We entered the park around 1:10pm to the strains of a seriously thrashy number from Yo La Tengo. It was impressive to hear how determined YLT were to throw out some serious noise rock at such an early hour. Being a bit sunburned and rather low-energy, we listened rather than watched, grabbed a blissfully freezing cold beer, and headed over to grab a spot for The National.

The National (1:30pm): What perfect music for a Sunday afternoon. The National took the stage and joked about the hot, still day: "Pray for rain." As they launched into "Start A War," it was hard to resist feeling chills as the song's slow, majestic build began. An ace sound mix really aided the proceedings, as it was easy to hear Matt Berninger's words and slowly take in the beautiful music surrounding them. The group's pacing was excellent, and when they finally tore into full-bore rock mode on "All The Wine," the crowd simultaneously exhaled from the build-up and applauded wildly. Other highlights included new tracks such as "Brainy" and "Slow Show" from the excellent Boxer album. All of the songs were given a beautiful boost thanks to the viola and additional vocals.The National's constant touring this year was obvious in the sharply executed performances, some of which even improved on the album versions. Perhaps the band that everyone will regret missing a year from now, The National's music brought grace, power, and intelligence to the stage and helped cure everyone's Sunday afternoon hangovers. Consider us impressed.

Ben Kweller (2:30pm): After our amiable chat with Kweller back in August, we had to drop in and see how he fared at ACL 2007. Kweller entered dressed totally inappropriately in a long-sleeved stripey T-shirt and red jeans, and we wondered if he'd follow last year's allergy attack with an accidental heatstroke. Short sleeves, Ben, short sleeves! His 3-piece band was solid, but played mostly mid-tempo numbers rather than out-and-out rockers. They may have decided to take it easy on the crowd at such an early hour, focusing on newer material and only playing two songs from our 2002 favorite Sha Sha. Kweller also mentioned that he's stopping over in Austin for a few weeks this fall to record a new album, and featured two new tracks during his set (one of which had a strong Americana and gospel flavor.) The highlight of the set was a two-song (mostly) solo piano sequence featuring new classic "Thirteen" and "In Other Words". He then segued into the sad rocker "Sundress," and as we walked toward the fringes to rehydrate, the huge crowd at the AT&T stage smiled and swayed with the mellow sounds.

Midlake (4:00pm): We were a little surprised to see Midlake performing on the Austin Ventures stage, a relatively small stage that had, for the rest of the weekend, been populated by some pretty big names locally, but not by international acts like Denton's smooth-rockin' darlings. In the end, it made sense: Midlake offer a unique show at a festival the size of ACL, specializing in complex harmonies and multi-instrumentation that probably suffers a bit on a larger scale. We noticed the band struggling to hear themselves on stage, but they worked through it and seemed totally on top of their game once the ball began to roll. The last couple of years have been filled with travel, tours and various efforts to support The Trials of Van Occupanther, and all of that practice was obvious. From "We Gathered In Spring" to crowd favorite "Roscoe", the band was tight and polished, showcasing their apparent adoration for classic rock, their talent as arrangers and their beautiful vocals. "Head Home," a compelling tune featuring a fuzzy '70s guitar solo, some of their most complicated vocal arrangements and a steady, pulsing beat propelled by bass and drums, was a highlight. The crowd got a special treat midway through the set as the band introduced their friend John, who shocked his girlfriend by proposing on stage. The crowd cheered as John got an emphatic "Yes!" and as the couple exited stage left, the band jumped right into "Young Bride". Midlake's set was one of our favorites of the weekend, and we were totally wrong about them being on the wrong stage: the intimacy of the smaller Ventures stage was perfect for their tightly knit, carefully composed tunes.

Images via Joshua Huck. Midlake review by Paige Maguire.

