The Festival Diaries: Austin City Limits (ACL) 2013 Day One ft. Depeche Mode + Muse – Zilker Park, Austin (04.10.13)

Another year and another Austin City Limits (ACL) Music Festival has come to an end. My second consecutive year at the event, it was a truly phenomenal weekend of music where I discovered new talent, caught up with some old favourites – and saw a few legends who I never thought I’d have the chance to see. Accompanied by a reported 75,000 other punters, this was a weekend gifted with great music, perfect weather and the smooth running good vibes that ACL is well known for.

My first day at the event, which we’ll be reflecting on in this piece, started off rather haphazardly after I overslept on account of jetlag, and perhaps a little bit too much “enjoying myself” at the special Queens of the Stone Age concert the night before, where the band recorded for the iconic Austin City Limits TV program (the longest running music program in the USA), which ended up spawning this festival, now in its 12th year.

Frustratingly missing several must-see artists on the lineup, including recent Australian visitors FIDLAR, Thao and the Get Down Stay Down and Laneway bound Savages, Jimmy Eat World were well into their set when I walked through the gates. The sun was shining and the festival featured a virtually identical layout to last year. I felt right at home. And though I may have missed a few of the earlier acts, I had a more than enough big name acts to look forward to: namely Depeche Mode, Muse and Arctic Monkeys.

Before the main acts of the day would take the stage, however, there was a good mix of well-established performers and up-and-coming talent to do the same, over the festival’s eight massive stages. I kicked things off with Electric Six, who performed their best known songs like “Gay Bar” – amongst their lesser known material and a pile of fantastic banter. Their sets are always among the most entertaining (see my review of their show in New York last year), thanks to the hilarious Dick Valentine (see our interview with Dick himself back in Toronto in early 2011). Gems from his banter today included: “Song number nine is about the ecstasy of accepting Satan as your master”, “those are the worst three songs we’ve got… the fourth song is the best!” and “it’s a phenomenally male audience here… and that’s cool…” – that last statement was fairly factual, probably because all the females, and in fact the vast majority of the festival, were over singing along to Fun.

Pinback, meanwhile, were phenomenal; they’re a band loved and adored by many and it’s easy to understand why, though I have had little engagement with the band previously. Highlights from the set included “Offline” and “Syracuse”, which featured Rob Crow and Armistead Burwell Smith IV on lead vocals respectively. After more than 15 years together, it’s no surprise this is a tight band. Local Natives followed the San Diego based duo, and delivered one of the best sets I’ve seen from the band, with tracks like “Hummingbird” and the epic “Sun Hands” proving highlights for the performance. It was without a doubt one of the weekend’s unmissable sets.

Recent Australian visitor Jake Bugg seemed frustrated by sound problems early in the set but pushed through to impress a growing crowd. Highlight’s from the talented Brit’s set included “Slumville Sunrise” and a cover of Neil Young’s “My My, Hey Hey (Out Of The Blue)”. Meanwhile, local favourites – nay, heroes – The Black Angels brought with them a huge, supportive crowd, and were sounding at the top of their game from the little I saw. Having seen them in Australia not too long ago, however, I instead spent a bit more time with Okkervil River – also from Austin – who had everyone clapping along to what easily became one of the most talked about sets of the festival. This band is GOOD to say the absolute least, and their closing track “Unless it Kicks”, with the lead singer Will Sheff collapsing onto the floor and smashing out his acoustic guitar while the band exploded in reverb, was nothing short of an awe inspiring moment.

Having just announced shows in Melbourne and Sydney in the New Year, we can happily report that Vampire Weekend are sounding as solid as ever, having released their latest album Modern Vampires of the City since they were last in Australia for Big Day Out (see our interview with the band HERE). They opened things up with “Cousins” and went through a pretty even spread of their three albums from there on out, getting the crowd singing and clapping along to even their newest of material. And why not? It’s a great record.

One of the earliest clashes of the festival saw a half hour overlap with Vampire Weekend and the Arctic Monkeys, each playing on one of the event’s two main stages. It’s a bit of a walk between the two, so I managed to catch a bit of JD McPherson en route. The acclaimed singer/songwriter from Oklahoma had some sweet blues grooves happening over at the Zilker tent, with songs like “Firebug”, after which I made it just in time to see the Arctic Monkeys kick off their set.

