So I woke up this morning, blew out my dirt boogers, and slowly started to recover from the best hangover ever....... ACL Day 1 is over with and Day 2 is starting soon! Yesterday, I saw lots of flippin' sweet shows....... The day started with bagels and coffee. Then we met up with the dog sitter who is is watching Geraldine while we were gone. Then I filled an empty water bottle with vodka and carefully sealed the bottle cap with crazy glue. That way, we would be able to save some money by not spending so much on booze once in the park. The biggest concern before the weekend started was parking but we lucked out and found a spot about a 15 minute walk from the festival grounds. So now on to the music......
We walked in just as The Knux were finishing off their set, and then stuck around for my favorite show of the day - The Avett Brothers! These guys have been all over music magazines lately because of their new album - "I and Love and You" which was produced by the great Rick Rubin. Before seeing them, I had only heard a couple of their songs, and was still unsure if I wanted to see them since Medeski, Martin, and Wood were playing at the same time. But from the first note of the set, I was immediately drawn in to their high energy and heartfelt folky bluegrass punky roots rock music. Over the years I've kinda gone away from the rootsier music but these guys have restored my faith in it! The two brothers in the band switched off between banjo, piano, guitars, drums, and bass during the set and both were amazing singers. They were also joined by a guy on upright bass and cello. I am now an obsessed fan and their latest will probably end up being my favorite album of the year, even though I haven't heard the whole thing yet!! I'm planning on picking it up later today. Below are some clips of their tunes:
After having my heart melted, i needed some comfort food....... so Erin pulled me to the food section, tenderly fed me a jamaican jerk pork kebab and then let me rest my head on her sweet bosom..... after pulling myself together, we went and looked around at artwork, t-shirts, hippy shoes and other schwag and then headed off to meet up with some friends and see the next show by the great French hope - Phoenix!! Erin is obsessed with French guys!! As I am writing this, she said it is because when she was 16, she went to a winery in France and was kissed by three French brothers who were the proprietors of the winery...... (wow Erin! this explains a lot! maybe thats why you always talk in French in your sleep.)....... Anyway Phoenix is another great band that took me a little while to get into, but I can see why they're so awesome! They are a dancy/French/Indie/Electronic/pop/ rock band. The lead singer of the group said that it was the largest crowd they had ever played for. I'm glad I was part of it! Erin thinks that i should start dressing like the lead singer of Phoenix. I just don't know. I just don't know.
After this we headed to another stage where one of the two most anticipated shows of the weekend would be held an hour and 1/2 later. Erin was very cool about getting there early and getting right up close for the big gig. The band that I would later be seeing is called Them Crooked Vultures!. But before that, Raphaal Saadiq played a funky old school set of R&B tunes that was groovin'! Complete with dancers and a smokin' horns section, Raphaal and his band were great. They even played a cover of The Stooges - "Search and Destroy" which was the "Holy Shit! Moment of the Day!"............ then came the BIG Moment where we started inching our way towards the front of the stage for Them Crooked Vultures. So if you haven't heard of this band, you will in a couple months when their album is released! They are a Supergroup that includes Dave Grohl (frontman of the Foo Fighters/drummer of Nirvana) playing the drums; John Paul Jones (the amazing composer/arranger/producer/bass extroadinaire of Led Zeppelin who was responsible for many of Zep's most epic songs including "Kashmir"); and Josh Homme (frontman for Queens of the Stone Age/Kyuss/ Eagles of Death Metal). There was also another guy playing guitar who I'm calling Bob (not because he sucks, but because he is the only one without "supergroup" status). Anyway the huge stacks of amps were rolled onto the stage, the bright blue shining drums were set up and ready to go, and Erin was stuck inside a meat festival of dirty, sweaty guys pumping their fists for a piece of rock and roll history! She has balls! While waiting in anticipation, we met a drummer from Portland, Oregon who came down for the show who bought us beers for keeping his spot. Everyone was stoked and ready to rock out! The band came out quickly onstage and just rocked out for an hour straight. There was very little talk, no bullshit balls to the wall rock and freakin' roll! Joshua Homme was the singer of the group on all the songs. This is my one complaint because I looooove Dave Grohl's voice more (i still like Homme though too)...... But there was no doubt about it these guys are monsters. Dave Grohl should have a twin who plays drums full time, because he is simply unreal!! John Paul Jones was right on the money for the whole show and even pulled out this crazy neon purple mix of a lap steel and electric guitar for a song towards the end. The songs were mostly grooze bassed long jams that were very well rehearsed. The changes in tempo and notes were very complex at times, but these guys made it look so easy!...... after an hour of that, my ears were numb........ This morning, I'm so happy that I got to see them play but the weird thing is I can't remember their songs too well. Anyways I'm looking forward to what's coming forward from these guys. Below is a clip from the show. If you look really hard you can see us up in the front row.
After all this, the beers and vodka were catching up and we stumbled our way to catch Kings of Leon who I also loooove! The crowds were insane and huge and it was impossible to get a good spot for the show. From the looks of it, people must have been camped out all day for the show. The music was hard to hear with tons of people talking and we couldn't see anything. So we headed back to the car, stopping for cheesy tater tots smothered in jalapenos (mmmmmm!), and caught a little bit of The Yeah Yeah Yeahs rocking out with the crazy Karen O wrapped up in a pink glowstick spacesuit....... The we stopped at Taco Cabana and crashed into bed.
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