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Taping recap: Flor de Toloache

Flor de Toloache performs on Austin City Limits, Aug. 29, 2023. Photo by Scott Newton.

When Adrian Quesada brought his Boleros Psicodélicos project to the Austin City Limits stage last year in our Season 48, one of his featured guests was singer and violinist Mireya Ramos, who brought the house down with an impassioned performance of the Latin love song “Tus Tormentas.” With her musical partner Shae Fiol, Ramos leads the Latin Grammy-winning and Grammy-nominated New York mariachi group Flor de Toloache, and it became clear after her appearance with Quesada that an invitation to the band to tape their own show was inevitable. We were thrilled to have the five-piece combo join us in support of their latest recording Motherflower. 

Eschewing the traditional mariachi outfits for clothes more glittery, Mona Seda (trumpet), Claudia Rascon (guitar), and Vaneza Calderon (guitarron)  strummed a slow mariachi beat before Ramos arrived to begin “Bolero Para ti Motherflower,” the defiant title track to Motherflower. Ramos’ voice soared and swirled, joined by her partner Fiol’s on the second verse, both women pulling every ounce of emotion out of the lyrics. Fiol picked up her vihuela and Ramos her violin for the cumbia “Bailando Penas,” driven by both the danceable rhythm and Seda’s melodic trumpet lines. On the ballad “Esta Ranchera,” which Ramos called their tribute to Patsy Cline, Fiol switched to flute, while she and her partner shifted from Spanish to English and back to enforce the emotion behind the heartbreak ballad. 

“This is another women empowerment song,” noted Ramos, before double violins from she and Rascon kicked off “Ruiseñor,” a tune from the band’s Las Caras Lindas album – and one that featured clogging, pizzicatto violin, and whistling during the breakdown. “This is the most personal song [on Motherflower], said Ramos in the lead up to “Brinda por Ella.” “You have to love yourself before you can love anyone else. It’s okay to take yourself out on a date once in a while!” That sentiment adorned a joyful 6/8 groove and sparkling violin from Ramos.  

The band then invited Grammy-winning producer and musician Adrian Quesada – “a legend here and around the world” – to join them onstage with his Telecaster. He gave a new texture to the gorgeous Motherflower ballad “Soledad,” a song written during the pandemic – appropriately enough – since the English translation is “Loneliness.” 

After Quesada left the stage, Ramos introduced the next song “Let Down” as a fusion of ranchera, blues, and R&B. A showcase for the golden-voiced Fiol, its writer, the tune was originally featured in the band’s Tiny Desk Concert, which helped introduce the quintet to the wider world. Ramos and Seda also engaged in some playful locking of horns with their violin and trumpet. The group then paid tribute to their style’s history with the “Huapango Medley,” starting with the Trini Lopez classic “Malagueña Salerosa,” and including mariachi standards “El Pastor” and “La Cigarra.” For the ranchera “Regresa Ya,” written by Ramos for a bandmate going through a breakup, the group asked for an assist from the enthusiastic audience. All five members gave a brief workshop in the art of the grito, those spontaneous cries that punctuate the emotional heft of a good mariachi ballad. The crowd was already primed for participation, inserting gritos into the luminous heartbreak ballad without prompting. 

After that exercise in tradition, the quintet jumped feet first into another arena, dazzling with a briskly performed medley of contemporary hard rock songs, incorporating riffs, melodies, and lyrics from Rage Against the Machine, Nirvana (both “Come As You Are” and “Smells Like Teen Spirit”), and Led Zeppelin. The temperature level was already spiked by that epic performance, so Flor kept it going with the cumbia “Dicen,” which got the audience dancing and singing along in call-and-response. The band closed the set with “Besos de Mezcal,” a tune that drew just as heavily on crowd participation, with the Austin crowd singing the chorus alongside Fiol and Ramos. The latter also led the audience in some enthusiastic cries of “Tikki-tikki-ta!” 

