Certainly one of the highlights of last weekend’s Austin City Limits Music Festival was the scorching performance by Neil Young & Crazy Horse. He front-loaded his set with a handful of new songs from his upcoming double album, Psychedelic Pill, out Oct. 30.
This one, “Twisted Road,” he performed acoustically at ACL, but here it’s in its full electric glory.
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.
View more video highlights at the Austin City Limits Music Festival YouTube page
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!
Jack White – “Blue Blood Blues”
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 Do512 have 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.
All right, then. We’ll keep in touch.
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.
It’s a good deal – it’s free. Check out the full schedule for the ACL Festival live stream and tune back on Friday for the performances.
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.
“Walk Like A Giant” is the first video from Neil Young & Crazy Horse’s upcoming Psychedelic Pill, a 2-CD set coming Oct. 30.
The song is over 16 minutes long on the album, but it’s been edited down for this video. Psychedelic Pill has only eight songs but, like “Walk Like A Giant,” they are all very long.
Neil and Crazy Horse are scheduled to stop in Austin Oct. 13 for the Austin City Limits festival – hopefully their set will contain some of the new music.
This weekend’s Farm Aid 2012 in Pennsylvania’s Hersheypark Stadium will be the 25th event staged to help America’s farmers (actually in 1989 they took Farm Aid on the road).
Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Dave Matthews and many more will play on Saturday, Sept. 22, 27 years to the day of the very first Farm Aid concert.
Farm Aid was inspired, of course, by Bob Dylan’s offhand comment at Live Aid in 1985 that he hoped some of the money would help American farmers in danger of losing their farms through mortgage debt. Nelson and Mellencamp took up the mantle and went to bat for U.S. farmers.
So, to celebrate Farm Aid, here’s Bob Dylan along with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers and Willie Nelson, doing “Maggie’s Farm” at the 1985 event in Champaign, Illinois.
Paul McCartney, at age 70, is a textbook example of how old guys can still rock.
It used to be very true that rock and roll was not made by old people. “Old” used to mean people over age 30. So what happened?
Bob Dylan (age 71) just released Tempest to glowing reviews – it should appear on the upper reaches of the Billboard album charts in a few days, but probably not at No. 1. Paul McCartney (age 70) is currently performing close to three-hour sets on his “On The Run” tour, which began last summer in New York City. Roger Waters (age 69) and Rod Stewart (age 67) are also touring, while relative youngster Bruce Springsteen (age 62) can’t be dragged off a stage for anything.
Paul Simon (age 70), Crosby, Stills & Nash (average age 69) and the Beach Boys (average age 70) have live DVDs and/or CDs from recent tours. Van Morrison (age 67) is about to release his 34th studio album, Born To Sing: No Plan B, in early October. Mark Knopfler (age 63) and ZZ Top (average age 60) have strong new albums out, Neil Young (age 66) is readying a new album and tour, and the Rolling Stones (average age 68) keep threatening to do something to celebrate their 50th anniversary. And you can’t stop Willie Nelson (age 79)!
So what gives? Is there something in the water?
Well, pretty much all of these guys mentioned above are big draws on the concert circuit so one can cynically say that the lure of the big bucks is enough to get these codgers out of their rockers. Nobody makes money off albums any more, so each of these acts will go on the road to support an album if they haven’t already. Hell, Dylan’s been touring constantly since the early 1980s.
You think maybe it’s an indication that music being produced today somehow doesn’t measure up to those classics of the past? Perhaps – nothing sends concertgoers to the restrooms/beer 
vendors faster than “a new song off our latest album.” Even superstars like McCartney and Dylan know better than to populate their concerts with new material.
And it’s tempting to say worthless stuff like “do you think we’ll be paying to see Bon Iver or Green Day live in 15 years?” Because unless you are a total idiot, you know the answer is yes. It may not be Bon Iver or Green Day specifically, but it could be that Weezer reunion or the surviving members of Mumford and Sons or the remnants of Radiohead.