Andrew Bird (5:30pm): After this set, one Austinist staffer remarked: "This guy just beamed in from planet music." And with a stage full of spinning gramophones, violins, finger cymbals, and glockenspiels, it was hard to dispute that quip. Bird took the stage slightly late due to a tardy finish by Blue October, which had the crowd snarling over their shoulders at the lengthy drum and guitar codas coming off the main stage. But when he began, everyone got excited and strangely quiet for a festival audience. Bird knew how to play a larger stage, and concentrated on bigger, catchier songs from his most recent two albums like "Fiery Crash" and "Fake Palindromes." The sounds were soaring and strange, and simultaneously melancholy and hopeful. As he led his trio through a flawless set, Bird jumped on multiple instruments, but was an utterly calm presence in strange green sunglasses amongst a sea of music fans. The audience simply took it all in with a smile and an enthusiastic response that only grew as the music continued. A true highlight.

Arctic Monkeys (6:30pm): An enormous crowd turned up for Arctic Monkeys, but seemed to be more curious observer than serious fan. Like Oasis and many British acts before them, the Monkeys aren't huge on showmanship: they simply turn up, plug in, and rock. The crowd seemed to be looking for something more from England's biggest band of this year, and offered polite applause but not much enthusiasm. Frontman Alex Turner looked incredibly young (he's 21!) on the huge video screen, and his mild frustration with the crowd seemed obvious as the show rolled on. The tide turned for a bit around 7:05pm when the band unleashed a sonic one-two punch of "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefoor" and current hit "Florescent Adolescent" to a warm response. Overall, the set was tight and competently played by all. But it appeared that the band needed a push from the audience to take the show somewhere special, and that never quite came to be.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (7:30pm): This set just had everything going against it. CYHSY are really captivating in a club setting, but the sound mix had little mid-range, leading to an unfortunate highlight on the nasally vocals (not CYHSY's strongest point) at the expense of the quality music. A large portion of the crowd were hanging back on the fringes to dash out for an Arcade Fire spot, which made it tough to connect to the on-stage goings on. And adding insult to injury, the jam band Cross Canadian Ragweed was playing nearby with a fury, leading to the only time this weekend when we've heard one stage overpower another. As a result, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah came across as more background music than main attraction. The experience may have been different at the very front, but we felt bad to see an interesting group have to endure such an unfortunate set of obstacles.

The Arcade Fire (8:20pm): This was the one we'd all been waiting for, and it didn't disappoint. The Arcade Fire seem to have embraced their inner superstar, and turned up with an enormous stage full of deep red lighting, circular video screens, church organs, and who knows what else. After a strange opening video montage of public access-style church footage, the enormous band entered to a roar of welcome. The show focused heavily on Neon Bible rather than their debut album, which likely caused a little disappointment among some fans. But the 11(?) piece band were clearly ready for the headlining spot, and drove the show with great pacing and surprisingly polished showmanship. Anthems like "Keep The Car Running" and "No Cars Go" were sung in unison with the audience, and even quieter numbers like "Haiti" seemed to keep the crowd engaged. The band channeled their high energy into head flailing, Régine Chassagne's dancing, percussion pounding, and even some light stage banter from Win Butler. He asked simply: "Do you guys have any energy left after a day in this heat?" Everyone did, and they showed some serious love to the collective of talented Canadians. It was a fantastic finish to Saturday, and was also the best thing we've seen so far.

Images via Joshua Huck.

Spoon (6:30pm): So here's the thing about Spoon: they're a studio band. And on record, they're pretty much bulletproof for this decade. But the band also have a deserved reputation as a sometimes shaky live act, and such was the case for the show's beginning today. Britt Daniel and the band emerged without opening music or much ceremony, plowing right into a half-dozen tracks from new album Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. But they felt somewhat tentative, even when they threw us a curveball by adding a four-piece horn section. Amongst all the new material, a couple of older favorites like "Jonathan Fisk" and "The Beast And Dragon, Adored" were thrown in to reward older fans. But everything changed with the first bars of the groove-laden "The Fitted Shirt." The band found their rhythm on that song and "I Turn My Camera On" and never looked back, focusing on older tunes during part two of the set to the approval of a huge AT&T stage crowd. Spoon are truly Austin's garage band made good, and while some jitters were evident early, it was nice to see them pull off a strong finish.

