Chord 14 Impela
Versie Rons
ACL Weekend 1 was unforgettable. This was our first time at the festival, and we could not have had a better experience. It would be impossible to really capture how special this festival was, but I will certainly do my best.
The first act we caught on Day 1 was Cherub. This Nashville-based electropop duo served as the perfect warm up for our start to the ACL weekend. With bass-driven dance songs like "Disco Sh*t" and smooth synth tunes such as "Chocolate Strawberries" and "Freaky Me, Freaky You," Cherub lit the Miller Lite Stage on fire. The pair exuded good, festival vibes by jumping and dancing to the beat with the large crowd. They also performed a cover of Calvin Harris's "Feel So Close," which got everyone within listening distance dancing and singing along. Cherub closed their set with the extremely popular song "Doses & Mimosas" and invited the audience to sing along. The crowd was thrilled by this familiar tune and jammed out, singing along to the carefree lyrics and bouncing to the electric beat.
Next up on our highlight reel is Tame Impala, who took the Samsung Stage with the Austin skyline as a backdrop. Though generally categorized as a rock, this Aussie band is pretty difficult to squeeze into one descriptive genre. Having released three studio albums since forming in 2007, this band incorporates elements of psychedelic pop, electro/synth pop, and guitar-heavy rock all to make melty musical goodness. Tame Impala's 10-song set kicked off with "Let It Happen" which is also the first track on their recent album Currents. At their 6pm set time, the day was beginning to wind down, and their set complemented the crowd's happy, heat-induced fatigue. It was one of those sets where you can either plop down on a blanket in the grass or get up and do that dreamy, floating hippie dance (I know you know what I'm talking about). This vibe continued throughout the whole set, and it was truthfully a peaceful, chilled out performance to rejuvenate the crowd from a day in the Texas sun.
Next up, we saw George Ezra, who was by far our favorite of the day. To the crowd's delight, he opened his set with the jivey tune "Cassy O'." The whole crowd danced along to George's strumming of his guitar and fed off of his electric energy. Ezra possesses this deep, soulful, weathered voice that doesn't match his youth by any measure. Anyone in the crowd who wasn't familiar with him must have been pretty surprised to hear this vocal style and range from a 22-year-old British kid. Ezra continued to play his nostalgia-driven songs about love, travel, and finding oneself as the Texas sun went down, displaying the most beautiful sunset I've ever laid eyes on. To put it simply, this was one of those moments where you know there is no place you would rather be than right here.
About halfway through the set, Ezra spoiled the crowd with a cover of the famous Bob Dylan/Johnny Cash duet "Girl from the North Country." The crowd gently swayed as he treated us to this little acoustic gem. Ezra also did this cover live for SiriusXM's the Spectrum, which I highly suggest taking a listen to here. After this, Ezra continued the set with two more songs from his 2015 album Wanted On Voyage, "Leaving It Up To You" and "Blame It On Me." To preface "Blame It On Me," he told the audience that he hopes everyone is enjoying his performance, but if they really hate him, they can watch the video to this song where he "gets sh*t on by a bird, bit by a dog, and hit by a car." After a collective chuckle from the crowd, Ezra soulfully sang this recent single and strummed his guitar, as a happy audience reverberated the words back to him.
The next two songs were "Spectacular Revival" and a cover of Macy Gray's "I Try." This was arguably the best part of the set. "I Try" is one of those songs that anyone born before 2000 knows without even knowing how they know it. Ezra's gruff, but impossibly sweet voice led the way through the first verse up to the chorus, and the crowd joined him in shouting out the lyrics to this familiar tune. George also performed this cover at the BBC Live Lounge, and you can watch this performance here.
As he neared closer to the end of this enchanted set, Ezra asked the crowd if we would dance with him, as he played "Barcelona," a romantic tune inspired by his travels through Europe. The sun was almost gone, and the atmosphere in the festival had never felt better. To introduce his next song, George told us the story of when he was visiting in Sweden, when he got too drunk one night and missed his next train to the city of Budapest. After never making it to Budapest, he still wrote a song titled after the city, which turned out to be his most popular single, which first appeared on his EP Do You Hear The Rain? This song is laden with falsetto "Ooh"'s, and each time they came around Ezra stepped away from the mic, encouraging the crowd to sing, and the stage lights lit up, as if in response to the collective voice of the crowd.
The exhilarated audience was nowhere near ready for Ezra to leave the stage. For the penultimate song of the set, Ezra performed "Blind Man in Amsterdam," an irresistibly catchy tune, once again inspired by his travels in Europe. Finally, Ezra closed the set with "Did You Hear the Rain?" This emotionally charged performance started off with a dark stage and a single spotlight on George, as he sang the acapella portion of the song that communicates the passion behind through Ezra's deep, weathered voice. The power driving Ezra's voice combined with the banging percussion and electric guitar was unexpected but inspired awe among the audience. After the last lyric Ezra snarled into the mic, "Lucifer's inside," he thanked the crowd and exited the stage. This electrifying performance was nothing shy of the best of the day. We left the stage on an exhilarating high.
After George Ezra's set, we wandered around the festival a bit and caught the Foo Fighters and Disclosure before the day came to an end. The Foo Fighters drew the majority of the ACL crowd to the Samsung Stage and tore it down. Disclosure gave a fun, electronic dance performance that was the perfect way to get out whatever remaining energy we had from the day.
As if we thought the festival couldn't get any better, Day 2 blew Day 1 out of the water. We started the day with Ryn Weaver on the HomeAway Stage. Weaver and her band gave an electrified, dance-y set as she performed songs from her debut album The Fool. She opened her set with "Runaway," the lead song on her album. The crowd bounced and sang along as Weaver and the band performed this multifaceted tune, adorned with synthy pop sounds and driving percussion. Next, she sang a mini-song known as "OctaTease," which is a teaser of her hugely popular song "OctaHate" that was to come later in the set. Next, Weaver performed "Pierre," a catchy, pop tune that is a bit Florence + The Machine-esque.
Next, she performed two more songs from the album, "Sail On" and "Lay Low." The latter was particularly enjoyed by the audience because of its bumping synthetic beat and the sweetness of Weaver's voice flowing from the speakers. To continue her set, the band members led the crowd in clapping to the beat, as she performed the title-track of her album, "The Fool." The sparkling synths and Weaver's piercing voice spread all over the HomeAway area.
Next, she performed two more songs from The Fool, "Free" and "Traveling Song." To introduce "Traveling Song," Weaver explained the meaning of this solemn song saying, "I wrote this song about my grandfather who passed away... I wrote it as kind of a salutation. Everywhere that I go, and travel, and want to go in life, you see people, and you don't choose who you see..." This song exhales nostalgia and tells the tale of a journey, which Weaver brought the audience along for.
After two more songs, "Promises" and "Here Is Home," she introduced her next two songs, telling the audience there is one we probably don't know, and one that we all know. Weaver began with the latter, and performed her mega-hit single "OctaHate." The whole crowd danced and sang along with Ryn and the band as they all jammed out to this catchy tune. Her final song was "New Constellations," which she introduced saying it's about "not settling" and the idea that "it's not selfish to make the right move for yourself." The crowd swayed and took in this empowering performance, and roared with applause when Ryn finished her set.
Next up on the Samsung Stage was Glass Animals, an indie-electronic band from the UK. The stage was decorated with palm trees and the classic Glass Animals backdrop, and the band kicked off their set with "Walla Walla" from their sophomore album Zaba. As soon as the percussion-driven exotic music started to play, lead singer Dave Bayley started jumping and dancing around the stage, inspiring the audience to do the same. Glass Animals' set encompassed all things indie-tronic, electro-pop, and dance pop. All festival-goers in listening range were feeling the electric beat and bopping along to the music--even the workers at the water filling stations.
By the time the band's hit "Gooey" flooded the festival, the good vibes were flowing in full force. This mega-popular song injected excitement into the bloodstream of the crowd, and a mix of head-bopping and various interpretive dances could be seen across Zilker Park. Next was "Black Mambo," another hugely popular song. This tune features eerily delicate string plucking and keys and the classic Glass Animals symbol-heavy percussion combo.
The word that always comes to mind when listening to Glass Animals is "drippy." In both presence and sound, this band's psychedelic aesthetic emulates a drippy, orange sunset that flows straight from the sky into the ears of the listener. The next two songs performed were "Cocoa Hooves" and "Toes," which both further enhance this trippy vibe. The second to last song on the setlist was a cover of Kanye West's "Love Lockdown." This rendition of the popular throwback re-captured the attention of the crowd as everyone began singing along. The band finished their set with "Pools," a song laden with exotic animal sounds and tribal drums. The crowd ate up the percussion-heavy beat and Glass Animals left the stage with a gleeful and satisfied crowd.