This Goddamned Rain: Austin City Limits Day Two

Being that previous years at ACL have been remembered just as much for the unbearable heat as the acts themselves, organizers decided to schedule this year’s event for October. The trade-off of heat for downpours sounded like a great idea when the light rain was falling, but by the time Bon Iver took the stage at 5 PM everyone was drenched, and the new field at Zilker Park was more reminiscent of the muddy nightmare that was Woodstock ‘99. Except without the fires, rapes and shitty anger-rock bands, of course.

A few moods were dampened by the weather, but the rest of us toughed it out among the sea of umbrellas, garbage bags and plastic ponchos as Day Two of Austin City Limits unfolded. !!! and Mute Math, playing opposite ends of the park, both delivered upbeat dancey sets, while The Sam Roberts Band, who we were expecting to be old white men playing boring whitewashed blues, was anything but. The rows upon rows of chairs set up in the Wildflower Center tent by those not ready to brave the downpour effectively ruined the atmosphere of what was otherwise a rockin’ little assortment of upbeat jams.

By contrast, Jay-Z’s favorite hipster darlings Grizzly Bear were unbearably boring and, as I so eloquently Tweeted earlier, gayer than Perez Hilton getting an enema from Tom Cruise. Talk about baseless hype – everyone in the band looked like they were about to fall asleep. The audience dwindled rapidly as their immensely disappointing set wore on. Don’t believe the hype, don’t buy into the music blogs desperately grabbing for the scoop on the next big cool thing; Grizzly Bear are not where it’s at.

Flogging Molly took the stage as the rain really started to pour down, but that didn’t stop anyone from having a blast with a set that far exceeded casual expectation. In fact, the rain may have encouraged a sort of ‘fuck it’ attitude that the band appeared to embrace. Of course, lots of talk about Ireland, with assorted ginger kids screaming with patriotic glee. Frontman Dave King, who’s apparently never heard of the Middle East, said at one point “If we can have peace in Ireland, we can have peace anywhere.” He teased that their guitarist was from Dallas, and then said “Speaking of assholes, this next song is about an Englishman.” Then came a spirited performance of Tobacco Island, the song dedicated to Oliver Cromwell, the man behind an effort to kill all Irish in the 17th century. Introducing it with a nutshell brief summary of the story, King said it’s alright, “It’s not like he succeeded, so now we can dance on his grave,” or something to that effect.

On Friday it was the Walkmen that inspired us to dig deeper; on Saturday it was Bon Iver. I’d resisted the band previously, for no particular reason other than that their name sounds like it came from a hipster indie-band-name generator, but resistance gave way to awe as they harmonized their way through a gorgeous lineup of songs that were perfectly fitting for the torrential downpour. The name, which I was reminded several times yesterday, is pronounced “Bon Heeve-air,” a twist on bon hiver, which is French for “good winter.” The delicate beauty of their set was largely respected by the massive crowd, who remained silent until the end of each song, at which point they collectively screamed their appreciative hearts out.

The rain dissipated a bit as Mos Def commanded the AMD stage with a groove-heavy performance that dabbled in just about everything in the artist’s catalogue, as well as a freestyle jam or two and a cover of Radiohead’s All I Need thrown in for good measure. He was one of the event’s very few Hip-Hop artists, but judging by the massive turnout for his set, ACL organizers would be wise to add more similar acts to the bill for next year.

Friday night’s full moon may have still been hanging somewhere in the sky on Saturday, but the storm clouds obliterated any moonlight shining through. The Decemberists did more than enough of their own illuminating, however, as they made their way through their entire Hazards Of Love album, absolutely crushing the rest of the day’s performances with stage production and theatrics that created an atmospheric mood thick enough to taste.

Shara Worden and Becky Stark, when not scurrying about the stage to play an assortment of instruments, provided the soaring narrative supporting vocals, which were far more impressive in person than on record. That’s not to take anything at all away from the album, which is a heavy contender for album of the year in our book – even moreso after their ACL performance. Seeing the arrangements laid out onstage, the shortcuts not taken for the sake of musical convenience and the general sense of transcendental musicianship, is more than enough evidence for any cynic to declare The Decemberists a uniquely special band.

Opening with a brooding rendition of Don’t Drink The Water, Dave Matthews Band closed out the night with a career-spanning set that included a staple appearance by guitarist Tim Reynolds. Memorable performances of So Damned Lucky, Shake Me Like A Monkey and a rousing cover of Burning Down The House kept the masses packed in until the end, allowing us to skip out a bit early and with a little more breathing room towards the exit than we had the night before.

Day Three is about to begin, and the skies don’t appear much more merciful than yesterday. For those of you going, trash bags and raincoats are your only friend against the elements – you’ll get shouted down with an umbrella if you try to get anywhere near the barricade. But weather be damned – Sunday’s lineup is by far the best (Clutch! Dead Weather! Pearl Jam! Ben Harper! Arctic Monkeys!), and mud can be washed off.

Antiquiet’s trip to Austin for ACL 2009 was graciously sponsored by our friends over at camelcamelcamel. They set up a cool little site that lets you track prices of items on Amazon and a bunch of other online retailers. Please do pay them a visit to show your appreciation.