Meet the Saturday ACL bands

Massive Attack, Brazilian Girls, Wille Nelson and more

By Michael Corcoran
AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Thursday, September 07, 2006

Anointed Voicez. (Saturday, 12:45 p.m. Washington Mutual Stage) One of Houston's hardest-working quartets, the Voicez follow a shaky SXSW set with a whole lot left to prove to Austin audiences.

Asheba. (Saturday, 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. Austin Kiddie Limits Stage) Originally from Trinidad, currently living in Oakland, Ca., Asheba tailors his Caribbean sound to the tykes — a market that's long been receptive to reggae.

Federico Aubele. (Saturday, 12:30 p.m. AMD Stage) The Thievery Corporation protege from Argentina has released only one album — 2004's 'Gran Hotel Buenos Aires' — but he's got the cool cocktail folk sound and the looks of a future superstar.

The Blue Van. (Saturday, 2:50 p.m. Austin Ventures Stage) This Danish quartet has been charming fans and critics alike with its throwback to the British Invasion. No mere retro rockers, the Blue Van released one of last year's strongest debuts with 'The Art of Rolling.'

Brazilian Girls. (Saturday, 7:15 p.m. Washington Mutual Stage) Sounding like the girls from Ipanema, thanks to sly, sultry multilingual vocalist Sabrina Sciubba, this three-quarters male quartet actually formed in New York City, where it was signed to Verve and released the EP 'Lazy Love' in 2004, followed by the self-titled debut. Look for new songs at the ACL Fest, because the band's second album, 'Talk to La Bomb,' hit stores Tuesday.

Calexico. (Saturday, 5:30 p.m. AT&T Stage) While everyone was getting into the voice and words of Johnny Cash, these former members of Giant Sand and friends were digging the horns on 'Ring Of Fire.' This group from Arizona can go from a tumbleweed orchestra and sun-starched mariachi pop to a more desolate duo sound. And don't be surprised if Iron & Wine joins them. In fact, expect it.

Troy Campbell Band. (Saturday, 12:40 p.m. BMI Stage) Former Loose Diamonds singer-songwriter has just released the fine solo album 'Long In the Sun' (which could be the ACL Fest theme), but he's best when he's fronting a rockin' band.

Centro-matic. (Saturday, 12:30 p.m. AT&T Stage) Former drummer Will Johnson is a song machine. This Austin band makes it to the big stage: come early to cheer them on.

Guy Clark. (Saturday, 5:45 p.m. Washington Mutual Stage) The dean of Texas singer-songwriters gives a literate, story-telling shading to the proceedings. Early reviews of 'Workbench Songs,' which comes out the week after ACL Fest, have been unanimously positive.

Explosions in the Sky. (Saturday, 7:45 p.m. Austin Ventures Stage) This bombastic, symphonic Austin band parlayed its Midland-Odessa roots into a scoring gig on 'Friday Night Lights.' It's returning to the Saturday night heat of Austin with a new album in the can and a bunch of 10-minute songs that make the sky look bigger.

Galactic. (Saturday, 2:30 AMD Stage) The Meters acolytes from New Orleans took a big creative stride with their most recent, Dan the Automator-produced 'Ruckus.' Still, the funkiest jam band is fully capable of getting the young hippies dancing.

Ghostland Observatory. (Saturday, 1:30 p.m. Heineken Stage) The new Austin band that everyone loves, from the art reaks to the vapid sorority girls who love to dance. Aaron Behrens and Thomas Turner are the toast of the town, even getting a slot at Lollapalooza , and the duo's debut 'Delete Delete, I Eat Meat,' is one of the weirdest and wildest of the year.

Pierre Guimard. (Saturday, 11:45 a.m. Heineken Stage) Co-produced by Ben Kweller, this native of France is similarly inventive, without mucking up his pure pop melodies.

I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness. (Saturday, 1:50 p.m. Austin Ventures Stage) Austin doom-poppers, who sprung from the ashes of Windsor for the Derby and Glorium, took great strides nationally with 'Fear Is On Our Side' earlier this year.

Iron & Wine. (Saturday, 7:30 p.m. Heineken Stage) You can blame Sam Beard, I mean Bearn, for the influx of young men wearing facial hair, but also credit the new Dripping Springs resident for producing some of the most elegant and dark music heard in recent years. In 2005, he fleshed his sound out a bit, with the EP 'The Woman King,' and made great strides at radio with his collaboration with Calexico, 'In the Reins.'

