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ACL Fest 2022 - It Warrants a Thread


Footballpants

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  • 2 weeks later...

Far less scheduling dilemmas than usual.  Just two or three over the whole of weekend 2.  Obviously, it means I'm old and my taste in music and the programming of this year's festival both suck.  But it really is honestly the first "I got no real conundrum" I can remember in many, many years.  My biggest worry is the Iowa State kickoff time, but either way I'll hover by the beer tent/two western stages.  For the first time In awhile, I'm actually looking forward to Saturday lineup---been the shittiest day at ACL for as long as I can remember.  Friday basically fucking blows but any day with under-butt and live music in october beats working so here's to it.  Wife will be pleased to know I'll be home before 9:00p each night if I can pedal my old ass safely.

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  • 1 month later...
I’ve never see the cutout at the gym but my wife has. She saw him drive off in a white mustang the other day, which is disappointing. 

Seems fitting. There was some discussion a while back that he was a car salesman. Someone here or at the old place knew him from work. I kinda wish I’d been getting pics with him since the beginning just for fun. Maybe he’ll be out there today and I can start a new tradition.
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By the way, which one's him?  

Good to see festival guy out and about again.  It wasn't a festival in Austin 20 years ago until he and/or Leslie showed up.  He was actually super nice IRL as I recall.  

No idea who Goth Babe is but enjoying listening to them on the front porch right now as the kids ride bikes.  Unfortunately most of the bands I wanna hear later today, their stages don't point the right way.  So I'll be stuck keeping the kids in bed tonight while our windows rattle to the shittastic sounds of RHCP.  Can't wait for next weekend to go in person, y'all got truly blessed with some great fucking weather.  Little toasty in the direct sunlight but humidity down and no muggy south breeze.  Enjoy!  

And I want a full report on Robert Glasper, did Kacey Musgraves do any John Prine covers, and complete details on the under-butt situation in the crowd.  

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Hopefully nobody got deathly ill, but RHCP went eerily silent from my audio vantage point about 5-10 minutes ago.  Kinda weird.  AMEX stage always pushes sound strong to our street on Sundays.  Not complaining, since RHCP fucking suck beyond belief and have for 30 years.  But hope nothing happened to anybody in the crowd or stage.  

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8 hours ago, YGIFS said:

By the way, which one's him?  

Good to see festival guy out and about again.  It wasn't a festival in Austin 20 years ago until he and/or Leslie showed up.  He was actually super nice IRL as I recall.  

No idea who Goth Babe is but enjoying listening to them on the front porch right now as the kids ride bikes.  Unfortunately most of the bands I wanna hear later today, their stages don't point the right way.  So I'll be stuck keeping the kids in bed tonight while our windows rattle to the shittastic sounds of RHCP.  Can't wait for next weekend to go in person, y'all got truly blessed with some great fucking weather.  Little toasty in the direct sunlight but humidity down and no muggy south breeze.  Enjoy!  

And I want a full report on Robert Glasper, did Kacey Musgraves do any John Prine covers, and complete details on the under-butt situation in the crowd.  

Goth Babe was so so good... I am all about their sound and their vibe.  So good.

Taipei Houston was interesting... very loud and intense, a bit rough around the edges.

After watching Glove today and Nation of Language on Friday, win definitely goes to Nation of Language.

Zhu was great (Diplo yesterday was fire)

Oliver Tree was exactly what I expected which was perfect 

 

 

 

 

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10 hours ago, YGIFS said:

Hopefully nobody got deathly ill, but RHCP went eerily silent from my audio vantage point about 5-10 minutes ago.  Kinda weird.  AMEX stage always pushes sound strong to our street on Sundays.  Not complaining, since RHCP fucking suck beyond belief and have for 30 years.  But hope nothing happened to anybody in the crowd or stage.  

