Being that previous years at Austin City Limits have been remembered just as much for the unbearable heat as the acts themselves, organizers decided to schedule this year’s event for October. The trade-off of heat for downpours sounded like a great idea when the light rain was falling, but by the time Bon Iver took the stage at 5 PM on Saturday, everyone was drenched and the brand-new field at Zilker Park was more reminiscent of the muddy nightmare that was Woodstock ‘99. Except without the fires, rapes and shitty anger-rock bands, of course.
Before hearing Coheed And Cambria tear up the Livestrong stage early Friday afternoon (throwing in a gorgeous cover of "Under The Milky Way". by The Church for good measure), I caught an impressive set by the The Walkmen, who didn’t have much competition in the 3:30-4:30 slot.
Them Crooked Vultures started early and played long, changing up the setlist from their performance at Stubb’s the night before and leaving a wake of jaws on floors from a crowd that was entirely unfamiliar with their sound. Speaking of sound, they were far and away the loudest band to set foot on ACL grounds thus far. 100 yards away, waiting for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs to begin on the AMD stage, screaming was still required for any conversation.
Sweaty, crammed bodies in the sweltering Southern heat throbbed in understandable shit-grinning awe as Josh Homme, Dave Grohl, John Paul Jones and Alain Johannes ripped through a thirteen-song set that stretched nearly ninety minutes and was packed with more swagger, groove and all-out pounding Rock assault than anyone had dared to expect.
The crowd was a roaring beast of approval from the moment the band first appeared onstage, but the reactions intensified exponentially when it became clear that the sum of the band’s immensely impressive individual parts transcends any possible expectation. This band is the real deal, and I scored the very first interview on the band with frontman Josh Homme.
As for the songs themselves, there was zero filler, zero beer-break ballads. Every moment of every song was somehow captivating, whether it was Jones rocking a 12-string bass as Homme shredded a squealing solo, or Grohl giving his drums a beating like they’ve never seen before. The band reveled in the fact that the crowd had no idea what the hell they were in for, making good on our trust at every given opportunity. Daffodils featured a beautiful keyboard outro by Jones, who then strapped on a keytar for Interlude w/Ludes, a sex-lounge jam that found frontman Homme trading his guitar for seductive poses all across the stage. Reptiles followed, a definite show highlight that brought the group in a tight circle around Dave’s kit, riding tight through several false endings, sharp turns and mindblowing rhythmic interactions through the course of what felt like twenty minutes.
Moments after TCV played their last note, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs contrasted the rock blast with a sultry-groove set that spanned their entire career and featured no less than three semi-costume changes by the enigmatic and bizarrely dead-sexy Karen O. Peppered heavily with highlights from this year’s It’s Blitz ("Skeletons" was easily the best song of the night), the YYYs’ show was supplemented in no small part by multi-instrumentalist Dav Pajo (Slint), who played color man to Nick Zinner’s guitar tapestries. Karen’s feral lunatic antics of the past may have toned down, but she’s not above deep-throating a mic from time to time, as she showed during Dull Life.
Across the field, Kings Of Leon were playing all the hits and pulling chicks like Wilt Chamberlain at the Playboy mansion; the crowd was absolutely impenetrable from 200 feet out. Despite a reputation for not being the most visibly captivating live band, the brothers Followill and co. steadily built their set for a big payoff, which arrived when Eddie Vedder joined the band for the show-closing "Slow Night, So Long".
On Day Two, the rains set in at full force, drenching absolutely everyone. The weather dissipated a bit as Mos Def commanded the AMD stage with a groove-heavy performance that dabbled in just about everything in the artist’s catalogue, as well as a freestyle jam or two and a cover of Radiohead’s "All I Need" thrown in for good measure. He was one of the event’s very few Hip-Hop artists, but judging by the massive turnout for his set, ACL organizers would be wise to add more similar acts to the bill for next year.
Friday night’s full moon may have still been hanging somewhere in the sky on Saturday, but the storm clouds obliterated any moonlight shining through. The Decemberists did more than enough of their own illuminating, however, as they made their way through their entire Hazards Of Love album, absolutely crushing the rest of the day’s performances with stage production and theatrics that created an atmospheric mood thick enough to taste.
Shara Worden and Becky Stark, when not scurrying about the stage to play an assortment of instruments, provided the soaring narrative supporting vocals, which were far more impressive in person than on record. That’s not to take anything at all away from the album, which is a heavy contender for album of the year in our book – even moreso after their ACL performance. Seeing the arrangements laid out onstage, the shortcuts not taken for the sake of musical convenience and the general sense of transcendental musicianship, is more than enough evidence for any cynic to declare The Decemberists a uniquely special band.
Day Three
Despite the promise of downpours by useless local weathermen, Day Three at Austin City Limits saw nary a drop as The Dead Weather, Clutch, Pearl Jam, Ben Harper and many more stepped up to send the festival off on a high note. That’s not to say the event was dry, however – far from it. Saturday’s showers left the field, and soon everyone on it, an inevitable muddy mess. But goddamn, was it a good time.
