The Last Word on ACL Fest

Frank Turner, oh Frank Turner. While I said it of Ruby Jane, I have to reiterate that you need to FIND Frank Turner. Above all things, this man screams (in look, song, and attitude) the highest virtue of Austin. He's authentic. He also has a tattoo of our great state on his arm, as if to extoll that virtue. Turner is such an everyman that you can't help but root for the gentleman from Winchester.

His singalong opening song, "Eulogy" had everyone exclaiming "that's the only eulogy I need." By the time he rips into "I Still Believe," we're all involved. He managed to chastise a not-yet-ready-for-rowdy crowd. "I played in Germany and they don't even speak English and they were louder than you!" Leave it to Frank to discover the other two things Austinites love more than authenticity...music, and competition. By the end of his set, when he's testifying about what all of the ACL goers are secretly screaming already, I doubt a soul can now resist Frank Turner. "I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up!" We couldn't agree more, Frank.

Worried to constant questioning by a report of a lackluster aftershow at Emo's the night before, I perched myself at the front left of the Austin Ventures stage for the set by Dawes. The chief worry was that their normally inviting harmonies would be obscured by the day and the need to overcome the din of sound from other stages. Consider their show the night before a preset

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ACL FEST

Day Two

I had to remind myself that it's a marathon, not a sprint...and with that in mind, I skipped the earliest bands and camped out in front of the ZYNC stage.

I won't hide my fanaticism about the newcomer, Lissie. It wouldn't stay hidden, even if I tried. The young woman from the midwest began her set with "Wedding Bells" during Saturday's early hours. Drawing more than a modest crowd, she reined in her powerful voice like a warmup to the day.

Standing front and center, a crowd quickly developed behind just in time to witness Lissie hit the gas with "Worried About," the end of which had people beginning to jump in place.

The most amazing bass/drums/vocals came from the same person, all at the same time from maestro Louis Kella, who held the audience enthralled for some time before Lissie took the attention back with "Bully." Talking about how glad she was to return, the guitar intro to "Cuckoo" was all the crowd needed as her gravely rasp serves the song well with an up-tempo that only ceases (along with the noise from the rest of the festival, un-coincidentally) when she begins the most haunting song experienced at the fest, eventually arriving at the chorus to "Everywhere I Go."

The band from the main stage sponsored by Budweiser, The Very Best, begins their set and cuts into Lissie's spell when she and the band unload "In Sleep" and "Little Lovin'" which manage the impossible and overpower the sound from the bigger stage across the way. By the time we get to the now wid

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