My Five Year Plan

Argh. So my first post on this got deleted when the Internet decided to disconnect on me. So here’s hoping the second one is as good:

What a treat! My brother Chris took me to the ACL Music Festival in Austin, where we did some nice sibling bonding while listening to sweet tunes. And then I spent the night at his house outside of Austin and got to hang out with my nephews and niece. Awesome.

Anyway, a report on the bands:

1. Nada Surf

Decidedly not sweet. Started out with a pretty good cover of “The Kids Are Alright”, but then followed up with some real nonstarters. The bassist for this band is one of the least attractive people ever, with this whole leathery Pauly Shore look complemented by a headful of blondelocks. The 90s were not kind to this man. We booked it after they played “Popular” to see…

2. TV on the Radio

Yay! I had always heard about how great these were live, but they’re really exceptional. Such incredible energy - the movement, the sweat, the adaptability to the stage setting. This is what a live performance is all about, really. The highlight was “Wolf Like Me,” but really, an all-around exceptional show.

3. The Shins

I’m glad that even after Garden State happened, the music kids of America didn’t turn on The Shins. They couldn’t help it if Zach Braff decided to appropriate their good name to make his horrible horrible movie seem like it had some credibility. Anyway, a very good performance indeed from the band, whose seemingly insular pop seems uniquely suited to record but adapts well to a massive mainstage performance. They tried out some good new tracks, including one which they insisted audience members film on their cameraphones and then send to some web address to make a video or Current TV program or something.

4. Aimee Mann

Lackluster. To be fair, she was playing, solo except on a few songs, during the hottest part of a very hot day, but she just seemed to be having an off-night. “Save Me” was good, though - when we left a bit into the show, she was playing a Til Tuesday song. Hm.

5. The Raconteurs

Once again, a band that knows what a stage performance should be. The sweat, the glamour, the sheer cock of it all. This is rock and roll, and even if I don’t love this band’s songs, their on-stage performance more than makes the experience. For all the talk of Jack White (who is surely one of the great showmen of rock and roll) and Brendan Benson, the real heart, musically, of this band is the rhythm section, provided by Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler of The Greenhornes. Lawrence’s basswork is fantastic and Keeler’s drumming is so crisp and on-beat that their presence almost seems to foreground the unbridaled sexuality that is part and parcel of rock and roll music. Good show, guys.
All in all, an excellent way to spend an afternoon. Yay!

In other brother news: my brother Scooter broke his elbow while leading a cub scout trip. In true Scooter fashion, he sent out a picture of his elbow after his four-hour(!) surgery: