Austin City limits was grand.

 

Ted Leo set the festival off right, bashing his head into a bloody messs with the Microphone.   He’s  a Pop Hooligan. I put his CD, Tyranny of Distance, on today and it sounds thrice as good, having seem him live.

 

If the festival had a theme, is would have been “Blod and Guts and Sweat and Ass”.  Shortly after Ted, Ben Kweller was on stage bleeding like a pig through both nostrils.  Jammed a donated tampon up his nose, but ultimately couldn’t complete his set. “Alergies”, he blamed, sheepishly.

 

The Surprise Hit was probably the 20 minutes of Wolf Parade we caught on day one.   I sort of felt like Luke Perry in Tombstone, remarking, “I think they’re wonderful”. Or whatever he said. That will be the band I take away from the festival.

  

I probably most enjoyed the Tragically Hip, but I somewhat fanatical about those guys.  Alex didn’t hate them, which is quite an endorsement, considering the response they usually get from my friends. Alex said that Gordie is just like old Stipe.  I added, “without Aids, and the stick up his ass”, perhaps un-politically.

 

We all liked Gomez and I felt guilty for not distinguishing between them and Guster for the last 10 years.   I knew one of those two bands was basically Dueling John Mayers.  It was Guster, I learned, seeing them earlier in the day.

 

Gnarls Barkley stunk too.  Of course, I was watching from pretty far out, so by the time the music got to us, it was all ready old.  I’ll catch them again in a few years when they are on a reality show with Macy Grey.

 

We also caught some Jimmy Dale Gilmore and the Real John Mayer on that first day.  (Jimmy Dale opened with Buckskin Stallion Blues, a Townes’ song).

 

The second day started with a few minutes of “I love you but have chosen darkness”. They snuck into the festival on the strength of their name.   Worst act of the festical.  So we skipped out and caught up with Ghost town Observatory.  The lead singer was dressed exactly how I like my dates to look:  Tight Jeans, tight sleeveless t-shirt, and pigtails. Unfortunately, this was a dude.   Before seeing that show, the word 'ugly', in the following sentence would have been redundant: “He looks like an ugly-Chris Johnson”.

 

Then we caught T.V. On the Radio, Calexico, What Made Milwaukee Famous and Iron and Wine. Iron and Wine was incredible. That guy can write a song.   T.V. on the radio Impressed. They are a band that should be seen in an underground club or a new york street corner, but they represented in the Hot Austin Afternoon.    Calexico sounded great, but I wasn’t feeling it. I give myself props for insisting they came from somewhere west of Texas.  I guessed New Mexico, but it turns out they are from Arizona.   WMMF was not noteworthy—at least, not the ten minutes I stayed for.

 

On Day Three we caught  Ween, Son Volt, and The Flaming Lips.   I wasn’t in the mood for Ween, after seeing Iron And Wine the night before. The contrast was perfect, and far too great.   Son volt played almost all new Stuff. My comment that they are a "guy's band" was met with confusion.  What do I know?  They  hit their stride in the 3rd Quarter of their set, but we left during their war protest song, catching Drown while plowing into the Flaming Lips throung. I need to see Son Volt in a small venue, and get their latest CD, apparently. The Flaming Lips were sweet. I’m not even going to try to describe it this late in the post. 

 

 Alex has a lot to add….

 

I am going to Philly tomorrow. Apparantly.