I last saw this band back at Big Day Out in 2009, and boy have they developed since then. Releasing two superb records along the way, including their year’s acclaimed AM, the Sheffield band have become a fully fledged international rock and roll band. Working with producers like Josh Homme surely made their mark, but to be a band this tight – and sounding stronger than ever in the process – is something they have to be given a lot of credit for. Tracks like “Don’t Sit Down ‘Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair” and the brilliant “One For The Road” off their latest record are evident of this, where the band immerse themselves in the history of the rock genre and bring out something wholly their own.

I honestly would never have picked this from the band who produced “I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor” (which Alex Turner comically dedicated to the girlfriends of the guys up the back of the festival who “weren’t getting into it”) would end up becoming the band they are today. They have allowed themselves to grow, though have never shied away from their roots, and now with five albums under their belt, their set was a suitable mix of their discography, which included “Fluorescent Adolescent”, “Brainstorm” and “Teddy Picker”, amongst many others. “R U Mine?” ended the set, while it, and all the newer material, shined as some of the strongest of the night; and their set as one of the highlights of the weekend.

Wild Belle, a duo performing here as a five piece – all dressed in white – were a personal highlight of my own and would go on to be one of the most talked about acts of the whole weekend. Both Elliot and Natalie Bergman are phenomenal singers, and with the band behind them, they produce irresistibly catchy music. “When It’s Over” showcased this particularly well, and I particularly enjoyed “June” which featured Elliot on the Saxophone, while Natalie belted out some seriously fine vocals. You can check out my interview wiht the band last year HERE and make sure you don’t miss them if you get the chance! A must see act.

“Austin. We came to give you a night you’ll never remember.” These were the words spoken by the one and only Josh Homme from the now legendary rock group Queens of the Stone Age, who produced one of the year’s best records in …Like Clockwork. The new material shone as some of the highlights of the sets for yours truly, such as “My God is the Sun” and “I Sat By The Ocean”, though opening with “Feel Good Hit of the Summer” and interspersed with tracks like “Millionare”, “Burn The Witch” and of course “No One Knows”, the band ensured they produced a crowd pleasing set, with a fantastic light show to boot. One of the best bands on the planet only gets better with age… already looking forward to seeing them when they return to Australia next year with Nine Inch Nails!

And then it was time for the most high profile clash of the day: Depeche Mode or Muse? Having never seen the former before, I chose to witness the entire set and then catch the last half an hour or so of Muse – whose set ended up running about 20 minutes overtime due to technical problems stopping the sound twice. So I got in a little extra of their epic set which was appreciated!

After the second technical snafoo saw the sound cut out while Matt Bellamy was on his transparent grand piano, the band returned – kindly, and well after curfew (so with thanks to the organisers as well…) – to deliver a rousing version of “Knights of Cydonia”, which has been their go to set closer for quite a long time now, including when I last saw them in Austin in 2010. As you’d expect, the production was phenomenal, which helped to impress even when they performed their lesser appreciated newer material. “Stockholm Syndrome” and “Starlight” were among the highlights I got to witness, though at any Muse show the real winner is the person who love lasers. And that would be this guy. The band return to Australia in December.

Having experienced Depeche Mode just before I made it over to Muse, it’s fair to saw they were a tough act to follow. Existing in a universe somewhere between Dr. Frank-N-Furter from Rocky Horror and the iconic Gary Numan, David Gahan from Depeche Mode remains as strong a performer as ever – dancing around the stage and humping his mic stand as he jumped between newer material, old favourites, acoustic ballads and high energy singalongs. And while the highlights were certainly the biggest hits – “Just Can’t Get Enough”, “Personal Jesus” – which started out with a slowed down version that built up the energy and anticipation of the track, as Gahan removed his shirt – and “Enjoy The Silence” – complete with the obligatory solo from each member of the band – the set was strong from start to finish. Depeche Mode proved themselves to still be one of the finest live bands on the planet. Here’s hoping they return to Australia soon so you can all witness it for yourselves. In the meantime, the set list is below:

DEPECHE MODE SETLIST