ACL Day 2

September 17, 2006

Aimee Mann




The second day of our ACL experience was another amazing day of music and fun in Austin. We got a bit of a slow start, exhaustion from the previous day retaining a hold in the morning. We took the hotel shuttle which dropped us off with-in easy walking distance of Zilker Park and made it in just in time for another catered lunch in the VIP Grove. The first few hours are by far the least crowded and easiest to manage and we took full advantage to watch the early bands up close and personal. The weather was overcast, but hot, with temperatures in the low 90s.

Key West's own Gordy & Ron

We started off watching a band called Murder By Death, a darkish gothic band from Indiana. They were good, if slightly odd, but it was nothing compared to the next band we saw, Ghostland Observatory. They are an outlandish, loud and strange band that is something of an 80s throwback with a ton of synthesizers and a sound something like the Talking Heads. They were very strange.

In the early afternoon, to escape the heat, I headed over for a brief dip in the nearby Barton Springs. The Springs, which stay at a cool and refreshing 68 degrees at all times, are a popular swimming spot and it was a wonderful and refreshing way to escape the heat of the day. It was also conveniently located only a few hundred yards away from the festival.

Barton Springs

Elvis Perkins

We saw a bunch of other bands including The Eli Young Band, Phoenix, Galactic, Nada Surf, Elvis Perkins, Charlie Sexton, The Shins, Guy Clark, Aimee Mann, String Cheese Incident and South Austin Jug Band. For my money, the hi-lights from Saturday were Elvis Perkins, Aimee Mann and the South Austin Jug Band. We had seen Elvis Perkins at the Folks Fest in Lyons just last month and he performed another eclectic and well received set. Aimee Mann sounded awesome, though she looks so skinny that a moderate wind might have blown her off the stage. She delivered a wickedly good set of quiet moody songs that transfixed the crowd at the Heineken stage. The South Austin Jug band was great as well. They performed an energy packed set that had people dancing. If you are not familiar with them, as I wasn’t, you should check them out.

South Austin Jug Band

We made it an early evening at the fest on Saturday, opting to skip headliners Willie Nelson and Massive Attack in favor of heading back to the hotel and going out to a nice dinner. The restaurant we selected was a wonderful Indian placed called the Clay Pit. We had a delicious and relaxing meal before heading back to get some much needed sleep.

http://www.aimeemann.com/

http://www.southaustinjugband.com/

http://www.myspace.com/elvisperkinsindearland