Friday, Oct. 2 2009 @ 4:19PM
Sorry if this post comes off as a little, I dunno,
off. As I write this in the ACL press tent, Daniel Johnston's giving an on-air interview to my right, School of Seven Bells is giving a web chat interview to my left, and Jonathan Tyler and The Northern Lights are talking up a print reporter behind me. Meanwhile, Dr. Dog's rocking out a set no more than 200 yards away--and playing "Hang On," no less.
It's all a little distracting.
But even in here, things are calmer than the scene out in the park grounds. A cool four hours (and then some) after Austin's Nelo opened the festival, the crowds as starting to show in full force--and things are getting kinda crowded, even at the smaller stages.
As for those not-quite-primetime stage's crowds, consider it a combination of the spillover and hurry-up-and-wait effects. Not sure what to see while you're waiting for Phoenix? Sure, what's keeping me from checking out Todd Snider--not me personally, but you get what I'm saying. Audiences are checking out bands they otherwise might not have.
That's how things worked out for School of Seven Bells, at least. Shouldered with the burden of playing Day One of ACL at 12:30 in the afternoon, well before the crowds reached their current levels, the band had a potentially tough set lying before it. But with only Asleep at the Wheel and The Low Anthem truly competing with the band for listeners, fans with more rock- and electro-leaning tastes trekked toward the far east end of the park for SVIIB's performance at the LiveStrong stage.
And, as they played a loud, surprisingly heavy set, audience members bounced along with the electronica-fueled sounds created by Dallas native Ben Curtis and his bandmates, twin sisters Ally and Claudia Deheza.
"It worked out with everything for us," a visibily exhausted--but still quite pleased--Curtis shared in the press tent after his band's set. "I mean, we got to play on the most kick-ass sound system in the park. And we had a great crowd."
"It was crazy," shared Ally Deheza, sharing Curtis' same demeanor.