ACL Thoughts (played Saturday, October 3, 2009 2-3PM)
Because of the typical bad festival experiences we have gone through over the last five years, I’ve grown very skeptical that any festival we show up at will turn out to be a good show. Generally, there’s usually no time to set up; the monitor mixes suck; we play in the middle of the afternoon to a small crowd in a big field; it’s obscenely hot, etc. etc. Then, add to the mix, ACL would be a flight date in the middle of a tour; the probable end result didn’t look positive. However, I was happily proven wrong this time around; my ACL experience was immaculate.
I felt we had a great set, one that really connected to a huge crowd (some estimated close to 30k); monitors were good; performance was up to par; yeah, it rained at the beginning of the set, but then it cleared up for the remainder of the hour set. (It was after the show that the downpours came with a vengeance. I got my fill of that quickly soaking mess while doing some press stuff.) Nevertheless, it was a wonderful time.
Austin feels like my old home town, even though it’s a five-hour drive north, but compared to Baltimore, Cleveland, or even Phoenix, it’s way closer to home: H.E.B., Mexican restaurants, the memories of driving up to the city to see a show, and most importantly, hometown friends and family popping up everywhere I looked.
Growing up, Austin was always looked upon as this magical place, almost like some kind of central Texas Mecca to us Vallucos, onto which so many of my friends had planned to escape to after high school. It’s funny now that I think about it. I remember how disappointed a German exchange student friend of mine in high school was after his first visit to A-town. Of course, he had something to compare Austin to: like Berlin. He viewed Austin as ultra-conservative, and I guess in some ways we was right now that I’ve been to many other cities of the world.
But, as conservative or liberal as Austin may or may not be, it doesn’t matter to me; it is a small glimpse back into my youth that I enjoy to view now and again.
3 comments:
Even though my home town is constantly changing I still love to visit once in a while. :)
Glad the show went well.
Hey man,
As a person who is used to seeing Mute Math indoors in a small room I was also skeptical of your performance. Now that I think about it, seems like you guys truly did beat the odds at ACL.
It did seem most of you guys were a little nervous at first about how the crowd was going to react. BTW, it was kinda cool that as soon as you started, rain poured out of the heavens and all, haha. It was like, alright we are ready...first note...RAIN! At the end of it all though you guys really pulled out a really good show.
I know I had fun at least jammin to the new and old tunes that you guys pumped out. Keep up the excitement guys, I am praying that God will give you guys the energy and strength to keep you going while on tour.
"But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." Isiah 40:31
See you in Dallas!
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