ACL, Final Evening

Feeling slightly more fatigued, I again hit the festival in the late afternoon after a day of physical work at the ol' Central Market. Sans Jolie, me and Chris and Alyssa headed for the finale:

• The Flaming Lips have been around, apparently, but this was my first time to observe their scene. For pure visual stimulation, few bands could compete -- there were live dancing Santas and Roswell Aliens, inflated versions of the same, multi-colored plastique adornments, and the lead singer arriving inside a large transparent beach ball. The music was, um, okay too, I guess.
• Went back for another fish taco and hooked it over to get ready for Muse. While there, we watched the last 4ish Ben Harper songs, and lamented that he was far better than the Lips. He finished with an energetic version of "Get Up, Stand Up" with Damien Marley in tow.
• Muse. Where shall I begin? If one was to take all the elements of 80s music (mainly metal, European pop, and even a little Prince / Madonna) and throw them into the proverbial melting pot, then time warp into the present whilst completely avoiding the entire decade of the 90s (especially grunge, alt-country, indie, etc.) you'd get something quite Muse-like. Loud digitally processed neo-metal anthems, one after the other, that sound golden and flawless. If I hadn't grown up in the 80s, I would have been as enraptured as the rest of the 25-and-under crowd! A-muse-ing, for sure.
  
• Tom Petty looked pretty happy from the half-a-mile-away-from-the-stage vantage point. The rains came down pretty hard after the cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Oh Well." This was our cue. Good night, ACL. Thanks for the fun musical samplings. And especially for bringing Van Morrison unto my doors.