Monday, September 26, 2005

Music: ACL Fest Day 3 (9/25)


A scorcher of a day. 105, no wind and lots of dust. At least it was not humid. And I made my daily stop at Barton Springs which made a huge difference - cooled off, cleaned off.

Doves - They became on of my fave bands a couple years ago with their masterpiece - Lost Souls - a gem of a mood piece. Their live show did not disappoint. The drummer had this curious tic of raising his eyebrows every other beat - funny to see.

Arcade Fire - Another highly anticipated indie favorite. An energetic and enjoyable set of songs with the crowd singing along on most of them.

Wilco - When I saw them last year, I was moved - the songs pulling out emotions that had been overlaid with weeks of apathy. This year it did not have the same impact - I am in a different emotional place. Jeff Tweedy was a lot more talkative and was truly happy to be playing at the festival. It was refreshing to see. This year the standout song was Spiders (Kidsmoke) which was suprising since I don't like this song a whole lot - too much rambling and repetition - but it was so much more focused.

Coldplay - At the risk of gushing and damaging my puffed-up indie cred, I will say that this show was awesome. Chris Martin pushed all the right buttons. He is a great performer and the crowd loved him. This was an arena-concert worthy performance. I sang along to every song like so many others around me. I realize now that their new album is built for arena concerts. The first two were softer, more complex.

(Photo from ACL website)