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After celebrating 30 years as a nationally heralded music program, Austin City Limits is doing things a little different now.
The PBS mainstay has succeeded over the years by showcasing a consistent quality of established rock, blues and American roots musicians. But within the past year, the show has hosted an array of artists who have attained a measure of success with independent audiences but lack mainstream notoriety, especially among ACL's adult contemporary audience.
Modest Mouse, The Shins and Bright Eyes have recently joined an extensive group of esteemed musicians who have been on the show that includes such greats as Ray Charles, B.B. King and Willy Nelson, something that was unthinkable a year ago. As of Tuesday night, indie legends Guided By Voices also enjoy the honor.
"I can't believe we get to perform on the stage where Garth Brooks played," Robert Pollard quipped at the beginning of their ACL performance. Pollard is the principle member of Guided By Voices, who has been releasing lo-fi indie rock for more than 20 years.
Pollard is probably the most prolific songwriter in the business, with a discography that includes more than 20 LPs as Guided By Voices comprised of several box sets containing unreleased songs, and as apart of his Fading Captain Series, at least 30 more albums.
This year's tour, in support of their recently released album, "Half Smiles of the Decomposed," marks the end of Pollard's career in Guided By Voices. Pollard will continue to write songs as himself, which, since he's the only remaining member of several lineup changes, might not change much.
Over the years, Guided By Voices has developed a cultish following, leading GBV day to be declared in several cities nationwide including Austin, Houston and Dallas.
Seeing Robert Pollard do his signature high kicks and mic spins in front of the fake skyline of Studio 6A was a surreal experience. Except for the crowd of diehards collected in by the stage, most of the audience among ACL's 35-50 demographic didn't know who they were.
As Pollard got progressively drunker, so did the audience, and by the end of the night, most of them had joined Gen-Xers in the middle of the studio. Even singer-songwriter Pete Yorn came onstage later in the evening and sloppily sang the chorus of a couple songs. Guided By Voices rattled off at least 30 songs from their enormous catalog, including five songs from the new album as well as old standbys like "I am a Tree," "Game of Pricks" and "Redmen & Their Wives." Pollard's drunken between-song banter grew more incoherent as the time went on. "What we taught the world is that you can suck and still rule.
"Don't worry, they said we could have one encore," Pollard assured the audience. When the band came back out, he promised that the encore would have "hits galore," then they proceeded to play a host of fan favorites such as "Teenage FBI" and "I Am a Scientist."
"Watch Me Jump Start" ended the encore over shouts of "GBV" for a performance that will definitely go down in Austin City Limits history.
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