AUSTIN, TX- The Anglo-French experimental pop band Stereolab played ACL Live on September 9th with support from Brussels ensemble Fievel Is Glauque. This was Stereolab’s first time playing Austin since the Autumn of 2019.
The vocals were effortless and smoothly flowing throughout their set and allowed the audience a bonding and sweet concert experience without the all-too-common dynamic of trying too hard. It felt straightforward and involving, delicately. Just like my previous experiences.
Stereolab sounded fantastic and gracefully performed a set of predominantly later-period material, culled from their more than 30-year career.
For my third time documenting the group, I found it very easy to make Laetitia Sadier the primary subject of my lens. Her subtle elegance always leaves me in awe. As a music fan primarily drawn to heavy music, Sadier’s inventive and naturalistic vocals are in stark contrast to the overly aggressive male vocals I’ve gushed over for the majority of my life as a concertgoer. I’m quite grateful for my last decade + of new and old discoveries!
For a band that has been so wildly creative, it came as no surprise to encounter such a large percentage of the audience being as young and engaged in an era where veteran artists aren’t necessarily reaching the youth as they once did.
95’s releases from ” Refried Ectoplasm” hit home with “French Disko” alongside “Mountain” and “Harmonium”, but felt equally thrilled to hear/experience “Delugeoisie” towards the end of the set.
While Stereolab’s multi-instrumentalist Mary Hansen left us two decades ago, it’s fair to say that the sound patterns and avant-garde stylistic highlights accompanied by their sensibilities all simultaneously honored her period and relevance in the project and probably always will.
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