Yea, it was pretty bizarre. They did 80 minutes, left the stage, then came back for a one song encore and were done in 90. Lots of people in denial after the house lights came up and they were packing up thinking they would come out again. There were lots of weird breaks in their set too, think Keidis was having monitor trouble or something. He left the stage 6-8 times and they would all huddle up when he came back to discuss shit before playing. His vocals were also not on pace with some of the songs, which makes me think he couldn’t hear shit. 

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9 hours ago, texasdago said:

Goth Babe was so so good... I am all about their sound and their vibe.  So good.

Yeah, that was a good show. Never heard of them before yesterday.

Spoon was good as always. I left after Big Wild around 6. They were entertaining.

I’m almost 49 and three days of ACL Fest flat out kick my ass. I probably could’ve drank less beer.

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That would certainly explain it, the monitors.  Particularly at the AMEX stage because the crowd noise washes right into the stage in a funnel.  About 9:20p, it went quiet and I guess we did hear a little mumble of something around 9:45p.  It was nice because the older one fell asleep earlier than usual during ACL days.  Nothing will ever beat that Eminem set a few years back.  He overplayed until about 10:15 and apparently ran his amplification system on FourLoko and Jet Fuel A.  Nobody in my house fell asleep until midnight because our ears were ringing and we live 2 miles away.  

I'm sure Keidis is reading somebody at C3 the riot act this morning.  And that person is trying not to laugh while this tiny, shirtless 60 year old with marcia brady's haircut, is flailing his arms like Costanza as Koko.  

Did anybody see Kacey Musgraves instead?  How was she?  What was she wearing.  Pics are allowed.

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12 minutes ago, South Austin said:

Yeah, that was a good show. Never heard of them before yesterday.

Spoon was good as always. I left after Big Wild around 6. They were entertaining.

I’m almost 49 and three days of ACL Fest flat out kick my ass. I probably could’ve drank less beer.

I'm trying to remember when I first caught wind of them... I think last year when the lineup was released I started listening to Babe Rainbow and I probably put on something like "Baby Rainbow Radio" on Spotify which then led me to Goth Babe.  Really good stuff.

Its funny... I was debating between Spoon and Oliver Tree... yeah, I can understand how Oliver Tree is super polarizing and that you either love him or hate him (and there are more people on the "hate him" side) but I figured I could catch Spoon in Austin another time.  Oliver Tree was just one big performance of finely tuned idiocy with some good music.  

We were in the Miller Lite lounge next to the Big Wild concert... could hear it but we didn't really pop out to watch.  We had side stage access but I can't remember if there was a line or not.  We were running on fumes by that point.  We did get to see a mix of random bands via side stage which was cool.  

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Hey... looking at WE2... aside from the obvious choices

3:00 Boooooooo all of you going to Wet Leg.  I hate you.

4:00 Friday slot on Tito's - Genesis Owusu looked like he was putting on an amazing show.  Lots of good buzz about it while we were there.  Looked full of energy.  

6:00 Friday Phoenix was one I wanted to see 

4:30 Saturday Wallows put on a good show.  I really liked them.  Culture Club would be cool, I guess, but even though I am a massive 80s fan, I was never a huge Boy George fan so meh...

12:30 Sunday Taipei Houston vs Glove - just catch both to see how completely different they are.  TH needs to stop trying to occasionally sing in a falsetto

4:00 Sunday I've said what I've said about Oliver Tree vs Spoon.  Love him/hate him option or Austin classic.

 

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i watched most of the hulu coverage over the weekend while doing stuff around the house. glove is the only band i had never heard of that really stood out as enjoyable. thought goth babe was corny as hell. not really into kacey musgraves but she sounded good and looked like she was wearing a bad wig. spoon and the war on drugs were both excellent. 

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10 minutes ago, stc said:

i watched most of the hulu coverage over the weekend while doing stuff around the house. glove is the only band i had never heard of that really stood out as enjoyable. thought goth babe was corny as hell. not really into kacey musgraves but she sounded good and looked like she was wearing a bad wig. spoon and the war on drugs were both excellent. 

