Monday, 29 Sep 2008
Austin City Limits 2008 is in the bag. It gave us some good times, a sunburn, and some new favorites to take back home. The final day of the festival brought a lot of favorites that have alluded me for some time. The highlight of the day was Band of Horses who completely owned their audience for an hour. Too bad the Foo Fighters didn’t wait for them to finish their set before launching into their opening number.
One of the best new discoveries of the entire festival was Austin native Scott Biram. Biram played a gritty, foot-stomping, alcohol fueled set, spiked with a bit of gospel for a Sunday afternoon. I stuck around after his set for Priscilla Ahn, who wasn’t on the schedule, but whose Blue Note debut, A Good Day, has gotten some play and whose Take Away Shows were pretty nice as well.
Gillian Welch brought along the legendary David Rawlings for her entire set and later brought out Alison Krauss for a lovely harmonious take on “Don’t Leave Nobody But The Baby.” Neko Case kept the vibe going, mixing new material with deep cuts from her catalog. Together both Neko and Gillian’s sets were some of the most beautiful over the three days in Austin.
Finally, let’s not forget AA Bondy who started out the day and watched his crowd swell in size as the latecomers worked off their hangovers during his set. Filled with the same mysterious/funny banter we got when he opened for Bon Iver, Bondy has proven himself, both on record and in person, that he’s an artist we’ll be following for some time.
Thanks Austin, we had a good time. Maybe we’ll see you again. Until then, here is our last round of photos:
AA Bondy
Scott Biram
Priscilla Ahn
David Rawlings
David Rawlings & Gillian Welch
David Rawlings, Gillian Welch, Alison Krauss
Against Me!
Neko Case
White Denim
Band of Horses
Foo Fighters
Related: Don’t miss Gorilla vs. Bear’s ACL wrap up, complete with Polaroids.
Discuss: Did you attend Austin City Limits this year? What were your favorite acts? Who were some of your new discoveries?
September 30th, 2008 at 8:39 am
Really enjoy your site, these photos and your overall musical taste. Just got back to work from ACL, my faves in order were:
1. Swell Season
2. AA Bondy
3. Jose Gonzales
4. Black Keys
5. Beck
Swell Season were absolutely terrific, made my weekend. I plan on seeing them again soon hopefully.
AA Bondy was the other act i REALLY wanted to see and he didn’t disappoint, just a fantastic singer.
Jose Gonzales was my discovery. Have heard *about* him much, but never listened to him outside of a song or 2, but his set was great (especially after missing the Old 97s).
I would put Against Me! up there but i’ve seen them 15-20 times around Gainesville (and again this Sunday with Ted Leo, yeah!) that it seems odd to put them among the favorites, more like seeing an old friend again. They too played some old stuff that was fun to hear. It was more just interesting to see a band i’ve seen in clubs that hold 150 poeple play a stage that size.
September 30th, 2008 at 8:43 am
Thanks Mark, I was really bummed to have missed The Swell Season. I saw them earlier this year in Madison and they were amazing. Glad you liked Bondy. It was my first time seeing Against Me! – love ‘em
September 30th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
Just returned from my first trip to ACL.
My top 3:
1. David Byrne. Still groovy after all these years.
2. Okkervil River. Energy and passion from the first note to the last.
3. Robert Plant & Alison Krauss. Plant was superb, and had charisma enough for two. Which was good, because Alison Krauss didn’t bring any of her own. The highlight was hearing “Black Dog” reworked into a slinky blues tune.
Other excellent shows: Erykah Badu, Swell Season, Jose Gonzalez, Gillian Welch
October 1st, 2008 at 9:06 am
Scott H. Biram is great!
Get his albums…you’ll love them.