My day began with Google maps getting me lost, eventually finding my bus and away I went on a rather beautiful day to begin my Austin City Limits experience. After checking in at the media tent, I made my way to catch the wonderful bluegrass/punk stylings of the Avett Brothers who kicked off my day with a bang, mostly taking material from their recently released I and Love and You (which shall go down as one of my favorite records of 2009). 
After the close of their set, I made the trek to the XBOX 360 stage to discover one of my surprises of the festival and that was The Walkmen. Let me just say that I had no idea what to expect, but I was left rather impressed by Hamilton Leithauser’s stage presence as The Walkmen incorporated a rather wonderful horn section, bringing their material to another level.
To my liking, I didn’t have to do all that much walking after seeing The Walkmen as I wandered over to the AMD (West) stage to see the French stylings of Phoenix. Their dance/pop wowed the crowd as they kicked things off with “Lisztomania,” sending the crowd into a dance frenzy which didn’t stop for the remainder of their set.
After a break to rehydrate, and load up on delicious all natural snack in the media area, I made my way back to the AMD stage to catch the last few minutes of Raphael Saadiq who brought the soul, setting the mood for John Legend to take the mainstage right after Saadiq’s performance.
After enjoying Legend’s serenading of the lovely ladies at ACL, I made my way to what had to be the most-hyped performance of the festival, Them Crooked Vultures. Three words come to mind when asked to describe this new band of Dave Grohl, John Paul Jones and Josh Homme and those three words are, heavy as fuck. Grohl’s child-like grin throughout the set just showed how much he enjoys being behind the drums again. Homme’s solos danced around Jones’ heavy bass lines with Grohl setting the fast tempo. Homme is often the overshadowed member of the band and to his credit, he holds his own on the guitar and with vocals that pack a punch.
Following that kind of performance is quite the feat that was left upon the shoulders of Day 1 headliners, Kings of Leon and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. After seeing Kings of Leon just a few days before in St. Louis, I decided to finally experience the visual craziness that is Karen O in person. Heavy on costumes, spit takes and growls, Miss O danced around with an infectious smile closing Day 1 with songs mostly from It’s Blitz, not that I’m complaining, it’s my favorite YYY’s album. After their set, I made my way off the grounds and discovered the joy that was free shuttle service to my hotel. For that, I must confess my love to you Austin and was left looking forward to Day 2 after a night of well-deserved rest.
Austin City Limits: website
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