One thing on Goth Babe... his music and storry really speaks to me... my buddy thought it was just "ok".  His story sound corny but when you get his background, you kind of understand his whole vibe... https://coogradio.com/2022/09/goth-babe-artist-spotlight-positivity-in-adversity/ 

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That was a good read.  Bummed out now he's not playing W2, really enjoyed his set .  weather looking great with slightly cooler temps than this past weekend, if you ignore the whole drought thing plaguing our area.  

Love hearing about new discoveries/pleasant surprises from guys my age since we'd all be lying if we said we knew who most of these bands were ahead of time.  I was planning to bike home each night by 8:30p.  But what I could hear from the Dixie Chicks and Pink, I kinda wanna stick around longer but it'll wipe my ass out the next morning.  

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31 minutes ago, Homercles said:

How was security?  I’d heard it was pretty intense, but seems I hear that every year.  Wives want us hauling in Tito’s in plastic flasks, normally bury it in chair bags…I’ll unzip it, they feel it up, but don’t make you remove the chairs.  

Honestly we rented a locker so after they checked our bags early on Friday we just dumped them in our lockers at the end of each day so we could avoid the bag line.  They seemed to be letting all kinds of stuff in but can't tell how closely they were checking.  I walked up with my bag open so they could see in but I saw some people with clear backpacks with absurd amounts of stuff.

 

Oh...and sorry but if you're bringing a blanket and chairs to build a fiefdom close to a big show, don't be surprised when you're surrounded by people standing.  O swear some people forget it is a festival and not a Sunday picnic

 

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1 hour ago, texasdago said:

 

Oh...and sorry but if you're bringing a blanket and chairs to build a fiefdom close to a big show, don't be surprised when you're surrounded by people standing.  O swear some people forget it is a festival and not a Sunday picnic

 

I hate that shit too, especially close to the stage beyond the no-chair zone.  Don’t give me a dirty look if I step on the corner of your blanket that’s 10’ from the barricades when I’m trying to break free to take a piss.  
 

We setup our chairs off to the side between two stages, as a home base strategically located under a tree, away from any ‘rivers’ (of people) or pathways and near water/beer close to the VIP deck.  People know where we typically are, come/go to see shows, and it’s a rallying point at the end of the night to police up our shit since I don’t trust cell signals out there to stay coordinated.  
 

I don’t even drink the Tito’s we bring in, prefer beer as getting sloppy out there is no fun anyways.  

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11 hours ago, Homercles said:

How was security?  I’d heard it was pretty intense, but seems I hear that every year.  Wives want us hauling in Tito’s in plastic flasks, normally bury it in chair bags…I’ll unzip it, they feel it up, but don’t make you remove the chairs.  

Security was surprisingly lax all three days.  We didn't bring chairs and I didn't notice of they were checking the actual chair bags.  But I never got frisked and didn't see anybody else getting frisked, and was when the entrance crowds were relatively light.  My girlfriend and I lamented that we could have easily gotten away with storing a couple pouches of vodka down our pants. 

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34 minutes ago, South Austin said:

Security was surprisingly lax all three days.  We didn't bring chairs and I didn't notice of they were checking the actual chair bags.  But I never got frisked and didn't see anybody else getting frisked, and was when the entrance crowds were relatively light.  My girlfriend and I lamented that we could have easily gotten away with storing a couple pouches of vodka down our pants. 

I used to bring flasks in on the reg.  I don't do it anymore mainly because I don't like the hassle but it really is about me not being able to enjoy drinking liquor all day while standing in the sun.  I can maintain a longer, less hangover inducing buzz just on the offerings inside.

As to security I think it really just comes down to which kind of gate nazi you run into.  I brought umbrellas for years, then one year they made me pitch it so I haven't done it since.  I got through pretty easy all three days.  But then there was one guy who literally made me pour out the dregs at the bottom of my water bottle.  It was so little it didn't even reach the straw.  