Kings of Leon. (Saturday, 7:30 p.m. AT&T Blue Room) The three Followill brothers and their cousin were just a toss-in booking, suggested by a local critic, when they opened the very first ACL Fest in 2002. This year the Southern art rockers, superstars in the United Kingdom, are one of the most anticipated acts.

Ben Kweller. (Saturday, 2:30 p.m. AT&T Stage) The ACL Fest pet releases 'his best album yet' every two years, but has failed to see his audience grow beyond a devoted cult. But maybe that's his lot, as his songs are too quirky, too unboxable for mass consumption. If there weren't already a Beck, this Greenville native (now living in Brooklyn) would be a lot bigger.

Sterling Lands and the Warrior Gospel Band. (Saturday, 2 p.m. Washington Mutual Stage) One of the sterling praise bands in Austin for the past 10 years, this group will get you on your feet with its great polyrhythmic intensity.

The Long Winters. (Saturday, 4:30 p.m. Washington Mutual Stage) Named after leader John Roderick's (ex-Harvey Danger) Alaskan upbringing, this ethereal rock outfit has found fans — and collaborators — in Peter Buck and Death Cab for Cutie. Its latest album for Barsuk, 'Ultimatum,' ended up on several Ten Best year-end lists.

Los Lobos. (Saturday, 4:30 p.m. AMD Stage) For 30 years, this band from East L.A. has been everything to fans of roots-based rock. Its new album, 'The Town and the City' continues the slow-cooked evolution. And live, the band can still tear it up like kids.

Aimee Mann. (Saturday, 5:30 p.m. Heineken Stage) The former Til Tuesday leader ('Voices Carry') has carved out a solo career that's the model of integrity. When the scattershooting 1999 film 'Magnolia' called out 'Save Me' to Mann, the Bostonian came through with a soundtrack that gave much-needed gentle elegance to the film about . . . What the heck was 'Magnolia' about?

Marah. (Saturday, 11:45 a.m. AT&T Blue Room) This incredible live band of brothers and friends from Philly can count among its fans Steve Earle, who produced the band; Bruce Springsteen, who played on one of its records; and 'High Fidelity' author Nick Hornby, who's showered thousands of words on Marah in print.

Massive Attack. (Saturday, 8:30 p.m. AT&T Stage) Perhaps the hippest ACL booking of them all, these trip-hop pioneers — whose proteges included Tricky, don't forget — have recorded only four studio albums in their 16-year history, but they're one of the most influential acts of the '90s. If you bought 'Blue Lines' in high school, you were one of the cool kids. Will the core duo bring out a guest vocalist as they did at Coachella in May with Elizabeth Fraser of Cocteau Twins? It'll be a surprise — they're not saying.

Joe McDermott. (Saturday, 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. Austin Kiddie Limits Stage) Austin's diaper dandy is among the best-loved children's performers in town. And he's been doing it so long, many of his earliest fans are headed for college.

Ian McLagan and the Bump Band. (Saturday, 3:15 p.m. Washington Mutual Stage) That McLagan is a beloved figure not just locally, but all over the world, became evident in the emotional outpouring that followed the recent car-crash death of wife Kim McLagan. Mac's a fighter, and with a great new tribute album to his former Small Faces mate Ronnie Lane, he and the Bumpers should come out swinging. Hoist a Heineken and pretend it's a Guinness!

Murder By Death. (Saturday, 12:50 p.m. Austin Ventures Stage) Lush, dreary, weird. Indiana's MBD called its second album 'Who Will Survive, And What Will Be Left of Them,' and the band sounds just like that.

Nada Surf. (Saturday, 3:30 p.m. AT&T Blue Room) This New York-based group broke through in the '90s with 'Popular,' but by 2005's 'The Weight Is a Gift,' the band's sound had become more relationship-friendly.

Willie Nelson. (Saturday, 8:15 p.m. AMD Stage) Sorry, Gnarls Barkley, but you won't be playing the best song titled 'Crazy' at this year's ACL Fest. As the star of the 'Austin City Limits' pilot in 1975 that started this whole mess, it's about time concert organizers booked this American icon. Now comes the tough part — keeping Willie and Family's set to one hour. They're usually just warming up at that point.

