The Replacements Exceed All Expectations at Austin City Limits

October 8, 2014

Mats fans took in the spectacle of seeing one of the pre-millennial era’s most beloved rock bands blast through a manic set of high-energy rockers at the sold-out Austin City Limits festival last weekend, and the general atmosphere was one of grateful exuberance. We truly never thought we’d hear these songs live again.

The Replacements’ high point at ACL came during “Can’t Hardly Wait,” as the sun dipped behind the gorgeous Austin skyline. Prefacing an incredible headlining set from Pearl Jam, the band were clearly enjoying the almighty hell out of themselves with a rejuvenated drum core by way of A Perfect Circle/Devo import Josh Freese.

Eddie Vedder would be seen rocking side-stage, and upon being spotted by fans he threw a hang-loose sign and pointed to the band, as if to say, “Yeah, we’ll talk later – you need to be paying attention to this.”

Check out a full gallery of the “irreplaceable Replacements,” as Vedder would later call them.

Pearl Jam at Austin City Limits 2014

Pearl Jam at Austin City Limits 2014

by Johnny Firecloud
Pearl Jam at Austin City Limits 2014

by Johnny Firecloud
Pearl Jam at Austin City Limits 2014

by Johnny Firecloud
Pearl Jam at Austin City Limits 2014

by Johnny Firecloud
Pearl Jam at Austin City Limits 2014

by Johnny Firecloud
Pearl Jam at Austin City Limits 2014

by Johnny Firecloud
Pearl Jam at Austin City Limits 2014

by Johnny Firecloud
Pearl Jam at Austin City Limits 2014

by Johnny Firecloud
Pearl Jam at Austin City Limits 2014

by Johnny Firecloud
Pearl Jam at Austin City Limits 2014

by Johnny Firecloud
Pearl Jam at Austin City Limits 2014

by Johnny Firecloud
Pearl Jam at Austin City Limits 2014

by Johnny Firecloud
Pearl Jam at Austin City Limits 2014

by Johnny Firecloud
Pearl Jam at Austin City Limits 2014

by Johnny Firecloud
Pearl Jam at Austin City Limits 2014

by Johnny Firecloud
Pearl Jam at Austin City Limits 2014

by Johnny Firecloud
Pearl Jam at Austin City Limits 2014

by Johnny Firecloud
Pearl Jam at Austin City Limits 2014

by Johnny Firecloud
Pearl Jam at Austin City Limits 2014

by Johnny Firecloud
Pearl Jam at Austin City Limits 2014

by Johnny Firecloud
Pearl Jam at Austin City Limits 2014

by Johnny Firecloud
Pearl Jam at Austin City Limits 2014

by Johnny Firecloud
Pearl Jam at Austin City Limits 2014

by Johnny Firecloud
Pearl Jam at Austin City Limits 2014

by Johnny Firecloud

Senior Writer

A senior writer at CraveOnline since 2006, Johnny has reported on music culture around the world for over a decade while setting a higher standard of reviews, editorials, photography and interviews with the industry's biggest names. Johnny has conceptualized and produced a wide range of original Crave features such as the long-running Band of The Month series, the CraveOnstage performance feature, the Music History video series and the Passport travel colum, among others. His Crave coverage spectrum has included Lifestyle, Travel, Film & TV, Politics, Sports, Fashion and Food writing.

A jack of all journalistic trades & master of several, you can also find his work on Antiquiet, Filter, Food Republic, Media Roots, The Owl Mag and beyond. His music photos can be seen on Instagram. Keep up with Johnny on Twitter at @JohnnyFirecloud, and on Facebook.