Stagestruck

AUSTIN CITY LIMITS MUSIC FESTIVAL
@Zilker Park, Austin, TX, September 28-29, 2002
It could be said that the Austin City Limits Music Festival was an idea whose time had finally come. For nearly 30 years, the pubcast TV show Austin City Limits has been showcasing a wide variety of musical artists, mostly of the American roots/country variety (with the diversity that implies), but in the past few years they've embraced everything from jazz to AfroCuban music to psychedelic rock. To celebrate this newfound eclecticism (not to mention replace Austin's little-missed fall music festival Aquafest, whose last major headliner was Peter Frampton), the ACL folks teamed up with Lance Armstrong's management company Capital Sports Entertainment to create the ACL Music Festival, two days of food, sun, crafts, sun, beer and, of course, music. And sun. Did I mention sun?

Saturday, 9/28:

After handing over my ticket and passing through the KLRU-TV tent to say hello to friends, I headed to the American Originals Stage to see the Faithful Gospel Singers, not so much because I was in the mood for gospel, but because they were the only musicians performing at 11:30 in the morning. The FGS was a straightforward gospel quartet, with the added bonus that the singers were also the instrumentalists. With bass, drums and, surprisingly, synthesizers providing a backdrop for the band's four-part harmonies, the music was an even balance between traditional and contemporary. I just wasn't feeling in the Spirit, though, and despite the entertaining sight of a bunch of white people acting like they were receiving the Word, I left after a couple of songs.

At the so-called Heritage Stage (despite the festival guide calling it that, the signs clearly stated that it was the Schlotzsky's Stage, which was underscored by the MC—this would become confusing until I became familiar with the layout, as NONE of the stages were labeled what they were called in the guide), Grupo Fantasma turned the grass in front of the stage into a Latin dance party. The Austin-based world beat ten-piece started with a small crowd but attracted nearly everybody within earshot before it was halfway through its set. The band interpolates licks taken from salsa, Afropop and rock into melodic, ultra-danceable cumbias that had the audience up and shaking its collective groove thangs in no time. A three-piece horn section, excellent percussionists, a great singer, harmony world beat guitars (what a concept!), even a P-Funk-like Moog bass on one song—the band had an arsenal of virtues applied like frosting to its excellent songs. Like Ozomatli, though without the hip-hop influence, Grupo Fantasma sees no boundaries between musical cultures and celebrates melody in all its forms. The crowd celebrated right along with them. Grupo Fantasma may have been the best band I saw at the entire festival. This is what I'd call a great start.

I stopped by the Austin Originals Stage to check River City fave L'il Cap'n Travis, something I'd been meaning to do for ages, but was not impressed with their Pavement-as-alt.country shtick. Think I'll stick with Okkervil River. After a quick, vaguely satisfying meal (Threadgill's has slid into mediocrity at their primary location—why would I think their quick 'n' dirty food at a booth would be any better?), I headed back with great anticipation to the Heritage Stage to see Eyes Adrift. This is the new band formed by three 90s alternative rock survivors: Curt Kirkwood (Meat Puppets), Krist Novoselic (Nirvana) and Brad Gaugh (Sublime). The band's incredible pedigree has led to a surprisingly modest amount of hype for its brand new album, and after seeing it play, I can understand why. To put it bluntly, the group was flat and dull. The song stylings definitely favored the desert-fried psychedelia of the Puppets' side of the family, which should have been a good thing. But the tunes sounded like Puppets castoffs, as if they were ditties Kirkwood dashed off as filler in case they were needed. Since they rarely were on the generally excellent Puppets albums, they seem to have found a home in Eyes Adrift. Adding insult to injury, these half-assed songs found themselves in the hands of not one but two shaky singers (like Kirkwood, Novoselic has difficulty staying on key). It also didn't help that the trio used no setlist, and had to decide between songs what to play, and even that was after Kirkwood's incessant tuning. The former Puppet is still an amazing guitarist, and on one zippy country rock tune took a solo from chicken pickin' to slide and into the stratosphere, reminding me of why he holds his lofty reputation as a guitar hero. But one astonishing solo does not a good concert make. I lost interest about halfway through the band's set and wandered off to make phone calls.

Fortunately, the next act blew away any lingering bad memories of Eyes Adrift. Following an introduction from Texas Congressman Lloyd Doggett, Los Lobos hit the Feature Stage with three guitars, guest Charlie Musselwhite and the rocking blues of "Don't Worry Baby." The tune meandered a bit as the soloists tried to find their way around each other, but righted itself quickly enough. Musselwhite departed after that song, as the band moved into the tough rock of "Done Gone Blue" and the sweet soul of "Hearts of Stone," both from its amazing new album Good Morning Aztlán. Surprisingly, except for the grooving electric rock/pop of "High Places," East L.A.'s finest then concentrated on electrified cumbias and norteño, with guitarist/drummer Louie Perez on jarana (a small eight-stringed guitar), guest Joel Guzman from Aztex on accordion and guitarist Cesar Rosas taking most of the lead vocals. It was a ballsy move to take in front of a huge (and I mean huge—there were people as far back as I could see) audience expecting the greatest hits. The crowd dug it, though; the young white boys seemed to particularly groove on it. After jacking the crowd up on electrified Latin sounds, the band closed its set with a bruising "Good Morning Aztlán," with Rosas, Perez and David Hidalgo trading solos on their Les Pauls. Surprisingly for a festival with a tight schedule, the group came back for an encore, segueing a pounding "Not Fade Away" (lead vocals courtesy of the audience) into one of its classics, a jaunty, Cajun-flavored jump blues whose name I can't recall, to my shame. It had been a long time since I'd last seen Los Lobos play; this show was a reminder of what an idiot I've been all these years. (more)

Album reviews of new music by:

The Agenda!

"We combat boredom the only way we know how, with the power of young lust and rock n' roll!" (more)

"Demons"

The band pumps out a dozen rawhead rockers with enough fire in its collective belly to juice up a million jalapeños.(more)

Doug Martsch

Now You Know is a wonderfully appealing hybrid of country blues and Martsch's angst-ridden alt.rock. (more)

Parker & Lily

The pair's second record fits squarely into a box marked "moody electro-pop." (more)

Jason Ringenberg

It's still an excellent record that showcases the potential still inherent in American roots music. (more)

Shimmer Kids UnderPop Association

The band's third full-length, fairly wallows in acid-drenched, post-Pet Sounds/Sgt. Pepper's pop music. (more)

Star One

Each song is based on a different science fiction movie, not so much telling each story as looking through the eyes of various characters. (more)

And explore the refreshed sounds of the Soulive and Weather Report.