ACL wrap up

First off: God Bless the inventors of CopyPod, the software program that lets you upload music FROM YOUR iPOD ONTO YOUR HARD DRIVE. Ever since my hard drive failed I've dreaded the monstrous task of recreating my iTunes music library from scratch. But thanks to CopyPod, it's just a matter of a few clicks. Hurray! It also means that I can take pretty much anyone else's iPod and upload their music onto my computer. I love pissing off the record companies.

Anyway, in other news, I still haven't finished my Austin City Limits recap. But frankly, most of the people who read this blog were either there or have already heard me talk about it. My apologies to those readers who don't fall into either category. But the long and short of my trip is this:

Friday (continued from previous post): Lyle Lovett loved by everyone except me. I guess that's the difference b/w being raised on The Doors and The Who instead of in Texas. After the festival ended around 10:30pm, I went out to a bar in downtown Texas with Brian, Brett, newly introduced Fred and his girlfriend (or something). I had two vodka-cranberries (thanks Josh), went outside to take a call from Lori and make a call to Lisa, and instead of going back in I hung around outside and walked around and then "fell asleep" on a park bench a few blocks away. It was really relaxing. I relieved more stress in that half-hour than I had all year.

Saturday: Brian went to work and I watched some football. He came back from work and we watched some more football, including the big finishes in the Penn St - NW game as well as some other game I can't remember. Headed to the fest with Brett, met up with Jude and saw, in the following order:

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE - decent set, not all from Plans, Ben forgot the words to a song. Then
THE WALKMEN, who only I seemed to enjoy, they ended with "The Rat", dinner, and then
BLOC PARTY, who knocked Jude and my socks off. We were both jumping at "Like Eating Glass." Not sure if Jude still agrees, but by festival's end, we thought they had put on the best show. Next was OASIS and thankfully they played their hits. Typical swagger was on display, but damn if "Champagne Supernova" and "Don't Look Back in Anger" aren't great anthems. After the festival we went back to Brian's place to watch the recorded ND vs. Washington game. We had heard earlier in the day that ND had won. Brian heard it from some guy, I heard it from my mom's text message. I'm so cool. Brett slept on the couch until like 6am.

Oh, forgot to mention: On Friday I found out that SLEATER-KINNEY, currently my favorite band, had backed out of the fest and WERE NOT playing on Sunday. This pained me so much I had to sit down. I even got a little sick. The curse continues. Will I ever see SK live?

Sunday: Big day of music. Brian, Brett, and I arrived in time to see most of RILO KILEY'S set. Jenny Lewis was hot, even from far away. They played "Portions for Foxes" (which also played on Laguna this week) second to last. I went and grabbed Jude from the BRAVE COMBO tent (they're a self-described polka band that play covers of famous songs; on the radio we heard their rendition of The Doors' "People are Strange").

Forgot to mention: IT WAS FUCKING HOT on Sunday. 107 degrees. I sweated more than I've sweated my entire life, probably all years combined. It was crazy. But thanks to the awesome slate of artists that day, I endured. So I grabbed Jude from BRAVE COMBO and we went over to see KAISER CHIEFS, who have a hit single out now called "I Predict a Riot." They're a fun band live but I can see myself getting bored listening to their album. Next was, drumroll, ARCADE FIRE. I would've liked a better view, but even from where we were you could feel the energy and dedication of each member of the band. They were really into it, especially the drum guys, who looked like they were about to pass out from trying so hard. They played a few songs in the middle of their set that I didn't recognize, and it was in these moments that I became a little disappointed. But then they closed with a two-fer of "Power Out" and "Rebellion (Lies)", which might've been the highlight of the fest. It even got a stoned Brian off his feet. After ARCADE FIRE was another much-anticipated set: THE DECEMBERISTS. I don't know if it was the power bar I had just eaten or what, but man I really loved their performance and stood the whole time taking as much of it in as I could, while my three fellow fest-goers sat down --although Jude stood up long enough for me to dosey-doe with him during "Mariner's Revenge Song." Lead singer Colin Meloy (sp?) really lit up the crowd near the stage. I wish I had been closer, but I enjoyed the extra space from the back, and the sound was just as good it seemed. Next it was WILCO, and they played an almost identical setlist from last year's ACL fest. Not that it mattered, it was still very cool. We jumped a bit during "Spider Kidsmoke," but for the most part I didn't care too much about seeing the band or catching all the lyrics. It was more of a laidback session.

After that we started walking all the way to the other side of the park for COLDPLAY. We walked passed THE BLACK KEYS, who sounded awesome, and as soon as they left earshot my mood worsened. We had been privileged to hear ARCADE FIRE, THE DECEMBERISTS, and WILCO throughout the day, but we were going to conclude with fuckin COLDPLAY. The fact that I could barely breathe thanks to all the dust just made me even more pissy. It was crowded, dark, and stinky where we sat, and honestly nothing short of a phenomenal performance by this band would've gotten my going. And, no surprise, it wasn't phenomenal, it wasn't even good, it was merely adequate and what I would expect from one of the most popular bands of 2005. Jude made me a laugh quite a bit with his relentless mocking of the their bland music ("Play 'Clocks of Sound'! Play it!"). Sure, the fans around us were probably annoyed, but fuck them for liking a band so devoid of originality. After their set finally ended -- they played a blasphemous cover of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" -- we walked back to our cars, arguing about Coldplay pretty much the whole way. I've come to the conclusion that the movie equivalent of COLDPLAY is TITANIC. If I need to explain that, then it's not a good analogy. Let me know if you get it.

We went to Trudy's for some late night Mexican, I said goodbye to Jude and Brett, and then went home. Brian drove me to the airport on Monday and I thanked him for a great weekend. He was an awesome host. I had so much fun I miss it already. Here are some more pictures: