The day is about half over here at ACL, and I’m back in the press lounge with the info on three shows.
Asleep at the Wheel
One of the first shows today was Asleep at the Wheel. They kicked it off with Miles and Miles of Texas, and having not ever heard their music before I quickly realized that Asleep at the Wheel was a brand of no holds barred pure southern country. They played a few more classics, Route 66 and Goodbye Liza Jane, each with another member of the band singing. One of the violinists couldn’t have been more than 13 or 14 years old. Each member of the band had a distinct personality, and I especially liked the super cool keyboardist who hammered away with a smirk on his face. I cut out early so I could get a good spot for What Made Milwaukee Famous.
What Made Milwaukee Famous
The band was up on stage preparing 45 minutes ahead of time, then left until show-time where they came back on stage wearing different clothes. They energized the crowd with some of the most high intensity music yet. Overall they put on a great show, and I’m glad played my favorite song of theirs Almost Always Never.
At the time What Made Milwaukee Famous garnered the biggest crowd, but not even half way through their set people were drifting over to the AMD stage where Vampire Weekend was going to play.
Vampire Weekend VS Jakob Dylan
The crowd at Vampire Weekend was massive, and I couldn’t get a good spot, so I decided to go see how the AT&T stage where Jakob Dylan was. On my way it looked as if a mass exodus was taking place. Nearly everyone was moving in the opposite direction (toward Vampire Weekend). Finally I made it to Jakob Dylan’s stage and it was dead compared to the other. It was Dylan that I was going to see.
Jakob Dylan
About 5 minutes before the show started the crowd had filled out. Jakob Dylan came out in a black coat and his backing band The Gold Mountain Rebels were dressed in sharp black suits.
He opened up the set with Something Good This Way Comes and unlike his father he actually spoke to the audience before the second to last song, commenting on how nice it was outside. Along with songs from his solo album, Dylan sang Beautiful Side of Somewhere, from his Wallflowers catalog.
Although I’m not a big fan of Dylan’s solo material, it does come off better live. When I get back home I’m going to have to give his album a few more listens.
I’ve got a few more bands to get to today, and I’ll have a final report later tonight.
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