ACL 2018 - THE END

So Metallica did NOT play the S&M intro to Battery. It was just the regular old album intro. I was just so in my feelings that I thought they did.

Consider this a retraction.

This is mindbending.

It’s nice to have a local, top tier test like ACL, but Bonnaroo is hands down a more fun/better experience.

After 2015 I was ready to get in my first Roo in the books then the line ups haven't hit the mark for me.

Also it looks like the weather will be spotty this weekend. NWS is calling for

Today - 82 and partly sunny
Tonight - 69 and 30% chance of T-storms
Saturday 81 and 60% chance of T-storms
Saturday night 73 and 40% chance of T-storms
Sunday 84 and 50% chance of T-storms
Sunday night - 51 (brrrrrr) and 80% chance of T-storms

On the one hand, it's going to be mild for y'all this weekend as compared to last weekend. But on the other hand, people will need to bring raingear and probably even hoodies. Also, Monday's high is like 54. Where tf did winter come from all of the sudden?

WHAT!! NOOOOO! 

w2 ticket for sale....

Off work today due to the hurricane, so offering a recap of W1. (crazy aside...I still went to see Perpetual Groove and Kung Fu through the storm last night, got an insane cover of Peter Gabriel's "digging in the dirt". But 2 of my staff's husbands are firefighters. One of their friends, another firefighter, was killed in the line of duty right beside him last night.)

Tired of writing, so apologies in advance for not proofing or editing this stream of consciousness thing:-)

Flew into Austin Friday morning. My #1 biggest gripe to city fests is ending early and the clusterF departing at the end of the night. Decided to rent a car to mitigate shuttle lines or Uber waits. Turned out to be a perfect decision. While I would have only had a couple and been fine to drive either way, it helped that I decided to do a sober festival for the first time in many, many moons (certainly the first of my 14 festivals so far this year). I found free parking in the residential area to the Southeast, only a 12 minute walk to the gate. Utilized this each of the 3 days without a hitch.

FRIDAY

I just missed the opening 3 way conflict (NAM, Coronas, Topas Jones). But heard some of Natalie Prass as I was getting the lay of the land. HUGE changes from when I was there last in 2009. The park is way bigger than I remember. Love the entrance changes, stage on the other side of the road, and wayyyyy more bathrooms (literally could not find somewhere with less than a half hour wait in 09). All of the stages were wonderful, with the exception of Homeaway (though I still caught a few good sets there).

Bishop Briggs was who I was first excited for, playing main stage. She was authentic, and genuinely appreciative to be there. Definitely shed tears noting that she was opening for Paul McCartney. Enjoyable set, but not nearly as good as I was hoping for. Hurt that she didn't play my favorite song, "Be your love". But she was bouncing around all over the stage.

Sir Sly up next. Day was blazing hot, so I enjoyed the set in some shade. I have skipped these guys at a couple of festivals the past year, but liked what I saw on the Lolla stream so finally tried them out. &Run was excellent as a closer, even though half the crowd departed for some reason during the best song by far.

Next was up towards the front for the opening of David Byrne. But it was simply blazing out. I had seen this tour in the Spring and he is playing the exact same setlist every show, plus had seen him a few times over the years at festivals. He was already melting up there in his suit, so ran back to the Tito's tent for Golden Dawn Arkestra. Highly entertaining, so many costume changes and crazy dancing happening on stage (there were like 12 members). I managed to time it perfectly and ran back to the main stage just in time for "Once in a lifetime". But then ran back to the tent for the rest of GDA. Music wasn't phenomenal or anything, but definitely want to catch one of their sets in a dark club sometime for full effect. Crazy to say, but no ragrets missing a freaking David Byrne concert.

Wandered over and caught some of Greta Van Fleet. Not world class or anything, but I enjoyed them at Floydfest and another festival earlier in the year. Crazy how they really totally are Led Zeppelin (the band that started my love of music, when I was 17). They had a massive crowd, probably the biggest I saw at the Miller light stage. Left after the only track I listen to at home, "Black smoke rising". Went and caught the last half of Jungle (I had only caught the first half of their Bonnaroo set this year). Sooo good, made the game time decision to skip Gryffin because of it. They slayed "time" and "busy earning".

