Last year after the festival I had nobody to rant to about who was good, who was dissapointing, and everything of the sort. Being a thousand miles from Austin it feels like you're isolated when it's over. So it's nice to have this now.

Anyways, as to the 2005 Festival. Those who were there, if you can do your own version of these questions, it'd be cool to see what some other people thought. I didn't manage to see some of the smaller acts due to near heat stroke, but I still got quite a good taste of the music. Anyways...

Best Three Acts:
Allman Brothers Band

Buddy Guy

Coldplay/Jet

Worst Three Acts:
Oasis - cocky, isolated the crowd. Not a bad performance, but not near what I expected from what was once the biggest band in the world.

Death Cab - sorry to the fans, I like them on recordings but live, to me, they sounded awful.

Mates of State - just terrible. they got some good reviews, i thought they sucked.

Also, Jason Mraz was really boring live.

Best Three Suprises:

Aqualung - I'm not saying he tore it up, but his sound was loud, he was spot on, voice was nice, had a really good guitarist with him, it was a nice suprise to see him loud and locked in live.

Robert Randolph - I know it sounds weird, but I hadn't really heard more than a song or two of his. I went over to watch Death Cab for a while, came back after getting bored, and was amazed by this jumping, bandana'd man playing this wonderful pedal steel guitar. Lovely stuff.

Bloc Party - I was really just waiting for something to pass the time before Oasis, and thought that the combination of a really cool light show and spacey guitars went for a really nice performance.

Three things you would change for 2005:

Better water stations - It was near stroke making hot, so using pipelines for water made the water hot and unbearable.

More grass - Dust caused lots of people sickness apparently.

Longer sets - some of the best bands were cut off just as they got going, although the double set for Widespread Panic was smart.

Three things to keep:

Diversity in acts - great to see the musical variety held in all genres.

Reasonably priced food, which was quite good too.

Atmosphere - there was nothing dangerous about the festival, nobody was mean, the whole festival has a great aura of just enjoying the music and the festival, the easy-going austin vibe carries through brilliantly, and is what made me want to go back.

your thoughts?

i agree, the mates of state set wasnt too great. i lovelovelove them, but they just dont adapt well to the festival atmosphere. i saw them in a small club here, back in march. it was an amazing show.

i'd say the best performance was by far the fiery furnaces, followed close by bloc party. i dont really like bloc party a whole lot, but i had an inkling their live show would be amazing, and indeed it was.
the furnaces, what more do you have to say? their tight-knit, more rock-oriented versions of all their songs blew me away. i wish they'd release a more straightforward rock album. i love what they do, but when they just jam like they do live, its awesome.
other mentions, arcade fire (the crowd felt so unified), built to spill, m83. yea.

THE BEST ACTS
The Real Heroes
Gov't Mule
Asylum Street Spankers
Oliver Future
Hairy Apes BMX
Spoon
Eisley
Buddy Guy
The Allman Brothers Band
Wilco

THE SORTA-GOOD ACTS
Franz Ferdinand
Robert Earl Keen
Roky Erickson & The Explosives
Oasis

THE NOT-SO-GOOD ACTS
Coldplay
Widespread Panic

I will agree about Franz Ferdinand, I felt kind of bad for them. They were playing at the hottest time of the day, to an all-Coldplay crowd. They played their songs well, had a good selection (mainly new) and played "Michael" which was a nice suprise and a good song live. What did them in was the heat and the Coldplay-only fans becoming tired of them (around me there were Coldplay chants during the second half of the FF set)

Another nice suprise was What Made Milwaukee Famous, they were filling in for another band, playing on the Austin Ventures stage so you got a good chance to get right close, and they were in good humor and played well.

My favorite acts of last year were:

The Arcade Fire
Wilco
The Dirty DOzen Brass band
The Real Heroes
Spoon
Bloc Party
Lyle Lovett
The Walkmen

Top Performances IMO from last years festival are:
Arcade Fire
Oasis
Thievery Corp
Kasabian
Bloc Party
Groupo Fantasma
Tortoise
Buddy Guy
Black Keys
Robert Randolf and The Family Band

Disappointments:
Franz Ferdinand, (I thought their 2004 ACL performance was 10 times better)
Death Cab for Cutie (didnt get my full attention so I left to see RR and the Family Band)

Bands I missed out on, that I wish I couldve saw
Kaiser Chiefs
Allman Bro's Band
Spoon
Jason Mraz....Sike!!!!

My Top Three: Allman Bros., Buddy Guy, Black Crowes

Worst 3: Oasis, Blue October, Eisley

I agree that Mraz was boring, but he was badass singing a duet with Tristan Prettyman. Apparently they're dating or something?? Whatever, she was good and they sounded great together.

Surprises: #1The Black Keys totally blew me away! They rocked so hard that I actually forgot about the dust until Coldplay started.
#2Aqualung was amazing too! I hadn't heard anything about that guy and he sounded so good, I bought that album that night.
#3Martin Sexton is in a league of his own! He was one of those acts that I hadn't heard much about but wanted to check out anyway, and man was it worth it!! I can't do him justice with words, but if you're reading this and he's there this year, don't miss his act! One of the most talented artists I've EVER seen.

3 Things I'd change: #1Definitely agree with the more grass instead of dust idea (and I read that they're doing that this year)!
#2Longer sets would be fantastic, but I doubt that'll happen so I'm gonna go with less tickets sold for #2. It did seem a little less crowded last year than in '04, but still too many people for my taste. I'd pay double for tickets if they'd cut the crowd in half.
#3Drink prices need to be reduced. It's gonna be hot. It might even be as hot as last year and the year before. So why not sell some cheap drinks??

3 Things to keep: #1The vibe has been so good the past 3 years! As long as that doesn't change I'll be buying tickets every year.
#2The music has gone downhill a little over the last 3 years, but they've done a good job of keeping the quality high while changing things up. So lets hope they keep up the good work there.
#3If they're not gonna reduce the crowd anymore, then I'd like to say thanks for making the ticket prices reasonable and keeping the transportation free and efficient!

Honorable mentions: Robert Earl Keen, Wayne Hancock, Bruce Robison, and Lyle Lovett were all absolutely fantastic and I hope they're all back this year!

my favorites last year were:
John Butler Trio
Tristan Prettyman
Jet
Slightly Stoopid (missed them at the festival but their late night show was fucking awesome)
Oasis-just a band i had always wanted to see live
Coldplay-never been really into them, but i thought they were pretty awesome
what i heard of Buddy Guy was great

I thought Mraz was boring
Death Cab didn't sound good live

im trying to think back..but can't...i think its a bit too early...
happy 4-20 everyone

I agree with everything that is said here, but Blue October? I have been to every day of ACL since it started. Blue October is the only band I have seen to be asked back to the stage to play longer than their set. If you missed it, it was awesome. Someone needs to start giving these guys some credit.

did no one see the decemberists? their performance was awesome. entertaining and good music. i loved it.

mates of state was fun. they dont sound that good in general, they kind of cant sing. but they were a lot of fun.

eisley wasnt awesome, but i thought they did well considering the heat, newness, etc.

my favorites:
decemberists
spoon
rilo kiley
bloc party
arcade fire
black keys

i cant really think of any set that i hated.

i enjoyed:

wilco
black keys
coldplay
dirty dozen brass band
jason mraz
john butler trio
and arcade fire

split lip rayfield and wayne hancock were pretty badass too