Dinner (7:20pm): For whatever reason, the line for Crunchy Chicken Cones at Hudson's was at least 100 people long, while next door, the queue for Salt Lick items was a mere 15 people. This made our decision easy, though we were sad when the patron in front of us grabbed the last sausage wrap until the next batch arrived 20 minutes later. Undaunted, we grabbed a pulled pork sandwich and ate and ran towards the Kaiser Chiefs.

Kaiser Chiefs (7:30pm): This was the indisputable highlight of day one. We arrived with only moderate expectations after feeling disappointed in this year's Yours Truly, Angry Mob. But the Kaisers have grown from a fun club act to a polished arena band since we last saw them in Summer 2005. Frontman Ricky Wilson was hellbent on winning new fans, and threw himself into the show with literally reckless adandon. Wilson fearlessly threw microphone stands in the air, swung his mic cord like a lasso, and charged into the front row of the crowd during the opening numbers. The new songs that sounded just OK on Angry Mob came across far better in a live setting, with the band selling the tunes as fun and punchy. The crowd was even inspired to pogo, and you had a sense we had all gone to England for 40 minutes. Unfortunately, Wilson's antics proved too much for him to sustain: after precariously climbing 30 feet up the stage scaffolding during "I Predict A Riot," he managed a safe descent, yet tripped and went crashing onto the stage while running back to the microphone. The fall seemed to twist or sprain his ankle, and all of the insane energy of the set's first half waned a little as the singer hobbled gamely through the rest of the show. Wilson couldn't help himself for long, though: by the closing number "Oh My God," he was trying to jump and dance along with the crowd on one leg! It was a treat to be so pleasantly surprised by an ACL set, and so we award the "didn't see it coming" spot of the day to the force of nature that The Kaiser Chiefs pulled off as a live act.

(Note: We love Bjork, and know she played last night. But we've seen her in a 250 seat venue, so our low energy level won out over watching her amongst a crowd of 25,000. It just wasn't going to beat the Harlem gig.)

The Killers (8:15pm): We sort of knew better than to look in on this, but it couldn't be helped. On our way out of the park, The Killers displayed a black-and-white five minute introductory video onto the screens—apparently, they were aliens beamed into a desert trailer park or something. It set the scene for the Queen-like scenario that ensued, as Brandon Flowers emerged dressed in a silver glitter suit complete with sparkle boots. A backdrop of white lights said "Sam's Town," but may as well have been borrowed from Moulin Rouge as it was so over-the-top and campy. We were exhausted, and the teenager and college-heavy crowd was getting a little obnoxious with shoving forward and spilling beer, so there was only patience enough to catch two songs before heading for the taxi ranks. "Sam's Town" and "When You Were Young" had the crowd's approval, and Flowers has (thankfully) learned how to work a large stage since we last saw him three years ago. But we couldn't help but feel that the best sets of the day had already happened for us, so we left to recharge for Saturday.

Photos via ACLFest.com. Multiple photographers credited.

Upon arriving around 2:50pm, we found quite a bit of chaos. An unfortunate propane tank explosion had injured four ACL staffers, so fire trucks, EMS vehicles, and golf carts were buzzing everywhere. Our tickets were stuck with a friend inside, so we found a shady tree and hung out until the dust settled around 3:15. We entered to the wafting notes of Peter, Bjorn, and John, who had attracted such a huge crowd we decided to beeline for Blonde Redhead for a better shot at a good view.

Blonde Redhead (3:30pm): The first half of this set focused fairly heavily on the 23 album, which we were quite happy to hear. The band were noisy but poised, and didn't seem intimidated playing to a festival crowd. You also can't say enough about how cool Blonde Redhead look, especially given the heat factor. The set was competent and tight, but I didn't come away a bigger fan, especially given the experimental bent of the last 15 minutes. The yowling-type vocals and feedback increased as the show went on, which was probably meant to tune out the people (like me) who drifted over and play instead to the long-time fans in the crowd. So be it.

