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The Dead Weather's Jack White

Oct 09, 2009 By Stacie Leonard Photography by Michele Yamamoto

"This grass is awesome!" No, this wasn't an exclamation from the girl with the Bob Marley flag, but a comment made about the $2.5 million upgrade to Zilker Park. This, of course, was on day one of the festival. By day three, the awesome grass had turned into an area that was reminiscent of days spent on Grandma's farm. The smell, the hay, the mud, the herds... but the sound, that which was much better than the roosters crowing and the cows chewing, made it all worth it!

This was my eighth ACL (Austin City Limits) Festival to attend (the idea was born in '02) and although I'm not one for reading festival "recap" posts, for those that missed this year's festivities here's a little summary of the day's events. I don't know where half of these bands "hail from," I can't tell you every album they've ever created, and I can't tell you the lead singer's favorite shoe brand... but, I can tell you what I thought about their live shows. It was an experience filled with guilty pleasures (Girl Talk), must-see's (Pearl Jam), expected greatness (Bon Iver) and a few of The Emperor's New [Band] moments (The Dead Weather). As always, to each is own.

On Day One, the first mad dash was to catch School of Seven Bells. Identical twins Alejandra and Claudia Deheza played my favorites—"Class of 73 Bells" and "Half Asleep"—so it was a great way to get the party started. The new camera system took some getting used to, with a mechanical arm that distorted the view from the front rows, but it was a nice addition for screen watchers. Next, it was on to Blitzen Trapper. The sound wasn't the greatest, with some popcorn-like speaker crackle, but the crowd didn't seem to mind as they played through popular favorites mostly from their breakout Furr album. The Walkmen, a band that doesn't take advantage of technology like most do these days, opened their set with the new track "On the Water." A few crowd members were overheard saying "This one is my favorite song!" Most artists sound better on their albums, but the passion in lead singer Hamilton Leithauser's voice is better appreciated in person. Previous thoughts of catching part of the Phoenix show were marred by a "Look at the size of that crowd, they're just not indie enough!" observation.

Next it was off to the iconic "Hi, How Are You?" legend that is Daniel Johnston. It's rumored that the big-eyed frog mural created by Johnston in Austin in 1993 at, what was then, the Sound Exchange was kept alive with a million dollar preservation from the building's next tenants, Baja Fresh. The eatery tanked, but the mural and its creator are still alive and well. The 48-year-old Johnston (my first guess was 71, thank you Wiki) donned the stage in a t-shirt and breakaways. His lyrics can be described fairly in four words—brilliant, simple, sad, and honest. "In Grievances," the same song with the lyrics: "And I saw you at the funeral/You were standing there like a temple/I said hi, how are you, hello/And I pulled up a casket and crawled in," also contains the line: "I'm looking for a nice girl and I don't want no cow." Johnston was holding onto his microphone for dear life, as his two hands shook back and forth. The stand he used to read lyrics from was reminiscent of a moment in ACL history two years ago—as Lucinda Williams struggled to keep a lyric cheat-sheet from blowing in the wind, she told an anxious audience, "This is why you don't do acid." There was some question as to whether or not Johnston would have a full band for the performance and although he did, I prefer his one-man acoustic show. The set ended with the brilliant song "True Love Will Find You in the End."

At this point in the day, the sun was searing and I came to the realization that there just is no cool way to put on deodorant in public. It was time for some R&R on a blanket in the expensive grass with some friends before Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Andrew Bird's set was enjoyed from afar, with a great voice and a lot of whistling flowing from the stage. Yes yes yes. How can one describe a performance by Yeah Yeah Yeahs? Performance art! Karen O is known for her sense of out-there fashion and the show included costume changes complete with a Karen O-bedazzled leather jacket and body suit/mask. A long intro to "Zero" pumped up the energy, while a slow and beautiful rendition of "Maps" put the crowd in a trance. Yeah Yeah Yeahs give new meaning to the phrase "putting on a show." After their set ended, it was a speed walk to catch the overplayed-on-the-radio, I'm-so-tired-of-this-damn-song Kings of Leon. It was just in time to see a surprise appearance by a tambourine wielding Eddie Vedder. He joined the OU-loving Kings for the song "Slow Night, So Long" from their 2005 album Aha Shake Heartbreak. After their set, it was back to the herd. Perhaps it's a Texas thing to compare an ACL crowd to a "herd" of cattle, but at this point in the evening they move just as quickly.

On Day Two, a cab mix-up prevented me from catching the Deer Tick set, a band I was super stoked about seeing live again. Alberta Cross was up next. They got some love with a mention from Dave Matthews later in the night. The rain didn't stop fans from crowding around the much-hyped Grizzly Bear stage. Despite the view from a small head hole of a Longhorn poncho, they put on a great show (as was expected) with a mix of hits both new and old. What can be said that hasn't already been said about a GB show? At this point, not much. Bon Iver played songs from their only full-length album For Emma, Forever Ago and the recent Blood Bank EP. That voice! It was well worth the rain dancing. The crowd sang along with their "my, my, my's" and "I told you's" to one of Justin Vernon's most popular song to date, "Skinny Love." Next, The Decemberists put on a performance they've taken on the road for awhile now. The set started with the rock opera The Hazards of Love and ended with a mix of popular songs from other albums. The band cleans up nice and knows how to impress, complete with a forest-tree-trunk-resembling stage backdrop. One can selfishly say "I wish they would put on a different show," but then selflessly realize that it may be the first time that many have seen this greatness. A great set, whether you're a first-timer or an ol 'Cemberists vet. Next it was on to Dave Matthews Band. After an hour and 20 minutes of wading through mostly new-bad-stuff and old-unpopular-stuff, DMB played a popular old hit that got the energy going from the crowd of thousands. DMB also covered Talking Heads' "Burning Down the House." I don't care for the original song (feel free to throw your stones), so the cover was underwhelming at best. It was hard to resist the temptation from the lights and bass streaming from Ghostland Observatory's set, but there's a sense of loyalty that lives in the typical DMB fan that even a "Sad Sad City" temptation can't destroy.