Again made it in front of the soundstage for The National. (more on this later). It was till blazing hot out, funny how Matt was like "we are not normally this pink". I think the heat really took something away from the first day. I normally never have an issue (only 1 of my 15 Bonnaroo's was bad). But it could also have been because I was stone sober, ha ha. At any rate, they played pretty much the perfect setlist for me of most of their best tracks. The crowd was ZERO into it, but I still had a lot of fun since I am a huge fan. Matt didn't do too much running around the crowd, which is usually my favorite part. But the Dresden twins shred their guitars, more than make up for his voice usually being shot (his charisma still makes up for it in my book). My phone was totally toast so only got 1 video unfortunately.

Total rookie mistake not bringing a backup charger in with me. Thought I would be fine with the 10pm end time, no dice. With Macca still to come, made the executive decision to skip Hozier/FTM/Brockhampton and run back to the car. Correct again, it was only 35 minutes roundtrip (including the line back into the park).

Now for the hardest decision all festival. Go see Odesza, or catch the opening of Paul? I was standing there catching a little of Hozier, and realized that this is likely my last time I will see Macca. Seeing Odesza again in 3 weeks at Voodoo and LOVE them, but this is a Beatle we are talking here.

So 10 minutes before he started, I made my way to the front of the Soundboard. This is the biggest secret I can offer. When there is a divider between Left and Right at a big stage, there is ALWAYS room in front of the sound board. It doesn't matter how big the crowd is, there is room. It is a struggle to get there, but oh so worth it. Just go far left (when facing the stage). Go almost all the way to the very front. Then start cutting in. Say "excuse me", "pardon me", "sorry" and be respectful, but you can always make your way through. You go parallel to the stage for the most part, slowly sliding between people. You will never be able to get from back to front, but you can always go sideways and slightly back. Shortly after crossing in front of the soundboard, the crowd completely thins out. I literally got where I had completely open space of the equivalent of 2 people around me. Room to dance and breathe, for reportedly one of the biggest ACL crowds ever. I will NEVER understand those who post up at a stage all day to be close for an artist, miss so many other wonderful things for something you can get anyway. But to each their own.

In retrospect I would have gone to see Odesza. This was my 3rd time seeing McCartney, and it is the same show with the same banter every time. Bonnaroo 2013 was the best headlining set I have ever seen, but it just wasn't the same at Firefly or Roo. Still as good as live music can possibly get though, so not like it was a bad decision. The 2nd half is just so insanely good, caught some ridiculous video. 'Live and let die' has the best pyro and lazers. 'Let it be', 'Blackbird', 'Maybe I'm amazed' are pure beauty. So many people singing so many words. "Hey Jude" live is simply one of the most magical songs you can possibly get. Truly a spiritual experience, all should see this legend while there is still time. A festival is infinitely better than a stadium too.

Slowly left the park on cloud 9. No problem getting to my rental car again. Made my way downtown for the Gryffin afterparty. I have never done 6th street before, had no idea what I was getting into. Whole street was closed down and there was madness everywhere. I asked a cop if it was just because of the festival, he was like "no, it is this way every single weekend". Totally not my thing, but fun to experience that night. Gryffin was just ok, total main stream DJ set vs anything special. I will always like getting his tracks on the dancefloor ('heading home', 'whole hearted', 'feel good'), but the afterparty was totally unneeded. I left a little early, marveled at the madness of 6th for a little while (standing in 1 lace you could hear music from like 10 different bars blaring), then headed back to the hotel.

SATURDAY

Weather caused a delayed opening to the park. Forecast was actually rain all weekend, kind of amazing how so many other parts of Austin got wet but the festival was sunny and dry for the most part. I arrived for Verite, they were ok. Made my way over to the tent for Ikebe Shakedown. Good funk band. Met up with Esteban and chilled for awhile. Always nice running into this family, quality people for sure.

