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ACL
May 12, 2010
You wanna know who's playing Austin City Limits Festival?
I mean, I know that Band of Horses, Flaming Lips, The Eagles, MIA and Spoon are likely playing due to cryptic ads in the Austin Chronicle. And I know Pat Green, Blues Traveler, The National, Robert Earl Keen and Trombone Shorty are playing (and likely Muse). But that doesn’t seem to satisfy anyone. They want to know the big acts. Like, the really big acts. So, instead of offering you just a few names about which you can complain or sigh, how about my co-worker Chad Swiatecki and I just unleash a whole flurry of speculation? Sounds like a plan. (If you want to know the actual schedule, it comes out on Tuesday, May 18. The fest is October 8-10.)
In no particular order — and with no justification but that which we will keep to ourselves and the realization that a small percentage of these bands will play and the knowledge that there is a zero percent chance a few of them will play — without further adieu, here is our completely speculative, lightly researched, list of possible ACL performers. (If you want well-thought-out speculation, go to Austin Speculation Limits.) And, if you disagree, you can let me know in the comments section or go to the Side Bar on Tuesday night and tell Chad what a fool he is while you play DJ.
Muse
The Eagles
Phish
Flaming Lips
Robert Plant and Band of Joy
MIA
Pavement
Blues Traveler
Arcade Fire
Erykah Badu
Band of Horses
Roky & Okkervil
Willie and The Wheel
Gogol Bordelo
Spoon
Hot Chip
Matt & Kim
The Hold Steady
The Band of Heathens
The National
Norah Jones
Phoenix
Deer Tick
Vampire Weekend
Local Natives
Sonic Youth
Passion Pit
John Butler Trio
Jack White and some band of his
Nas & Damian Marley
Harlem
Miranda Lambert
Patty Griffin
Black Keys
Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings
Alpha Rev
LCD Soundsystem
Metric
Neon Indian
Sleigh Bells
Yeasayer
Alejandro Escovedo
Amy Cook
Gaslight Anthem
She & Him
Broken Bells
Atoms for Peace
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May 11, 2010
Spoon to play Austin City Limits Festival?
In my hasty flipping, I failed to notice page 57, which had another similar black box ad with the following lyric: “I can see it all from here / From just a few glimpses.” The band? Austin’s own Spoon. Not necessarily a huge shock, but definitely a phan phavorite.
Spoon and Band of Horses join the Flaming Lips, whose lyrics appeared on page 93 of the April 30 issue, as likely ACL acts. As for confirmed ACL acts, Michael Corcoran lists Blues Traveler, Pat Green, The National, Robert Earl Keen and Trombone Shorty.
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April 21, 2009
An educated guess at the ACL lineup (some wishing included)
(Updated with some previously overlooked bands.)
Not that anybody asked, but I figured I would take a crack at guessing who the top 50 or so acts will be at the Austin City Limits Festival this year. (I would not be surprised if at least 10 of these bands don’t make the bill.)
I didn’t scour the Internet looking at MySpace pages or burn up the phone lines calling publicists or “people who know things.” I simply checked out the other major fests’ lineups to see who was doing the circuit, culled those who seemed ACL-friendly and made an educated guess, with a few wish-list types (Femi Kuti, Wilco, Q-Tip) thrown in for good measure. Of course, we “know” (or thought we did) Pearl Jam will be there, so at least the top of the bill is easy to figure.
(For ACL coverage on the Austin Music Source, click here.)
Pearl Jam
Beastie Boys
Dave Matthews Band
Sonic Youth
Ghostland Observatory
Kings of Leon
Wilco
B-52s
Levon Helm
Ben Harper
Animal Collective
Femi Kuti
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Conor Oberst and The Mystic Valley Band
TV on the Radio
M.I.A.
Andrew Bird
Neko Case
Band of Horses
Mos Def
Of Montreal
Okkervil River
Fleet Foxes
The Decemberists
Q-Tip
Bon Iver
Cold War Kids
Deerhunter
Dr. Dog
The Raveonettes
Raphael Saadiq
The Greencards
Dengue Fever
Akron/Family
White Denim
Thievery Corporation
Los Campesinos
Passion Pit
Allen Toussaint
Black Joe Lewis
Betty Lavette
Elvis Perkins in Dearland
Heartless Bastards
Robert Earl Keen
AA Bondy
Ray Lamontagne
Paolo Nutini
Leatherbag
Bassnectar
What Made Miwaukee Famous
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April 15, 2008
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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September 17, 2007
65,000 fans; 65,000 opinions
After almost 36 hours of live music at ACL, the fun has finally come to an end. I walked around Sunday afternoon and evening getting responses from festivalgoers — highs and lows, best shows and worst, etc. (Note: Most of the interviewing was done before Wilco, The Decemberists, Ghostland Observatory and Bob Dylan took the stage, so those bands are missing from most responses.) This sampling represents a good cross-section of fans from the weekend, but it is just a small group of folks. Use the comments section to tell us what you thought were the highs and lows of the festival.
On a personal note, my favorite shows of the weekend included: Wilco, The National, Del McCoury Band, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Common, LCD Soundsystem and Björk
Matt Gatewood (Austin)
Highlight: Zap Mama
Biggest letdown: Cold War Kids
Chloe Weiss (Austin)
Highlight: Lax security re: bag searches, Zap Mama (“Coolest woman I’ve ever seen, and I picked up some serious dance moves from her and M.I.A.”)
Biggest letdown: Stephen Marley playing same set at fest as he did at night show and Barton Springs being closed
Eden Teagle (NYC)
Highlight: The National
Biggest letdown: The White Stripes canceling — “I think the White Stripes definitely lost some fans this weekend.”
Eric Fuchs (San Antonio)
Highlight: Paolo Nutini
Jake Walker (San Francisco)
Highlight: Robert Earl Keen playing his Christmas song with everyone singing along
Michael Ferguson (Austin)
Highlight: DeVotchKa — “They may be from Colorado, but they play this amazing Eastern European pop and had everyone clapping along. Easily the best I saw all weekend.”
Biggest letdown: “Muse’s pompous political message that was played before their final song. And the fact that I ran into every ex-girlfriend I’ve ever had.”
Navdar Namaky (Austin)
Highlight: “I think half the people at the Common show did not know who they were seeing (due to Rodrgio y Gabriela cancelation), but it was amazing. Arcade Fire was also amazing; it was like what Wagner must have been like in the 1870s.”
Will Cornforth (Austin)
Highlight: Arctic Monkeys
Biggest letdown: Spoon — “They just didn’t pack a punch. There was not enough guitar and too much piano in the mix, and this is coming from a piano player.”
Amanda Watkins (Austin)
Highlight: “James Hunter was excellent.”
Biggest letdown: “They need to hold this thing about a month later. It’s too hot and too big. I’ve been to every one (ACL Festival), and this is the weakest one yet, because of the lineup. They need more unknown bands like the ones KGSR finds.”
Thomas Hunter (Houston)
Biggest letdown: “Too many Longhorn fans.”
Regina Bartholow (Austin)
Highlight: “The fire! I’ve never seen black smoke that high! And Muse rocked, but The Killers were the best.”
Christina Choate (Austin)
Biggest letdown: “We needed skydivers because they were awesome at Flugtag!”
Don Bartholow (Austin)
Highlight: “I thought LCD Soundstystem was great. I loved the lead singer’s witty banter. They were the band I saw whose CD I’ll now go buy.”
Emily Lesh (Austin)
Highlight: Arcade Fire
Biggest surprise: “The amazingness of the last 4 songs of Wilco’s set. I happened to be getting food during Preservation Hall Jazz Band and caught some of them … pretty awesome. Other favorites: LCD Soundsystem, The National, Ghostland Observatory
Biggest letdown: White Stripes canceling, Bob Dylan. Annoying new thing: Having to show ID every time you got a beer instead of just showing it once and getting a wristband.
Lisa Genz (Austin)
Biggest letdown: “We were pretty let down by Blue October. They never really got the crowd into it.”
Emil Joseph (Austin)
Highlight: “Paolo Nutini. He sounded just like he does on the album.”
Jamie and Susan Powell (Norman, OK)
Highlight: “Robert Earl Keen, Lucinda Williams. Sunday’s lineup was the best.” This is our third year, and it gets better every year.”
Biggest letdown: “But it seems this year is a little more geared to a younger audience. We usually leave by 7 p.m. each day.”
Andrew Taft (Austin)
Highlight: “Not too dusty and not too hot. I’m here to see Bob Dylan.”
Biggest letdown: “No jam bands like Widespread Panic or String Cheese Incident.”
Marianna Wilde (Austin)
Highlight: Queens of the Stone Age
Biggest letdown: “Tons of people. Friday was so crowded it was almost not fun. And with White Stripes and the other bands dropping out, I was hoping for a partial refund.”
Jessica Frommert (Austin)
Highlight: Security was easy and hassle-free but still made people feel safe.
Darryn Niebrugge (Austin)
Highlight: “So much easier than in years past.”
Biggest letdown: “Disappointed I missed Cold War Kids and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.”
Amanda Brown (Austin)
Highlight: “I was really impressed with Andrew Bird and had never heard of him.
Biggest letdown: “They need to go back to having canned beer instead of draft. Draft beer was too easily spilled.”
Jeremy Luce (Austin)
Highlight: “Arcade Fire was a highlight for sure. From where we were sitting it was loud as hell. Blonde Redhead was also top 3.”