Because it’s not necessarily about who is playing, but what they’re playing. It’s rock and roll, and despite what smartasses over the years keep saying, it’s not dead.
It’s pretty damn old, and it’s not pretty (take a close look at the cover of the latest issue of Rolling Stone). But rock and roll is still alive because we want it to be. The footsoldiers of rock and roll are sticking around because we want them to – the audience changes more than the artists, and as we discover new acts we like, we also go back and appreciate the past. My kids know more about the Beatles and the Stones and the Who than I ever did, when I was a teenager and those boys had brand-new songs on the radio every day.
Women seem to know better, they know when it’s time to fade away – although you can make a pretty good case for rockers like Joan Jett and Bonnie Raitt being here for quite a while. Pop artists are another thing entirely: Madonna has well overstayed her welcome and the decline of Katy Perry, Britney Spears, et. al. won’t be pretty.
Perhaps it’s best just not to think about these things. We’re all going to get to the end of the trail – literally and figuratively – one day. Rock and roll is here to distract us from that brutal truth, to keep us dancing until we can’t any more.
So. The Rolling Stones may tour next year? Don’t know about you, but I’m gonna buy a ticket. For a few hours, I’m gonna be young again.
Back in the day, radio was the only way to get out the word about a new album. Of course, it helped that disc jockeys actually played songs from a new album – but record labels wanted to rack up sales right out of the box. And movies too – what better way to get the word out to the “kids” than through that boss, groovy local radio station?
So they worked up little spots to play on the hip-cool radio station in your town. Nowadays, with traditional terrestrial radio pretty much dead, these old radio spots are fodder for CD re-releases. Let’s queue up a bunch and spin ’em!
MP3: The Monkees Present radio promo (The Monkees)
MP3: Live Dead radio promo (The Grateful Dead)
MP3: Help movie promo (The Beatles)
MP3: Cahoots radio promo (The Band)
MP3: Sweetheart of the Rodeo radio promo (The Byrds)
MP3: Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere radio promo (Neil Young)
MP3: I Got Dem Ol’ Kozmic Blues Again Mama! radio promo (Janis Joplin)
MP3: Head movie promos (The Monkees)
MP3: Electric Warrior radio promo (T. Rex)
MP3: Aqualung radio promo (Jethro Tull)
Hurricane season just got goin’ and I know you folks on the East Coast of the United States are paying close attention this summer. As well you should: Hurricane Irene’s rains devastated a pretty good chunk of the Northeast last year.
Down here in Texas, they like to scare us with stories about what could happen if a monster storm rolled in off the Gulf of Mexico. And I suppose if one of those nasty Cat 5s paid a visit to Texas the result would be less like Irene and more like Hiroshima (or Hurricane Camille). But what good is it to worry – you just stock up on batteries and peanut butter and hope for the best.
And you get your rock and roll tunes ready for the next Hurricane Warning.
MP3: “Change In The Weather” by John Fogerty
MP3: “Blowin’ Like A Bandit” by Asleep at the Wheel
MP3: “Hurricane” by Levon Helm
MP3: “Surfing In A Hurricane” by Jimmy Buffett
MP3: “Hurricane Party” by James McMurtry
MP3: “Mighty Storm” by the Duhks
MP3: “High Water (For Charley Patton)” (live) by Bob Dylan
MP3: “I Think It’s Going To Rain Today” by Peter Gabriel
MP3: “Lost and Found” by the Kinks
MP3: “In From The Storm” by Jimi Hendrix
MP3: “Thunder Island” by Jay Ferguson
MP3: “Walking In A Hurricane” by John Fogerty
MP3: “Like A Hurricane” by Nils Lofgren
MP3: “Here Comes The Rain” by Jan & Dean
MP3: “Riders On The Storm” by the Doors
MP3: “The Rains Came” by Big Sambo
MP3: “Wild Is The Wind” by David Bowie
MP3: “Rock You Like A Hurricane” by the Scorpions
30 Days Out 