This year’s installment of Austin City Limits Music Festival was one of broken expectations.
Despite a constant forecast of rain for the weekend, it only came at night after a day of scorching heat, and when it rained, it flooded Zilker Park, canceling Sunday’s festivities and shows by four of the festival’s biggest acts: The National, Phoenix, Lionel Richie and supergroup Atoms For Peace.
Though limited to two-thirds of the advertised package, the first two days of the festival were defined by the headliners and the expectations that follow them — some defied for better, and many for worse.
Muse, perhaps the most popular if not most bombastic show between Friday and Saturday, played an emotionally draining set. No matter what you think about its recent albums, you generally know what to expect at a Muse show: lasers, guitar riffs, explosions, high-pitched shrieks and rock ‘n’ roll mixed with a little glitz ‘n’ glam. Muse delivered on all of these points — except for one thing.
Muse began its hour-and-a-half set with dubstep.
And once you got past this madness, the show continued with as much volatility as the “wub”’s in the opener. Songs like “Supremacy,” “Liquid State” and “Panic Station” proved the band still has some fun rock ‘n’ roll left in its creative faculties (and hats off for the dancing Barack Obama animation accompanying “Panic Station”), but then “Madness,” “Follow Me” and its specially made Olympics soundtrack “Survival” quickly defeated hopes of seeing a respectable Muse show.
The highlights of the set proved the band isn’t burnt out — just that it makes highly questionable decisions.
Kings of Leon’s set followed a similar trend: If fans were expecting the old, brace for the new. Kings performed well and sounded great, just don’t go for the vintage Kings songs about beer-stained, cocaine-fueled fights and “hookers that are hanging out at the bar in the Greyhound station,” because this is not that band.
With technicolor screens and vast arrays of lights behind them, Kings looked more like U2 than their formerly grungy selves, and only eight songs of 24 came from their first three albums.
On the other hand, Justin Vernon of Bon Iver played Saturday night with his latest side project The Shouting Matches, putting together what was the best example of expectations defied for the better.
If you’re turned off by Bon Iver’s consistently mellow tone and Vernon’s soft, falsetto voice, then you, too, would’ve found it immensely satisfying to hear the man scream. The Shouting Matches put on a solid set of Southern blues rock. The band jammed and grooved, leaving some members of the audience taking partners and dancing a two-step while others head-banged.
Canadian electronic artist Grimes also conducted a surprisingly lively show, overcoming her music’s odd and usually calm demeanor. Grimes had two on-stage dancers with her to coax the massive crowd into the fun — which they did with great success.
Still, there were many shows over the course of Friday and Saturday that fit their bill just as you would expect.
Vampire Weekend brought its aloof, Cape Cod persona to the Friday night lineup. Crisp and perfectly hitting the notes to fun tunes like “White Sky” and closer “Walcott,” the extent to which Vampire Weekend dots its i’s and crosses its t’s can be unnerving at times. But if you appreciate the music for what it is and aren’t looking for a particularly engaging act, this show was for you.
And Vampire Weekend also had the most interestingly fitting backdrop: a large, floral pattern fitting for wallpaper punctuated with white Grecian columns hanging from the roof and a giant, faux-baroque mirror in the center.
Other acts like Local Natives, Passion Pit and Portugal. The Man put on fun, engaging and interesting sets, especially Portugal. The Man, who tossed in a cover of Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick In The Wall.”
Then there was Jimmy Eat World.
Jimmy Eat World: No one wants to hear your jokes between songs. Everyone wants to hear “The Middle.” Just play the damned “Middle.”
And they didn’t, at least not for the first 55 minutes of their hourlong set that definitely wasn’t worth it.
Lastly, there were the big names festival-goers under 25 seemed to dismiss: Depeche Mode and The Cure, both of whom rocked exactly as you would expect: seasoned and refreshingly untarnished by years of success.
The same cannot be said of their younger headlining counterparts, who seem to have sold their souls to the demons of dubstep and indistinguishable arena rock.
Clayton Crockett is a 22-year-old international studies senior from
Lafayette.

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Zachary Strain

Matthew Bellamy of Muse performs on Day 4 of the 2013 Austin City Limits Music Festival on Oct. 11, 2013 in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/The Daily Texan, Zachary Strain)