TNG Does Gay-CL: Day 2

Jonesing for Sharon?

This is my second installment of the 3-day Austin City Limits music festival that Michael and I attended two weeks ago. You might enjoy reading Day 1 as well.

My second day at ACL turned out to be paradoxically more and less fruitful than the first one. The good news is that I fulfilled some of my obligations as a journalist by interviewing a member of CSS (They're all queer. More on that later) and gay Appalachian rocker Nakia. You'll here more about him tomorrow.

Those interviews, however, came at the expense of seeing music. Though I saw fewer bands than the day before, the quality level remained constant.

Below the fold, see my opinions on acts including Sharon Jones and Jose Gonzalez. You can also check out my ACL: Day 2 mixtape.

1. Best Band I Skipped to See at The Black Cat a Week Later: Fleet Foxes

I've been dying to check out cold weather cousins of the Beach Boys since the early summer but did want my first experience with them to be on such a large scale. Though other attendess reported that the Foxes came through crystal clear despite the gargantuan crowd, stage and sound system, I still stand by my decision. I saw The Foxes The Black Cat on on Oct. 2 and got blown away. Their four-part vocal harmonies were just as much Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young as they were the Wilson brothers. The beards were eerily reminscent of the Spin Doctors, but no band is perfect.

2. Prettiest Voice: Jose Gonzalez

Have you ever heard a thousand people be silent at the same time? Swedish guy-with-a-guitar Jose Gonzalez managed to keep everyone's mouths shut throughout his set by showing off his subtly ethereal voice. His well-known covers of Teardrop and Heartbeats were the best recieved. That doesn't mean his original songs failed to wow 'em. The only background noise through the set was the slow evaporation of patchouli oil off the woman next to me.

(I also noticed a preponderance of "Austin nipples" at this show, a term Michael and I coined for men with perfectly built pecs and incongrously fleshy, triangular nipples. They were everywhere.)

3. Best Reason to Go Straight: Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings

I've been hearing for over year, mostly from Ben, how incredible Sharon Jones and her band The Dap Kings are. Her story is compelling enough — failing to make it in the '70s, she rose from a stint as prison guard to reclaim her throne as the female James Brown — but her voice is enough to justify such a claim. Her dancing, though, is what really made the show. The combination of pipes and footwork was enough to give me a gayboy crush on her. I'm not saying that Sharon Jones is any spring chicken but I couldnt have been the only audience member wanting to give her flowers.

4. Best Frontwoman: CSS

I learned so many interesting things about Brazilian party band CSS. Most of those have to do with going back to the press tent and discovering that (almost) ever member is queer. During their performance, however, I could do nothing else but marvel at Bjork-in-training that was their lead singer LoveFoxx. The sole straight member of CSS, LoveFoxx wants to be a drag queen and it shows. She took the stage in the Texas heat wearing a body suit, some kind of furry pashmina and the mother of all pompadours. As she strutted, rolled and writhed through a full hour's set her only complaint was that her feet were sweating.

My only complaint was the fact that I only felt like I was tripping.

Check 'em out at the 9:30 Club on Dec. 20.

5. Best possibly-over-hyped band I skipped to interview CSS: MGMT

Getting a spur-of-the-moment opportunity to interview CSS was too good to pass up (look for it in December, by the way) but I had to forfeit a show that I was truly intrigued about. Brooklyn duo MGMT has become the new shorthand for "indie" thanks to their quick rise to fame and dayglow-adorned fanbase, but I still don't know if they're worth it. They sold-out both their 2008 DC shows and I am too enamored with "Kids" to listen to the rest of their album. I guess I'll just have to wait until they come back.TNG