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ACL’s Losers & Winners
Who was the biggest loser at ACL 2007: the White Stripes or Bob Dylan? The Stripes canceled just days before the event, severely disappointing fans who had spent up to $145 (or $80 for a single-day ticket) to see them. But Bob Dylan’s stock dropped because he did show up. Not only was his hoarse vocal performance painfully sad - like watching Ali against Larry Holmes - but his vanity, in not allowing big-screen camera operators to show any closeups, infuriated those who weren’t up close. If you don’t like big screens, don’t headline music festivals with 65,000 fans. Dylan had the whole park to himself and I doubt if he made a single convert. By about the third song, head-scratching young folks were practically running out of Zilker, while hardcore Dylan fans were turned into post-show apologists. I kept thinking of that song “Send In the Clowns,” with its line about “losing my timing this late in my career.” Send in the clowns, throw in the towel or find a great throat surgeon who can work miracles. But don’t embarrass yourself just because touring is more fun than staying home.
And I still think Bob Dylan is the greatest musician of the 20th century.
The winners at ACL were all over the place, from the smallish BMI stage where hit Nashville songwriter Jeffrey Steele proved to be an even better performer to the main stages, where Muse made folks forget the Stripes, if only for an hour and change, and Arcade Fire proved that smart rock can be even more engaging in concert than on record.
I saw only a handful of the 127 acts onstage, but I can’t imagine anyone else hitting it out of the park like Austin’s own Ghostland Observatory. Aaron Behrens, Thomas Turner and their box o’ sound were sensational in every aspect of the word. I had previously only seen them on YouTube and wasn’t particularly impressed, but they really lit it up live. Even at such a young age, the pair know stage dynamics like no other Austin band since Butthole Surfers. To say I was bowled over is an understatement. This duo has the goods to become Austin’s first real major league rock stars.
Tell us: What was the best act you saw at ACL? And, besides Dylan, who was the worst?
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By Ruhmann
September 18, 2007 12:10 PM | Link to this
Winners: LCD Soundsystem, Ghostland Observatory (is it true that they spent their entire appearance fee on those lasers?), Muse (best use of video screens I’ve ever seen from anyone but Radiohead), Andrew Bird
Losers: The Killers and Arctic Monkeys (I think the poor acoustics on the AMD stage were the biggest problem with both these bands)
Biggest Surprise: How many people were actually at the Regina Spektor show? That was the biggest crowd I saw all weekend (or maybe it just looked big since that space is so confined).
Best Stage: AT&T Blue Room, hands down. The audience is all uphill from that stage making for great acoustics and viewing for all.
By Wayne
September 18, 2007 3:10 PM | Link to this
Winners: Heartless ******* (surprisingly big sound from that spare trio), Gotan Project (sophisticated sound - ACL goes global!).
Losers: AMD acoustics (poor Arctic Monkeys in particular); big crowds overwhelming WaMu stage (why was Ziggy Marley confined to that one?)
Best Stage performers overall: Austin Ventures, followed closely by BMI. Ruhmann makes a good point about the geography of the AT&T Blue Room, too.
By Ana
September 18, 2007 4:23 PM | Link to this
Winners: MIA, Common, Gotan Project, Muse, Ghostland Observatory
Losers: Agree with Wayne on Ziggy Marley (WaMU too small!) Blue October. We weren’t sure they were still playing at times?
By Julz
September 18, 2007 5:11 PM | Link to this
For the love of God(or Bob in this case)…is it really a surprise that Dylan has a “gravely” voice? What did you folks expect? He has been writing and singing for almost 50 years.His voice has been rough for the past 20.If you don’t like him, don’t go see him and quit whining!This wasn’t the best I’ve seen him, but not the worst either. The camera thing was a bummer…but the folks at Woodstock didn’t have a jumbo tron and they didn’t ***** about it.
By Jeremy
September 18, 2007 6:29 PM | Link to this
Winners: MUSE & Joss Stone Losers: Blue October, The Killers, The White Stripes & Bob Dylan
By jbohls
September 18, 2007 7:25 PM | Link to this
Best: My Morning Jacket Why: Pineapple women were out of sight & they rock solid
Worst: Dylan Why: While I think its fantastic that people who have never seen him to be able to cross him off the list, maybe he should throw in the towell to save his legacy. I’m not advocating he should have gone out on top like Elway (in the sports world) or Hendrix/Joplin (fate comes early when you live like that) but he should know when to go. Neil Young says its better to burn out than to fade away and Dylan is doing his best to fade away very slowly…
By Martha
September 18, 2007 7:49 PM | Link to this
Winners: Muse (Yes Julz, Matt Bellamy is a God; Epic masterpiece, one of ACL’s very best ever!)
