ACL: Day 1

 

Miike Snow at ACL. Photo by Holly Aker

 

Austin City Limits started today, and no one could have picked a better day to start off the three day music festival. The sun was shining, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and hordes of Austinites and out-of-towners were flocking to Zilker Park.

After getting my media wristband and checking out the press lounge, I started my day off right by seeing Miike Snow. The Swedish three piece (five piece for live shows) came on stage wearing their trademark black jumpsuits and chrome masks. Even though it was the middle of the afternoon and the sun was beginning to fry, as soon as Miike Snow started the music, the fans started dancing to the hard-hitting, bass infused electropop music. Towards the end of the band’s set, lead singer Andrew Wyatt invited Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig on stage for Miike Snow’s remix cover of Vampire Weekend’s “The Kids Don’t Stand a Chance.”

After the show, my friend and Hilltop Views co-editor and I walked to The Music Lounge, a special off-site lounge that we were invited to. The Music Lounge was designed to be a place where journalists can take musicians for a quiet and comfortable place to conduct interviews. However, I really didn’t see any of that going on. For me, The Music Lounge was a cool place to pass the time when there were no bands we wanted to see at ACL. And the best part of it all was that everything was free:  free drinks, free makeovers, free haircuts, free tattoos, free water, free sodas, silly bands, Pop Chips, food, shirts, and the list goes on. There was also a stage set up for bands to perform, and ironically, as soon as we got to the Music Lounge, Miike Snow was setting up.

 

Vampire Weekend at ACL. Photo by Holly Aker

 

When we decided to pull ourselves away from The Music Lounge, we headed over to the ZYNC Stage to seeVampire Weekend. I had never really heard anything from Vampire Weekend before this show, so I really had no expectations. However, the indie rock band from New York really impressed me. Their high-energy set was exciting and fun, but you could tell the band really focuses on the quality of their musicianship as well. With huge balloons popping up and down around the crowd, it was a great way for me to end the first night of my first ACL.