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ACL review: Black & White Years
It’s gotta be tough to run a stage at ACL, with so many acts to get on and off, but the Austin Ventures stage manager went a bit overboard Saturday ordering the plug to be pulled on Austin’s brilliant Black & White Years during the band’s final song, “Zeroes and Ones.” B&W had gone exactly 35 seconds past their scheduled 12:30 p.m. ending time when Mr. Stage Manager started frantically making cutthroat signs and ordered the sound cut. Someone forgot to take their chill pill.
The rude overreaction marred an otherwise splendid set by the quartet with the angular guitar riffs and herky jerky new wave-isms. Winning the crowd over right away with “Life Debt,” whose bleak lyrics were disguised by pure dance energy, the band bored only slightly with “Smoke and Mirrors.” An outdoor fest is no place for artsy excursions.
The final four numbers- “Hysterical Sickness,” “My Broken Hand,” “Power To Change” and about 3/4 of “Zeroes and Ones” - established Scott Butler and company as a fresh force on the scene and a safe bet to go national. Looks like they picked up quite a few new fans, though none in the festival staging business.
Photo: Jay Janner AMERICAN-STATESMAN
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