The theater went wild after the magical set, as well they should have. We’ve never had a show quite like this before, and we’re excited for everyone to see it when it airs this fall as part of our upcoming Season 49 of Austin City Limits on your local PBS station. 

Flor de Toloache tapes Austin City Limits, Aug. 29, 2023. Photos by Scott Newton.
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Taping Recap

Taping Recap: Fleet Foxes Make Special Trip Back to Austin to Captivate ACL Audience with Lush Harmonies

Some musicians work like dogs to perfect their sonic signatures and find the most distinctive part of their sound, then massage it until it shines like a polished gem; others just fall into their talent so naturally it’s as if their sound grew on a tree and was simply plucked for the taking.

Not fair – we know – but we’re so thankful when such artists grace our stage.

When it comes to their infamous vocal harmonies, Fleet Foxes definitely fall into the latter category – Robin Pecknold and his bandmates sound as if they were born to sing together, as their recent ACL taping last Friday (10/7) proved.

The Fleet Foxes made the trek back to Austin for this special taping and even Pecknold’s cold couldn’t dull the edges of their signature harmony blend. If you caught the show you probably noticed he was medicating his throat with tea between songs – no matter, the band still sounded incredible every time.

Frontloading the set with tunes from the latest LP Helplessness Blues, the band indulged its atmospheric acid folk side with the soaring “Sim Sala Bim” and the ambitious “The Shrine/An Argument,” whose sweeping acoustica and churning electricity in the second got spiked by multi-instrumentalist/MVP Morgan Henderson’s skronking bass clarinet.

On the downhill side of the set, the group performed a gorgeous take on “Helplessness Blues,” — augmented by Henderson’s mbira-equipped 12-string guitar (AKA the poor man’s hammer dulcimer) — then transitioned into the band into the second half of the show, which leaned most heavily on the melodic folk/pop of the band’s first album.

The lights in our studio were magical during “White Winter Hymnal” making the band appear to glow. From the Sun Giant EP we heard “Ragged Wood” and “Mykonos” fill ACL Live at the Moody Theater to the rooftop with sweet melodies – not to mention our great fans harmoniously singing along.

The group closed out the night with “Blue Ridge Mountains” – a cascade of everything that makes Fleet Foxes great. As Do512_Rachel said on Twitter, “Fleet Foxes always make me wish it was snowing out and I had hot cocoa #acltv.”

But don’t take our word for it – you can check out what other fine folks said about the show on austin.culturemap.com and brooklynvegan.com. And on January 21, you’ll be able to see – and, most importantly, hear – the set for yourselves. We’ll be pairing Fleet Foxes with fellow traveler Joanna Newsom – don’t miss it!

The two last tapings of season 37 are Lykke Li and Wilco. Stay tuned to our blog for ticket giveaways!

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News Taping Recap

Taping recap: Father John Misty

It’s no secret that singer and songwriter Josh Tillman, as leader of Father John Misty, is a controversial figure – musically eccentric and defiantly outspoken, he inspires ire as often as devotion. But Tillman (who last appeared on our stage in 2013 as drummer for Fleet Foxes) earns attention for a better reason: the quality of the songs found on his three albums to date, including this year’s massively acclaimed Pure Comedy. Tillman’s work has earned him a loyal and ever-growing following, who turned in out in force for one of the most distinctive shows in our history.

Backed by a seven-piece band and a sixteen-person strong mini-orchestra of Austin players, Tillman opened the show with the lush pop of Pure Comedy’s title track, a satirical take on modern life that ends with the plea “each other’s all we got.” The ensemble followed with “Total Entertainment Forever Play,” a more straightforward folk rocker, before going back to the orchestration for the dramatic anthem “Things It Would Have Been Helpful to Know Before the Revolution,” which Tillman punctuated with wild arm swings, like a mad conductor. He picked his guitar back up to lead the band in the pretty but pointed “Ballad of the Dying Man,” his impassioned wail scaling the heights built by the string section behind him.

Following four straight tracks from Pure Comedy, Tillman revisited his second LP I Love You, Honeybear with the irony-soaked “When You’re Smiling and Astride Me,” a sly parody of 70s sensitive balladry that namechecked Willie Nelson to comic effect and produced the biggest audience hosannahs yet. A Latin feel permeated the horn section during “Chateau Lobby #4,” which again earned a huge audience response. Returning to Pure Comedy, Tillman cleared away the clouds with the relatively subtle “When the God of Love Returns There’ll Be Hell to Pay,” which focused on piano, sedate strings and his keening croon. The full force of the ensemble returned for the lush “A Bigger Paper Bag,” before really bearing down on the powerful “Birdie.” Most of the band then left the stage, leaving Tillman alone with the string section for the 13-minute emotional travelogue “Leaving LA.” “This is the only TV show you could get away with doing that song on,” he quipped.

The rest of the orchestra retook the stage, but the mood stayed placid with “So I’m Growing Old On Magic Mountain,” a clear audience fave. FJM ended the main set with the title track to I Love You, Honeybear, on which Tillman pulled out all the stops as a loverman crooner, venturing out into the audience to dispense hugs and lead the crowd in a chorus of “oh’s.” With that titanic end, Father John Misty quit the stage. But Tillman returned with the strings and pianist Jon Titterington for “Holy Shit,” a paean to change far more thoughtful and melodic than its profane title might lead one to believe. The rest of the ensemble quietly took the stage behind them and crashed into a bit of cacophonous bombast, clearing the sinuses before returning to a full band version of the melody as previously stated. One more crowd chorus of “oh’s” and it was over, everyone satiated. It was a great end to a great show, and we can’t wait for you to see it when it arrives early next year as part of our Season 43 on your local PBS station.

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News Taping Recap

Taping recap: Ed Sheeran

The last time Ed Sheeran visited Austin City Limits, he was a pop star. For his second appearance tonight, he returned at the top of his game, and arguably the biggest pop star in the world. The massive international success of the British singer-songwriter’s third album ÷ spread his gospel far and wide, and it showed in our rapturous audience.

Taking the stage in an ACL t-shirt to thunderous applause, the one-man marvel, with just his guitar and a loop pedal, jump-started the evening with “Castle On the Hill,” the folk-rocking top 10 hit that announced the arrival of ÷. He followed with “Eraser,” one of his patented mashups of folk-pop and hip hop that found him bounding across the stage, looping his guitars and vocals into ever-more intricate musical webs. After singing the praises of Texas music, food and alcohol, Sheeran went back to “the one that kicked things off for me,” namely his breakthrough hit “The A Team.” Encouraging the eager audience to sing at the tops of their lungs, he then launched into “Don’t,” an early hit that rides a hard groove and works well for call and response. Sheeran returned to the new album for “Happier,” a heart-rending ballad perfect for pulling your loved one closer, glad you’re not the song’s subject.

The ginger tunesmith dug back into 2014’s x for “Bloodstream,” slathering the harrowing tale of a drug experience in echo, energy and live overdubbing. Then Sheeran essayed one of his concert centerpieces, a theatrical and slowly unfolding medley of Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good” and his own “I See Fire,” the atmospheric theme to the fantasy film The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. After that epic, he brought the mood back from middle-earth with “Hearts Don’t Break Around Here,” a tender love song, and “Supermarket Flowers,” a lovely number about the death of his beloved grandmother – both eschewing his usual penchant for looping and in-concert singalongs. The mood skyrocketed back up with “Photograph,” a song of devotion built into a choir of Sheerans that unexpectedly incorporated Austin’s own Sixth Street into its lyrics. He kept the ecstatic vibe going with “Perfect,” a song he described as “my favorite song I’ve ever written.”