Crowded House (4:30pm): We arrived a few minutes early and found a spot about 10 feet from the front barrier amongst the resolutely middle-aged audience. The Crowdies had an interesting newspaper collage full of political headlines as a backdrop, but the set leaned toward the personal. They entered sharply attired in dress shirts, and Nick Seymour and Matt Sherrod even sported ties! In Austin, in September! They began with 1986's "Mean To Me," which had the crowd singing along immediately. Neil Finn and Co. then worked a pretty consistent mix of two old, one new throughout the set. The mid-tempo numbers from new album Time On Earth were a mixed bag, with CH oddly skipping radio single "Don't Stop Now" to play lesser tracks like "Transit Lounge." Other new tunes like the Finn/Dixie Chicks co-write "Silent House" fared much better, and won over a crowd who were primarily there for older material. But ah, the hits. A noisy collection of young Aussie backpackers near us were clearly delighted to have such a commanding view of one of their country's most popular rock acts ever. So when songs like "Weather With You" (played to commemorate the three minute drizzle shower above the AMD stage) and "Don't Dream It's Over" came spilling from the speakers, the crowd smiled and sang, and all seemed right with the world. A temporary cool breeze made the proceedings that much more pleasant, and as the Crowdies closed with the rockish "Locked Out," one can only hope they'll turn up again soon in a city that loves them.

LCD Soundsystem (5:30pm): Our first surprise of the evening happened at this set, as we were delighted to discover Al Doyle from nerd/dance kings Hot Chip playing guitar in LCD Soundsystem. Doyle's guitar threw some rock into James Murphy's dance songs throughout the set, adding a nice counterpoint to the percussion-heavy vibe coming from the six-piece band onstage. For his part, Murphy was as ironic as ever, joking about dreams of headlining the AT&T Blue Room stage as a child and promising the crowd free iPhones. He also thanked Nascar for no apparent reason. After dispensing with "Daft Punk Is Playing At My House" a mere 10 minutes into the set, the band focused on material from LCD's latest album Sound Of Silver. The crowd-watching hit a high point here, as hipsters dressed in ironic sombreros and giraffe hats meshed with dudes with mohawks and others wearing two pairs of sunglasses on top of each other. Some of the beautiful people acted too cool to dance, but the rest of us moved to songs like "North American Scum," "Get Innocuous," and "All My Friends" with a sense of purpose, as it created a diversion from the still heat. Murphy's music may be meant to come with a wink at times, but it's awfully interesting and compelling on the whole. And whenever one can dance at a festival, you should.

Images via ACLFest.com. Multiple photographers credited.

Tag your photos "austinist" if you're at the festival.

Photo by Amy Bradly

Photo by Roxanne Mitchell

Photo by geekdreams on flickr

An Austinist reader sent us pictures of what appears to be a "small" fire in the food area at the ACL Fest. More news to come...

Update: KXAN reports that the fire was the result of a propane tank explosion behind the AT&T stage. Three people were injured, two seriously so.

As promised, today we're giving away two pairs of tickets to KLRU's ACL taping of the incredibly talented singer-songwriter Regina Spektor. These are general admission tickets, which means you'll be guaranteed a seat as long as you show up by 7:30pm.

Enter below, and good luck!

This contest is now closed. Congrats, winners!

Related:
Austinist's ACL Coverage

Regina Spektor ACL Taping
Monday, September 17th
7:30pm

Photo by Timothy Cochrane, from wikipedia

As promised, today we're giving away two pairs of tickets to KLRU's ACL taping of British indie rockers Bloc Party. These are general admission tickets, which means you'll be guaranteed a seat as long as you show up by 9pm.

Enter below, and good luck!

This contest is now closed. Congrats, winners!

Related:
A Weekend In Our City - Austinist Interviews Bloc Party
Austinist's ACL Coverage

Bloc Party ACL Taping
Monday, September 17th
9pm

In less than two days, we'll be hosting our big annual pre-ACL party, Local Music is Sexy IV,

Thursday night's soiree will feature Austinites The Lemurs, The Corto Maltese, and Brazos on the outside main stage, with DJs Car Stereo (Wars), Ceeplus Bad Knives*, and Markus with a K supplying dance-party jams inside alongside Magic Surprise. We're also thrilled to be bringing in Seattle indie rockers Say Hi To Your Mom* as our headliners.