My post-show notes:

Friday:

Zach Bryan - This was a solid country performance.  He looked a bit nervous about playing to a bigger crowd that may or may not have been there to see him.  But he overcame and put on a good show.

Arlo Parks - Been hearing her on the local NPR station a lot and she did not disappoint.  Great modern R&B meets singer songwriter vibe. 

Nathaniel Rateliff - This guy always brings the show.  This show was no exception.

Omar Apollo - Never heard of him and went to see him because one of my ACL crew wanted to see him.  He struck me with a strong Bruno Mars vibe.  He played a wide variety of rock/latin/R&B and kind of blended it all together well.

SZA - I didn't feel like moving with the crowd to see the Chicks.  SZA put on a solid show, even though I didn't know many of the tunes.  She sure worked the crowd.

Saturday:

Started off by watching TX curb stomp OU in the beer tent, which is one of my favorite things to do at ACL.  Took a little break to go see the Ventures because I have a soft spot for instrumental surf rock.  Granted, none of the original guys are in the band but the two oldest have been in for a while.  The other two looked like the other guys' kids.  They played all the hits and played them well.  I was honestly most surprised at the drummer.  He killed it.

Listened to Spill Tab and Slayyyter while TX skull fucked OU.  Spill Tab was fun punky rock while Slayyyter was giving me modern Madonna vibes.

Adrian Quesada's Boleros Psicodelicos - This was a real standout from the weekend.  I'd heard some buzz, but man this band was tight and the revolving cast of singers made it really interesting.  Plus, if your down with the brown, there were a lot of very nice morenas on stage off to add to the atmosphere.  Can't recommend this one enough.

Tyler Yaweh - Only saw this guy by accident.  He was absolutely terrible.  Would he hype up a shitty little club in a podunk town where they can't book anyone except an unconvincing magician and an ill trained dog show?  Sure.  But ACL?  What barrel did they have to scrape to get this guy out there?  He had his little crowd and they were getting hyped.  But it was as if "I want y'all to get loud as hell [air horn noises]!!!"  was on a loop every 20 seconds.  Fucking unbearable, but I was waiting on certain people to have their moment in the merch tent.  Avoid at all costs.  

Manchester Orchestra - Great solid four piece rock band.  

Lil Nas X - I came for the show and the people watching.  Neither disappointed.  It was a straight up scene on stage and off.  

The War on Drugs - If you don't know about these guys by now, you should.  That sun going down behind the stage while these guys cranked up a non stop great set was a moment. 

Pink - Every nurse and repressed soccer mom in a five state area must've been at this show.  I'm not going to say which my ACL companion was.  But they were enjoying the hell out of it.  Clearly, I'm not her demo, but if you're into slick, highly produced, stage shows and find it confusing and discomforting when the live act does anything that sounds different from the album then this was your jam.  She did do a solid cover of Bohemian Rhapsody.  We left early.

Sunday:

Spoon - Goddam these guys always bring it.  I'd say one of my top three shows of the weekend.

Japanese Breakfast - All my friends whose musical taste I trust have been telling me about her/them for about a year or so.  I hadn't had the opportunity to check them out.  This is the act of the weekend for me.  I know because I found myself doing the deep dive into all their records on my drive back up from Austin and it made the drive go much faster.  

Paramore - I guess.  I was just sitting there while I ate some empanadas and didn't have anything else to do while waiting for Marcus Mumford.

Marcus Mumford - Solid show.  Not a huge fan but since I was there I figured I'd see him and was pleasantly entertained.

Kacey Musgraves - I absolutely love her recorded work, and that's mostly what she gives you on stage.  But man she seems stiff on stage.  Like they've told her "you have to do the reach and grab at this point in the tune or you'll never make it in Nashville" so she does.  She seems much more natural standing in front of a mic with a guitar.  I'm willing to overlook it for that voice and those songs though.  It does something to me. 

RHCP - I was going to head over to see them after Kacey, but they'd already left the stage even though they were scheduled until 10pm.  No idea what happened there, but I have to say I was a little disappointed.

