Review - 2006 Austin City Limits Festival

by John Mizer
October 6, 2006

Can a halfsquare survive and actually enjoy a 3 day music festival in the Texas heat? The answer is a hearty "hell yeah" and I'm still tripping on the good times the event brought. Having seen my fair share of shows over the years has made me sometimes shy away from the music festival as a concept. While the ticket price provides plenty of bang for your buck the performances are often compromised and half-assed due to logistics. The people working behind the scenes at the Austin City Limits festival are to be sincerely commended for their proactivity, attention to detail and most importantly, positive attitudes. While the weather never reached the over 100 degree mark of last year's festival it was still somewhat uncomfortable at times with temperatures hanging in the low to mid 90s for much of the time. The ACL crew did an oustanding job at providing the concert goer with plenty of water, shade, and yes-plenty of bathrooms to make the experience as positive as possible. Concession prices were more than fair with most food in the 4 to 6 dollar range and beer going for 4 dollars a can. Most seemed to sidestep the brew for water or iced tea to maintain hydration. For the most part the sound was great with a few exceptions (remember-no sound checks) and the daytime video screens were saviours for those in the back rows.

Hard to believe I haven't mentioned the music yet...

This year's lineup was stellar with over 125 acts from all over world offering something for everyone. While it's virtually impossible to check out everyone playing it's entirely possible to bear witness to an amazing array of musicians that you may never get a chance to see again. Going with the flow and seeing partial sets was the path I chose in order to see as much as possible. Before my memories get fuzzy, here's a Reader's Digest recollection of whom I saw and heard:

Guster - Fun as usual with a nice career spanning set.

Thievery Corporation - Transform into a great live act with a horn section, sitar player, guest singers, and an infectious energy that made you forget they were two DJs at the beginning of their career.

Gomez - One of my festival fave's. Great mix. Great vocals and great passion. Well received from the unitiated.

Ray Lamontagne - Nice, but his set works much better in a club or small theatre rather in front of 20,000 festival goers. Beautiful sunset in the background added to the chilled vibe.

Van Morrison - Great sound, great vocals, tight band and a set list that ended with the hits. Nice to be able to see someone who barely tours.

Galactic - Energetic set that reminds me that jam bands can have song structures too!

TV On The Radio - Sorry to say that their set just didn't cut it partly due to a mid-afternoon start time.

Nickel Creek - Great chops, good songs. Arena bluegrass.

The Shins - Improved as their set went along. New songs show promise to the much anticpated CD to be released early next year.

Aimee Mann - Same as Ray Lamontagne:great personal songs that lose their impact due to the lack of intimacy.

The Raconteurs - Followed Aimee Mann and simply destroyed. An injection of machismo guitar rock that kicked much ass. Bonus points awarded for covering Nancy Sinatra's "Bang Bang" (See "Kill Bill").

Brazillian Girls - Saw just a bit from outside their crowded tent but could tell they had the crowd in a trance. Reminded me of early Bjork. This of course, is a good thing.

Massive Attack - A bit disappointing and disconnected but thought it was cool that they came in the first place. Not to mention getting a cameo from The Cocteau Twins' Liz Frazier!

Kathleen Edwards - Solid set that won her some new fans for sure. Nicely covered Neil Young's "Only Love Can Break Your Heart."

K.T. Tunstall - Great performer with good songs and an attitude that's infectious and likable.

Ween - Ween fans love Ween. Others....not so much. Kudos for covering Wings' "Let Me Roll It."

The New Pornographers - Tremendous power pop by an intermittant band. Next time we're at the bar please ask me to share the Neko Case story from this show.

The Flaming Lips - It's almost as much fun observing the crowd watch Flaming Lips as it is taking in their multi-media quirkfest.

Muse - Radiohead on steroids which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

All this and I managed to miss such great musicans such as Ben Harper, String Cheese Incident and Tom Petty not too mention some great local talent and music from all over the world.

I'm sure I'm forgetting a bunch but I can't recommend enough attending next year's show. Halfsquares seem to be more than welcome!