ACL Fest: Band of Horses Echoes Across The Park

Band of Horses have come a long way in a very short amount of time, and the enthusiastic crowd that gathered in front of the Dell stage at 7:30 was a good indicator of just how far. The group played plenty of songs from their latest record as well as a few from 2006’s Everything All the Time, and it seemed as if every track they played was a favorite of someone in the crowd and they sang along loudly. With four guitars, keys, drums and singer Ben Bridwell’s echoey vocals, Band of Horses powered through some rather haunting, ethereal indie rock songs like “The Funeral,” “Is there a Ghost” and “No One’s Gonna Love You.” The band took a little time between songs to wish happy birthday to someone on the side of the stage, sing Gillian Welch’s praises and tell the crowd they loved them. The group even played a brand new song going to be released on their next album. It was a slow and sentimental tune written and sung by keyboardist Ryan Monroe. He sounded a lot like Bridwell, who sang backup and played the melodica during the song.