Biggest letdown: “I almost slit my wrists when the White Stripes cancelled but saw the end of Muse and they were (expletive) good! Bloc Party was like ‘blah.’ ” The scheduling of My Morning Jacket and Wilco at the same time.
Jessica Boone (Houston)
Highlight: “I thought LCD Soundsystem was great.”
Biggest letdown: “Not near enough trash cans.”
September 16, 2007
Wilco puts on ACL taping for the ages
Do you ever have one of those shows where you can’t shake the goose bumps for the first 20 minutes, when you feel a lump in your throat and are basically overwhelmed with the sonic beauty engulfing you? Yeah, I never had either really, maybe Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter in Paris in 1997 came closest, but such was my state of being at the beginning of the Austin City Limits taping by Wilco Saturday, September 15.
The band, introduced by ACL Producer Terry Lickona as the “one band that sums up better than any other” the type of music ACL aims to air, opened their 90-minute set with “You Are My Face,” a song from Wilco’s latest release “Sky Blue Sky” that starts out hushed and dreamlike before kicking into overdrive with the whisper-to-a-wail vocals of Tweedy and the powerhouse licks of guitar genius Nels Cline.
Following the first song, the band made it clear that they did not intend to use their third ACL taping solely to push their new record, as they launched into the layered and frantic “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart,” one of a handful of songs they would play from 2002’s critically-acclaimed “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.” The song was the perfect platform to demonstrate the band’s ease of transition from a complex, layered cacophonous sound to a clean and simple one.
Wilco stuck with older songs for the first half of the set with crowd favorites like “Handshake Drugs,” a song that featured Cline at the top of his powers. The avant-garde guitar wizard has such a heightened sense of timing, space and tone, that his contributions to even the most simple three-chord songs elevate Tweedy’s tunes to almost unimagined heights. Backed by the sweaty pounding rhythm of drummer Glen Kotche, the full resounding bass of John Stiratt and the rhythmic and melodic contributions of keyboardist Mikael Jorgensen and multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone, Tweedy and Cline led a full frontal aural assault that came across pitch-perfect in the ACL studios, the ideal setting in this town for a concert, in this writer’s opinion. Every note from all six of the members was discernible, creating a sonic fabric that gave the sensation that you had just walked into the band’s rehearsal space.
The 16-song set weaved old Wilco classics from the past dozen years, re-imagined with new vitality, with a half dozen new songs from “Sky Blue Sky.” Tweedy even decided to toss long-time fans a gift with the song “Too Far Apart,” from the band’s debut album “A.M.” from 1995.
Saturday’s taping exemplified a band at the height of its creative power, playing with a joy and cohesion most bands could only dream of in a setting that illuminates a band of Wilco’s power, allowing them to transcend a 90-minute musical experience from the earthly to the sublime. It is no wonder then that this is the band ACL producers hold as the paragon for their shows; it just doesn’t get any better.
Set List
“You Are My Face “
“I Am Trying to Break Your Heart”
“Pot Kettle Black”
“Handshake Drugs”
“Shot in the Arm”
“Side with the Seeds”
“Via Chicago”
“Impossible Germany”
“Sky Blue Sky”
“Too Far Apart”
“Jesus, Etc.”
“Hate it Here”
“Walken”
“I’m the Man Who Loves You”
“Hummingbird”
“On and On and On”
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August 31, 2007
ACL Fest: And the Saturday night aftershow at Stubb's is...
With the ACL Fest only two weeks away, the lineup is pretty much set in stone (now that Cold War Kids have replaced the boozy Amy Winehouse), including official aftershows. However, there remains one glaring hole in the ACL Night Show schedule. Saturday night at Stubb’s is still sitting there, like the 800-pound gorilla.
Who will it be? Since Sunday at the Fest is still not sold out, C3 is withholding the information on who will play at the venerable club on Red River. It’s obviously not someone playing Saturday night at Zilker, so that most likely leaves someone playing Sunday night at the Fest.
Whoever it is will have to be a band that can sell out a venue in just a few days. My sources tell me Wilco, who is already doing an ACL taping Saturday afternoon, will not be the surprise guest. Local (and Attal) fave Ghostland Observatory is scheduled to be out of town Saturday night. Bob Dylan is probably too big (but that would sell out in a heartbeat), while the Decemberists and Bloc Party (while deserving) might not be big enough. That leaves us with My Morning Jacket. And since a slew of folks will probably miss their Sunday Fest set to see Wilco, this seems like a pretty solid guess. But if it really is Dylan, can you imagine the number of ACL bands asking for comps to that one?
Who knows. Attal has people buzzing, and I imagine that is just fine with him.
Who do you think will play Saturday night at Stubb’s? (How about the Blisters?! OK)
