple. then a new song, and then BROKEN HEARTED SAVIOR. It was so excellent. They closed w/ a cover of clapton's "forever man" that was way better than the original. Big Head Todd rocked hard.
TX songwriter Bruce Robison was next. (He's brother to Charlie Robison, and married to Kelly Willis, and has written a bunch of songs that you'd probably know from CMT if you watch CMT, which i try not to). He was really good. This was the midpoint of the day though where the bourbon started kicking in, but i think i remember it all.
After Bruce i caught a little of Modest Mouse's set. very enjoyable. but it was really packed, and the sound was not the best, so i left early to get good seats for My Morning Jacket. That's right--- MMJ.
I'm a HUGE MMJ fan, and had huge expectations, and Jim James and the band did not let me down. They rocked. Big Time. I would have said The Soundtrack of our Lives was the most rockin of the day. That is until i saw MMJ. It's probably a tie. MMJ opened w/ 'one big holiday' and then the most rockin version of 'lowdown' that i've ever heard. MMJ=Rock. (By the way, if you haven't heard it yet, check out
Hutch and the Hookers acoustic cover of 'lowdown' at
www.clayford.net/hutch)
From there i headed over to the TX stage to see Reckless Kelly. they were very good. i didn't know much about them. they sound A LOT like Steve Earle, from the first part of his career. If you didn't know them, and closed your eyes, you could imagine the songs on the stage being songs that didn't make it onto 'Guitar Town' or 'Exit o'. (that's not a bad thing--i'm just saying). They played a stellar cover of Richard Thompson's "1952 Vincent Black Lightning". that earned them about a billion cool points in my book. i love that song.
The Pixies closed out the night.i couldn't get anywhere close to the stage, and the sound from where i was at pretty much sucked, but it was cool to see them. included in their setlist were debaser, monkey gone to heaven, where is my mind, and more.
Day 3: it's all over now baby blue
Well, i had hoped the concert would finish up like a great movie, with a tremendous ending to tie it all together. unfortunately the ending was rather uneven. Day 3 certainly had it's highlights--specifically Calexico and Ben Kweller.
Calexico was really really good. I didn't know much about them at all, but was really impressed. They are influenced by so many different genres-- mariachi, pop, country, etc. they played their cover of Love's "Along again or" which was phenomenal. (i've been obsessed with 'along again or' ever since seeing the Wes Anderson's first film "Bottle Rocket". it took me months to hunt down the song. and when i found it i couldn't quit playing it).
Ben Kweller was perhaps my favorite of the festival-- tied w/ Terry Allen. he played solo acoustic for the first 30 minutes, and then brought out his band and rocked out for the next 30 minutes. It was great.
In between those 2 i caught part of Shelby Lynne's set. Mercy... she is HOT. And sassy. And has a dirty mouth. I think i love her. (Her singing was pretty good too). She did a nice cover of Waylon's "are you ready for the country" and willie's "angel flying too close to the ground".
After BK was the legendary Elvis Costello. Unfortunately i was pretty disappointed by his set. the sound was terrible, and he played lots of new songs which i didn't want to hear. he did play 'accidents will happen', which i love, but the vocal mic wasn't on for the first minute of the song. then i grabbed some food and caught a little of Jack Ingram's set. He sounded good.
Up next was the Drive by Truckers. they were pretty rockin, but not nearly as rockin as usual. Patterson if my favorite of the 3 singers and he only sang a couple songs. i don't know if he was sick or something, but he just didn't seem to have the energy that he usually does. Even on "let there be rock" it didn't rock out like usual. they were ok, but i was a little disappointed in their set.
Wilco was up next. they were fun. a lot of new stuff though. only one song off of 'being there' and zero songs off of "A.M.". But they were good. Really really rockin.
Cake was supposed to close out the night for me, but there tens of thousands of people at their stage. i couldn't even hear. so i went home and rested.there were WAY too many people there yesterday. It made it hard to get close to the stage. But BK and Calexico were both great, and overall the festival was quite impressive.
Highlights: Terry Allen and Ben Kweller
Close second: My Morning Jacket
Most pleasant surprise: The Soundtrack of our Lives and Calexico
Most disappointing: The crowd size, Elvis Costello, the Pixies (although both of those could have been attributed to the sound system)
Biggest regret: not getting to see Bobby Bare Jr. I should have left EC, and gone to see Bare Jr.
The week after the festival
I rested up on Monday and Tuesday.
On Wednesday night I saw Ray Wylie Hubbard play a free show out under the stars. Could this be a better trip for me? How many more TX legends could i see?? It was very good. Got a chance to talk w/ him beforehand, which was cool.
Thursday night saw Radney Foster at the Cactus Café. The Cactus is my favorite listening venue of all time. The sound there is incredible, it' s very small so you can get close to the stage. And they book some incredible musicians. If (or should i say 'when') I move to TX, i will become a regular at the Cactus. Anyway, the show was really good. He played all of his solo hits, and 1 Foster and Lloyd song. I would have liked to have heard the Foster and Lloyd song 'what do you want from me this time', but perhaps Bill sang lead on that one. i dont' know.
Friday night---
Todd Snider under the stars at Threadgills. Todd is one of my all time favs. He did not disappoint. He sounded great, and played some songs he rarely plays. He also played "Waco Moon", about his friend Eddy Shaver, who was one of the great guitar players, and ended it with a couple lines from
Billy Joe Shaver's "Just an Old Chunk of Coal". That was great. It's always powerful to hear that song so close to Billy Joe and Eddy's stomping grounds. Todd played 20 songs in 88 minutes. He was crankin them out. He usually tells more stories, but this night he only told a couple (which were hilarious by the way). I like the stories. But the songs---that's what it's all about. And the songs were excellent.
Saturday ended it all w/ TX legends the Geezinslaw Brothers. They put on a really fun show at the Broken Spoke—one of the truly great old Austin bars/dancehalls. Also cool was the fact that Jerry Jeff Walker was sitting at the bar when I walked in. I wish i would have brought my camera. Oh well.
Sunday i came home.
The end
