ACL 2017: Saturday Thoughts

Alright Alright Alright...  Finally getting around to the Saturday lineup post.  Sorry to slack on you here, but I got busy with the whole real job thing for a few weeks.  Anyway, here are my thoughts about Saturday.  I don't usually make it out there first thing on Saturday, but in the past I've done that if there were top notch early things to see.  This year I'll probably take the time to go watch a kids soccer game or two before wandering out to the festival grounds, as little in the early hours inspires me much.

As I mentioned before on the Sunday preview, I've changed it up this year to try to do hour-by-hour thoughts and layouts, because it honestly doesn't matter whether I think Car Seat Headrest is better than Angel Olsen, because you can see both of them in this schedule.  What matters is that I would pick Car Seat Headrest over A$AP Ferg, even though I like them both.

A few prelude thoughts:

• The comments for each band are those "One Liner" things that I added to my reviews. It helps me to remember who they are (sometimes) and provides some detail on the kind of music they play.  Every once in a while they make me giggle too.
• I've made each band name a link so that you can go read the full review and listen to some tunes if you are unswayed by the One Liner.
• The first column in each box is the stage where the band is playing (in case you thought I was just playing a weird word association game).

Playlist!

And here we go.

11:30

Miller Lite	Mobley: Electronic pop R&B from a local duo
Barton Springs	Xavier Omar: Straight sexy-time soul, baby.  Well, bordering on rap too.  But from SA!
Tito’s (11:15)	Pastor Cedric West & the Electrifying Relatives: Pretty solid gospel funk rock
BMI	Devon Gilfillian: Soulful blues guitar goodness.
HomeAway	Ought: Post-punk monotone mumbling from Montreal

Honestly, the best of these five is probably the gospel one, those guys are legit.  Seriously, go listen to the first song on that playlist above, which was featured on the TV show Fargo and is funky and bad ass.  If you aren’t into some good funky gospel soul, then I’d choose Gilfillian second.  Or just go get lunch somewhere good and come to the park around 1.  Mmmm, now I'm thinking about places to go eat before the show, like Freedmans or Via 313.  Mmmmm...

12:15

Honda	Muna: Hey, guess what era of music these guys are copying?  Hooray for the 80's!
Kiddie (12:30)	Rattletree: Marimba world music action
Tito’s	Capyac: Euro dance from a local duo
American Express	Asgeir: Iceland wins again!  Pretty acoustic folk and mild electronic semi-pop combine well.

None of these are terribly exciting, but if I’m in the park by this time on Saturday, I’d probably go chill out with Asgeir (Ass Gear, heh heh) and just relax.  Muna is actually better than my one liner suggests, but so many of the bands at the fest this year do an 80's homage thing that I just got sick of it.

1:00

Miller Lite	Pumarosa: Indie rock that, at its best reminds me of the good Radiohead, but can also annoy with affected vocals.
Barton Springs	Mondo Cozmo: Sweeping rock and roll with that huge arena jam that sounds like Dylan
Tito’s (1:15)	Allan Rayman: Honestly hard to categorize, kind of an indie electro rap type guy?
BMI	Traveller: Folky acoustic featuring Robert Ellis
HomeAway	Grace Vanderwaal: YouTube star and America's Got Talent winner who seems genuinely good

I know I’ll be doing Vanderwaal on the second weekend Saturday with the kiddos, so on first weekend I’ll probably go do Mondo Cozmo.  I saw a bit of their set at SXSW and it was pretty solid.  And the ability to yell along, with a huge crowd, to "Let 'em get hiiiiiiigh!  Let 'em get stoooooooned!" in the voice of Dylan, is highly appealing.

2:00

Honda	Car Seat Headrest: Solo-ish guy dropped the DIY and now makes the best kind of confessional rock and roll.
Kiddie (12:30)	Lori Henriques: Jazzy Kiddie Limits singer with some fun songs
Tito’s	Parker Millsap: Well-crafted Americana from an OK boy
American Express	A$AP Ferg: Real deal gangster rap with a ton of pretty good guest verses

This is the first hour where everything is pretty damn good.  Ferg's best tracks are some hard hitting coolness of brawny, braggadocio rap.  Makes me need to flex and act extremely tough.  I’d enjoy seeing Ferg or Millsap, but Car Seat Headrest is one of the bands I’m most excited about seeing for the whole weekend, so they trump just about anything else.  Even if their band name is pretty dumb.

