The Flaming Lips steal the show as singer Wayne Coyne rides on top of the crowd in a giant plastic ball. (Kelsey Jukam)
Before the lightning storm that sparked fear and insanity in thousands of Tom Petty fans and after the Jewish rapper ran off stage and danced the hora on a sound booth, women in purple alien suits, men clad as Santas and stage-hands channeling Space Ghost filled the AT&T stage Sunday afternoon at the Austin City Limits music festival.
Veteran ACL attendees know to expect the unexpected from this crazy three-day festival, held in Austin’s Zilker Park, that brings 130 diverse bands to rabid music fans from all walks of life. But this year somehow seemed to be the most surreal festival yet.
Friday is always the mellowest day of ACL, as the smaller crowds have yet to go crazy from the heat and lack of sleep, and I managed to see a full five sets without being trampled. After a great show from Guster, known for their single “Amsterdam,” I headed across the park for what I could only assume would be another fantastic act: Gnarls Barkley. Unfortunately, front man Cee-Lo failed to win over the crowd, even during the universally popular “Crazy.” There was a noticeable lack of cheering and dancing, and quite a few visible yawns. While I’m a fan of St. Elsewhere, the cool soul, electronic beats just didn’t reverberate in the park or resonate with the unimpressed crowd.
Next up at the AT&T stage, Thievery Corporation succeeded where Gnarls failed. Drawing in the audience with trance-inducing sitar sounds and belly dancing, the Washington D.C.-based DJ duo proved to be one of the most impressive acts of the day. Vaguely familiar with the group pre-ACL, having heard their track “Lebanese Blond” on the Garden State soundtrack (I’ll admit it, I once listened to that soundtrack on repeat), I was surprised by the mix of reggae, samba, Indian and jazz inherent in each of the songs. Since I couldn’t stop samba dancing, I bought their album, “The Cosmic Game,” the next day (and am now listening to it on repeat).
Van Morrison wrapped up the first day of the festival, playing selections mostly from his new country album “Pay the Devil.” Concert attendees young and old were not disappointed with the legendary crooner, but I was a bit distracted by the old people in front of me booty dancing and smoking something that didn’t smell like cigarettes and I decided to leave a little early.
Since wristbands and Saturday tickets were sold out by the time I finally saved enough money to buy tickets in mid-August, I missed out on all of the drama of the second day of the festival, including Ben Kweller’s bloody nose. Apparently, he tried to stop the bleeding with a tampon, but was still forced to end his set early. Next time try super-absorbent, Ben.
Sunday didn’t begin so bloody. Hassidic Jewish reggae/rapper Matisyahu remained unscathed, even after climbing on top of a speaker and jumping off the stage to dance down to the sound booth during “King Without a Crown.” Clad in full religious attire, yamukuh and all, Matisyahu, whose Hebrew name means “gift from God,” shared his gift of performing his beautiful lyrics at mind-boggling speeds with a very thankful crowd. Even those who aren’t usually rap fans were converted to appreciators of the genre by this funny and talented performer.
Blood was once again seen on an ACL stage during the next set, featuring The Flaming Lips. After beginning the performance by rolling crowd-surfing in a giant plastic ball, Wayne Coyne, lead singer of The Flaming Lips, poured a vial of fake blood all over his head and asked the audience to provide him with tampons. The show was filled with theatrics, including stage Santas and aliens and massive amounts of giant confetti and balloons, but all this only added to the music.
The indie/psychadelic group, known for “The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song,” and “Do you realize?” retained the unique quality of their music by having the aliens and Santas play noisemakers and encouraging the audience to sing along. Although the festival included many fantastic performances, The Flaming Lips just couldn’t be beat.
Ending the surreal weekend was an excellent show by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, who announced that this would probably be their last major tour. Thirty minutes into the set, however, a thunderstorm threatened to cut the group’s show short. Unperturbed by the lightning flashing nearby, fans waited in the downpour, quoting the group’s lyric “I won’t back down,” until it was safe for the band to resume playing. Those who held their ground couldn’t have been disappointed by Petty whose performance was a perfect finale to a pretty perfect festival, aliens, blood and all.
