ACL Festival Day 2

Saturday

A little more rain fell, and it was wonderful even though we were out in it. Alison Krauss & Union Station restricted stage seating to her band's guests (which included Robert Plant and Patty Griffin - I think the cat is finally out of the bag on this local celebrity couple) so we watched from the front. Beautiful show. I sooo love this band and everyone in it.


After AK&US, we went to the tented stage for
Gillian Welch (and David Rawlings). Gillian has played this festival a couple of times previously, and they put her on one of the big stages. For some reason they didn't this time. The smaller stages at ACL, especially if the acts are somewhat acoustic, fall victim to really awful sound bleedover from the other stages. I have been front rail center for a small stage band before, and could still hear the band from another stage equally well. This thing is the elephant in the room, performers put up with it because they are troopers, and not enough audience members complain or if they do, it doesn't make any difference - the festival will sell out.

Anyway, here is Gillian and David: The Revelator

And here is the band that was playing on the nearby stage and was scheduled to continue for another half hour, the first half of Gillian's set. Skrillex: "Kill Everybody"

She went out on a limb and had them postpone her start time until Skrillex was finished. It was sooo much better that way for everyone, but it delayed the stage schedule and some people may have felt inconvenienced by that.

Here is a bit of prime ass-holery from Billboard Magazine's tweet:

The aged + child crowd in Gillian Welch tent seems not amused by the rave happening across the way at Skrillex. #ACL #dealwithit

Deal with it? So it's perfectly alright to have both those performers going at the same time and place? It takes nothing away from the listening experience of the acoustic, quieter performance? Our only problem is that we are old? Or there are kids in the audience? (there are all ages in ALL the audiences.) This is the opinion offered by a representative of a MUSIC magazine? #assholejustdoesntgetit #goodongillian

My Morning Jacket was the headliner we chose for the night, and again, did not really attempt to get close. It was a beautiful night, and little damp and cool and cloudy, unlike the nights we've had here for several months when it might still be 100° out. Most of the crowd was at the other end of the park, so we had the opportunity to have some space around us, look up at the sky without feet stepping over your face, and dance in big wide circles (like nobody was looking). They sounded really good. They've been around for awhile and never caught on with me, but I'm ready to listen now. Nothing like an old new discovery.