3:00

Miller Lite	Benjamin Booker: Raw New Orleans blues guitar shredding has morphed into a more subdued bluesy rock
Barton Springs	Joseph: Beautiful harmonies from a trio of sisters
BMI	R.LUM.R: Electronic R&B with a killer falsetto.
HomeAway	Dreamcar: I'm stuck in a rut of 80's music on the poster.  "Supergroup" of sorts with No Doubt and AFI members combining for maximum 80's homage.

I had honestly forgotten about Dreamcar entirely as a band who was coming to ACL.  I still would rather see Benjamin Booker or Joseph over them, but it had fully slipped from my mind that we were going to get a No Doubt-based supergroup.  That still makes me grin.  The band from No Doubt is apparently considered the band portion of a supergroup.  Right.  I think I’d prefer Booker in this slot (although Joseph is damn pretty).

4:00

Honda	Cody Jinks: Outlaw country guy from Denton
Kiddie (4:30)	Sleepyman: Bluegrass boy band from New Jersey (for real)
Tito’s	Thundercat: Weird mix of funk and depression from awesome bassist who collaborates with Kendrick and Flying Lotus
American Express	Live: Holy crap, this is really that band, the Live from the mid-90's that was one of my favorites ever.

Cody Jinks is surprisingly good, and Sleepy Man, in the Kiddie Limits area, is kind of awesome, but nothing is keeping me from reprising my 90’s alt rock love affair with Live.  Actually, now that I think of it, I might just stay at the AmEx stage for the next six hours.  I need to remember my Depends!

5:00

Miller Lite	Angel Olsen: Torchy indie folk tunes that wear out their welcome quickly
Barton Springs	The Black Angels: psych rock crunchy-ness from Austin
BMI	Luke Combs: Aw yeah!  Let's kick some ass with rockin' country!
HomeAway	Russ: More of that Drake-biting sing-song rap

Eh.  This may be the perfect time to go load up on Poor Qui Buns and Bahn Mi tacos, because none of this is very exciting.  Of these four, the Black Angels are the best band, but I recently saw them and their live show is a little much for puny humans.  Luke Combs is freaking terrible.  Russ is a little better, but only a small sliver.  Olsen has a good tune or three, but not enough for a whole show.  So, with my limpest ever recommendation, I guess go see the Angels?

6:00

Honda	Cut Copy: Extremely derivative early 80's synth pop that seems fun to dance along to.
Tito’s	Allison Wonderland: Massive EDM dance booms from an Aussie lady DJ
American Express	Ice Cube:  My favorite rapper of all time.  The GOAT.

Oh man.  I'm so pumped to see Cube again.  In fact, now that I know what is coming before him, I need to go load up on beers and food and then go worm my way up close to this stage.  And then I'll yell at him between every break to let me come up there and rap "Steady Mobbin'" for him, and he'll have to let me, and I'll SLAY IT, and then I'll get signed by Def Jam to be the next greatest rapper AND YOU'LL ALL BE ABLE TO SAY YOU KNEW ME WHEN!!!  Looking forward to it.  Honestly, the Allison Wonderland show would probably be fun if you like good EDM type music (just don't watch her faking a job up front by twisting knobs that do nothing, she's like a 2 year old in front of a Fisher Price Monster Pop Up Surprise).

7:00

Miller Lite	Spoon: Somehow, I apparently failed to actually review Spoon for this year.  Weird, I crossed them off my list and everything.  Here is my 2014 review and my review of their new album, which is good enough.  I love them though!
Barton Springs	Tove Lo: That "Stay High All The Time" electropop girl
HomeAway	Rufus Du Sol: Good dance house tunes from Sydney

Easy choice here for me to go see Spoon.  I really like them and their new album is greatness.  On top of that, Tove Lo might be my least favorite thing coming to the Festival all weekend.  Rufus Du Sol is better than expected, for electronic stuff...

8:00

Honda	Chance the Rapper: One of the best young rappers, making mostly exuberant, positive rap
Tito’s	Silent Disco:
American Express	Red Hot Chili Peppers: One of the greatest rock bands ever (IMO), and boast the prime time funk of Flea.

I won't say this one is an easy choice, as I would love to see Chance do his thing in support of Coloring Book, but the Chili Peppers might be my favorite band of all time, so I have to go see them.  Since I am coming back next weekend for Saturday, I may give Chance a shot that Saturday of weekend Two (ooooor, I might just go see the Chilis again and revel in the greatness.  I love Flea so much).  If you want to check out the potential setlists for the Chilis, see my thoughts here.

This night is going to be absolutely fantastic, with Cube and then the Chilis.  If I could populate my own perfect festival roster, they'd be on it every single year.  Thanks for the fine gift, C3 peoples.