Heading into the home stretch, Sheeran paid tribute to his grandparents’ love story with “Nancy Mulligan,” a ÷ song that brilliantly incorporated the folk of their Irish heritage into his signature beat-driven pop. Donning an electric guitar instead of his typical acoustic, he then played his Grammy-winning, chart-topping single “Thinking Out Loud,” joined on every verse by the rapt crowd. He paid tribute to that receptiveness by bringing up an audience member, complimenting her on her consistent dancing throughout the performance. Which was an appropriate segue into “Shape of You,” his current, dancehall-infused hipswinging smash that made the crowd go wild. Sheeran ended the show with an epic high-energy take on “You Don’t Me, I Don’t You,” practically a distillation of the folk/pop/hip-hop hybrid that’s made him a global superstar. It was a magnificent ending to a spectacular show, and we can’t wait for you to see it when the epic hour kicks off our 43rd season October 7 on PBS.

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Featured News Taping Recap

Taping recap: Duran Duran

Duran Duran, 2021. Photo by Scott Newton.

At a time when so many of their early eighties peers have succumbed to nostalgia tours and the revival circuit, Duran Duran has remained on top, not only popular but relevant. That’s partly because the Birmingham superstars still clearly enjoy what they do – no paycheck-cashing cynicism here. But it’s also because the band acknowledges its past while continuing to move forward, making new music with the same interest and passion as it has since its eighties beginnings. As they proved with their debut taping for Austin City Limits, and with new album Future Past imminent, Duran Duran still has the fire. 

When Terry Lickona introduced the band, the crowd gave a roar like a tidal wave, the likes of which we rarely hear. Following a couple of minutes of funky instrumental groove building anticipation, the superstar act took the stage and the roar returned, singer Simon Le Bon, keyboardist Nick Rhodes, bassist John Taylor, drummer Roger Taylor, joined by guitarist Dom Brown, saxophonist Simon Willescroft and singers Anna Ross and Erin Stevenson, reveling in the kind of attention a group that’s thrived for decades deserves. The Durans opened with new song “Invisible,” a minimalist synth funker from the upcoming record that bodes well for the new music to come. Bona fides thus established, the band went right into one of its biggest hits: the 1985 #1 smash “A View to a Kill,” the theme song for the James Bond film of the same name. The energy level went up even higher with “Notorious,” the song’s funk beat clearly galvanizing Le Bon and John Taylor, to the audience’s delight. “Anybody celebrating a birthday tonight?” the perpetually smiling singer asked. “We celebrate our birthday every night!” That was the lead-in to new single “Anniversary,” a pop banger that doubles as a nod to the forty years that have passed since the release of the Durans’ first album. 

Backup vocalist Ross joined Le Bon at the front of the stage to duet on the melodic 1993 top ten hit “Come Undone,” from the group’s second self-titled album (AKA “The Wedding Album”). Doffing his white jacket, Le Bon got his groove on for “Pressure Off,” a late-career high point from the 2015 LP Paper Gods that reminded everybody that this band has never forgotten how to be danceable, the vocalist leading the eager crowd into a disco clap-along. The Durans then dug deep into their catalog for the cheeky rocker “Friends of Mine,” a highlight of the band’s very first album, and a song Le Bon seemed to particularly enjoy singing. “This is one of the best little shows we’ve played all year!” he claimed after the song finished. The band then got serious for a minute, with Le Bon dedicating the next song to everyone struggling in the past eighteen months. That song was, of course, “Ordinary World,” the band’s massive, ice-melting ballad from 1993, given new resonance in 2020s reality. From that undeniable classic the Durans offered up another new song, another upbeat dance rocker entitled “Tonight United,” driven by John’s grooving bass. 

The band kept the energy level high with “(Reach Up For the) Sunrise,” a vibrant, guitar-heavy rock anthem from their 2004 album Astronaut. “Put your hands up,” the song demanded, and the audience eagerly acquiesced. Ross and Stevenson returned to the front of the stage to assist the band for their outside-the-box cover of Grandmaster Flash’s anti-cocaine protest tune “White Lines (Don’t Do It),” just in case anyone had forgotten Duran Duran’s essential eclecticism. The group then boomeranged back to the beginning, with the distinctive synth intro and new wave groove to the band’s first hit, the still-thrilling “Planet Earth.” The audience went wild, but really upped their game when Le Bon asked, “Did you drink your champagne and eat your caviar…or is anybody hungry?” That led, of course, into “Hungry Like the Wolf,” the band’s hit of all hits, and one that turned the Moody into a monster dance party. The band wasted no time going right into “Girls On Film,” taking the performance and the crowd straight up to nirvana. The song segued into an appropriate cover of Calvin Harris’ “Acceptable in the 80s,” the groove of which Le Bon used to introduce the band, before going into the song’s chorus of “shooting star” – as appropriate a send-off to the set as could be hoped. The Durans quit the stage to wild cheers and applause. 

