Results tagged “acl”

New York’s The Walkmen took the stage at ACL on the Xbox 360 stage just after peak heatstroke hours (although the sun on this first day of this year’s festival was a lot more forgiving than previous), somewhere around 3:30pm, and kicked into gear with a relaxed island feel. “Louisiana”, the first single from 2006’s A Hundred Miles Off, soothed the crowd with singer Hamilton Leithauser’s lazy afternoon vocals and acoustic guitar. Horn blasts from the four-person section rose over top and mixed with the beach-drinking beat and keys to create a ripe fun-in-the-sun atmosphere as our star peaked out between the clouds periodically through a veil of strung together cloud puffs. A myriad of shakers, rolling and stomping percussion, guitar twinkling, breezy triangle, and a mix of light and heavy flows followed. The Walkmen played a tune in the works from their forthcoming sixth studio album to be released next year, which was a slow and easy ramble and whistler. Then, they broke into Bows + Arrows’ “The Rat” and the group went right into the full-blown, rocking, dance-inciting, guitar-driven favorite for a knee-bouncing crowd shaking their hands in the air and singing the memorable chorus.

What’s the Deal: According to Dr. Dog, they’re interested in “three-part harmonies, the out-of-doors, hoagies, vegetables and diminished chords.” And, that’s not a bad way to describe them. They’re a slightly eccentric Philadelphia five-piece who play music that’s a little folk, psychedelic, pop, soul, bluegrass and other. The band, all with nicknames like Taxi, Trouble and Tables, have been fortunate to be considered a band’s band by many, helping land them tours with groups like My Morning Jacket, Wilco, The Black Keys, The Cave Singers, and many more fairly early on. With a handful of releases tucked under their collective wing since 2001, the band is set to release another record in early 2010 on Anti- Records.

Most people are aware of the work of Dan Auerbach, even if they don't know his name: his much-loved bluesy two-piece, The Black Keys, has played a couple ACLs and been a force in supreme guitar god awesomeness for almost the entirety of this decade. But now, for the first time, Auerbach has recorded an excellent minus-drummer-Patrick-Carney homage to old style rock and soul with Keep It Hid, and though the goin' by his own name thing may imply a solo endeavor, he packs with him the punch of a five-piece outfit, The Fast Five. Truth be told, they are sure to rock out with a seriousness.

The other ACL—the longstanding television program from which this weekend's music festival was spawned—was officially awarded its "historic rock and roll site" status by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame yesterday, and today they're hosting an open house to give the public a glimpse behind the scenes. For those who can't make it down there, check out the live stream from the panel above.

What’s the Deal: Ah, supergroups. Where would we be without them - The Highwaymen, Traveling Wilburys, Temple of the Dog, Velvet Revolver, Angels & Airwaves, The Dead Weather, and the list goes on? Now, there’s Them Crooked Vultures, a project sure to sell out tours and churn out crave-worthy songs built on the strength of the millions of albums sold of their independent projects. Them Crooked Vultures is vocalist/guitarist Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age), drummer Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters) and bassist/ keyboardist John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin), with Alain Johannes as a live guitarist. They have yet to release a recording, and the only music out there is from snippets of songs released by the band and live recordings on YouTube, which surely, combined with the fact that they haven’t played a date in the U.S. since their debut post-Lollapalooza performance, has hard rock fans chomping at the bit to really see what they’re made of.

KLRU's Austin City Limits television program, long a cornerstone of Austin music culture, can now count itself as a national institution: the 34-year-old show has been designated as a "historic rock and roll site" by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

While the low-key Matthew Stephen Ward has been up to a lot lately, what with his Zooey Deschanel vehicle She & Him, and Monsters of Folk, his new enterprise with Conor Oberst and My Morning Jacket’s Jim James, Ward’s customary understated and modest showmanship still marks him as an artist. Charming the crowd with a career-spanning set heavy with Post-War and Hold Time tunes, it was the ease with which he tapped into America’s musical heritage that stood most impressive—his daunting creative schedule aside, one gets the feeling that Ward could compose an AM radio hit the moment he rolls out of bed in the morning. Despite this, don’t be deceived by his work’s apparent simplicity—only through refinement has he discovered the divining rod of old-school pop, and how to meld his impressive solo guitar chops into full band songs—this concoction ain’t no accident.

I had my first we’re not in Kansas moment when my Latvian friend and I pulled into the festival camping area. The newly mown site had most certainly been a functional field back in Soviet Times, and you could still see the faint remains of the furrows left by long-ago plows. Luckily I soon saw a skinny dude in tie-dye hanging out in the camping area, so I knew that, at least spiritually, I wasn’t so far from Austin.

