ACL Live Shot: Bombay Bicycle Club

Photo by Jana Birchum

ACL MUSIC FEST

• Friday ACL Live Shots

• First Aid Kit

  BY DOUG FREEMAN

• The War on Drugs

  BY LUKE WINKIE

• The Relatives

  BY JIM CALIGIURI

• L.P.

  BY CHASE HOFFBERGER

• Esperanza Spalding

  BY CHASE HOFFBERGER

• Jovanotti

  BY THOMAS FAWCETT

• Umphrey's McGee

  BY JIM CALIGIURI

• Tegan & Sara

  BY ZOE CORDES SELBIN

• The Afghan Whigs

  BY ADAM SCHRAGIN

• Alabama Shakes

  BY ABBY JOHNSTON

• Florence + the Machine

  BY MELANIE HAUPT

• Weezer

  BY ZOE CORDES SELBIN

• AVICII

  BY LUKE WINKIE

• The Black Keys

  BY MELANIE HAUPT

• Saturday ACL Live Shots

• Wild Child

  BY DOUG FREEMAN

• Wheeler Brothers

  BY JIM CALIGIURI

• Zola Jesus

  BY ADAM SCHRAGIN

• Bombay Bicycle Club

  BY ABBY JOHNSTON

• Rufus Wainwright

  BY ZOE CORDES SELBIN

• Father John Misty

  BY DOUG FREEMAN

• Sonámbulo

  BY THOMAS FAWCETT

• Big K.R.I.T.

  BY CHASE HOFFBERGER

• Oberhofer

  BY ZOE CORDES SELBIN

• Andrew Bird

  BY ABBY JOHNSTON

• Lee Fields & the Expressions

  BY THOMAS FAWCETT

• Kishi Bashi

  BY MELANIE HAUPT

• The Roots

  BY CHASE HOFFBERGER

• Antibalas

  BY THOMAS FAWCETT

• Gotye

  BY MELANIE HAUPT

• Jack White

  BY LUKE WINKIE

• Neil Young & Crazy Horse

  BY JIM CALIGIURI

• Sunday ACL Live Shots

• The Eastern Sea

  BY ADAM SCHRAGIN

• Kimbra

  BY MELANIE HAUPT

• Stars

  BY ZOE CORDES SELBIN

• Gary Clark Jr.

  BY DOUG FREEMAN

• Two Door Cinema Club

  BY ABBY JOHNSTON

• Thundercat

  BY LUKE WINKIE

• The Lumineers

  BY DOUG FREEMAN

• Barrington Levy

  BY THOMAS FAWCETT

• Crystal Castles

  BY LUKE WINKIE

• Avett Brothers

  BY JIM CALIGIURI

• Iggy & the Stooges

  BY ADAM SCHRAGIN

• Red Hot Chili Peppers

  BY CHASE HOFFBERGER

Bombay Bicycle Club's set list was a coin toss. The North London quartet has shifted aesthetics on each of its three albums, and with no new LP since 2011's A Different Kind of Fix, that meant all of the band's discography was fair game. The four jammed harder than expected based on its sea change into ambient dream rock. Jack Steadman has a clear tenor that works well over Real Estate-style harmonics, whirling between endless synth and guitar weavings. The guitar, bass, and drums bantered back and forth and headed into new song "You Carry Me," an infectiously joyful tune that teeters on the edge of being twee. "Shuffle," A Different Kind of Fix hit, focused on electronics after the group had dedicated a large part of its set to guitar speeches, but in that song, Bombay Bicycle Club gave fans a richer sense of the electronics behind the music.