Losers: The White Stripes (The White Stripes who?!!!)
By J
September 18, 2007 8:01 PM | Link to this
Winners: Charles Attal and C3 - The White Stripes cancel, thus their fee to play never is collected. Losers: ACL Goers - having to pay for a lineup that included the white stripes and not getting anything back.
By SolMan
September 18, 2007 8:54 PM | Link to this
I thought the Dylan show was great, one of the highlights of the festival. It took him some time to find his voice, though. If you bailed after the first few songs, you didn’t have a chance to hear the voice clear up. The way the band reworked the classics was impressive. And the closing number was soul stirring.
If you were one of the old ***** sitting 1/2 a mile back from the stage, then yeah, it sucked. It’s like watching Dylan on an iPod. So, no wonder yer *****’n about the “no closeups on the big screen.” You have to get off your *** and work your way down by the stage. If you’re not willing to do that, then just stay home next time.
And what was with the floating luminaries? That was cool. A nice art piece from someone outside the park.
By georgia
September 18, 2007 9:05 PM | Link to this
its unfortunate the stripes had to cancel, but considering how hard jack has worked the past 7 years or so, i’m sure its finally catching up to them. jack needs a break, so does meg apparently.
By norm
September 19, 2007 12:00 AM | Link to this
Winners: The Steps, Jeffrey Steele, Ike Reilly, Ziggy and Stephen Marley, MMJ, Big Sam, James Hunter, Beausoleil, Kara Grainger, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Charlie Musselwhite
Losers: The fans who were kept from entering for almost an hour on Friday because of the fire. (missed Bela Fleck because of it)
By Pamala
September 19, 2007 6:28 PM | Link to this
AH! get a grip. can you command a crowd of nontalents to critize you? no? cant do iT ? then think about how well you sound and did not write the song you just mutilitated?
Surprize ! Artist are HUMAN, not GODS that never Fall , stumble or feel like havimg a 2000 foot closeup photo detailing every pore. like using the “Hubble” as a close up mirror, I know that BOB is a “STAR” but is he that kind? next time bring your own Telescope!!
HE loves His Fans or he would stay home and find a judgemental ,,critical WIFE, like the rest of ya. HEY! BOBBY! ROCK ON!!!!!
By pj
September 19, 2007 10:33 PM | Link to this
WINNERS: Gotan Project, Arcade Fire, Decemberists, Wilco (once i moved closer, because the sound sucked from amd that day).
LOSERS: Eh, I’m not gonna get all negativish, but I will say that I didn’t enjoy Dylan. Moving closer might have helped, so I won’t blame him.
All in all, I enjoyed the weekend.
By pgk
September 20, 2007 2:23 AM | Link to this
Arcade Fire was awful. It was totally uninspired and I was bored. Muse was amazing.
By evan
September 20, 2007 1:54 PM | Link to this
Winners: andrew bird, regina spector, ben kweller was pretty good too. Losers: blue october, artic monkeys, and anyone who payed to see the white stripes.
By Jake
September 20, 2007 3:46 PM | Link to this
Winners: Muse(the obvious choice, they rocked so hard, and so fast, not to mention how loud it was, totally blew me away),The Decemberists in my mind put on the most crowd friendly show(really surprising and really good),i thought cold war kids and LCD soundsystem each had their fair share of energy as well as crowd enthusiasum, finally i want to talk about someone that no one is mentioning and that LOUIS XIV on the BMI stage, they were exploding with energy and they crowd seemed like genuine fans which makes the experience all the more enjoyable.
By Danny
September 20, 2007 4:16 PM | Link to this
Of course Muse…there’s a reason they are the best band out there…musically and performance-wise. Andy Langer is a hack critic.
But am I the only one that heard STS9? They absolutely KILLED.
By Gators
September 20, 2007 9:25 PM | Link to this
Winners: Gotan Project was best show of the festival (Spoon at La Zona Rosa was best of the weekend), Aterciopelados killed it in WaMu, Spoon, Paolo Nutini, Stephen Marley, Steve Earle, and Big Sam’s Funky Nation all put on inspired sets
Losers: Zap Mama, me, for missing Wilco becuase I left town Sunday morning, and anybody who actually expected the brilliant Bob Dylan to do anything other than suck live
Best Stage: Dell. The crowd goes slightly uphill so views are good.
By anita
September 21, 2007 3:16 AM | Link to this
Maybe Dylan should have had “pineapple girls” a laser show and “best use of video screens” as these seem to be how festival-goers judge the winners. So many of the negative comments on Dylan seem to be from people who only heard 2 or 3 songs then left. Big mistake.
By michael
September 29, 2007 6:41 PM | Link to this
MUSE!! CAME THEY SAW THEY CONQUERED
BEST ACT IN ACL HISTORY