ACL Recap & Photos: Day 2
Have you recovered from your weekend debauchery at ACL Fest by now? I know the ATH crew has been struggling this week, but we’re ready for more shows this weekend. Now we shared with you our thoughts about Day 1 yesterday so naturally today we’ll be discussing Day two (Saturday). We’ve got some fancy photos and a few opinions on what went down. Check it out after the jump.
BGray – Rosebuds sound so good, but are they a festival band? Who cares, they sound great. Polica was lovely, big bass notes and charming stage persona. Interpol may have been the best sounding set of ACL. Better than Stubb’s shows. Big ringing guitars echo off the grass and fan-heads. Snowmine, hold my hand, I love you. The lighting guy for Juanes should be punched in the head. For a guy that moves around so much, you need more than just a fixed stage spot.
Nathan – I went over to check out the Rosebuds, as I’d already seen Mac DeMarco this year; I know, he jumps into the crowd and stage dives. Seen it. Rosebuds sounded great, though I would have appreciated some of their older more upbeat numbers, but that’s a personal preference. My other highlight was definitely checking out our old friends Snowmine, even though Adrian Grenier kept getting all up in my space. The rest of the time I just milled about mixing it up with friends and catching a good song here or there; I thought the Trombone Shorty moment with the Longhorn band was cool, even though I’m not a Longhorn fan. Again, the winner of the day was the sweet weather and cold beverages. Somehow, it’s not always about the music; it’s about the experience, and this was one of those days when that rang true for me.
Nicole – Best of the fest on Saturday for me is an odd tie between Mac DeMarco’s blazingly chill mid afternoon set and Snowmine’s cool and composed indie rock time on the BMI stage. Mac’s ‘raunch fest’ as rumored was funny, but nevertheless was also just plain good as the band doled out tracks from the latest album. No one at that set was having a bad time; grins were abundant all around as we were ‘college jammin.’” Snowmine, while playing to way fewer people than ought to have been there, were gracious and full of energy, taking the ‘we’re happy to be here’ attitude and letting it manifest itself through their dancy rock grooves. They got me dancing and validated me in my selection, when this time slot had four acts I wanted to see. A special shout out goes to the bro I walked past raging hardcore to a barely audible Llama Del Ray— you gave me a whole new meaning to “Summertime Sadness.”
RayRay – If Friday was my least favorite day of the weekend, Saturday was by far my favorite. Empires were one of my highlights of the weekend and will be blowing up soon. The Rosebuds & Mac Demarco both killed it at the same time. Rey Pila proved once again that they are a band to keep an eye on in the future. Snowmine showed us why we love them so much. Juanes offered the best performance of the weekend in my opinion. I don’t know anyone over the age of 25 who stayed for the headliners. Not interested. Hanging with new friends and drinking too much = good times.
