Jack White taped an episode of “Austin City Limits” TV show.
We wrapped up the weekend in Austin, Texas, with a visit to the new studios of “Austin City Limits,” the TV show, for a taping by Jack White. Incredible – that’s all we can say.
Neil Young and Crazy Horse (Photo courtesy of Ken Angelle)
The TV show has a little to do with the big Austin City Limits Music Festival, which wrapped on Sunday. The headliners that day were Iggy & the Stooges and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and we hear Iggy and gang killed it.
On Saturday, so did Neil Young. He played a version of “Down By the River” to kill for, and we really got off to the new “Walk Like A Giant.”
His oldie “Cinnamon Girl” was also a crowd favorite, and we kick off our awesomeness review with that (check out Neil’s interplay with the signer for the hearing impaired). Thanks to gil garcia for use of the video.
UPDATE: Somebody ripped the webcast showing most of Neil Young’s ACL set. View it here. (Does not include the last three songs, including “Down By The River.”) (“Walk Like A Giant” begins about the 30:13 mark and ends around 48:50.)
Neil Young (right) and Crazy Horse closed out the night with a psychedelic rock frenzy.
by Denny Angelle
Saturday, the middle day of the big Austin City Limits Music Festival, offered a little bit of everything for festival goers – a variety that ranged from different musical styles to a choice of weather. “If you don’t like the weather in Texas, wait a minute and it will change,” goes the saying, and it did.
A warm, humid day finally gave way to strong, intermittent rain showers but the downpours were mostly welcomed by crowds gathered around stages featuring hip hop, bluegrass, country, and good old rock and roll. The grass of Austin’s Zilker Park quickly turned into a muddy quagmire in the more heavily traveled areas of the festival grounds, particularly around the food and refreshment stands and the porta-potties.
Father John Misty
When the deep bass thump of a hip hop act on a nearby stage act bled into the quirky, gentle music of Father John Misty, singer Josh Tillman playfully stopped his own set to listen, and dance, along. And when the rain got a little too close to the electricity of British rockers Band of Skulls, they too halted their set briefly so that helpers and attendants could mop up the stage and cover equipment with plastic sheeting.
Tillman, formerly the touring drummer of indie rock sweethearts Fleet Foxes, offers up a sunny bit of singer/songwriter-ness flavored with a little bit of soul and a baggie full of drug-fueled attitude. “Fun Times in Babylon” and “Only Son of the Ladies’ Man” are calling cards for Father John Misty’s Laurel Canyon scenarios, and his mellow band laid back, ready to explode at the drop of a non-sequitur.
The Whigs, from Athens, Ga., rocked harder. The trio’s garage rock exploded over the crowd at Zilker, singer/guitarist Parker Gispert hopping around on one foot like Jethro Tull’s redneck brother. “Waiting,” with its crunchy guitar chording, is the Whigs’ signature, and “Summer Heat” was appropriate for the weather – for the moment, at least.
Steve Earle
As the storm clouds gathered we made our way over to the next stage for alt-rockers Band of Skulls, from Southampton, England. Possessing a darker, more driving sound, these Brits gamely tried to keep the rain away but when the fat drops made their presence felt the audience roared in approval. Just a few minutes later, though, the downpour sent the Skulls running away from the humming amps and cracking electric instruments. Once the towels and white plastic sheeting protected everything, the Skulls came out and finished their thumping, driving set. Sorry I didn’t get too many song titles – the ink on my notes simply washed away.
Wet but undaunted, we dropped in on the Punch Brothers, a progressive bluegrass group that could be the American version of Mumford and Sons. That is, if Mumford were as happy and engaging as Punch frontman Chris Thile. Thile’s music is ambitious to say the least – he wrote a 40-minute suite dealing with his divorce – and occasionally the Punch set veered toward some precious experimentalism, such as a cover of Radiohead’s “Morning Bell.”
The Punch Brothers offered up some rousing bluegrass.
But they brought it all home and put smiles on our faces at set’s end with crowd pleasers like “Who’s Feeling Young Now?” and the rousing “Rye Whiskey,” with its shout-along “Oh, boy” refrain.
Which was a perfect setup for the next act, the great Steve Earle. The Texas bard offered up “Waitin’ On The Sky” before he jumped right in and introduced “Little Emperor” with: “This song is for George W. and his fuckin’ horse!” I love Steve Earle – but I must admit I cut out on him a bit early when I heard the thump of The Roots finally cease, way down at the end of the park.
The rain just got us wet – it didn’t stop anybody’s fun at ACL.
That’s because I needed to see Neil Young & Crazy Horse, the night’s nominal headliner. Young at one end of the park vs. Jack White playing on the other end gave festival goers a very tough decision on Saturday, and I opted to head for Neil.
