The fifth annual Austin City Limits festival got off to a smoky start at Zilker Park Friday (Sept. 14) afternoon thanks to a few propane tanks, which caught fire near the food court area around 2:45P.M., leaving four employees hurt, two critically injured with severe burns. The blaze, which began shortly after Pete Yorn took to the AT&T Stage, appeared to spread to nearby vehicles and porta-pottys, but safety crews and event staff quickly stepped in to calm the flames. The music stopped only for a brief announcement, and soon enough, festivalgoers were back to plotting stage migrations; the Killers, Kaiser Chiefs, and more only added to the intense heat on day one.

The Killers
AMD Stage
Saving the colossal stage shows for the end of the day, the Killers came out after dark when the strings of lights all over their Victorian looking set up could be seen from the furthest reaches of the crowd. A huge neon sign saying Sam's Town, was lit on the black theater curtain behind them, and vines of plastic roses adorned the stage as the band's majestic dance rock sound pumped out to a dense crowd. Fans, of course, sang along and smiled like they totally meant it. The light show from the audience was nearly as impressive when the started up with "Bones" and hundreds of phone and camera displays went up at once as they sang the dark, catchy chorus "Don't you want to come with me? / Don't you wanna feel my bones on your bones?" Louis XIV, who played earlier in the day, joined the Killers for a hypnotic version of "My List." Singer Brandon Flowers took a few breaks from running around on stage and all points in between to sit down at a piano adorned with a very Edgar Allan Poe stuffed raven and miniature skeleton during the softer, more poignant moments during the highly dance-y set. And, the end came with Flowers standing on top of his piano shouting, "I got soul, but I'm not a soldier!" as he pumped the mic stand in the air.

Wilson leads the 'Angry Mob' in Austin / Photo by Mark C. Austin

Kaiser Chiefs
AT&T Blue Room Stage
As the sun went down on day one of ACL and the mist rose from thousands of sweaty bodies (or maybe it was just the result of a whole day's worth of fog machines filling the air), Kaiser Chiefs lead singer Ricky Wilson brought the rock from the rafters. Egging on the crowd from intimidating heights, singing a line or two before coming down hard to stumble across the stage, Wilson was clearly limping as the band charged through the pop merriment of "Ruby," featured on their latest studio effort, Yours Truly, Angry Mob. It didn't seem to slow him much though. He took a quick breather on a monitor and then resumed bouncing around, while the rest of his British cohorts made it difficult to avoid dancing to their keyboard blips, hand claps, screeching guitars on tunes such as "The Angry Mob." The flags, windsocks, parasols and balloons held above people's heads were bobbing up and down as the people holding them were powerless to resist. Of course, there was that random aged hippie in the crowd with flowers in her hair banging a tambourine. She would've danced to anything.

Heartless Bastards' Erika Wennerstrom / Photo by Mark C. Austin

Heartless Bastards
AT&T Blue Room Stage
Beach balls bounced back and forth between faces shrouded by straw cowboy hats as the crowd tuned in to the forceful rock dynamo of Cincinnati threesome Heartless Bastards. Although their sound with elements of garage rock, blues, Americana and all things badass was tenacious at times, the occasional soft brush strokes on the guitar, a sweet devotional love song or two and tons of accent-laden "Thank yew's" between songs proved that they weren't, in fact, heartless bastards. Frontwoman Erika Wennerstrom's mighty vocals often took flight into a hyper-extended howl, while everyone down front really responded to All This Time's jaunty title track -- the song boiled over with a building drum beat and fuzzed guitar as Wennerstrom's voice went higher and higher and became more agitated with every stab at the strings. Pearlene's Reuben Glaser also joined the Bastards on stage to lend an extra hand with guitar duties for "Into the Open," a tune that added further depth to their set with shimmering piano.

Manchester Orchestra guitarist/vocalist Andy Hull / Photo by Mark C. Austin

Manchester Orchestra
Austin Ventures Stage
Manchester Orchestra squeezed every ounce they could out of their passionate indie rock sound and sent it flying out at a younger crowd of mostly teenagers and twenty-somethings gathered at the Austin Ventures Stage on Friday. The guitar rakes and echoes in the sunny afternoon on "Where Have You Been?" provided the background as vocalist/guitarist Andy Hull thrusts himself straining and screaming "God, where have you been?" until he was hoarse, and an earnest portion of those in attendance sang right along with him. Keyboardist Chris Freeman, who had been writhing and dancing in his stool the whole set, finally reached his apex on "I Can Barely Breathe" when he kicked his stool back and leaped up to pound the keys as guitars and vocals rose to a shout and an explosion. Quick on the builds, they began many of their songs this way. Many of the songs began with a solemn and shakey voice along with sentimental chords and keyboard pulses used sparingly. Then, the momentum caught up with a big crashing sound that tore at their clothes with duel guitar hammering, and they ended up flinging their heads and guitars, pounding out the notes right into the stage floor. Finally, a rock Orchestra that gets it right. WILLIAM MILLS / PHOTOS BY MARK C. AUSTIN

For more on Austin City Limits, check out our coverage of Saturday and Sunday