What's more, we have a few special items that we'll be giving away throughout the evening, including:

• An Apple iPhone, courtesy of the good folks at ON Networks. Show up early to register!
• A 3-day ACL Festival pass, thanks to Rio Grande, and
• 10 nifty Austinist tote bags, stuffed to the gills with awesome swag—Make and Craft magazines, goodies, and more—for the first ten people to show up once doors open at 9pm

Unfortunately, TABC regulations prevent us from mentioning that a certain beer company will be hosting a special sampling between 10-11pm. So, you know, we wont.

As always, this party is absolutely free. It's our way of saying "thanks!" to you sexy people.

The Lineup

Say Hi To Your Mom (Seattle)

The Lemurs (Austin)

The Corto Maltese (Austin)

Brazos (Austin)

Ceeplus Bad Knives (Houston)

Car Stereo Wars (Austin)

Magic Surprise (Austin)

Markus with a K (Austin)

Local Music is Sexy IV is sponsored by: ON Networks, Maker Faire, Transmission Entertainment, The Onion, Rio Grande, Homeslice Pizza, FactoryPeople, Izze, Sweet Leaf Tea, Platypus Promotions, StrataTX, Frank151, and Mischief & Trouble.

[Austinist's ACL Fest Coverage]

Austinist Presents Local Music is Sexy IV
Thursday, September 13th
The Mohawk [map]
Doors @ 9pm
21+, FREE

*honorary "locals" for the evening. Photos from Myspace, The Lemurs by Dave Mead.

Some of the biggest artists playing at next week's Austin City Limits Music Festival will also be taping episodes of KLRU's Austin City Limits, the wide-acclaimed PBS show that begat it all.

Unfortunately, the demand for space-available tickets is so intense that they're only announcing them via the radio.

Fortunately, we've got the scoop on when and where you should be listening: below are the stations and times that you'll need to tune into if you wanna get in super-intimate performances by the likes of Arcade Fire, Bloc Party, and Wilco.

Austin City Limits will have numerous tapings in the next week in conjunction with the ACL Festival. A very limited number of space available tickets will be given away for each taping. The free tickets will be given out on a first-come first-served basis. Each person will ONLY receive two tickets and a ticket does NOT guarantee admission to the taping. Tickets will be distributed at the location and time announced on the radio station listed with each artist.

Lastly, we'll be running giveaways for the Regina Spektor and Bloc Party tapings, so check back next week for details.

[Austin City Limits Homepage]
[Austinist Covers ACL Fest]

Wilco press photo courtesy Emily Rosenblum

On the eve of ACL Fest, we're gonna turn off our laptops, put on our drinking shoes, and head over to the Mohawk, because Austinist is hosting Local Music is Sexy IV.

An annual tradition since its inception in 2005 (back when the 'hawk was the Velvet Spade, and folks were still arguing over the smoking ban), Local Music is Sexy showcases a bunch of promising young Austin bands and DJs that we're most excited about. Past artists have included Belaire, The Black Angels, IV Thieves, and Clap!Clap!

LMIS IV will feature Austinites The Lemurs, The Corto Maltese, and Brazos on the outside main stage, with DJs Car Stereo (Wars) and Markus with a K rockin' dance-party jams inside alongside Magic Surprise. To spice things up, we're also flying in Seattle indie rockers Say Hi To Your Mom to headline, and welcoming our favorite Houston DJ, Ceeplus Bad Knives.

The Lineup

• Say Hi To Your Mom (Brooklyn, NY)
• The Lemurs (Austin)
• The Corto Maltese (Austin)
• Brazos (Austin)
• Magic Surprise (Austin)
• Ceeplus Bad Knives (Houston)
• Car Stereo Wars (Austin)
• Markus with a K (Austin/Dallas)

As always, this party is absolutely free. Think of it as our way of saying "thanks!" to you fine folks.

Local Music is Sexy IV is sponsored by: ON Networks, Maker Faire, Transmission Entertainment, Rio Grande, Homeslice Pizza, FactoryPeople, Platypus Promotions, StrataTX, Frank151, and Mischief & Trouble.

[Austinist's ACL Fest Coverage]

Austinist Presents Local Music is Sexy IV
Thursday, September 13th
The Mohawk [map]
Doors @ 9pm
21+, FREE