ACL Fest Saturday Reviews

ACL FEST

• ACL Fest Friday Schedule

  Friday's full lineup

• ACL Fest Friday Picks

  The blurbing of ACL 2008

• ACL Fest Friday Interviews

• Rodney Crowell

  BY DOUG FREEMAN

• Yeasayer

  BY DARCIE STEVENS

• Del the Funky Homosapien

  BY CHASE HOFFBERGER

• Ryan Bingham

  BY AUSTIN POWELL

• Antibalas

  BY THOMAS FAWCETT

• Alejandro Escovedo

  BY MARGARET MOSER

• ACL Fest Friday Reviews

• Jakob Dylan

  BY JIM CALIGIURI

• Jamie Lidell

  BY THOMAS FAWCETT

• Delta Spirit

  BY JIM CALIGIURI

• Patty Griffin

  BY DANIEL MEE

• Mates of State

  BY MELANIE HAUPT

• Jenny Lewis

  BY RAOUL HERNANDEZ

• N.E.R.D

  BY CHASE HOFFBERGER

• David Byrne & Brian Eno

  BY AUDRA SCHROEDER

• G. Love & Special Sauce

  BY CHASE HOFFBERGER

• ACL Fest Saturday Schedule

  Saturday's full lineup

• ACL Fest Saturday Picks

  The blurbing of ACL 2008

• ACL Fest Saturday Interviews

• Iron & Wine

  BY DAN OKO

• John Fogerty

  BY JIM CALIGIURI

• Fleet Foxes

  BY DOUG FREEMAN

• Spiritualized

  BY AUSTIN POWELL

• Robert Plant & Alison Krauss

  BY AUSTIN POWELL

• ACL Fest Saturday Reviews

• Langhorne Slim & the War Eagles

  BY DOUG FREEMAN

• The Fratellis

  BY DAN OKO

• Eli 'Paperboy' Reed & the True Loves

  BY DARCIE STEVENS

• Erykah Badu

  BY THOMAS FAWCETT

• Man Man

  BY DARCIE STEVENS

• CSS

  BY THOMAS FAWCETT

• Electric Touch

  BY DANIEL MEE

• Conor Oberst

  BY DOUG FREEMAN

• ACL Fest Sunday Schedule

  Sunday's full lineup

• ACL Sunday Picks

  The blurbing of ACL 2008

• ACL Fest Sunday Interviews

• Scott Biram

  BY JIM CALIGIURI

• Gillian Welch

  BY DOUG FREEMAN

• Gnarls Barkley

  BY CHASE HOFFBERGER

• ACL Fest Sunday Reviews

• Abigail Washburn & the Sparrow Quartet

  BY JIM CALIGIURI

• Xavier Rudd

  BY DOUG FREEMAN

• Blues Traveler

  BY JIM CALIGIURI

• Okkervil River

  BY MELANIE HAUPT

• White Denim

  BY AUSTIN POWELL

• Gnarls Barkley

  BY CHASE HOFFBERGER

• Austin Kiddie Limits

  For the young'uns

  BY MELANIE HAUPT

• ACL Aftershows

  When the sun goes down

• ACL's Food Court Continues to Expand Its – and Our – Horizons

  Take an ACL break Austin-style with local eateries and portable fine dining

  BY CLAUDIA ALARCÓN

• Restaurants Near Zilker

  When ACL's food court isn't enough

• Barton Springs Pool Info

  Take a dip

  BY JAMES RENOVITCH

Conor Oberst

Conor Oberst reportedly sidestepped his Bright Eyes moniker and homegrown Omaha, Neb., label, Saddle Creek, to try a different approach, but the eponymous product doesn't stray far from the trajectory he's been traveling since 2005's I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning. If anything, the LP is the most straightforward and accessible of his catalog, but that neither undermines nor compromises his songwriting or gravitas. Feeling more subdued in sound and comfortable in execution, songs such as "Sausalito" and "Moab" drive with the wanderlust of last year's Cassadaga, but the Dylan & Band roll of "Get-Well-Cards" and quiet spite of "Lenders in the Temple" balance Oberst's disillusion with a mature sense of narrative that finally extends beyond himself. "I Don't Want to Die (in the Hospital)" updates Lifted's "Let Not Shit Ourselves" with a defiant turn, and "NYC – Gone, Gone" delivers an electrified, Pogues-ish stomp. If intended to initiate his career's second act, Oberst has an impressive start. (6:30pm, AT&T stage.)