We decided to arrive late in the afternoon because, quite frankly, it was impossible for us to get used to this heat. First up is the best band in all of ACL: Arcade Fire.
The Arcade Fire - Cingular Stage
This is large. This is the same stage that Oasis graced last night and it shows that Arcade Fire's popularity is reaching astronomical heights. This isn't the first big festival these guys played, but it definitely ranks up there as one of their biggest.
My friend and I decided to go as close as possible, and we achieved that by being next to the speakers, stage left. We got a comfortable view of the stage and some much needed shade from the elements. It still amazes me that Arcade Fire still do their own soundcheck.
While they were doing their soundcheck, one of rock's royal family were in the sidelines watching. Apple, Gwyneth and Chris Martin were all there anticipating a great show from these guys. Apple was sporting pink headphones to cover the noise. It was cute.
Their setlist was as follows:
Wake Up
Laika
No Cars Go
Haiti
Headlights Look Like Diamonds
Sleeping In A Submarine
(Brazil-snippet)
Five Years
Tunnels
Power Out
Rebellion (Lies)
Until "Power Out," I was totally calm and a complete non-nuisance. It was hot, so I didn't want to kill myself. And everyone around me was just bobbing their head in enjoyment, with the occassional jumping around (usually it was me). They played their set excellently as always. Win commented that "You guys in the shade must be thinking this is a great show while people in the back think we're shit!" Oh, how right he was. The shade definitely helped.
Nobody knew "Five Years" except for a handful of people in my area. Win also threw his mic stand down on the viewing well.
I have nothing else to say really from what I said before about this band. They are just fantastic live, and the size of the place didn't take away too much of their grandeur.
When "Power Out" came on, I immediately bum rushed the front of the stage, much to the dissatisfaction of the people I bumped. I wanted to join the people hopping around, but they ceased doing that even when "Rebellion (Lies)" came on. Such a shame. I was hoping some of the Rowdies from Stubbs were there, but they were nowhere to be seen.
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My friend and I immediately got out of there and made our way to the SBC Stage to see Franz Ferdinand. After a brief bathroom break and some refreshments, we made our way there. We had to fight the dust and the wind, which was blowing harder and harder every step we took. I had to use my Mexican style bandana as a face mask just to cover the dust.
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Franz Ferdinand - SBC Stage
From this point on, we were going to stay here to see Franz Ferdinand and then Coldplay. We got a great spot as well, near the speakers, stage left. Yeah, I know what you're thinking: we're always on the left side near the speakers. Oh well. I took a hearing test today and I'm alright so far.
Our view was heavily obstructed since we were on the extreme left. We couldn't see Paul, the drummer, and we couldn't see the Franz Ferdinand banner that hung in the background.
Franz Ferdinand played a really enjoyable set. It would have been more enjoyable if it wasn't so fucking humid, but fun nonetheless. They played "Do You Want To" really early and that song live is a lot of fun to dance to. Also, "Take Me Out" was played shortly thereafter, and that got the crowd moving along nicely.
A lot of the new songs they played I really enjoyed such as "I'm Your Villain," "This Boy," "What You Meant" and "Evil and a Heathen." Unfortunately, the crowd didn't know much of the songs since the new album wasn't released yet.
The older songs got a huge reaction. Songs like "40 ft." and "This Fire" received a good amount of cheers. "Darts of Pleasure" and "Michael" also received great applause and some dancing.
But the Franz boys are just clever and joyful. Very stylish, despite the circumstances. They also introduced themselves individually, with Alex leading the way. Lots of dancing and jumping around from the Franz boys. Take a bow. Take a bow.
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At this point, a lot of the Franz crowed stayed and made a push to get closer for Coldplay. This is where it got downright nasty. We were packed like sardines and I could barely move my arm. The place was like a slaughter house, with all of us stinking and herded like cattle. We could only take 10 minutes of this and we decided to make our escape. We pushed and shoved and eventually hopped over the railing. We decided to get drinks, get some wet wipes to get rid of the soot and eat.
We were very, very far for Coldplay, but we were comfortable.
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Coldplay: SBC Stage
Coldplay's stage set is the same set that they've been touring with here in the U.S. The setlist was no different than their setlist in any of their other U.S. shows. They opened up with "Square One" with the whole clock timer thing in the back and Chris Martin hopping around like a bunny rabbit. "Politik" followed and now the crowd started getting into it even more.
Throughout the set, Chris was improvising the lyrics to fit in with the festival. The most glaring was his tribute to Arcade Fire and Coldplay where he said, during the verse before the chorus, "You should have seen Arcade Fiiiire, open up your eyes...."
Chris LOVED Arcade Fire. He couldn't stop talking about them. He said that after he saw Arcade Fire, the entire band wanted to retire and pursue other occupations. He also said that he was inspired by them, and will take their energy and enthusiasm on stage to something that Coldplay will hopefully duplicate in their own show. Tough act to follow, but Chris was determined.
Oddly, no mention of Oasis.
"Yellow" came on as the third song, and the balloons were released.
The definite highlight was "Fix You." That song...man. It just does something to my heart. It's so damn perfect for me. It just encapsulates all my feelings in one. Damn that was good. You can tell that everyone at the show was affected by the song. Just the sheer silence of people in the crowd and how people with significant others just hugged one another during that song. This is by far the best song Coldplay has ever written. It just tugs at the heart strings of all men and women.
I actually enjoyed Coldplay here rather than at Shoreline. Where I described the lighting as plain at Shoreline, it was spectacular here.
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And that was ACL. A very memorable experience in more ways than one. Will I go again? Maybe. Austin is a nice little city with a lot of nice people. And it's liberal, which is something of an anomaly in Texas I guess.
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