ACL Review: Haim

As a first time ACL goer my list of bands Saturday was mostly based around recommendations from first weekend goers and friends. At 2 o’clock at the Lady Bird stage I was blown away by the performance of the band Haim.

Haim is a quartet, made up of three rocking sisters, Alana, Danielle, and Este Haim and their full time drummer, Dash Hutton. Each of the sisters added a different element of surprise when they rushed onto the festival stage. First came Danielle, in all black with a studded leather vest, beside her entered Alana in black cut-off denim shorts wearing a basic blue t-shirt, and finally Etse with her hot red lips and flower dotted dress comes onto the stage.

The sisters alternated instruments during the show, keeping the audience engaged, despite the blazing midday Austin heat, with their theatrics. Etse played both guitar and bass, and served as the primary speaker between songs, Alana jammed out on her keyboard and occasionally added the percussion of a maraca, Danielle played her guitar for most of the performance and sang lead vocals. Each of the sisters spent some time drumming together with Hutton and getting audience support in their percussive games at the close of the show.

Etse is the most dramatic of the sisters during the show, making so many outrageous faces that a fellow audience member laughs to me and says, “you ever wonder what you look like while having sex?” gesturing to the performer.

Haim’s sound is one that presents rocker chick vocals and guitar, with the occasional hint of haunting harmony depending on the song. The band opened their forty-five minute set with “Falling” a haunting fun rock-folk song with ‘80’s-esque techno keyboard in the background that had the whole crowd moving about and bobbing their heads.

‘We’re gonna jam for you just like in LA,’ says Este with a smile and then out comes a larger drum, a maraca and a superb cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Oh Well.” Despite the suggestion in the lyrics of that song, about “the state I’m in” the band Haim is only getting better. Este lept into the audience after her sisters left the stage and crowd surfed in delight when the set ended.

Haim has been playing together since 2005, and Danielle told the crowd their big break was in Austin at SXSW two years back. The first full length album of the band was released at the end of September.