On Day Three, most of the crowd looked like they had tried to make wine out of mud pies. My friends and I surrendered and decided to embrace the dirtiness, rather than fight it, by giving ourselves mud tattoos (It's now been confirmed that the "mud" was actually Dillo Dirt, which includes a mix of treated raw sewage...*gags*). Here We Go Magic played a nice set with Luke Temple's pretty voice (Ben Gibbard is quoted as saying, "His voice alone is so damn good...one of the prettiest voices in all of indie rock, hands down."). During the set I spent some time searching for a harmonica player only to be foiled by new technology. Is there anything that a keyboard can't do? The drummer mentioned how they've been stuck in a house in New York, so the crowd at ACL is the most they've seen in awhile. They ended their set with the popular song "Tunnelvision." Next, I time-traveled over to The B-52's show. At first, watching them perform was an awesome yet slightly uncomfortable experience. Do they still have it? I can't watch! Is everyone okay? Phew. Ok... they still have it. The set opened with "Pump" (FYI: "jellybone" is British slang for the telephone) and the crowd couldn't help but chuckle at Fred Schneider's comment: "Get ready for a lesson in ancient history!" Personally, I could watch Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson dance all day long. Does that make me weird? Maybe. Going to the opposite ends of the music world, next up was White Lies. The band has received a lot of hype lately and touring with acts as popular as Coldplay and Kings of Leon doesn't hurt in the popularity contest. Harry McVeigh's voice sounded great live, but I have to say that although it was my first White Lies show, it wasn't anything I hadn't heard before—'80s-esque U.K. rock. Maybe I'd dig them more if they were the underdog in the indie music game?

Next was a trek through the mud with Meric and Logan from The Dodos (read our report on that here), while overhearing some of my faves from The Toadies. It's a known fact that if you reside in Texas, you have to be a fan of The Toadies. Plain and simple. A friend that caught the show said they were more crowd-pleasing than Dave Matthews Band. Meaning, they played more of the old (good), and less of the new (meh, ok) songs. "Possum Kingdom" from their '94 release Rubberneck was enjoyed from afar while trudging through the swamp that was Zilker Park. Then it was off to Passion Pit. I really wanted to make a shirt with "PASSION ->" leading to an arm pit, but time prevented me from doing so. Maybe next time? It was a tossup between their show and Dirty Projectors. At this point in the day, however, I needed something to get my adrenaline going and the energy of the Pit beat out the soothing vocal harmonies of the Projectors. The adrenaline got pumped, and I have to admit that I honestly thought "I've Got Your Number" featured a female contributor—I'm still a bit confused. We had to make a mad dash to the next show, but I'm guessing the popular track "Sleepyhead" closed their set. Next it was on to The Dead Weather. The media tent was all abuzz with rants and raves about Jack White's new "super group". I may be biased, but I'm not a big fan of rock "super groups." The lyrics and the music are too simple for me and my…wait, what was I talking about?....attention span. It reminded me of back-in-the-day when my older brother blared Rock 'n' Roll cassette B-sides with a young bratty me in the background yelling, "Can't you just play The Fat Boys tape again?!"

Next up was Girl Talk. It's hard for many well-versed indie music lovers to admit they have feelings for Girl Talk. The self-proclaimed "non-DJ" is equipped with only a laptop, some indie-fashionable dancing hipsters, and a mix of bits and pieces of other artist's tracks. There's something to be said, however, about the immediate gratification that you get in hearing 15 songs you love in five minutes, while you often spend half an hour waiting to hear "that song you like" during other live shows. The side screens were filled with images of flashing neon massively layered hamburgers, skulls and marijuana leaves while the on-screen instructions told Gillis' minions just what to do—"Get low! Get high!" It was a nonstop dance party that my blistered pinky toe is paying the price for now. I think it's safe to say that this was my favorite "experience" of the festival. Hands down. Hands up! In the air! Get high! Ironically after the Girl Talk set, Pearl Jam's "Why Go (Home)?"could be heard from afar. Eddie Vedder let the crowd know that he hadn't played in Austin since 1995. Having given birth to my love for grunge and flannel with bands like Nirvana (R.I.P.) and Pearl Jam, their set was a must-see. The dance party continued through the night (well, we were the only one's dancing in our area at this point) as the band played such favorites as "Evenflow," Daughter,", "Do The Evolution" and "Alive."

Despite the mud and rain and the smell and the herds, the ACL festival was amazing enough to make me too tired to come up with a proper closer.... asdfasdfjkljkl.... My head hurts and my shriveled feet have aged 20 years, but I'm still smiling and the beat goes on. Has anyone heard rumors about the lineup for 2010 yet? I'll see you there...