 (Photo: Jillian Mapes) |
While ACL festgoers and industry figures alike flocked to Zilker Park for a glimpse of Stevie Wonder, Billboard correspondent Jillian Mapes snuck away to the Moody Theater in the W Hotel to watch Arcade Fire’s “Austin City Limits” TV taping. Somehow, we ended up walking away with one of the microphones from the set — and not by any suspicious means. Win Butler tossed two mics into the standing audience as the band walked off following the encore, and then tossed one to the Billboard reporter sitting at the side of the stage where the band exited.
 The mic in question — legally procured, officer! (Photo: Jillian Mapes) |
As for the performance that preceded, it was filled with tracks off the Grammy-winning “The Suburbs,” jokes about Austin’s forest fire outbreak (too soon, Win Butler), and lots of love for “Austin City Limits” TV show (“something I dreamed about doing as a kid,” Texas native Win said).
Backbeat: Live From Coldplay’s New Year’s Eve Taping @ Austin City Limits (In Mid-September)
The band’s set, which was attended by fellow ACL TV performers the Head & the Heart, was a hugely anticipated moment for the “Austin City Limits” staff, according to Sr. VP of Community Engagement at ACL home station KLRU-TV, Maury Sullivan. The performance marked the second time Arcade Fire has appeared on “Austin City Limits.”
Backbeat: Austin City Limits Producer Charles Attal of C3 Presents Hosts Fest Kick-Off Party
Arcade Fire takes the festival stage tonight for Sunday’s only headlining performance. After that, Butler joked that the band may make a “novelty reggae album.”
 (Photo: Jillian Mapes) |