Care for just a little danger with your ACL? You don’t have to make a bunch of dangerous cuts on the football field. Just see Santigold, who did something I’ve never seen before.
The veteran alt-rock artist known legally as Santi White was finishing up a thoroughly impressive, high-energy set Friday during the first day of Weekend 2 when she invited anyone and everyone in the crowd who wanted to join her onstage to do so — full stop, as the saying goes. No apparent conditions attached, other than eventually they’d have to stop letting people up.
Of course, there was a rush to the stage from every angle, from dozens of fans in a full Tito’s tent who zipped past other concert goers, jumped over the railing and joined White onstage. She made sure security didn’t put the kibosh on it too early; at one point, she addressed some security on stage right and said something like, “No no, let them up!” And by the time there was (it appeared) an orderly shutdown of this open-stage policy, there were, I’m amateurishly guessing, 40 people onstage (top photo) to help Santigold close the show with “Creator.”
The newly minted ACL performers danced. They sang along. No one appeared to accost White in the slightest way. It was chaotic, insane and low-key spectacular — a no-no in today’s era of concert cautiousness that went off without a hitch. I can’t even say if White’s band — and her fascinatingly stone-faced backup singers/dancers who helped put the set over the top — were onstage at all anymore. My spouse, who worked concerts at a large outdoor venue two decades ago, was fairly flabbergasted to hear about this later and to view the video evidence.
But no one was hurt, and those 40 people had a dream come true, perhaps a dream they didn’t know they had.
A couple other notes from Friday:
Norah ain’t Snorah — For two decades now, an amusing nickname from detractors of Norah Jones has followed her around among people who both cook and consume music criticism: “Snorah.” I don’t know who’s credited with originating it, but I’ve always found it tip-of-the-cap funny, even as someone who owned and enjoyed Come Away With Me in the throes of it becoming a blockbuster. But Friday, Jones was anything but a snore. In the afternoon heat, her gentle-but-dynamic pop brew and can’t-mistake-it-for-anyone else smoky voice were pleasing and engaging, relying on the power of her pipes and an assertive keyboard-based attack (Jones’ white grand piano, plus electric piano from Jones and Sasha Dobson and the organ of Sami Stevens). The set was largely devoted to her newest album, Visions, which worked out just fine on the likes of the driving “Staring at the Wall” and “Queen of the Sea.” A couple in front of me slow-danced as Norah closed with a deliberate version of “Don’t Know Why,” a touching scene that illustrated why Jones is still a resonant source of reliable chill 22 years after her breakthrough.
Willie! (and Chris) — Chris Stapleton’s headlining set was a no-frills, no-spectacle one, except for one extra attraction: Willie. The mere appearance of Willie Nelson on an Austin stage, whether for 10 minutes or 90, is always a heartening sight. Stapleton brought Nelson out for the first couple of numbers, including for “Whiskey River,” and seeing the 91-year-old legend out there, still playing the music he loves, is a gratifying inspiration. “I can’t exaggerate how much I loved that moment just now,” Stapleton said after Willie had waved goodbye and walked offstage. “I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.” Although Stapleton didn’t offer a lot of bright and shiny visual candy, he did show why he’s a major star and a mainstream antidote to insufferable Bro Country. The likes of “Nobody to Blame” and “Parachute” were sharper-edged country with some Southern rock influence; “Think I’m in Love With You” was just one example of Stapleton’s trademark soulfulness.