Also, I heard that underbutt was mentioned up thread.  Underbutt is sooooo 2020.  2022 is full butt.  There seemed to be no shortage of young ladies wearing thong bottoms and wispy see though coverups. Some had Lululemon tops, some didn't and just had little tape "x"s or not.  Lots of white boots this year, no doubt to our coach's lovely wife sporting them this season.  Also there were lots of people wearing active wear (once again, think Lululemon) or yoga outfits just because.  I welcomed this new development.  

 

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3 minutes ago, Chad Fuck said:

Also, I heard that underbutt was mentioned up thread.  Underbutt is sooooo 2020.  2022 is full butt. 

This.  Lots of half cheeks to full cheeks, some under a see-through cover, others bare-ass exposed.  And I'd say a strong majority of them were worthy of exposure. 

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1 hour ago, South Austin said:

This.  Lots of half cheeks to full cheeks, some under a see-through cover, others bare-ass exposed.  And I'd say a strong majority of them were worthy of exposure. 

Let it all hang out, as they say.  We'll all keep our judgments to ourselves, and we'll all be better off for it.  

Still can't believe mom jean jorts are still a thing ever since I first noticed the return no one asked for back at the Free Press Summer Fest in 2012.   Making 20 year olds look like 50 year olds for 10 years now.  

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, for time is fairly flying...

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Day One

Asleep at the Wheel - nice way to kick things off.  Only show where I sat in a chair... for part of one song and then I realized, F it, I'm not using a chair so after the show I stuck it in my locker.

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thebrosfresh - twin brothers from Baton Rouge who now call Austin home.  These guys put on a good show on the Tito's stage.  Definitely enjoyed checking them out.  Would see them again here in Austin

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Nation of Language - Miller Lite Stage - of the 80s inspired bands that I saw (Nation of Language, The Midnight, Glove), they were by far the best.  Felt more influenced by 80s (OMD, Joy Division, Depeche Mode, etc.) with their sound as opposed to Glove who almost felt like they were playing 80s emo dress-up.

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Kevin Morby - Honda Stage - one of my top 3 shows at ACL.  His stuff is just so good.  Got right on the railing and had a great view to an awesome show.

 

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Gayle - Watched her from the beer tent on the Miller Lite stage.  Honestly a pretty good performer even though she only has one real hit which was a good sing-along song.  Not someone I came to see per se but she wasn't bad.

 

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Zach Bryan - American Express stage.  This is where I learned that being further back with three layers of speakers is way louder than basically being on the front row.  I see no benefit to being that far back for soooo many reasons.  That said, Zach Bryan is not my thing and at this point my son felt terrible so we had to leave which sucked because I wanted to see more bands.  BUT... at least I got my fill on Friday and my bearings.  

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Edited by texasdago
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I'm an old and have long bitched about the evolution and degradation of the lineup, but this weekend - including acts/bands I would never have seen if I hadn't brought my 15 year old daughter - killed it.

Friday: Asleep At The Wheel, Noah Cyrus, Zack Bryan, and SZA.  Noah Cyrus was a pleasant surprise.  SZA was my daughter's only selection that did nothing for me.

Saturday: OUSUX, Conan Gray, Lil Nas X, and Pink.  Never heard of Conan Gray and only knew LNX for Old Town Road, but both were great. Daughter has come a long way since begging me to tune Sirius/XM to Kids' Bop.

Sunday: Sent the kid back to Houston to be in school Monday and hit Spoon, Paramore, Goose, and Kacey Musgraves.  All were great.  Goose was the set of the weekend.

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3 hours ago, texasdago said:

Only show where I sat in a chair... for part of one song and then I realized, F it, I'm not using a chair so after the show I stuck it in my locker.

No one fucks with empty chairs.  We generally set up chairs at the front of the chair zone at the stage where we expect to end the day (often the stage where we will be for multiple acts), and then take off.  It is nice to have a "home base" and a place to sit/crash late in the day if needed. 

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