We then went over for an excellent Wombats set on the main stage. These guys have hilarious banter. "I really want to run out onto Metallica's crowd ramps, but think that if I did James Hetfield would take one hammerfist and I would go straight into the ground". They had the crowd dancing even in the hot sun.

Wandered around after that. Curtis Harding had excellent closing songs in the tent. Japanese Breakfast was ok, as was Smino (always key when hip hop has a live band).

Went to catch Sofi Tukker (another I was really looking forward to), the tent was absolutely packed (most so all weekend). She was an excellent dance party, really looking forward to actually catching her from a better spot at her 2 Voodoo sets. Very sexy and energetic on stage, and her partner is hilarious dancing around too. The songs translate live way better than I was expecting.

Caught some of Bazzi next. Not really into R&B at all, but this guy was actually pretty good. 'Honest' is a good song, and he slayed it live.

Now to finally catch Deftones live. I am not really a hard rock/metal guy, but do like some on the rare occasion and will like the best of most any genre. But oh my god was this terrible. The sound seemed off in general. But it was pure anger up on stage. I can understand the release aspect when enjoying Metallica, but simply do not understand that mess. Couldn't stand it after a couple of songs, and went to wait for San Holo early (after how packed the tent was for Sofi, something I will normally never do at a festival). Good people watching and conversations.

San Holo was fun as always, great energy and place was bumping. He played all my favorites in the first half, so made my way over to Chvches. They have really, really improved over the past few years. Unenjoyable the first few times I saw them. But I think they just have a bigger, better catalog overall now. 'Mother we share', "leave a trace', 'miracle', 'clearest blue', 'recover' all great.

Caught the opening of St Vincent, way excellent. She has gotten better and better too. My favorite will always be when she played with David Byrne, but love the theatrical aspect she adds. Then in more utter perfection, caught Nelly's "just a dream' on the way to Metallica (the one song I wanted to hear). But Metallica started early, and the main stage completely drowned out the Home away stage.

Metallica was absolutely fantastic. I love how they can win over any non-metal folks, perfect for these big festivals. It was my 5th time seeing them, but only 2nd at a fest (Bonnaroo 2008?)

Painful, but had to leave Metallica and run over to catch Justice for the first time. Didn't really think they would be all that since their music is just ok on record, but oh my did they deliver. Total rave, exactly my thing. They played over and I never stopped dancing. The second it ended, I started running back to the main stage. A group of girls took off after me and were like "we are following you, lead us to a good spot!" They gave up once it started getting more packed, but I can maneuver a crowd so just kept going. 'Nothing else matters' was playing and I was shouting all the words and dancing with joy. Such an outstanding song. Then right into 'Nothing else matters'. So damn good. And they are just so appreciative of the fans after the show. "We have been doing this 35 years, and are just getting started. See you next week Austin!"

SUNDAY

This was by far the worst day on paper, but turned out to be my favorite overall and best overall musically. Perhaps it was because I had finally fully caught my land legs and embraced being sober, or maybe because it wasn't quite as hot, but damn was this fun. I magically caught all the songs I wanted, and so many I didn't know I would get.

Arrived just in time for Amber Mark as planned. She was good, but HUGELY disappointed she didn't play the one song I was hoping for ('Monsoon"). I did get on the big screen for the first time ever, so that was fun.

Then went on a parkwide tour, seeing some of everything. Caught the end of Texas Gentleman in the tent, and they were great again. Tried Amen Dunes, but not into it at all. Nude Party was fun on the smallest stage, caught the one track I like. Then over to Barton Springs for Mt. Joy. This turned out to be excellent. Great musicians, but then HE COVERD FLAMING LIPS 'DO YOU REALIZE???', one of the best songs ever written. He did it slow, in the same style Beck does when he covers it. So glad I caught that. Then walked by Yungblud, looks like a total delinquent, ha ha, but had the crowd jumping for one song and seemed enjoyable. Finished out with the excellent Ghost of Paul Revere in the tent. They closed with an excellent cover of The Who's 'Teenage Wasteland', who knew it could kick so much ass as bluegrass?

