So last night I had the chance to catch two ACL after parties. Well technically I could have gone to more than two but I'm only one man damn it! Anywho, so I started my night at Stubb's, CSS were up first. The 6-piece Brazilian group brought their high energy dance punk jams to life with one of the loudest sets I've ever witnessed. I must say that the crowd wasn't really feeling it though. I suspect that a lot of the Gnarls Barkley fans had no idea who CSS were and/or there were a lot of folks who were already worn out from watching so much live music during the day at Zilker.
In any case, by the time Gnarls Barkley came out the crowd had filled in and was very excited to hear the perfect pop sounds of Cee-Lo, Dangermouse and 5 of their snappiest dressed band mates. I thought it was interesting that before GB took stage the house music was all Gorillaz songs. But not just any Gorillaz songs, the ones that Dangermouse produced. Isn't that a bit narcissistic or at least odd? They didn't save Crazy for last, which means a lot of folks left before GB left the stage. Personally I feel like if you have a hit as big as Crazy was you better hold it for the encore if you want the crowd to stay. Also, I thought Cee-Lo's voice was like honey except during Crazy when he didn't really sing all of the lyrics clearly, he just sort of mumbled/missed the first verse.
More review and a preview of tonight's parties after the jump...
Gnarls Barkley's set ended a little before midnight, which gave me enough time to walk over to the Parish room to catch Jamie Lidell. When I walked in around 11:45 Black Joe Lewis and the Honey Bears were playing their last song. Jamie Lidell took stage an hour later.
I was predisposed to like Jamie Lidell since he put out one of my favorite records of the year, Jim. I was not disappointed in his set but I was a bit surprised. I knew that before his latest record Lidell was known more as an electronic artist than as a soul artist. So after the first 3 or 4 songs the band walked out into the crowd disappearing back stage for a full 15 minutes while Jamie Lidell used his machine trickery to compose electronic music by sampling and effecting his vocals. Also, there was an instrument used by one of Lidell's musicians that I had never seen. It looked like a clarinet with a mic top instead of a reed and it sounded like a talk box a la Peter Frampton.
The Parish crowd was very lively and you could tell that they were all big fans too, since most folks were singing along and clapping in time to the music without even being prompted. I will say that a lot of people did leave before Lidell left the stage but come on he didn't even take the stage till 12:45am, so his set wasn't over till 2am, which is pretty late if you hit Zilker park 12 hours earlier for ACL.
So wrapping up last night, I would rate Jamie Lidell's performance as my favorite followed by CSS and I would probably put Gnarls Barkley in last place. Not that they were bad but they just think they're a big deal and you can tell. Whereas Jamie Lidell and CSS are still fighting to be noticed.
Here's what you can expect tonight on the party scene:
Mike Farris gospel brunch at Stubb’s BBQ
Doors at 11 a.m., Brunch at 11:30 a.m.
Call 512-480-8341 to make reservations and purchase tickets.
Butthole Surfers w/ The Kills at Stubb’s BBQ (outdoors)
Doors 7 p.m., Show 8 p.m.
Mugison at Stubb’s BBQ (indoors)
Doors 11:30pm, show midnight
Band of Horses with James McMurtry at The Parish
Doors at 10:30 p.m.
The Swell Season w/ Bill Callahan at The Paramount Theatre (713 Congress Ave.)
Doors at 7:30 p.m., Show at 8:30 p.m.
Okkervil River w/ Man Man & Crooked Fingers at Emo’s (Outdoors, 603 Red River St.)
Doors at 10 p.m., show 10:30 p.m.
Jose Gonzalez w/ Neva Dinova & McCarthy Trenching at Emo’s (Indoors, 603 Red River St.)
Doors at 10 p.m., show 10:30 p.m.
Car Stereo Wars at Emo’s Lounge
Doors at 10 p.m., show 11 p.m.
Jakob Dylan and The Gold Mountain Rebels w/ Back Door Slam at Antone’s (213 West 5th St.)
Doors at 10 p.m., Show at 10:30 p.m.
Ocote Soul Sounds (featuring members of Grupo Fantasma and the Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra), Buscando El Monte, DJ Chorizo Funk at The Compound (1300 E 4th St.)
Doors at 9 p.m., show at 10 p.m.
Austin Music + Entertainment unofficial ACL afterparty
Featuring Lemurs, Loxsly and Red Leaves Scoot Inn
Doors at 8 p.m.
ACL Afterhours at the Beauty Bar
Outside: Scorpion Child, Grand Ole Party, And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead (original lineup)
Inside: DJ Mel, Smalltown Pete
Doors at 9 p.m.
The only show I'm planning to see tonight is Jose Gonzalez at Emo's inside. I think he is one of the most under-rated/overlooked acts of this fest so I'm gonna show you some vid...
Jose Gonzalez - Teardrop video via YouTube
Jose Gonzales - Heartbeats video via YouTube
Jose Gonzales - Crosses video via YouTube
Here are two of those songs in different forms:
Heartbeats is originally done by The Knife (They are kick-ass)
The Knife - Heartbeats video via YouTube
The dudes from Zero 7 love Jose Gonzalez so much they remixed one of his songs and featured his vocals on a few of their songs.
Zero 7 - Crosses video via YouTube
And I wanted to include this next video because I just love the lyric "We didn't come into the world, to walk around, we came here, to take you out". I apoligize for the awful visuals just close your eyes and listen.
CSS - Jager Yoga video via YouTube
