On what was the warmest weekend of Austin City Limits Festival (ACL Fest) for an October start, the event continued on Saturday, October 5th with massive crowds on hand to catch 90’s legends The Cure, Childish Gambino’s (Donald Glover) last concert, Metric, Brittany Howard (Alabama Shakes) and Bones UK among others. The audience in front of the young chart topper Billie Eilish was positively overflowing with equally young fans, along with a surprising number of older fans dispelling the notion she’s exclusively a hit-maker for the younger set. She is, indeed, a star on the rise.
Brittany Howard – Honda Stage
Day two began with a soulful, almost churchy set from Alabama Shakes guitarist and front woman, Brittany Howard. The outspoken musician was performing solo for the first time at the festival in support of her debut solo album, Jaime. The record is in reference to her older sister, whom Howard idolized as a child. It’s a deeply personal recording Howard felt she had to make at this point in her career. And she nailed it. The album is a joy to listen to as was her performance on the Honda Stage early in the day.
Leading off the show with a heartfelt version of her song “He Loves Me”, which includes sentiments about Howard’s lover accepting her “even when I drink” isn’t the most religious of thoughts, but the feel of her delivery was as if she were singing a hymn at Sunday morning church. It felt like just the right way to begin the second day of the festival. “Georgia” got further into the spiritual mood with gospel-sounding organs over Howard’s towering vocals.
The rest of the set continued in this vein. Although Howard played guitar, it was clear this show was not an Alabama Shakes performance but something else entirely. This was a live presentation of her most personal work to date and it felt like it. Besides playing most of the new tracks, Howard mixed in some delicious covers, including Prince’s “The Breakdown,” The Beatles’ “Revolution” albeit a Southern soul interpretation, and “Higher and Higher,” the Jackie Wilson song that Howard seems born to play. She’s a force to be reckoned with and this project demonstrates why Howard will be around for a long time.
Bones UK – BMI Stage
When our photographer friends arrived at the BMI hospitality area (thank you BMI for taking care of media each year) talking about how excited they were to shoot the all-female garage rock/punk trio Bones UK, we stuck around to see what all the fuss was about. Turns out they were correct. Bones UK is the kind of adrenaline-fueled act that is perfect for the festival stage. Dressed in matching tan jumpsuits, Rosie (vocals) and Carmen (guitar) rocked it out for fans at the BMI Stage while their beast of a drummer destroyed her kit like a seasoned pro. Frankly, it was hard to take our eyes off of her, she was so intense.
Now based in Los Angeles, Bones UK has toured with Band of Skulls, who recently played Austin. It’s clear this is a band on the rise.
Metric – VRBO Stage
When we realized we could catch Canadian synth-rockers Metric before we posted up for The Cure, we raced over there. Lead vocalist Emily Haines and her band were on point for their headlining set. Metric began the set synth-heavy, then moved to more guitar-driven songs for the second half of a scintillating sundowner performance. There was a relatively modest but enthusiastic crowd of true fans of the indie rockers.
Metric’s effort easily made the trek across Barton Springs Road to the new(ish) stage that has been part of the festival footprint for three years worth the effort. It’s the first year the stage formerly known as Barton Springs has hosted a sponsor.
The Cure – Honda Stage
Yes, it’s true that while The Cure were performing a two-hour plus set on the Honda Stage, Childlish Gambino (actor Donald Glover) was playing what was perhaps his last show as that musical persona, but we couldn’t in good conscience choose that set over the UK legends. The choice felt right when Robert Smith and company led off with “Plainsong” followed by mega-hit “Pictures of You”, complete with a dripping-with-sweat Smith looking older yet much the same as ever with his smeared on red lipstick and fright-wig head of hair. It’s somehow reassuring to see that as most things change, some things (like Smith’s wild mane) stay the same.
With the delivery of “Pictures of You,” The Cure played it close to the vest, sounding much like the studio version less a flubbed lyric by Smith. Then the band settled into a groove for the duration. A couple tracks later the band launched into “Love Song” to cheers from the audience at the first few bars of the beloved tune.
Hearing deeper cuts like “Fascination Street” and “In Between Days” pleased the hardcore fans of which there were plenty along with the usual curiosity seekers. But the version of “Just Like Heaven” that followed about halfway through the show seemed to lift the crowd even higher, into the realm of euphoria. The Cure closed out the set with “Disintegration”, the title track to that landmark record that was released in 1989.
The band returned for a seven-song encore bookended by “Lullaby” and “Boys Don’t Cry” to provide a symmetrical finish to the encore as that track is also the title track to the group’s 1980 compilation that eventually went platinum.
All photos by Maggie Boyd.