They returned, of course, as Le Bon extolled the crowd to raise their cell phones and turn the lights on. Sea of lights thus established, the band performed “Save a Prayer,” letting the fans sing the chorus and taking them out on a wave of  beauty instead of the expected bombast. “Austin City Limits, thanks for having us!” John Taylor said, with firm agreement from Le Bon, and Duran Duran left the stage for the final time. It was a terrific show, one for the ACL ages, and we can’t wait for you to see it when it airs early next year as part of our Season 47 on your local PBS station. 

Duran Duran tapes Austin City Limits, Oct. 2021. Photos by Scott Newton.
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Featured News Taping Recap

Taping recap: DOMi & JD BECK

DOMi & JD BECK perform on Austin City Limits, July 8, 2023. Photo by Scott Newton.

Like any other venerable tradition, jazz welcomes the occasional shake-up. With hip-hop inspired rhythms, lush chords, and a singular sense of style, Grammy Best New Artist nominated jazz duo DOMi & JD BECK are the latest act to combine twenty-first century energy with old school improvisation. Supporting their highly acclaimed debut album NOT TiGHT, the duo brought virtuoso technique, accessible melodies, and an impish sense of humor to their first-ever show in Austin. 

Surrounding themselves with cherry blossoms, foliage, and grass, DOMi and BECK took the stage in pink sweats for her and overalls for him. Doubling on piano and key-bass, DOMi took the melody of “WHATUP” for a rollicking ride, as BECK played his kit like a human EDM drum machine. “This is cool,” remarked the drummer afterward. “Oddly intimate, though. But cool.” The duo then bopped their way through “the first song we ever released – the irresistibly funky, popwise “SMiLE,” with its recognizable hook. 

“What the f–k is up, Austin?” DOMi smiled. “I always wanted to curse on TV!” That was a heads-up for the brisk “Bowling,” with the pair trading vocals in place for co-writer Thundercat, who sings it on NOT TiGHT. DOMi really showed off her chops on this tune, ripping out a sparkling piano solo while still keeping the bass keys roiling. The record’s title track followed, switching between minimalist atmosphere and barnburning workouts. “This is the first song we ever wrote together,” noted BECK before they started. “So that means it’s the worst – enjoy!” Given the skill on display and the crowd’s appreciation, clearly there’s no “worst” in the band catalog.

Another early tune, “U Don’t Have to Rob Me” related the true story of a near mugging with humor and a skittering arrangement like an electronic track translated to organic technique. The duo explained that jazz legend and ACL alumnus Herbie Hancock performed on the next song, “but he’s not here.” DOMi and BECK performed the rich, luminous “Moon” perfectly fine on their own. The pair then took two of their tribute tunes – “Duke,” a nod to jazz funk icon George Duke, and “Space Mountain,” about the titular Disney ride – and made them into a medley, one that particularly highlighted BECK’s rhythm mastery and DOMI’s speed-demon chops. 

For the last song, BECK explained “DOMI’s gonna play something pretty, then the actual song starts,” with his partner adding “The actual song is called ‘You Can Sniff My Butt.’” In reality a medley of the album’s “Thank U” and “Sniff,” the tune did indeed begin with lush chords from DOMi, before BECK’s traps and her synth bass kicked the music into high gear. It was an epic finish to an excellent show, one for which the audience showed a deep and loud appreciation. It’ll make a cool episode of your favorite music television show, and we hope you tune in this fall to your local PBS station.