ACL Weekend 2 Highlights: Friday (10.11)

Walking into the park this past Friday, I should have seen the warning signs; there was a light drizzling rain as I made my way over to the Samsung Stage to catch Wild Nothing.  It would rain off and on throughout the day, though the weather remained clear until the evening sets. We saw some jams, we did things to our livers.

Read on for my highlights of the day and some snap shots of our man, B.Gray.

Wild Nothing perhaps got slighted, at least in our ATH opinions.  The group is too good, and too well-known to be slotted into the 11:30 slot, but I suppose there could be worse things.  They took it in stride, with Jack Tatum performing one of the best sets I’ve seen from him.  It was clear from early on at this point that the sound this year was super-improved, and every person that caught the early set was bobbing up and down; I include myself in that category.  You couldn’t start off Weekend Two in a better way.

Unfortunately, nothing really struck the same chord with me until later in the afternoon, when local-boys-gone-North, Okkervil River, took to the stage.  There’s something about Will’s voice that really is made for the stage; it has this raspy growl to it, yet still maintains its sense of melody.  I was particularly overjoyed to hear some of the hits from early records like Black Sheep Boy such as “For Real.” I know it might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but if I had to pick a top 5 performances of the festival this year, I think I’d slide these guys in at number 3 or 4. 

My other Friday highlight came from Queens of the Stone Age.  Yes, I had just seen them, but combine the energy and the raw power of their songs with the ensuing rains, and you couldn’t have picked a more perfect moment to watch the band.  Even if you’re not necessarily a follower of the group, as I’ve admitted, you’re still captivated by their performance, which is the sure mark of a well-rehearsed band.