ACL 2018 in Photos: WE2 Friday

Weekend Two, Friday, thoughts, photos.

Brian and I went and got sweaty for you, day four for B, but he had the cameras and pit access this time around.

Nathan:

So last Friday at ACL, I showed up early, ready to get my rock n’ roll on…but the gods had other plans.

Due to a line-up change, the first band I wanted to catch, Big Thief, got pushed back to play at the same time as one of my current faves, Alvvays. It was frustrating to say the least…but I stuck to my guns, blew off Big Thief, and watched the Canadians. I’m continuously impressed by how Molly has this band executing on such a high level.

I hung about for a bit, then rushed across the park for David Byrne. Choreographed dance routines, hits from across the years, and a Janelle Monae cover? You kidding me David!? Seriously, might have been my highlight of the festival.

Bounced back across the park just in time to catch Lily Allen doing her thing, playing the hits, and reminding us of the joys of pop music. Took a brief break, then went back across the park to catch the National. Always a great live band; I feel like the highlight of that set will go down for the duet when Lauren from Chvrches came out and joined Matt for “Guilty Party.”

I closed it all out by catching Father John Misty. He did his thing. Nothing too showy, but solid performance. Gave you what you’d expect from a dude that’s been at it for as long as he has.

Brian:

I’ll echo that summation, add some color.

Early, there was The Coronas. Britpop, but Irish. Great way to ease into the day. Reignwolf was the opposite. Loud, hot, you couldn’t see the drummer from the photo area. They decided to change that a move forward after we were done. Whatevs.

The park held up pretty well given the rain during the week.

I hated having to leave Alvvays to get Big Thief photos, but enjoyed segments of both sets. I watched Big Thief last weekend, and to be honest the middle bits start to wander. Beginning of Alvvays, beginning of Big Thief, finish with Alvvays? Nailed it.

David Byrne‘s current tour is not to be missed. It is brilliant.

Lily Allen still says fuck a lot. Her fans were chanting “Lily Lily Lily Fucking Allen” as I walked into the photo pit. #diningalfresco

Lauren regrammed a photo of her and Matt with a meme caption. I have leveled up.

Father John Misty? I have been down on the dude for a bit, but this set turned me around. He was subdued, but charismatic, less schtick and more substance and the band sounded fantastic on my favorite stage of the fest (Barton Springs).

In why not mode, I photographed Odesza. A friend has been on tour with them for a while now. We were close to hitting the allotted time and he says, “Get ready, pyros at the start of the next song.” Of course, time was up and as we were escorted out, I could the heat from fireballs on stage. Such is life.

Upon finishing my day’s shooting, I stuck around for a bit of Sir Paul McCartney. I wasn’t approved to shoot and things got a little contentious for photographers that chose to dive into the crowd last week. Just imagine all those cell phone pics you saw looking way better and that is what could have been. Heh.