ACL Fest, Day Three

*argh* All my content just disappeared.

Well, this may be shorter but sweeter.

We saw Elvis Costello today, which was a huge deal for me since I'm a huge fan but I've never seen him. He lived up to all expectations, playing a heavy dose of his older stuff mixed in with some really great new stuff. He ended the set with "Pump It Up", which made the crowd goes nuts, so he dragged it out way past the time he was supposed to end the set, causing the band on the neighboring stage to stand there forlornly waiting for him to finish. Of course, I don't know if they were forlorn. If they had any brains at all, they were clapping, dancing, singing and going ballistic like the crowd directly in front of the stage.

As usual, he looked great. While the audience dressed for 95 degrees and 65% humidity in barely in clothes and big, stupid straw hats, Elvis ignored discomfort to look awesome in a purple jacket and black slacks. With purple sunglasses. Even his guitars were stylin'. (All wannabe hipsters in the audience, take note. Just taking your look out of the pages of Spin is not cool. Being yourself in an obstinate manner is cool. Those clunky black-framed glasses that are the eternally hip thing were not always so. Elvis started wearing them when everyone else thought it looked stupid--but they didn't on him. End of lesson.) I was a little sad and leaned over to my boyfriend and pointed out that despite the shit-eating grin happiness apparent all over me, it would be even better if we could see him in a proper club at night where I could wear something chosen for looks and not for comfort. And be drinking something decent, but that's another story.

Despite the festival atmosphere, it was great, every song. We tried to go see another band we like, The Drive-By Truckers, afterward, and it was hard to bear. In part because we were tired, but mostly because leaving Elvis Costello was like deflating a balloon. You can't just downscale like that.

If you've never seen him, try. If you've never really listened to him, what are you waiting for? A lot of people are under the mistaken impression that Elvis Costello is a downer--hardly. Energetic, surprising, fun, clever--however you'd describe him, it's not like music anyone else makes or has made. His later stuff meanders down this genre pathway or that, which is fun for longtime fans, but not a good intro. Go back to the 70's--buy This Year's Model to start out.

Edited to add: Oh yeah, a couple other funny things I thought I'd mention. (By the way, sorry this isn't more concert-review like. Screw that. You can read that anywhere. Here, you get my impressions, blogging-style.)

We parked up close early. I hate crawling over people to get where it's loud enough for my club-acclimated self. As such, we had a blast watching the area fill up with people there to see Elvis. As I figured, it was a really good mix. He has a really broad range and has pulled fans in of all ages and tastes. Most of the people were either his age and have been fans probably since forever or our age (late 20's-mid-30's) and likely came to him the same way I did, by working backwards after getting heavy into rock music. And there were a handful of terminal hipsters, some of whom seemed a little surprised at the eclectic crowd and just generally looked confused.

I love being at shows where there are terminal hipsters there because they've heard that it's the cool thing to do. Because outside of the hipper enviroments, people get drunk, sing along and dance like morons. Thank god for it, too. Elvis Costello fans, as can be expected, do not stand back wearing black with their arms crossed and a slightly pouty look to their faces. There a few pleasures more genuine than watching a hipster dressed in black with his hair melting in the hot sun get startled by a middle-aged man in jeans in a T-shirt start spazzing out dancing in front of him.

Anyway, that's our time at ACL Fest! I am going to find ways to incorporate more purple in my wardrobe.