Search - Austin City Limits Festival 2004 on DVD

Great cross selection of performers

Wayne Klein | My Little Blue Window, USA | 09/26/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Austin City Limits has broken barriers in popular music since 1976. Presenting a wide variety of talented artists from the fringe (Richard Thompson), to cult artists (John Hiatt, The Neville Brothers) and top 40 (Bonnie Raitt) throughout the years. It's no surprise that their "Austin City Limits Music Festival" continues that popular tradition. Featuring the bluesy Ben Harper to the gospel sound of the Blind Boys of Alabama to Franz Ferdinand's popular brand of rock, this set gives diversity a good name. Artists on this two disc set include the following: Neville Brothers, Los Lonely Boys, Pixies, Franz Ferdinand, Sloan, the Blind Boys of Alabama, The Soundtrack of Our Lives, The Pixies, Phish, Jack Johnson, Drive by Truckers, Cake, Neville Brothers, Sheryl Crow,Rachel Yamagata, Sloan, Broken Social Scene. There's only one or two songs by each performer but there's still a good solid two hours plus of great music here. Recorded over three days in September at Zilker Park in Austin it's a great show to dig into during a hot night or rainy, lazy Sunday.

A top-notch transfer overall although there is the occasional bit of video noise that prevents the picture from being perfect, "Austin City Limits" looks extremely good as presented here. The 5.1 soundtrack sounds flawless with great detail and vibrant.

A great sampler of the three day festival and a better bet than the CD which only collects 16 songs, "Austin City Limits Festival" is a fun dip into a pool music on a very hot trio of days in September. My only complaint is that some of these bands I hadn't heard of were so intriguing that I wanted to see a full concert performance by them. I suppose I'll just have to wait for individual releases by these artists. It certainly introduced me to some interesting music and prompted me to purchase CDs I might not otherwise have heard.
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Love the music, but why only one song?

Kendrick Weis | No land like Garland | 10/06/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I have been to the festival many times and considering how many bands there are and how long each of them play, it like a mini-concert by each artist. So why not put more songs out? There were sooo many good songs that where played live and yet not all of them made it to the DVD. Forget the 2 disc set, what ever happen to the 10 or 12 disc box set like the Live Aid DVD or the compilation of Bob Dylan? Even Ericka Clement Robson who is dead has a box set out. Come one, no love for us country loving folks? Figures considering some marketing machine, literally, in New York decided what songs should be allowed. How about being brave and getting some real songs out there in the mix. I don't think anyone wants the junk that Madison Ave deems PC. Come on Austin people, we are progressive, not like some so and so's we know. More songs for next year and more artist that are local, please."