ACL Fest 2019 Friday pics & video (Tame Impala, Guns N' Roses, Thom Yorke, more)
Since Guns N’ Roses started their 2.5-hour conquest of the American Express stage a whole 45-minutes before the Australian psych rock fusionists [Tame Impala], casually curious patrons got to witness Axl Rose lead the septet through familiar hits like “Welcome to the Jungle” and one they might’ve recognized from watching Macca last year, the nearly-two-decades-standard rendition of Wings’ “Live and Let Die,” before high-tailing it to the other end of the field to round out the overall population’s fairly 50/50 split.
Everyone that stayed for the remainder saw the sharpest version of the band in recent memory. Rose, wearing a black Alamo Drafthouse T-shirt to start, appeared energized and vocally on-point, delivering faithful takes on mainstays like “Civil War,” “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” the grand-piano-led “November Rain” and encore-ending anthem “Paradise City.” He also asserted his own amped-up spins on the Misfits’ “Attitude” and Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.” Slash, sporting a Rolling Stones tour tee, effortlessly shredded what felt like every millimeter of his fretboard: he demonstrated the textbook definition of making a guitar sing, and accounted for at least half an hour of the fireworks-laden spectacle. [Billboard]
The 2019 edition of ACL Festival kicked off its first weekend on Friday (10/4) at Austin’s Zilker Park. The temperature rose higher than the fest has experienced since its 2006 edition, and a last minute cancellation from Lil Uzi Vert disappointed some attendees, but as Jenny Lewis said during her set, “ACL is magic … keep your eyes wide, your heart open, and your drinks full”
Day one of ACL also included sets from Erin Rae, Cherry Glazerr, Tyler Childers, King Princess, Weyes Blood, The Raconteurs (Jack White, wearing a Daniel Johnston shirt, quipped, “Donald Trump says the sun doesn’t exist, because there is no proof. You’re not hot right now!”), Thom Yorke, and a Tame Impala vs Guns N’ Roses conflict to close out the night, with lasers coming from one side of the park and fireworks from the other. Check out pictures from the whole day in the gallery above, and some video clips below.
Weekend one of ACL Fest continues through Sunday (10/6); stay tuned for more coverage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZHVkQW-I_Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r574BY_EUmU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q70uXKwsOug
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftOV4kA4JWA
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photos by Corwin Wickersham