While in town for ACL, everyone's favorite avant pop icon took some time to take a dip in Barton Springs.

The opening act of Austin City Limits this year was Nashville folk rock singer/songwriter Ben Cyllus, and he invited a friend to come introduce him, well-known game show host Chuck Woolery. Austinist managed to catch up with Woolery and Cyllus for a quick chat at the Blender Music Lounge on Friday.

The actual sets didn't matter. They just didn't.

As the dust settled on another ACL Fest, a storm of a different kind brewed at the Austin Ventures stage where local act White Denim turned in a whirlwind performance. The band eased into their set via "Migration Wind," a breezy instrumental piece that gradually gathered momentum and showcased James Petralli's prowess on the guitar. "All You Really Have To Do" followed immediately, and by the time "Mess Your Hair Up" arrived, the audience was pumping their fists in conjunction with each Petralli howl, clearly invigorated by the sonic explosion.

The Kills photographed by Briana Purser.

Like fellow Ohioans The Black Keys and Texas up-and-comers White Denim, Heartless Bastards, the garage all-stars from Cincinnati, are at the center of a return to rough rock, and provide an alternative to the unfuzzy rock of bands such as Vampire Weekend and Fleet Foxes. Sunday evening on the oft-underrated Austin Ventures Stage, megaphone-voiced singer Erika Wennerstrom led the set, with able assistance from the big bass rhythms of Jesse Ebaugh and the steady but hard-hitting drums of Dave Colvin.

Admittedly, we were among the cynics, and had a preconceived notion that this MTV-friendly band was going to leave a bad taste in our ears after three days of remarkable shows. To our (pleasant) surprise, Dave Grohl and his band put on an epic show worthy of the final slot at the festival.

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.

Los Angeles-based Silversun Pickups wrapped up a series of festival shows and their current tour at the AT&T Stage Sunday afternoon. The band opened with the recognizable single "Well Thought Out Twinkles" and snuck in a couple of unreleased songs during their hour-long set.

The heat of the midday sun was a little too much to keep music fans moving around during Gillian Welch. Instead, the majority of onlookers sat and listened attentively to the sincere, story-telling country/folk of Welch and her musical partner and guitarist David Rawlings. The two of them have been playing together for a long time, and it really showed.

Offensive, hilarious and meaningful, the male members of Stars kept us laughing and inspired throughout our Sunday morning discussion of pedophiles and music. The group performed at ACL on Sunday afternoon and took a break with us to chat. Austinist contributing writer Candace Birkelbach spoke with Torquil Campbell, Evan Cranley and Chris Seligman.

Photos courtesy Briana Purser.

KUT checked in with Beck at ACL last weekend, and you can hear the interview here.

The San Fransisco-based couple and parents of two performed at the ACL Festival this weekend on Friday afternoon, supporting their latest album Rearrange Us. While being a married couple in a two-piece band is cool, there is much more to know about the creative duo. Contributing writer Candace Birkelbach had a date with the Mates that revealed the genuine passion these two have for making music.

Tantalizing beats radiated from the AT&T stage Sunday evening as the popular, two-man group Gnarls Barkley stepped up to the challenge of pleasing a large festival crowd. The high-pitched raspiness of Cee-Lo's voice was felt throughout some of the pair's most popular hits, "Crazy" and "Gone Daddy Gone."

The quickly setting sun and the dreamy background vocals of Neko Case provided the perfect environment for knitting up a little ditty on Sunday at the ACL Music Festival.

Stars' second guitarist sinks into the crowd during the band's set at ACL on Sunday afternoon.

Playing on the coveted shady stage of AMD, Neko Case presented a romantic steady pulse.

The huge ACL balloon lights up in the evenings, wonderful nightlight for music lovers.

With a stage decorated in silver flowers and red roses, Stars came onto the ACL scene looking cool and confident. While the heat was probably killing them (and everyone in the audience) it didn't stop the passion from ringing strong in their voices.

Returning to ACL for a second time, Swedish import José González transformed the Dell Stage into an intimate venue on Saturday afternoon. Armed with only a classical guitar, a folding chair and a microphone, he filled the air with the lush resonance of strummed guitar and his mesmerizing voice, creating a soothing sonic oasis in the middle of Zilker Park. Two others joined him on stage after a few songs, chipping in on harmonies and peppering the simple compositions with percussive accents from shakers and conga drums.

There's no shortage of things to keep the kids occupied at ACL this year, as dance parties, haircut booths, temporary tattoos and tons of live music keep the underage entertained.