One side note: on the way from Steve Earle to Neil Young a few hundred yards apart, I encountered a very large crowd to see popster Gotye. Slicing through his adoring crowd, I heard a few of his songs. Ugh. Steve Earle to Gotye to Neil Young, that’s not for the faint of heart. I hope I don’t come down with Gotye poisoning later this week.
Possibly the only Woodstock veteran (update: John Fogerty and Levon Helm have also played ACL) to also play the Austin City Limits festival, Young ripped through a fuzz and feedback- filled frenzy that included “Love and Only Love,” and new ones like the goofy ” Born In Ontario” and stomping rocker “Walk Like A Giant.” The latter was a guitar showcase, with Young spraying jagged guitar leads like a machine gun around his veteran backup band Crazy Horse. Just when you thought the song was over (it had already gone on for about 10 minutes) it climaxed with the thunder of giant footfalls and a rainshower of psychedelic feedback (going on for five more minutes).
The crowd, not quite believing what it just experienced, was polite so Young strapped on an acoustic and harmonica to offer up “The Needle And The Damage Done,” as if to thank the audience for its patience. The whole set kind of went that way: a new song or two, followed by one of Young’s favorites to keep everybody interested. “Powerfinger” made an appearance, and after a shoutout to “my sweetheart” Young offered up a rousing “Cinnamon Girl.”
Neil Young cranks it, with Crazy Horse guitarist Frank “Poncho” Sampedro.
But perhaps the peak of an already incredible set came late, when Young surprised everyone by dusting off the chestnut “Down By The River.” It was awesome – Neil didn’t try (or didn’t want) to match the recording’s guitar work note for note, making this live rendition slightly ragged but really right. “Fuckin’ Up” concluded with Young himself admitting “I fucked up the ending of this song,” and we closed out the night with “Hey Hey My My” and its battle cry “rock and roll will never die.”
What a way to wind it all up. Thanks, Neil.
Our Austin correspondent caught Jack White as we rocked out to Neil Young but don’t worry – we have a few videos from his ACL set and as a bonus (for us) we’re attending his taping of the “Austin City Limits” TV show tonight. Check ya later!
Wow, Austin’s always been weird but tonight it’s even weirder. And much more crowded – Friday was the first night of the Austin City Limits Music Festival. We crossed over Barton Springs Road (which leads to the festival grounds in Zilker Park) around 9:30 p.m. and it looked like much of the crowd left after Florence + the Machine’s set.
The Black Keys may have been the nominal headliner Friday, but they more or less shared the crowd with Florence (who played before the Keys on the same stage). It will be interesting to see what happens tonight, when Jack White and Neil Young play at the same time in two different parts of the park.
Let’s review some of the acts from the first night, with videos graciously supplied by our friends at ACL.
Alabama Shakes – “Heavy Chevy”
Tegan and Sara – “Back In Your Head”
The Black Keys – “Gold On The Ceiling”
Florence + the Machine – “Rabbit Heart” (Thanks to Florence + the Machine Fan Club)
We’re hittin’ the highway this morning to head for Austin and the 2012 edition of the Austin City Limits Music Festival, three days worth of music and mayhem. This year we strategically chose to attend only the middle day – and that turned out to be the most-sought after ticket.
At most concerts where you have to run a gauntlet of scalpers with fistfuls of tickets, ACL is the flip side. For every festival goer headed to Zilker Park there at least two people along the way who are willing to do just about anything for a precious wristband that will get them inside.
Why? Look at this lineup: Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jack White, Iggy & the Stooges, the Black Keys, Florence + the Machine, Steve Earle, Gotye, the Roots, Gary Clark Jr., Tegan and Sara, The Shins, Metric and Alabama Shakes, to name just a few.
They expect about 70,000 a day to attend the 2012 Austin City Limits Music Festival.
So they are expecting about 70,000 people a day, which makes ACL one of the country’s premier music festivals. We’re going to take some pictures and drink a few beers, and take in some music – and hopefully we’ll be alive to report back on Sunday.
You can be a part of this, too. Here’s how:
1. Watch streaming performances from ACL on the web. More acts than ever will be streamed (courtesy of YouTube) and they’ve just added a few more big names to the schedule, including Florence + the Machine on Friday and Iggy & the Stooges on Sunday. Click here to see the full schedule and watch the webcast.
2. Listen to live broadcasts related to the festival from Austin radio. Stations invite some of the performers to be interviewed and play a short set for their live broadcasts. Big fun.
