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2018 ACL Music Festival

South Austin

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Chad Fuck

Chad Fuck 17675

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Well,  back at work on Monday, I'd say it was a pretty good festival all in all.  Perhaps it's my preferences showing, but I thought they leaned pretty heavily on the older acts this year.  

Friday - David Byrne was incredible.  

Lilly Allen looked rode hard, and then had to talk about it.  She needs better management.  Hard to pivot from hard-edged party girl to soccer mom without some professional help.

The National - Was it me, or was this set a little lackluster?  Maybe I was too far into the beer by then...

Who played before Sir Paul?  I can't remember...there were too many glitter tiddies distracting me.

The Macca - What hasn't been said?  The guy puts on a show.  And this band is so good.  Somehow they manage to bring an edge to songs that have been played for ages and not lose their timeless feel.  I remember seeing him for the first time back in late 80s/early 90s and being a little disappointed because he had that super-slick over produced sound that aging rockers are so want to fall into.  Not so this group, which is probably why he's kept them together so long.

Saturday -Got in early for the game, but heard some of Durand Jones and the Indications as well as Mon Laferte while hanging in the beer tent.  I'll definitely be looking into them more.

The Breeders - Man, I love me some Deal sisters.  They even played Gigantic!  BUT, soooo sloppy.  These songs aren't hard.  I know.  I learned them all in 1994.  C'mon ladies, get it together.  Aww, who am I kidding.  That's just who they are.

Brandi Carlisle - Soild show, with a decent Zep cover (Babe I'm Gonna Leave You).  Enjoyable, professional.

Blood Orange - They were fun while waiting for Chvrches.

Chvrches -  Pretty good set.  Would bang.

Lil Wayne - This guy was on the wrong stage.  I know he was a last minute add, but that crowd was huge and his show was jumping.  Not my scene, but for those who enjoy, he seemed to bring it.

Metallica - These guys killed it.  I can see why they're the metal band for all the fans who aren't really metal fans.  Who put out the memo that the uniform for metal chicks is a black body suit with no pants?  Because that was a sight to behold. 

Sunday - Are we still here?   Got in late, had to leave early.

Arizona - Caught the tail end of the set.  

Elle King - She was alright.  Played her roots rocks hit, and that was fine.  

Janelle Monae - This was a great show.  She's clearly the torch barer for James Brown and Prince, and she knows it.  I don't know how she managed the heat with all those crazy outfits though.

The Revolution - Damn, these old folks bought it.  That tent was jumping.  30 minutes of lesser known stuff, 30 minutes of hits.  All nasty funk-pop greatness.  

St. Vincent - I love her.  Seeing David Byrne on Friday and her on Sunday made me so sad I'd missed their package tour.  They're totally cut from the same cloth.

 

Can't wait for Asleep at the Wheel and Muse next year.

 

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Homercles

Homercles 10205

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This was my 13th ACL and man I don’t recall nearly as many cancellations and changes ever happening before. Was an overall good fest, lineup wasn’t amazing but the continual tweaks keep making it a little better each time...security rules sucked but outside of the ‘no umbrellas’ policy it wasn’t to bad (I use little clip on ones for shade with my chair).

 

Paul was incredible but so was ODESZA...Summers Gone and In Return (along with Tycho) got me through late nights coding for grad school. Burned a lot of calories gettin down.

 

Residente was an unexpected treasure and I was begging my single, Hispanic friend to join me as honeys were everywhere looking for dudes to dance with. Justice was good for a bit but Metallica knocked it out of the park.

 

X Ambassadors are just an incredibly tight band with great songs, the blind brother on keyboards was rockin out. Shakey Graves was a good band but their songs just weren’t doing it for me.

 

Again, urinals are the best new item I’ve experienced out there...so nice to piss when I have to go instead of planning a half hour ahead of time.

 

They did a poor job managing mud near the bathrooms between vip and Amex stage. Needed more mulch.

 

Why can’t att ever get enough signal out there? I go into airplane mode by 6pm and just give up.

 

Was it me or were there fewer flags this year? Also way more pot being smoked or vaped than I recall.

 

Prepay for parking at Shady Grove is the tits. Getting out sucks but it was a load off to not sweat parking availability.

 

Dodged the weather bullet today...I was there in 05 for the dust bowl and 09 in the Dillo dirt mud extravaganza...but being cold, wet and without umbrellas would suck.

 

We did weekend two to accommodate friends that work for the conference and needed to be in dallas for RRS. But we all agreed weekend 1 with the green grass, cleaner park and overall fresher presentation will be the plan going forward...though I’ve missed Modest Mouse and Glass Animals before because of that.

 

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nolongerU2horn

nolongerU2horn 764

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4 hours ago, Chad Fuck said:

The National - Was it me, or was this set a little lackluster?  Maybe I was too far into the beer by then...

Who played before Sir Paul?  I can't remember...there were too many glitter tiddies distracting me.

Ha that would be The National that played before Paul.

We saw lots of the same folks it looks like

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Guest Lobo

Guest Lobo

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Actually, it's estimated that somewhere near 10,000 fans go to at least one day on both weekends.  Now the number that actually go all six days probably numbers in the very low 1,000's, probably high hundreds.  

I actually would have to say National Weekend 1 was far better than 2, but then I heard weekend two from my house way the fuck down in South Austin near Ben White.  

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The Maestro

The Maestro 750

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56 minutes ago, Chad Fuck said:

The only time I've missed him on tour, since I've been of age to go, was when he played Jerrah World and it was $250 to sit way out on the edges.  I had to pass on that.  It hurt a little. 

I wouldn't sweat that one too much.  The acoustics in Jerrah World are total shit.  I didn't see Paul there, but was very disappointed by the sound at U2.  

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4th&Five

4th&Five 41535

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58 minutes ago, nolongerU2horn said:

Also also the girl I was next to on the rail for Paul has seen him 53 times in the last 9 years and got on stage with him at some show, I think in Florida. He signed her left shoulder blade and she got it tattooed

That’s some crazy dedication especially since he plays basically the same show each night. 

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Guest Lobo

Guest Lobo

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3 hours ago, nolongerU2horn said:

Also also the girl I was next to on the rail for Paul has seen him 53 times in the last 9 years and got on stage with him at some show, I think in Florida. He signed her left shoulder blade and she got it tattooed

Well, as over the top as that sounds.  that is literally the most reasonable thing that has happened in Florida in the last 9 years.  So there's that...

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Tonesky

Tonesky 935

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Can’t comment on last year, which I missed due to Harvey, but I thought this was the best top to bottom lineup in several years. I’m thrilled with the artist booking shift from rap/hiphop/EDM back to rock and roll. That said, fuck Travis Scott for his noise pollution during Arctic Monkeys. 

Edited by Tonesky
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