Dave Matthews & Ben Harper…in 3D.

Kelly — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 11:34:10 +0000

Regardless of what others may have to say about the guy, I am on record here as saying that I am a fan of Dave Matthews. I also enjoy much of Ben Harper’s work, especially his record from earlier this year with The Relentless7. I am also a fan of concerts and of movies as well.

Well, good news for me and others like me. From December 11 – 17, Larger Than Life in 3D will be playing in theaters across the country. The film features concert footage from not only select Matthews’ and Harper’s 2009 performances (I believe clips from this year’s ACL Fest will be prominent), but Gogol Bordello will also be featured. Want tickets? Want a T-Shirt from the event? Be the first to email me (kelly@thegobblersknob.com), and a pass for two and a swanky t-shirt will be all yours!

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ACL Fest 2009 Recap (for Saturday, anyways) Part Two.

Kelly — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 10:30:36 +0000

Yesterday I posted thoughts from the first half of my day at ACL Fest, this past Saturday. Here is the thrilling second, and closing chapter…

Tightey-Whiteys and a women's set of unmentionables made for the festival's most unique flag...

From afar, I caught a few minutes of Airborne Toxic Event’s set. They sounded fine, and I see the appeal, but I was far to preoccupied with the Flogging Molly set that was nigh upon my rain-drenched body at that point to pay much attention. As a lad of Irish descent myself, I was pumped to catch them for the first time. I found a decent spot that was right in the middle and directly in front of the sound booth. I wasn’t as close as I would’ve preferred, but I was close enough to make the stage my main viewpoint, as opposed to being forced to use one of the two huge video screens that flanked the AMD stage as my primary vantage point. The band came out dressed in black suits and red neckties and proceeded to put on an all-out Celtic rock show. As a friend and I discussed during the set, Flogging Molly’s years on the road and flair for the dramatic created a sense of showmanship that was spot-on and joyous to witness. Don’t get me wrong, it was great to see the younger bands get on stage and do their thing in their own way throughout the day, but a tight, well-oiled clan like Flogging Molly came to perform, not just play. They nailed the punk-ish sing-along numbers like “Drunken Lullabies”, “If I Ever Leave This World Alive” (my personal favorite), “Requiem For a Dying Song”, and “The Worst Day Since Yesterday”, from their debut album Swagger. The rain was falling at it’s most extreme during the hour long set that ended at 5pm, but I – and the thousands of others who were watching – just didn’t care at that point.

Next up was Justin Vernon’s Bon Iver back over at the Dell Stage (after also seeing Deer Tick and Felice Bros there, the Dell stage was definitely the “stage of the day” for me). I doubt I am the first, or will be the last blogger to say that this dreary, gray weather was an ideal setting for Bon Iver’s melancholy take on indie-folk. Having not seen him live before, I wasn’t sure if his trademark falsetto would be as resplendent in a festival setting as it is when I listen to his work while wearing my headphones for optimal listening. The surprisingly large crowd watching this set (I didn’t realize there were that many blog nerds like me there) realized quickly that Vernon’s vocals have nothing to do with studio tricks, as he captivated the crowd of umbrellas and ponchos rather easily. I have read other accounts of this set that claimed the sound was muted, but I didn’t get that at all. Perhaps my distant spot and low expectations of true sound quality weren’t hard to top at that point. Vernon’s “Skinny Love” carried a considerable amount of heft that even the excellent album version lacks and the song became an unlikely crowd sing-along. As with many great concerts, Bon Iver’s ACL set made me grab my Ipod and revisit his work, first thing this morning (another dreary one in Austin on Sunday when I am writing this from the porch of Jo’s Coffee).

After Bon Iver’s low key tunes, it wasn’t hard to find a sonic boost at 6pm. Mos Def, Levon Helm and Zac Brown all had sets scheduled to start at that time. What was the toughest schedule choice of the day for me was made easier when I heard rumors that Helm wouldn’t be singing (but he would still be playing drums) due to doctor’s orders. The choice was made even easier when I looked across the field to where Def was supposed to be starting, only to see an empty stage on the video screens. That left Zac Brown Band at the Austin Ventures stage. I was really excited to see him, and likely would’ve made a point to catch at least a couple of his tunes anyways. The band opened with his recent #1 hit, “Whatever It Is”, then covered the southern classic, “Devil Went Down to Georgia”. The guys displayed excellent musicianship, especially the fiddle and lead guitar players. Brown’s vocals were far warmer than my body temp at that point. While the overall temp wasn’t bad, the soaked clothes that covered my frame effectively created a chill within me. The band efficiently rolled through a few more tunes, including a new one that I didn’t catch the name of. Once they played my favorite track from their platinum-selling The Foundation, “Toes”, I was off…

Bottle of Water – $4

Beer: $6

Bathroom line (near AMD main stage) of 20+ people and 30 mins long – Painful

Getting to catch Mos Def’s relatively laid back, R&B-heavy set while I waited for the bathroom - Priceless

View of downtown Austin behind the Livestrong main stage.

I fully intended on hanging around a few more minutes to catch at least the start of Dave Matthews Band’s 8pm set at the Livestrong stage…but. Once I had surmounted the substantial obstacle that was the line for the bathroom, I realized that I had 45 mins to wait (my friends had moved on to Threadgill’s at that time) until DMB went on, and the massive crowd of umbrellas that had already gathered to stake a “decent” spot was not only visible to me from across the park where there is a slight hill, making it easy to survey the landscape, but it absolutely defeated me and turned me towards the exits to begin my long journey to that “decent” parking spot, and then to my hotel.

As with the Red Dirt Round-Up a few weeks ago, I didn’t have much problem with leaving a tad early and missing the night’s headliner (I had been there for 8 full hours, much of it in the pouring rain and without any rain protection at all) since the sets I had seen throughout the day were so enjoyable, expertly performed and in almost all cases for the day, truly memorable

The Gobblers Knob » Dave Matthews Band

Dave Matthews & Ben Harper…in 3D.

ACL Fest 2009 Recap (for Saturday, anyways) Part Two.