Home > Austin Music Source > Archives > 2009 > April > 28 > Entry
Some more thoughts on ACL
Let’s break it down a bit….
WE KNEW ABOUT
Pearl Jam
Dave Matthews Band
Beastie Boys
Kings of Leon
(This leaked a while back, but man alive, are those Dave Matthews fans going to be excited.)
ACL FIRST-TIMERS:
Pearl Jam
Dave Matthews Band
Beastie Boys
John Legend
the Dead Weather (Jack White’s new band)
the Levon Helm Band
Sonic Youth
(Nice to see Sonic Youth in there, I would put them at an odd-on favorite for an aftershow because they are on the record as really loving playing at Stubb’s. Beastie Boys are always an Austin favorite. Dead Weather is a large question mark - How much do we really want to see Jack White play drums? Everyone has great things to say about the Levon Helm band and frankly, if I could personally BE anyone in The Band, I’d be him. I mean, come on.)
SOME AUSTIN-BASED HIGHLIGHTS
Ghostland Observatory
Asleep at the Wheel (every festival and counting!)
The Scabs
Reckless Kelly
Black Joe Lewis
Papa Mali
Heartless Bastards
Terri Hendrix
Leatherbag
Nelo
(No real surprises here, and yes, I’m leaving off a few names. Were there any surprises for you, reading public?)
R&B AND HIP-HOP
John Legend
Mos Def
The Knux
Michael Franti & Spearhead (well, sort of)
K’Naan
(Not a band crew AL ALL. Backpackers will be loving Mos Def and the Knux seem to be absolutely everywhere this year. That band is grinding VERY HARD.)
JAM BANDS
Dave Matthews Band
Medeski, Martin & Wood
(Yes, DMB counts. I went to the University of Virginia back when he was playing Trax every Tuesday. He counts. Think he’ll play “Ants Marching?” I have this weird weakness for that song.)
ELECTRONIC BAND
Girl Talk
Bassnectar
(Sample-delic!)
ELECTRO-JAM BAND
STS9 (Sound Tribe Sector 9)
(This mediocre joke wrote itself. My apologies to the masses. I still remember seeing STS9 at the first ACL and becoming a total convert. Great, great live act.)
COOL VETS
B-52s
Rodriguez
(The former can cold rock a party. The latter is one of the odder hipster rediscoveries of recent times. Check him out here)
GIMME INDIE ROCK!
Sonic Youth (now on Matador Records)
Blitzen Trapper
Bon Iver
!!! (Chick-chick-chick)
The Raveonettes
Daniel Johnston
(Wouldn’t be surprised to see any of these bands at aftershows. Well, maybe not Daniel.)
SURPRISINGLY HEAVY
Clutch
Coheed and Cambria
(It was a surprise to see Clutch play at Bonnaroo a few years back, but not an unwelcome one. They’re a band that can cross contexts very, very well. Two more odds-on faves for aftershows, I think. Both have done very well at Stubb’s and I’ve seen Clutch at least once at Emo’s, so they could play a packed out gig there no problem.)
SXSW BUZZ BANDS
School of Seven Bells
Robyn Hitchcock and the Venus 3 (no, really)
The Decemberists
Andrew Bird
Passion Pit
Grizzly Bear
The Avett Brothers
(All bands that killed at SXSW and all bands that have a good chance of killing in a big park, especially the large form rock of School of Sven Bells, the kitchen-sink pop of Decemberists and the progressive bluegrass of the Avett Brothers. Another bunch of folks that could play very crowded aftershows.)
HAD NO IDEA THEY STILL HAD BUZZ BAND
Arctic Monkeys
(And yet here we are)
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Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: ACL Festival 2009
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By Shawn
April 28, 2009 2:59 PM | Link to this
It sucks that those are the three exact headliners for Outside Lands also. Dave Matthews just doesn’t seem exciting next to Pearl Jam and Beastie Boys. I still think Bonnaroo has a better overall line-up, but ACL still have 5 months of additions/changes ahead.
By carleen
April 28, 2009 5:46 PM | Link to this
do acl tickets sell out??? and how fast?