(ed. note - sorry for the delay in reporting. Pics to follow shortly.)

After Dennis and I spent the morning learning that filling a wheelchair tire with Fix-A-Flat is really difficult and smelly, we headed off to start our second day of ACL festivities.

You may recall that the crip seating on day one was about two feet from the stage. We arrived and prepared to start our second day with the same vantage point for the Old '97s. As we got closer to one of the large stages we noticed that the wheelchair seats had been moved. No longer were we so close. Instead they had moved the wheelchair seats to an area around the soundboard, about 100 feet from the stage and on a flat surface. Clearly this wasn't going to work and clearly I was going to be a pain in the ass about it. Seriously, there was no way I could see from there as the photos will illustrate. Plans were quickly amended and we were able to watch a portion of their set from the new crip cage, a fenced off area at stage right. It wasn't so bad.

We then schlepped all the way across the park to the other large stage (at least half a mile away) to see a Johnny Cash tribute. Johnny's daughter Rosanne was supposed to play in this slot but had understandably cancelled. Instead we were "treated" to a bizarre collection of people doing Johnny's songs. The set started with Tift Merritt absolutely butchering "I Still Miss Someone." I'm sorry, I like Tift's album but it simply has to be ProTools magic. She literally has no voice. A better job was done by the '97s and Drive-By Truckers. I have no words for the disaster that was The North Mississippi All-Stars.

We then saw two fairly unobjectionable sets. Jay Farrar put on a decent performance even though he played no Uncle Tupelo tracks and only three of his Son Volt tunes. He recovered nicely, though, with a suprisingly competent cover of "Like A Hurricane." The Derailers play a bit of '50s surf guitar with some bluegrass thrown in for good measure. I didn't hate it. It was too loud and a bit boring but not awful.

I wish I could say the same for the next act. We decided to stay at the same stage because there really wasn't much else going on. I couldn't talk Dennis into Bright Eyes, so we stayed for Abra Moore. Oh... my... gawd... All this woman does is squeal. It was simply awful. I found it so dreadful that I couldn't stop laughing. Picture a retarded chipmunk singing Fiona Apple songs. I think that about sums it up. Seriously. Follow that link up there and take a listen. Uh, Dennis, you'd better not. I have a feeling I'm already paying for this one for the rest of my natural life.

The finale of the night was a bizarre experience with Richard Buckner. Dennis is a big Buckner fan and I'm pretty familiar with his work. It's moody stuff but quite good and generally, well, quiet. Not on this night. Bucker had a four piece band with him that seemed to specialize in nothing more than feedback. Most of his "songs" became absurdly long opuses featuring plenty of distortion. It wasn't awful, it was just unexpected and weird. The weirdest by far was his closer. After stopping a wall of feedback for a split second, he launched into a familiar tune that seemed on the tip of my tongue. It was distorted but somehow familiar. Dennis and I looked at each other with a mix of amusement and bewilderment when we realized what it was, "Love Will Tear Us Apart." Yes, Richard Buckner closed by covering Joy Divison. Completely insane.