I just got back from The Austin City Limits festival, and let me just say, barely worth it. I saw 11 shows in 3 days and almost all of them were very enjoyable.
Top 3 concerts I saw:
1. SOUND team
2. The Arcade Fire
3. Wilco
Almost all of my friends had SOUND team and The Arcade Fire switched on their respective lists. The reason I had them as such was because during the SOUND team show I didn't feel so sick/tired/hot/my foot didn't hurt. So while I admit that The Arcade Fire Put on a better show, the SOUND team show was more enjoyable.
The festivas gave me time to reflect on an issue that has been bothering me for a while. It is much easier to enjoy a show when you are familiar with the bands music, however even if you are not familiar that shouldn’t stop you from enjoying it. This is best shown in my experience at two SOUND team shows and one Bloc Party show. At the Bloc Party show everyone was dancing/shouting/cheering along with every word because they had heard it before on the CD that they no doubt bought or stole. While at the SOUND team show the fans seemed to enjoy the performance but didn’t have the same enthusiasm that they did with Bloc Party, not surprisingly SOUND team doesn’t have a proper album out yet. While Bloc Party is at times energetic and danceable SOUND team redefines these two ideas allowing their audiences to go crazy. People generally cannot take music for what it is until they are told how to view it through CDs, advertising, friends, etc. This is why I suppose that bands like The Bravery and Jet become popular, because most people cannot make good decisions on a day to day basis.