KUT-FM has a lineup beginning at 9 a.m. CDT today (Friday) that includes Antibalas, Quiet Company, First Aid Kit and Jovanotti. To see a schedule and listen to the KUT lineup, click here.
KGSR-FM has a two-day schedule that begins today and includes Asleep at the Wheel, Patterson Hood, Ben Howard, LP, the Dunwells, the Whigs, Michael Kiwanuka and Father John Misty. To see a schedule and listen to the KGSR lineup, click here.
3. If you are in Austin and don’t have (or don’t want) tickets to the big festival, you can choose among a number of “aftershows” at local clubs featuring festival performers. Our friends at the Austin blog Do512have compiled a list of aftershows and they’ll tell you how to get tickets and which are already sold out. Click here to see the lineup.
Jack White is one of the headliners for this weekend’s Austin City Limits Music Festival – he has the unenviable task to play on one end of Zilker Park the same time as Neil Young & Crazy Horse, who will be way on the other end.
We’ll be there, so we will give you an update Sunday. In the meantime, here’s “I’m Shakin’ ” off White’s solo, Blunderbuss.
Austin City Limits Festival, where you can let your inhibitions go. (Photo by Steve Wrubel/Courtesy ACL Festival)
The Austin City Limits Music Festival kicks off next Friday (Oct. 12) in Austin, celebrating its 10th year as one of the country’s premier music parties. This year more than 130 acts will play for three days for about 70,000 people per day.
And don’t even ask about tickets, they’ve been sold out for months. So who’s playing? Glad you asked: The Black Keys, Florence + the Machine, Jack White, the Roots, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, The Avett Brothers, Iggy & the Stooges and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, among many more.
We’ll be there for one day – Saturday, when we have to choose between Jack White and Neil Young, who play at the same time. We’ll let you know how that goes.
Wish you were here, and you can be. Tune in to the ACL Festival live stream on YouTube beginning Friday afternoon; the lineup of artists they have scheduled isn’t too shabby: Asleep at the Wheel, Delta Spirit, Tegan and Sara, the Alabama Shakes, The Black Keys, The Shins, Bassnectar, The Roots, Jack White, Two Door Cinema Club, Steve Earle, The Avett Brothers, Gary Clark Jr. and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
YouTube: Teaser Trailer for the ACL Festival live stream
In other ACL Festival news, organizers announced the festival will expand to two weekends in October 2013. Many people think it’s going to work a lot like Coachella, where the same acts play basically the same sets both weekends.
Festival producers C3 Presents say that scenario is possible, but there may be one weekend where more local acts are booked. Many of the top artists playing the fest will likely stick around for the week in Austin, possibly playing small sets at the city’s many bars and venues and generally creating havoc for 10 consecutive days.
If you want to go to any part of this festival next year, we suggest you sign up for the Official ACL Festival E-list, like ACL Fest on Facebook and follow it on Twitter. About a week after this year’s festival concludes, organizers will put some sweet 3-day passes on sale for $50 apiece. But you have to be quick, and very lucky, to score any of these. Knowing about this stuff ahead of time is really helpful, if you catch our drift.
Fleet Foxes' harmonies carried the day at Stubb's. (Photo by Lily Angelle)
Editor’s Note: Right in the middle of finals, Austin correspondent Lily Angelle blew off some steam and attended the Fleet Foxes show at Stubb’s on Tuesday night.
Pretty much every square inch of the outdoor venue at Stubb’s BBQ in Austin was packed last night to catch Fleet Foxes, whose new album Helplessness Blues is a magnificent piece of work.
With a rousing opening set from The Cave Singers, interrupted by a short rainstorm blowing much-needed gusts of wind into the smoky crowd, Fleet Foxes took the stage around 8:45 to accommodate a live video/audio stream on NPR. Opening with “The Cascades” off their new album, the audience quieted to hear the Foxes’ otherworldly guitar melodies.
The bearded bunch went on to play favorites like “He Doesn’t Know Why” and “Mykonos,” harmonizing beautifully and proving just how cool it can be to sing about forests and mountains. The group switched instruments frequently, incorporating the flute, cello, maracas and tambourine into certain songs.
Robin Pecknold's pre-show moment of repose (Photo by Jave Del Rosario)
One of my favorites was “Blue Spotted Tail” off the new album. Robin Pecknold performed with such heartfelt magnanimity that it was easy to forget your surroundings and just let the music absorb you. It was distracting, however, when fans awkwardly tried to sing along to every long, drawn-out harmony- I heard a lot of bad falsettos coming from the crowd around me.
We accosted Robin, as he was hanging out behind Stubb’s before the show; he said the Fleet Foxes are returning to Austin in September to play the Austin City Limits Music Festival.
30 Days Out 