New Soul Invaders. (Saturday, 11:30 a.m. Washington Mutual Stage) This nine-piece gospel group from Navasota could be the sleeper hit of the day — just as the Jones Family Singers were last year on Saturday morning.

Elvis Perkins. (Saturday, 4:40 p.m. BMI Stage) Tragedy is a constant theme on Perkins' debut LP 'Ash Wednesday.' After all, the young singer-songwriter's mother, former actress-model Berry Berenson, was a passenger on one of the hijacked planes that crashed into the World Trade Center on 9/11. His father, 'Psycho' actor Anthony Perkins, died of AIDS 15 years ago.

Phoenix. (Saturday, 1:30 p.m. AT&T Blue Room) Simmering Parisian techno-pop outfit has worked with the likes of Daft Punk. Still, there's more sooth to the sound than heavy beats.

The Raconteurs. (Saturday, 6:30 p.m. AT&T Stage) Although much of Jack White's new band sounds like a reaction to the White Stripes — with debut LP 'Broken Boy Soldiers' so full, so chiming and power chord-driven, where the Stripes were primal and naked — there's no mistaking that 'Steady As She Goes' is one of the best rock singles since, well, 'Seven Nation Army.' White remains his generation's guitar hero.

Melissa Reaves. (Saturday, 11:15 a.m. BMI Stage) Powerhouse North Carolina singer whose four indie LPs display an early Melissa Etheridge earthiness.

The Rocket Summer. (Saturday, noon. Austin Ventures Stage) Twenty-two-year-old Bryce Avary made the cover of his hometown Dallas Observer six years ago, but his catchy and articulate power pop should land him on many more covers to come.

Secret Machines. (Saturday, 3:30 p.m. on Heineken Stage) The spacey Denton-to-NYC pop-rock trio has been compared to Pink Floyd (if the Floyd had come to the Curtis brothers in dreams). With two Warner Bros. albums under its belt, the band has the material — and the touring experience — to really pull off a big live sound.

Charlie Sexton. (Saturday, 5:15 p.m. Austin Ventures Stage) After four years playing guitar in Bob Dylan's 'Love and Theft' band, Austin's prodigal son returned to a solo career with last year's engaging 'Cruel and Gentle Things.' He's also just released an album with Shannon McNally, and his production credits (Lucinda Williams, Jon Dee Graham, Los Super Seven) continue to grow.

The Shins. (Saturday, 4:30 p.m. AT&T Stage) Alt-rock's answer to Supertramp, this New Mexico band (since relocated to Portland, Ore.) made its name by stealing the multiplatinum soundtrack to 'Garden State' and releasing its own critical smash 'Chutes Too Narrow.' The band's third album, which it's been toiling over for two years, could be the one that makes it an American supergroup.

South Austin Jug Band. (Saturday, 6:40 p.m. BMI Stage) Singer James Hyland has Bob Dylan's phrasing — and when you throw that against some of the Hill Country's finest bluegrass playing, you've got a hoedown that'll make you think.

Star Kids Yoga. (Saturday, 11:30 a.m. Austin Kiddie Limits Stage) For the fifth year in a row, instructor Joy Linam will be grooming future Wheatsville customers.

String Cheese Incident. (Saturday, 6:30 p.m. AMD Stage) The very first band booked at the very first ACL Fest, this jam band from Boulder, Colo., has practically adopted Austin as its second home. SCI has its Jerry Garcia in electric mandolin player Michael Kang, but it's gone beyond Dead worship in recent years, and its covers ('Pick Up the Pieces' by AWB!) are amongst the coolest in the biz. Plus, look for the Pink Floyd pig to fly again, as it did at the 2003 ACL Fest.

TV on the Radio. (Saturday, 4 p.m. Austin Ventures Stage) It's been a dense three years for these guys. The quintet has managed to avoid nearly every cliché associated with its modernized post-punk Brooklyn neighbors, culminating in this year's 'Cookie Mountain.'

What Made Milwaukee Famous. (Saturday, 6:30 p.m. Austin Ventures Stage) Austin's hippest new quartet is out for its Spoon-ful of success with an accessible sound muscled up with aggressive playing. The influential Barsuk label has just reissued a new and improved version of the 2004 debut 'Trying To Never Catch Up.'

Eli Young Band. (Saturday, 2:40 p.m. BMI Stage) A Denton alt-country act recently signed to a Nashville label that will release its sophomore CD, 'Level.'