Austin City Limits, Day 2: Godmother of Soul Sharon Jones steals the show
September 27, 2008, at Zilker Park
By Erik Adams
Published: September 28th, 2008 | 12:35pm
The 2008 Austin City Limits Music Festival got underway on September 26, in all its dusty, sunny, noisy glory. Venus Zine writer Erik Adams and photographer Eric Uhlir will be at Austin’s Zilker Park for all three days of the festival, and this is the second installment of their observations, thoughts, and shots from the fest.
11:38 a.m.: Hoo boy, the sun was so much worse today. There were a few breaks of cloud cover, but as the day neared noon, the sun was unforgiving.
11:48 a.m.: In spite of the solar violence, Mugison played clad in wool pants, vest, and a long-sleeved dress shirt. For those curious about the pronunciation of “Mugison,” it’s got a hard “g” sound, like “gruff,” “growl,” or “grizzled.”
12:34 p.m.: Poor Mugi. He drew two short straws: One placed his set at 11:45 a.m.; the other put him right before rising start Fleet Foxes. Fleet Foxes are not made for giant festivals (yet). But their between-song banter is hilarious and topical (“Isn’t it nice to know that banks can’t manage their money? They’re just like people!”), and they really nailed the harmonies that have garnered the band so much attention. But the reality of music in 2008 is thus: If you have one album and a substantial amount of buzz, you’re a festival band.
12:58 p.m.: Looking at Fleet Foxes’ Robin Pecknold and then today’s schedule, it was unofficially Beardy Day at ACL. Those following in Fleet Foxes and Mugison’s hairy wake were Iron and Wine, Man Man, and even Robert Plant. Apparently, Band of Horses, who play Sunday, didn’t get its invite.
1:29 p.m.: Candidate for funniest shirt of the festival: “Che Guevara Ringtones!”
2:34 p.m.: The Daptone Super Soul Revue presented Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, and the performance of the festival so far. Jones makes the kind of retro R&B that I like, and I’m beginning to think it has to do with the gospel-inflected style it’s based in. She took the AMD Stage to church as she enlisted several audience members as onstage dance partners, and speak-singing an anti-slavery-and-manifest-destiny commentary without turning it into a lecture. We have a rightful heir to the James Brown’s Godfather of Soul and it’s a Godmother of Soul.
3:24 p.m.: I didn’t stick around to confirm this, but I’m assuming there wasn’t much audience turnover between CSS’ and MGMT’s performance on the AT&T Blue Room Stage. The DayGlo hipsters were packed in tight.
3:29 p.m.: CSS frontlady Lovefoxxx entered the stage wearing a black shawl of balloons and what appeared to be fake fur; it looked like a castoff from Björk’s wardrobe. In the performance area, Jones makes Lovefoxxx look like an amateur. Despite the happyfuntimedanceparty vibe of CSS’ songs, the band members look way too detached. I split after two-and-a-half songs.
3:48 p.m.: Who knew Man Man was such a draw? Last time I saw them, they were playing a bar that could fit on the Dell Stage, and now they’re commanding massive festival crowds.
3:54 p.m.: A joke, overheard while waiting for Erykah Badu: “Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton are on a sinking ship. Who gets saved? America.” This might have been an ironic joke, because the woman who told it had a friend with a “Texans for Obama” sticker on her stomach. If it wasn’t ironic, enjoy your reproductive rights while you can, Blonde Woman in Green Tube Top.
4:40 p.m.: Badu emerged, 10 minutes late, in a smiley-face T-shirt and half of a bouffant covering her left eye. Not to keep making Sharon Jones comparisons (but I will), but she and Badu are divas of opposite energies: Jones is kinetic and operates in feel-good music that makes you forget the crappy details of existence. Badu is more deliberate, with more of a “Wake up and smell how awful things are and because of that we need change” vibe. Her latest LP, New Amerykah: Fourth World War, is supposedly one of the best underheard records of 2008. I’d believe it — I haven’t heard the record, but the songs she performed from it were excellent.
5:24 p.m.: Badu offered a most entertaining analogy for the upcoming change in presidential administrations: It’s like somebody buying a rundown bowling alley and turning it into a roller rink. Most of the political stumping this weekend has been annoying (dig Jonathan Rice’s “I’m Jonathan Rice and I’m voting for Barack Obama” bit during his introductions of Jenny Lewis’ band), but this was a welcome alternative.
6:00 p.m.: Spiritualized was the fourth act of the festival to be dressed in all white (after Jamie Lidell, David Byrne and Man Man). Perfect for a summer festival, but I call an end to the trend.
6:32 p.m.: Loud and rowdy, the Mystic Valley Band translated Conor Oberst’s wordy tunes into classic rock jams. How different is this from Bright Eyes’ recent output? Not much, but at one point Oberst backed away from the mic and started dancing, so it’s different enough to him. I wonder if anyone else saw the “M.V.B.” on the side of the band’s Hammond organ and thought “My Bloody … oh wait, never mind.”
8:00 p.m.: I took the long way to get a decent spot for Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, only to be pushed and shoved past by people with terrible senses of spatial relationships. Least funny meme of the weekend: Saying “Medical emergency!” to get through the crowd. Not to sound like a parent or anything, but when an actual medical emergency occurs, nobody’s going to move.
8:09 p.m.: The Black Keys, playing a sea of people away, had a gigantic tire as a stage decoration. Thank you for representing the Midwest, gentlemen.
8:21 p.m.: Lights went out, Plant and Krauss’s band started playing a sultry little intro tune. It was another mannered performance in a weekend of very mannered performances, and a little too adult contemporary for my tastes. They did do a cool version of Led Zeppelin’s “Black Dog,” though, which slowed up and stripped down, distilled the original’s smoldering passion to its very essence.
8:45 p.m.: On my way to see Beck, I stopped off for a second to watch Austin institution Roky Erickson rip through his signature tune “You’re Gonna Miss Me.” The dude can still wail.
8:53 p.m.: Arrived at Beck just in time for a medley of Midnite Vultures tracks. Beck was Beck — a lot of fun, but nothing spectacular. He’s put together an excellent band for this tour, with guitarist Jessica Dobson (Deep Sea Diver) being the highlight. Beck and the band traded their instruments for ancient samplers and headset microphones for “Hell Yes,” which sounded awesome as a minimal electronic number. The alarming amount of flannel on stage seemed to indicate the inevitable comeback of ’90s fashions. Blech.
9:45 p.m.: Things concluded 15 minutes early with a pounding version of “E-Pro” and no encore. The crowd stood around for a few minutes, dazed and wanting more. It took some Clash playing over the PA to convince the masses Day Two had come to a close.
More coverage:
Austin City Limits, Day 1: Jenny Lewis sweats it out
Austin City Limits, Day 3: Stars share the stage with 'a lot of bitches'
Issue #35
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