I caught a little bit of Spiritualized before leaving early to get a good seat for the final two groups I wanted to see Saturday night. Spiritualized might be classified as progressive rock. I thought they might be a little Flaming Lips-ish. I’m still not sure. All I know is that they did a very inventive, wall-of-bass-reverberation, rendition of Amazing Grace. And I was standing far too close to the subwoofers; my heart was leaping out of my chest with each note.
I grabbed some grub then met my wife who had strategically positioned herself in front of the soundboard. We didn’t have to mess with people pressing in behind us or to one side of us, and the mix was excellent.
John Fogerty (of CCR fame) was first. In his early 60s, the man can still rock. His guitar skills are still as sharp as ever, and his band was fantastic. I searched Wikipedia later that night and saw that for around 20 years in the 80s and 90s he wasn’t allowed to sing his own CCR songs for legal reasons. Fortunately, and eventually, his label bought another label which owned the rights to his CCR songs, so we got to listen to nearly all of the songs one would want to hear from John Fogerty.
Then one of the highlights of the Festival came on stage: Alison Krauss and Robert Plant. They’re an interesting pairing; the angelic Krauss and the devilish Plant, the bluegrass country girl and the classic rock god. But the place from where they sing is their common ground. It’s a place of sorrow, longing, and ultimately hope.
I thought, Is Plant trying to atone for his past sins by singing with this saint? Or is Krauss falling toward the dark side in dueting with the devil? Or is this just two incredibly talented musicians collaborating and making great music? I think it’s a little of each.
Of course, another highlight was looking up at some point during the night and seeing Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters less than a foot away from me. He sat by the soundboard during the Plant/Krauss set.
So go listen to some CCR. Then buy Plant and Krauss’ Raising Sand.
After having the fortune to be chosen as a three-day, $50 ticket lottery winner following last year’s ACL Festival, I was excited to attend this year because I didn’t feel pressured to get my money’s worth. The wife and I didn’t go last year because of the expense, but now it seems like we’re living extravagantly because she didn’t even get to attend the first day, and I only saw a few acts. But heck, $50 is the price of one ticket for most of these acts in the first place.
guys about three songs to finally get the mix right. But the group simmered for awhile until they really started to rock, pulling out a few Wallflowers songs. And yes, Jakob Dylan was more intelligible than his father. But give him another 20 years and we’ll see. (
The set did not disappoint: from the percussionist’s fantastic syncopated abilities, to the drummer’s double-bass, double-snare, double-hi-hat rig, to the frenetic choreography throughout the set and Bryne’s own leadership in the style of cool funk, the hour-long set passed too quickly. Although I think his dancer’s were about to pass out. And when you can sing a song from an office chair while having your dancers enact the words while also sitting in office chairs?
Home