Riding the rail with the Pearl Jam devoted was both a blessing and a curse. While it’s great to share space with like-minded music lovers, there’s no justification for a group of people who sit on their asses the entire day, right up front, leaving gaps of both space and atmosphere in the most coveted spot in the entire park. The sad irony they don’t seem to grasp is the fact that it’s a behavior their sycophantic savior, Eddie Vedder, would fundamentally abhor.
Clutch arrived to a blazing sun, delivering the pure rock fury with an impassioned, groove-heavy set that won over the crowd, who seemed more than a little unfamiliar with the band. Pearl Jam and Clutch fans aren’t exactly a musical match made in heaven, after all.
After throwing the die-hards a surprise curve with the uncommon live jam "Sleestak Lightning," singer Neil Fallon told the crowd, “This is not the way to get over a hangover.” He stuck it out, however, and delivered an unforgettable performance of "Mob Goes Wild," which got the entire crowd roaring with approval.
Arctic Monkeys played their set completely on their own terms, opening with "Dance Little Liar," closing with "If You Were There, Beware". "Do Me A Favour" was a highlight for us personally, as it’s one of our favorite songs. The performance overall was technically flawless, but there was something about seeing the relatively sedated band on such a massive stage in broad daylight that didn’t do the otherwise amazing band justice.
The Dead Weather, on the other hand, were an overdose of angry sex and ashtray grooves that blasted away any expectations people may have had. Opening with "60 Feet Tall," the band defied rock standards with the most self-confident performance, at the very least, of the day. Singer Alison Mosshart prowled the stage like a tiger, pawing the mic and pouring her entire heart and soul into the performance. Midway through their set she appeared to be hyperventilating, actually collapsing onstage and missing a couple vocal cues. She regained her composure, as Jack White climbed from behind the kit to take vocal duties on a desperately gorgeous version of "You Just Can’t Win".
What’s remarkable about the Dead Weather, outside of the music, is that they came across as a gang more than a band, one that would devour their own young to protect one another. The dark, primal essence of the band is anchored by Jack White’s leadership and buoyed by Mosshart’s blistering spitfire sexuality. She’s the perfect counter-character to White’s cool blues demon, an unhinged barroom tigress with thrice the bite for her bark.
There is only one band I will stand outside in the mud under a blazing sun all day to see: Pearl Jam. I did just that on Sunday, the final day of the 2009 Austin City Limits Music Festival, and was rewarded with a front and center grand-finale display of aggressive heart and hits from the most consistently incredible live band you’ll see in your life.
Given the festival atmosphere, the band kept the new stuff to a minimum, opting to play a solid selection of their better-known hits, while steering mostly clear of balladry. The Backspacer tracks that did appear translated beautifully, fitting remarkably well with the rest of the set. The escalating intensity "Unthought Known" brought the massive front section screaming “nothing left” over and over again. Of course, that was anything but the truth, as the band then tore up a great rendition of "Daughter," which featured a lengthy "W.M.A." tag at the end, following a call-and-response singalong between Vedder and the 75,000-strong crowd, which included more than a hundred military men and women watching from the wings. Vedder gave them his heartfelt thanks for their service before tearing into an impassioned rendition of the anti-war anthem Insignificance.
Vedder told a story on how he and Ben Harper stayed up drinking and smoking until 8 AM that morning, “figuring out all the answers to all the problems,” and actually wrote down what they’d concluded – but it was an illegible mess. Harper then made an appearance for what the true-blue fans out there were expecting to be "Indifference," a song the soul-rocker’s been out to sing with Vedder and Co. on many occasions. But instead of haunting and quiet, Ben sat down with the lap steel and peeled off the opening slide riff to "Red Mosquito". A gloriously rockin’ rendition followed, with a shit-eating-grin-wearing Vedder pouring himself into the No Code favorite.
The band kept the pace up through a finish that nobody could’ve seen coming. After searing renditions of "Do The Evolution," "The Real Me" by The Who and "Alive," Eddie ecstatically announced the arrival of Perry Farrell, the legendary frontman of Jane’s Addiction. Before the ear-splitting roar of the surprised crowd even reached its peak, Perry took the wheel and led the band into a mind-blowing version of "Mountain Song," with Vedder on backup vocals.
Gone as quick as he came, Farrell left a tone of dumbfounded glee in the air, which suited Vedder just fine as he made good on his promise during show-closer mega-anthem "Rockin’ In The Free World"; the singer hopped offstage and did a running dive into the mud, after which he ran up and down the barricades slapping it on anyone else within reach.
Ed climbed back onstage to sing the final verse, concluding a song, set and festival in the best fashion a fan of this band can imagine. The heart of Pearl Jam is as strong as ever, and their performance at Austin City Limits was a well-designed and perfectly-executed production that sent the mud-soaked masses into the night in a state of euphoric exhaustion.
