| Music Editor Survives Hot, Hot Sun, Big, Big Crowds At Austin City Limits Music Festival! |
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| Home Theater News Music - Concerts-Shows News | ||||||||
| Written by Charles Andrews | ||||||||
| Thursday, 05 October 2006 | ||||||||
Page 5 of 6 Saturday Galactic Big sound, anthemic, Yes-like with sax, brought on Leo Nocentelli of Meters fame. Blue Van Great fun, throwback British Invasion sound but from Denmark, keyboard player just nuts, leaping way high off of piano, speakers, anything, and they all know how to give a song a proper big finish. Ian McLagan & The Bump Band Being the original keyboard player for the Faces when they were Small, Ian has seen and done it all and now seems happy knocking out solid rockers with his quartet and living the good life in Texas, but soon he’ll get a taste of the old days: he announced he will open for the Stones when they play Austin in a few weeks. Nada Surf Nada clue, no notes, but if they had really impressed me I would’ve scribbled something. Secret Machines Very good, very Floydish, worth checking out. TV On The Radio One of the most anticipated acts, reaction was split and I was on the huh? side, but it seems they had an equipment glitch that left you hearing none of the buzzsaw guitar they’re known for unless you were right in the middle, and without the full sound singer Tunde Adebimpe’s arm-flicking style seemed a little aimless. I must say I’ve never seen a band where one of the players (bass) did not once turn even sidewise and show his face to the audience. Los Lobos Yes. Of course. Always great. Isn’t it nice to be able to count on some good things? Shins I should like them, they’re originally from my hometown of Albuquerque, but though I thought they were okay their music just didn’t move me at all. A little too alt-conscious. Rolling Stone ranked their show. Maybe that’s why nobody I know reads RS any more. Charlie Sexton You know, the guy with the great cheekbones. Once the next big thing, he seems to have settled into a comfortable groove in Austin, playing music he and his bandmates obviously enjoy, but it’s nothing out of the ordinary. Calexico Intriguing show I stayed longer for than I thought I would. Starting with accordion, trumpet and drums, adding xylophone, standup bass, three guitars, another trumpet and a dramatic silver-haired Guatemalan singer, an awesome electric bass lead morphing into a space jam with dramatically distorted steel guitar, there was a lot of instrument and style jumping, with consistent high quality. Very impressive in a low-key way. What Made Milwaukee Famous Not $4 small cans of beer, that’s for sure. South Austin Jug Band Good, pretty authentic, no surprises here. String Cheese Incident Again what I expected, but you can’t listen to just a little by a jam band, you have to settle in for the duration and I just had to see … Raconteurs Expectations met again, but this time they were sky high. Jack White is deservedly the most lauded rocker of our time, and this quartet is simply a perfect rock band. Absolute intensity. Rock that just can’t get any harder. You’ll have trouble going back to the White Stripes after seeing the Raconteurs. My enjoyment was tempered by my distance from the stage, coupled with my memory of having seen them so close up in their second gig ever, just feet from the stage in the aisles of Amoeba Records in Hollywood. Explosions In The Sky Perfectly named. Some classical music influences. Massive crowd. Would have loved to have heard their entire set. Kings Of Leon Very good, big arena sound but a bit unimaginative. Iron & Wine Pretty much a folkie with a bushy beard, a guitar and a decent voice. What’s the big deal? Massive Attack All their fans expected, by some reports a great show, just didn’t hold my interest from so far back, behind about 30,000 people. Willie Nelson Yes, Willie. Seen him so many times, always great but more of a sit-down indoor pleasure for me, where you have some chance to see his body, let alone face and fingers. Amazing to see how all those Texans in the crowd who get to see him all the time still flocked, passing up Massive Attack. |
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