Day 2 Of ACL Was Everything I Love About Music Festivals

For all that day 1 wasn't, day 2 of ACL was everything!

Young the Giant: Awesome

City and Colour: Loved it

Abigail Washburn: Almost proposed to the fiddle player

Fitz and the Tantrums: Everything great in life

CeeLo: Was there volume? nope

Chromeo: Epic dance party, Ceelo who?

Court Yard Hounds: Wild card best show of the day. Might have actually proposed to their fiddle player

My Morning Jacket: Rock show spectacular.

My hangover this morning? Surprisingly not as bad.

Also, I blame Kanye for blowing the speakers and shitting all over the Stevie show. Typical Kanye.

ACL Day 1: How Sara Bareilles Saved the Day

So I'm going to level with you, I was not blown away by the first day of ACL. I'm still waiting for my apology from The Smith Westerns for their performance in the afternoon. Was it maybe the worst thing I've ever heard? Probably.

And what was with all of the mellow bands that have no business at an outdoor festival? James Blake? Really?? Not that I don't love Blake and his adorable accent, but he mostly just made for good background noise for the nap I took on that amazing Zilker Park grass. Not exactly what my ACL wristband and I had in mind for the day.

I was hoping that Mark Foster could remedy the less than stellar music experience I was having. If it weren't for the 1 million people that all had the same thought, he probably could have. It doesn't even matter that their shows are a shuffled version of Torches. I love everything about them down to Mark Fosters youthful new haircut.  Still, there were 1 million people and they didn't even play Warrant!

But Sara Bareilles was who I was secretly most excited to see. I knew that She would fix everything. My brother commented this morning, "If I had the day off I'm pretty sure I would spend it learning every Sara Bareilles song on the keyboard."  Girl has a set of lungs and she kills it in concert! We danced as the sun set and the stars came out. We sang loudly to all the men we aren't going to write love songs for and she was every reason I love concerts!

I still don't understand Kanye...

The Question of Genius and Why Grown Men Openly Weep to Bon Iver

Sometimes the music world has a way of instantly transporting me back to my middle school cafeteria, forcing me to choose a genred table as I listen to everyone music name dropping in order to procure themselves a place at the illusive cool table. And who are the kids at the cool table all in a fuss about these days? Kanye and Bon Iver.

Like most fads, experiences, and ‘cool things’ in middle school, I just don’t get it. 

Kanye. Maybe it’s because I’ve never entirely gravitated towards rap. It’s too wordy and I’m never able to follow along. Maybe it’s because Kanye is a massive ass wipe and I have a hard time separating that from a genre I’m not all together in love with in the first place. Or, he’s just not as great as everyone says he is. Genius? Really? That seems a bit hyperbolic. Am I missing something? Is the emperor wearing new clothes? 

I asked my brother his thoughts on the subject. His response is as follows:

I usually don't like shitting on certain music, cause if it makes someone happy who am I to complain, but in the case of Kanye, he's a douche-bag and his music is confusingly popular so here's an abridged list of things I like more than Kanye West and his music...

Gorilla Glue

Early Britney Spears

Angry Birds (the game)

Taco Bell

Angry Birds (like actual birds fighting)

The View

The Republican Party

The Animorph series

Every puppy ever

P90X

The sound of a metronome

All songs feat. Ludacris

Fragglerock

Beginner Violinists

The letter "P"

You get the idea. Most of this world > Kanye West

Agreed. Still, I am open to some kind of explanation as to what is so ‘genius’ about Kanye. Please feel free to comment and enlighten me. 

And then there’s Bon Iver. It’s not so much his music that I have a problem with. He’s a talented artist with a solid new album. What I don’t get is the extremes with which people revere him. I was recently listening to a podcast of grown men gushing about how genius (again with this word) Justin Vernon is (interesting that he often collaborates with Kanye...)and how they openly wept upon listening to his new album. Openly wept? Really, I shouldn’t judge. I recently wrote about weeping in the airport while watching Adele’s VMA performance of Someone Like You and quite frankly, put me in front of a good old school Kodak commercial and I’m in pieces. Maybe it’s his prepubescent voice that gets to the fellas? My vagina and I just don't get it. 

Again, I consulted my brother for his opinion. 

To the "man" who openly wept upon hearing Bon Iver's new album,

Jack Handy once said that it takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man. Well here I am, the bigger man, laughing at you.

happy weeping,

Max

Apparently Bon Iver doesn't render every male into a puddle of weepy mess. So for those of you sitting with your ipod and tear stained face, let me know, what is it that does it for you? I'm curious.