Home > The M.O. > Archives > 2007 > September > 17 > Entry
65,000 fans; 65,000 opinions
After almost 36 hours of live music at ACL, the fun has finally come to an end. I walked around Sunday afternoon and evening getting responses from festivalgoers — highs and lows, best shows and worst, etc. (Note: Most of the interviewing was done before Wilco, The Decemberists, Ghostland Observatory and Bob Dylan took the stage, so those bands are missing from most responses.) This sampling represents a good cross-section of fans from the weekend, but it is just a small group of folks. Use the comments section to tell us what you thought were the highs and lows of the festival.
On a personal note, my favorite shows of the weekend included: Wilco, The National, Del McCoury Band, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Common, LCD Soundsystem and Björk
Matt Gatewood (Austin)
Highlight: Zap Mama
Biggest letdown: Cold War Kids
Chloe Weiss (Austin)
Highlight: Lax security re: bag searches, Zap Mama (“Coolest woman I’ve ever seen, and I picked up some serious dance moves from her and M.I.A.”)
Biggest letdown: Stephen Marley playing same set at fest as he did at night show and Barton Springs being closed
Eden Teagle (NYC)
Highlight: The National
Biggest letdown: The White Stripes canceling — “I think the White Stripes definitely lost some fans this weekend.”
Eric Fuchs (San Antonio)
Highlight: Paolo Nutini
Jake Walker (San Francisco)
Highlight: Robert Earl Keen playing his Christmas song with everyone singing along
Michael Ferguson (Austin)
Highlight: DeVotchKa — “They may be from Colorado, but they play this amazing Eastern European pop and had everyone clapping along. Easily the best I saw all weekend.”
Biggest letdown: “Muse’s pompous political message that was played before their final song. And the fact that I ran into every ex-girlfriend I’ve ever had.”
Navdar Namaky (Austin)
Highlight: “I think half the people at the Common show did not know who they were seeing (due to Rodrgio y Gabriela cancelation), but it was amazing. Arcade Fire was also amazing; it was like what Wagner must have been like in the 1870s.”
Will Cornforth (Austin)
Highlight: Arctic Monkeys
Biggest letdown: Spoon — “They just didn’t pack a punch. There was not enough guitar and too much piano in the mix, and this is coming from a piano player.”
Amanda Watkins (Austin)
Highlight: “James Hunter was excellent.”
Biggest letdown: “They need to hold this thing about a month later. It’s too hot and too big. I’ve been to every one (ACL Festival), and this is the weakest one yet, because of the lineup. They need more unknown bands like the ones KGSR finds.”
Thomas Hunter (Houston)
Biggest letdown: “Too many Longhorn fans.”
Regina Bartholow (Austin)
Highlight: “The fire! I’ve never seen black smoke that high! And Muse rocked, but The Killers were the best.”
Christina Choate (Austin)
Biggest letdown: “We needed skydivers because they were awesome at Flugtag!”
Don Bartholow (Austin)
Highlight: “I thought LCD Soundstystem was great. I loved the lead singer’s witty banter. They were the band I saw whose CD I’ll now go buy.”
Emily Lesh (Austin)
Highlight: Arcade Fire
Biggest surprise: “The amazingness of the last 4 songs of Wilco’s set. I happened to be getting food during Preservation Hall Jazz Band and caught some of them … pretty awesome. Other favorites: LCD Soundsystem, The National, Ghostland Observatory
Biggest letdown: White Stripes canceling, Bob Dylan. Annoying new thing: Having to show ID every time you got a beer instead of just showing it once and getting a wristband.
Lisa Genz (Austin)
Biggest letdown: “We were pretty let down by Blue October. They never really got the crowd into it.”
Emil Joseph (Austin)
Highlight: “Paolo Nutini. He sounded just like he does on the album.”
Jamie and Susan Powell (Norman, OK)
Highlight: “Robert Earl Keen, Lucinda Williams. Sunday’s lineup was the best.” This is our third year, and it gets better every year.”
Biggest letdown: “But it seems this year is a little more geared to a younger audience. We usually leave by 7 p.m. each day.”
Andrew Taft (Austin)
Highlight: “Not too dusty and not too hot. I’m here to see Bob Dylan.”
Biggest letdown: “No jam bands like Widespread Panic or String Cheese Incident.”
Marianna Wilde (Austin)
Highlight: Queens of the Stone Age
Biggest letdown: “Tons of people. Friday was so crowded it was almost not fun. And with White Stripes and the other bands dropping out, I was hoping for a partial refund.”
Jessica Frommert (Austin)
Highlight: Security was easy and hassle-free but still made people feel safe.
Darryn Niebrugge (Austin)
Highlight: “So much easier than in years past.”
Biggest letdown: “Disappointed I missed Cold War Kids and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.”
Amanda Brown (Austin)
Highlight: “I was really impressed with Andrew Bird and had never heard of him.
Biggest letdown: “They need to go back to having canned beer instead of draft. Draft beer was too easily spilled.”
Jeremy Luce (Austin)
Highlight: “Arcade Fire was a highlight for sure. From where we were sitting it was loud as hell. Blonde Redhead was also top 3.”
Biggest letdown: “I almost slit my wrists when the White Stripes cancelled but saw the end of Muse and they were (expletive) good! Bloc Party was like ‘blah.’ ” The scheduling of My Morning Jacket and Wilco at the same time.
Jessica Boone (Houston)
Highlight: “I thought LCD Soundsystem was great.”
Biggest letdown: “Not near enough trash cans.”
