Ireland's Glen Hansard would have a lot to talk about with Damon Albarn: both became famous arena-rockers in their home countries, but each only became truly known in the US through their side projects. Hansard's journey with The Swell Season has been epic: the small indie film Once was never intended for wide distribution, but several sold-out tours and an Oscar later, the AT&T Blue Room stage was packed on Friday evening. The crowd was date night personified: couples were everywhere, and the music explained why. Expanding from the duo format of the film, the full band featured tonight allowed the singer-songwriter material to play to a large audience by using quiet-loud-quiet dynamics and accenting the moody pieces with strings and drums to give them more power. ...

As the sun began to head west and the evening rolled in, London's Hot Chip played their endearing brand of creative and awkward dance-rock to a truly massive crowd on the AT&T Blue Room stage. The band focused heavily on material from this year's release Made In The Dark, which traded in the beat-heavy laptop pop of 2006 LP The Warning for a full band sound. The songs generally played better live than on record, and the group turned up the keyboards and drums to maximize their sonic power. Co-founder and second vocalist Joe Goddard kept the crowd happy with banter and a surprise announcement about DJing a house party later in the evening, while lead vocalist Alexis Taylor kept quiet but delivered a pleasing and energetic set. The band also rewarded longtime fans with older tracks like "Down With Prince," "Boy From School," and a cover of Prince's "Nothing Compares To U." The fact that a band as eclectic as Hot Chip can now play a late afternoon slot at a mainstream festival is surprising enough...but what impressed us most was how surely they belonged there. This was a day one highlight, and the crowd danced with abandon and walked away happy....

Brooklyn's Yeasayer played with a quiet intensity during their early-day set at the Dell stage on Friday. The four piece looked considerably more clean cut than their SXSW appearances, so perhaps the hot summer took some of the cache out of big beards and shaggy hair. The band made the most of their early slot, playing a collection of mid-tempo tunes that somehow integrate world music (particularly Middle Eastern) influences in a non-cloying fashion, which is hardly an easy task. It was obvious that the regular energy of their live show wasn't on display, but Yeasayer were tight from a year of touring and meshed the sounds of modern indie rock with 70's album-rock harmonies pulled straight from Kenny Loggins and Lindsey Buckingham. Highlights included blogger favorites "Wait For The Summer" and "2080," both of which seemed to really grab the crowd's attention. Overall, the audience seemed engaged if not yet completely in festival mode, and appreciative nodding alternated with texts to meet friends and appreciation for this year's mild weather. We're officially in motion....

If our friends at KGSR were to curate a stage for ACL, we suspect it would look like this one. Though we have no knowledge that Austin radio mainstay Jody Denberg is the man behind the curtains for Saturday's AMD stage, the bands here certainly look a lot like his playlists! What strikes us as great about this stage is that the music all fits together nicely even though it crosses many age groups, demographics, and genres. It would be hard not to enjoy what's on offer here, so consider staking out a spot and using AMD as your Saturday home base....

If there's a vibe running through Friday's Austin Venture stage roster, it's simply that there is no vibe. Like ACL Fest, the stage is sporting everything from twee boy/girl indie-pop to grizzled country and sleaze rock. If you'd like some variety, this is the place....