Ran from there to the main stage, Twin Shadow opened up with my favorite song, 'Brace', so that was perfect timing. Then ran to Honda (2nd biggest stage) to catch the early ARIZONA (where they played my favorite songs at Roo) and got the wonderful "I was wrong". Then onto the tent again to try out Flor de Toloache. So the right call, these Latin ladies were EXCELLENT. Such a good Nirvana cover. 2 of them could absolutely wail, and great musicians. It was also raining for the one time all festival, so perfect being under the tent. They won a Latin grammy, and I can totally understand why.

Wandered a bit next time slot. Finally gave Parquet Courts a chance, and wasn't into it at all. Elle King just ok. And Bahamas nice from the craft beer tent, caught the one song I know.

Quadruple conflict next time slot. Opened with a favorite, Khrugabin, and simply never left the tent. Maybe the 5th time I have seen them, but they have just gotten better and better, and this was the best. So freaking good. Bassist is ridiculously sexy on stage. Its crazy, just like a jam session for the lead guitarist, sorta jazzy sorta funky. He is almost sloppy with his playing, but it all just works. Stayed for every bit of it dancing. They did a great cover,opening track off the Pulp Fiction soundtrack. And they did an outstanding hip hop melody of like Snoop, to Warren G to Dre.

Then onto Rezz for more raving. She does pretty much the same set, this is like my 6th time seeing her but still always fun. Even the Rage against the Machine "killing in the name" remix she does each time is fun. Met a cool DJ from Canada and had an excellent conversation during this set. (BTW Esteban, showed him that trippy lineup for the New Orleans party during Voodoo and he said 2 of those artists were excellent, recommended the show)

Now into my headliner for the day, Phoenix. Man what an add. By far the biggest crowd I saw for the Honda stage all weekend. So much fun, love these guys. Got such good videos during this set, 'Rome' is an absolute monster live. And lead singer is always so much fun surfing through the crowd. Last show of their tour, they so delivered.

Then onto Illenium. He has gotten so much better over the last 2 years (6th time seeing him?). Maybe just because he has so many more good tracks now, but another ridiculously fun rave rocking and dancing the f out. As I was putting on my glowsticks, this guy comes up and was like "OMG, I got such a good snapchat of you dancing at Justice last night". Awesome...what's snapchat?, ha ha.

Went to try to get into the silent disco but the line was so insanely long, simply no way. After it filled the line was still astronomical, don't know why those people were still waiting. Caught the last half of Sylvan Esso and it was good again, though the stage wasn't loud enough. Not feeling Arctic Monkey's or Travis Scott so did something I NEVER do and left early. So easy getting back to the hotel via rental car, again the correct decision.

Nice random dates too, Austin had a very fine selection of women on Bumble and Tinder, ha ha.

All in all a fun festival. City fests will simply never be what a camping festival can be. The community is lost when needing to go separate ways back to a hotel each night. And not have access to resupply back and camp. But with this kind of lineup, hard to pass up. I agree with the other that this thing going until midnight would fix SO MUCH. But thank you Austin, 14th festival of 2018 and even though it was barely in the top third, best overall lineup of the bunch.

Went last week but picked up a volunteer shift for tmrw so I can see justice since I saw Metallica last week. Still probably gonna dip out of justice early for more Metallica time though

Fun national moment was Berringer realizing Dont swallow the cap has a Beatles reference, "I didn't even catch that weekend one, that's fun"

*Sidenote, FJM and Berringer are great frontmen

Yeah. That’s one thing about ACL. There are kids of many ages everywhere. We kind of had to be careful what was done where and how we acted based on this. Jazz Fest is the only other fest I’ve been to where a good 5-8% (or more) of the crowd is kids. I’m glad you liked Brockhampton, but I don’t like them very much after last week. I see tons of hip hop and rap every year and just don’t find them to be very good. I think they have good messages and are a positive force. But if I never see them again, I’m fine with that.

Odesza show tonight at Stubbs has been canceled.

Stubbs couldn't accommodate their lighting rig and every medium-large sized venue is booked tonight (Arctic Monkeys at ACL Live, Emo's has Manchester Orchestra).