Now I settle back down to earth

Well, this past weekend was something I have been anticipating for at least three or more months. I finally got my chance to watch live music and soak in everything all in one day. The Austin City Limits Festival was amazing, and everything I had hoped and more. After leaving Sunday night after being amazed, and being reduced to a grown man feeling like a kid after Pearl Jam, all I could think is that I got to see my favorite band in the world play, and they blew me away once again.

Before I get to Pearl Jam, I guess I should take you through the day. Jeff (I will refer to him as Dees from here on) and I got to Austin around 12 p.m. checked into the hotel and took a cab to Zilker Park. I could hardly contain myself the whole time, and couldn’t get there fast enough. We got in and found ourselves in the mud and the muck as soon as we got there. It rained very heavy the day before and basically turned the park into a huge mud infested marsh. That however did nothing to mine and Dees spirit for the day. We took a quick b-line to the Austin Ventures stage to catch the last of Mike Posner. I do have to say, minus the dancing and hot girlfriend (not that Mike doesn’t have one) I have to say Justin Timberlake might want to watch out. Posner has some catchy lyrics and great beats and honestly should be all over the radio right now. So keep Mike Posner on your pop music radar. (Listen to him here.)

We then decided to walk down to the main stage and see Clutch. We both have heard about this band and decided to take a look at them. They have been around since the late 90’s, but never caught on in the mainstream music scene of the 90’s. Before I get into Clutch, I have a side story. While standing waiting for Clutch to come on, I was scanning the crowd and came across a person that I was really hoping to run into while I was there. Paul Shirley a music writer for ESPN, that also has a book out (you can check it out here.) was standing a few feet behind me. I went over and introduced myself and became a horrible fan boy for a little while and engaged him in conversation before the show. I have to say it was awesome, I read his column every week and have e-mailed back a forth a few times. He is a great guy and watched Clutch with us for a few minutes before he had to get back to his writing duties. So needless to say the day has started off awesome and can only go up from here.

So Clutch goes on, and they lived up to everything we heard. This band basically kicked you in the stomach with some much needed metal with a mix of dirty rock and blues. I became an instant fan after four songs. They rocked and kept me very optimistic for the day to unfold. It was a muddy mess during the day, but that didn’t keep us down, I was just excited to be around people and music that I love. (Listen to Clutch here.)

The next band we caught was White Lies, of course along the way we caught Love Shack and Rock Lobster from the B-52’s and that made my day. After Clutch, I didn’t know what to expect from the band from across the pond. I have to say after catching White Lies, they were the top three bands I saw on Sunday. They were absolutely amazing, and I can’t wait for them to come around close so I can see them again. Harry McVeigh was great on vocals, and I would recommend to anyone to go see them live. One of the best bands on Sunday. (Listen to White Lies here.)

After we were amazed at the amount of people standing behind us and up the hill. We made our way over to the AMD stage to catch the Arctic Monkeys. I have been a big fan of theirs for a while and was very excited to see the UK band play. They did a great job of weaving their older heavier stuff with their new album Humbug which is a little mild compared to their first two albums. I really loved their set, and plan on seeing them again in the future. (Listen to Arctic Monkeys here.)

Dees and I decided to set up camp close to the AMD stage and the Xbox stage to catch Passion Pit and Ben Harper. Passion Pit was probably in the Top 5 bands of the day for me. Michael Angelakos and company put on a great show, and I was very pleased hearing them live. I was hoping he would be able to do what he does on their albums live, and he came through. (Listen to Passion Pit here.)

Next up was Ben Harper and Relentless 7, I didn’t know what to expect from Ben and his new band. I have seen him twice with his old band the Innocent Criminals and have loved him since then. Ben came out and did awesome like I knew he would, and his new bands Relentless 7 are a great way to accompany him. They are a little heavier and can come out and rock. I was very excited to see him and once again as a theme of the day, not disappointed. The only thing is I wished he would have played some of his old stuff, but beggars can’t be choosers. (Listen to Ben Harper and Relentless 7 here.)

Once Ben started winding down, we kind of walked over to catch Girl Talk. I was amazed at how many people were there to catch him. (Don’t call him a DJ, he claims he isn’t) There were easily tens of thousands of people standing around the stage and up to see him perform. I have to say, if the world in general listened to some Girl Talk and flat out partied and had fun like the rest of us festival goers the world would be a better place.
(Listen to Girl Talk here, here, and here.)

We then walked over to catch another person I was excited to see, Dan Auerbach. He is the other person from the garage-blues duo of The Black Keys. He was everything I was hoping for. He was just great to watch and hear play, not to mention the 7 plus minute rendition of “My Last Mistake” to other great songs off his first solo album. I am going to catch him and the Black Keys when I get a chance. (Listen to Dan Auerbach here.)

Now on to the whole reason I went to ACL, the most amazing, greatest band on earth Pearl Jam. We caught some Spearhead before PJ went on, which was more of a back ground music to everyone anticipating Pearl Jam going on. PJ played every hit and song you could think of in the two hour set. I have never been so happy as to see them play songs that I absolutely love. From “Why Go” to “Evolution” to “Corduroy”. I was in heaven listening to them play, and they sounded great! I knew that Ben Harper would come up for a song, but they decided to play “Red Mosquito” and Ben dominated the guitar solos during the song. I was happy at that point, but what came next for the encore I couldn’t imagine. Pearl Jam brought up Perry Ferrell of Jane’s Addiction to play “Mountain Song” and that was by far the perfect end of an amazing day. Two of my most favorite bands playing together on stage. Then PJ finished up with a little Neil Young number to end the night.

Over all is was a perfect, amazing day, we caught many more bands but these stood out the most. I met a rock writer, talked to some great people, and realized why I love seeing music live. I just hope Kristen realizes that we will be going together next year to ACL. Not to mention I am going to try and catch more live music when I get the chance. Also, as much crap as I give Austin (due to the University of Texas being there); I have to say Austin is and has always been a cool place. I just wish they would drop the whole “Texas Longhorns” thing. Well done Austin, well done.