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ACL Fest: What to look for
The list of performers for the Seventh Annual Austin City Limits Music Festival has been released, as you can see here, and I wanted to give a few thoughts about the sweat-inducing festival, which is rather mid-heavy, but contains no serious bombshells. It is nice, however, to see a few newcomers, such as Beck, and most notably, the regal and enchanting Erykah Badu.
Headliners the Grammy-winning Foo Fighters will draw quite a crowd, namely 20-somethings who frequent Sixth Street, as well as the 30-something Warehouse District patrons who listened to Dave Grohl’s post-Nirvana project in college and beyond. Kind of an odd choice it seems to me. If ACL was trying to book acts that were a natural fit for the feel of “Austin City Limits” TV show, then why book Foo Fighters? And if they are going to book arena rock bands, why not get one with a little more cache than Foo Fighters? Kinda seems like mild pandering towards a certain audience that might not otherwise buy tickets. Not sure what other bands will be huge draws for the pop-rock Foo Fighters crowd (Beck and The Raconteurs, I imagine); the Foo Fighters should at least bring a dynamic performance with high energy and loud volume to the closing of a fest that, at times, has gone out with a whimper. I’m looking at you, Mr. Dylan.
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss should provide a wonderful show if their well-received CD is any indication, and while Beck’s best days seem to be behind him, it will be interesting to see what he has to offer. For the older set, John Fogerty (who lost the 2007 rock Grammy to the Foo Fighters) will carry the torch that Willie, Dylan and Tom Petty have hoisted in years past. Fortunately, it appears he is once again playing Creedence Clearwater Revival tunes in addition to new material.
Manu Chao, who has not quite caught on in the States the way he has in Europe and South America, will bring a festive set that should turn a lot of new fans onto his world music sound. Expect the Mars Volta to rock out for at least 90 minutes on a secondary stage on Saturday or Sunday night, and for those (few) of us who saw “SNL” last weekend, Gnarls Barkley’s set may not be as catchy as their breakout hit “Crazy,” but should provide a glimpse of some smoothed-out retro soul and R&B sounds.
The “mid-level” bands seem to be the strength of this year’s line-up. The highlights of which (to me) are:
- Erykah Badu — Her set at the New Orleans Jazz Fest in 2000 is one of the coolest and most inspiring I have seen.
- Iron & Wine — Hopefully the sound will be good and unobstructed for Dripping Springs resident Sam Beam.
- Neko Case — Amazing pipes and perfect sound for the Texas summer.
- Band of Horses — Lowland rock that holds up amazingly well live.
- The Black Keys — Blues rockers made a name for themselves in Texas a few years ago at ACL.
- Vampire Weekend — Their set at the Spin party during SXSW was slightly above average, but I think their Afro-pop should play well to a festival crowd looking for reasons to dance, unless the buzz has completely died.
- M. Ward — Nothing against Zooey Deschanel, but will be nice to see the gifted songwriter as the centerpiece of a set.
- Jose Gonzales — Fabulous Swedish singer-songwriter.
- Mates of State — Husband and wife duo are more than the sum of their gifted parts.
- CSS — To be honest, I have not heard much of the Brazilian ectro-pop dance outfit, but that which I have heard, “Alala” and “Off The Hook,” have me intrigued enough to check them out at least once.
- Man Man — The idiosyncratic rockers are hard to label, but their shows aren’t, they are pure energy.
Local bands worth checking out
- Okkervill River
- Ajejandro Escovedo
- What Made Milwaukee Famous
- Asleep at the Wheel
- Octopus Project
- White Denim
- Black Joe Lewis and the Honey Bears
- Bavu Blakes
Overall, I give the lineup a B-minus.
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Comments
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By terp
April 15, 2008 3:14 AM | Link to this
M.O. w/ THE SCOOP
By Nunya Bidness
April 15, 2008 10:11 AM | Link to this
More and more reliance on local bands, it seems.
By wilceaux
April 15, 2008 12:14 PM | Link to this
David Byrne deserves a mention don’t you think?
Very excited about M Ward, Black Keys, and Band of Horses.
By Matthew Odam
April 15, 2008 12:21 PM | Link to this
David Byrne certainly deserves mention. From his art to his activism, to his work in the film and literary worlds, Byrne is a unique artist. And when you take into account that both his solo work and that with Brian Eno and the Talking Heads has influenced hundreds of bands over the past four decades, he is a legend and icon. I realized this morning I had left him off. I am very interested to see what he brings to the table and with whom he brings it. (and whether he pops up elsewhere around town, and possibly at the ACL studios for a taping.) my bad
By Winchester
April 15, 2008 4:36 PM | Link to this
Since T Bone Burnett is the band leader for Plant & Krauss, it’s a must see.