ACL 2018: Major Lineup Shakeup Again

Well, what the hell!  I need to just light my schedule spreadsheets on fire and walk away.

The ACL folks are obviously working hard to try to make things right after Childish Gambino crapped in their punchbowl.  They just announced that Lil' Wayne has been added to Second Weekend Staurday (which is tight) and that Phoenix has been added to First Weekend Sunday night.  

Personally, both of those additions are better than Gambino was in the first place!  I know that there are a lot of people who really wanted to see Gambino and are still going to be disappointed, but I like the attempt to make lemonade here.  ACL could have easily just thrown up their hands, pointed to Gambino pulling out on them, and left it all alone.  But grabbing two well-known artists out of the ether with only two weeks to go is a big move.

Now I need to get to work and put together two more reviews.

ACL 2018: Second Weekend: Sunday Thoughts [EDIT]

Oh, man.  Major shakeup.  What a cluster.  Child Ass Gambino has jacked all of this up, angered the whole world, put C3 in an impossible spot, and shuffled the schedules.  This day loses Gambino, but gets St. Vincent and Travis Scott.  Obviously, there are still good things on this day, but when you lose the #3 thing on the whole poster, with only two weeks before the show, things get messed up.

This day already suffered from having very little that felt MUST SEE to me, but with a little shuffling, there's actually at least one improvement (getting St. Vincent moved to this day helps).  Still weird to me that McCartney isn't closing down the weekend...

Because I'll have already seen a bunch of these bands on first weekend, I may be more willing to be experimental here and try out other weird things.  We'll see.

As I did last year, I'm not going to try to list everyone in order of how much I like them, because it honestly provides no good information for you to know that Houndmouth is better than Rezz in my mind.  What really matters, to me at least, is how to navigate the hard conflicts and figure out who to see in each time slot.  So, here we go again.

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.  
• 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).

Here is a playlist of my suggested tunes for Sunday.

Here we go.

11:15 or 11:30

Miller Lite	NOTHING
Barton Springs	Kydd Jones: Local rapper with pretty good beats and OK lyrics
Tito’s (11:15)	The Spiritualletes: Gospel
BMI	Davie: Alternative R&B guy with a nice voice but boring songs.
Home Away	Lemaitre: Electronic happy tunes in the neighborhood of Justice

Wait, where did Freya Ridings go?  Was that actually Child Ass Gambino in red-headed drag this whole time?  Crap, looks like she’s been dropped from the ACL website.  That was going to be my only suggestion for this hour.  Now, uhhhhh, I guess, if you’re there, go see Lemaitre?  (not a strong endorsement)

12:15 to 1:00

Honda	Thunderpussy: I can't say their name without grinning, but they kind of freaking rock.
Kiddie Limits  (12:30)	School of Rock: Kids jamming cover tunes based on what they learned at private lessons
Tito’s Tent	Superfonicos: Funky afro-funk from south of the border
American Express	Amber Mark: Soul pop and R&B like Norah Jones tried to make modern pop

Yeah, I guess I’d do Thunderpussy.  As usual, it likely doesn’t matter who is playing this early on a Sunday, but I think if I went, I’d give them a shot in this hour.

1:00 to 2:00

Miller Lite	Amen Dunes:  Great indie rock tunes by a weirdo who doesn't listen to music.
Barton Springs	Mt. Joy:  Pleasantly anonymous indie rock with good lyrics
Tito’s (1:15)	Ghost of Paul Revere:  Banjofied Americana and Harmonic Folk (with a big ginger beard!).
BMI	Phil Cook: Jam-ish goofball does freak folk well
Home Away	Yungblud:  Highly fun dance/electronic rock with lyrics built to shock.

This is a tough hour.  I know that none of these are household name bands, but I like all five of these bands.  So it will just come down to what are you looking to hear at this time of the day?  Yungblud likely has the potential to be the most famous/exciting out of this pack, with his dance-ready, exciting tunes and shocking lyrics.  Amen Dunes is probably the most talented of the bunch.  And the other three would be great for a nice sunny afternoon relaxation session with a cold beer in hand.  If I’m there, I think I might get hyped and do Yungblud, but Amen Dunes is also calling my name.  Might depend on what I did the first weekend.

[EDIT]  Yungblud was insane first weekend.  He might have been lip syncing, or at the very least was definitely using a backing track, but he was wild and crazy and extremely fun to watch.  Just know that you will get approximately 300 F- Bombs and 600 tongue thrusts.

2:00 to 3:00

Honda	A R I Z O N A:  Generic electro-rock tunes of platitude lyrics but a genius band name.
Kiddie Limits  (2:30)	Q Brothers:  The worst Kiddie Limits band
Tito’s Tent (2:15)	Flor De Toloache:  Mariachi ladies
American Express	Twin Shadow:  Sweepingly bombastic 80's synth pop

Yikes.  This hour is not great.  It’s too bad that some of the one o’clock guys couldn’t just slide over into this slot.  I’m not going to be one of those ironic dingbats that goes to watch mariachi to be funny (but disrespectful).  So, I’m left with generic and platitude-filled electro rock, or 80’s synth pop rock.  Ugggghhhh.  I guess I’ll pick A R I Z O N A, based solely on the fact that I met someone the other day who likes them?  But I refuse to highlight any of these guys, because its just not great.

I’ll tell you one thing I’d rather die than do, and that is go to the Q Brothers.

[EDIT]  Everything is hell now.  My buddy Joseph sent me a file of his sons making a rap with the Q Brothers that is actually very cool.  And Twin Shadow was terrible.  So I guess I'll give ARIZONA a shot next time, or go take a nap.

3:00

Miller Lite	Bahamas:   Sweet folky rock that brings Jack Johnson to mind.
Barton Springs	Parquet Courts:   Brooklyn garage rock fully loved by the critics
BMI	B.A.G. (Blimes xGifted Gab): Kick ass (for their single song, at least) women rappers
Home Away	Elle King:   The Ex's and Oh's lady has more scratchy-voiced, country-spiked pop.

Elle King is likely the most famous of the group, although she is probably the one I would want to see the least.  Parquet Courts’ brand of funky indie rock would probably be my pick, although that one BAG song is super good.

[EDIT] sent the wife and kids to Elle King while I did Injury Reserve on first weekend, and it was a good choice.  I'll hopefully go see Parquet this weekend.

4:00 – 5:00

Honda	X Ambassadors:   Sweepingly homogeneous alternative rock
Kiddie Limits  (4:30)	Saul Paul: Acoustic hip hop (but also real beats) for the Kiddies
Tito’s Tent	Moses Sumney: Quiet, pretty, soulful guy with amazingly beautiful voice who bores me
American Express	Janelle Monae:   Funky, freaky bad ass melting styles into great pop soul grooves.

Janelle Monae is the easy choice in this slot.  Sumney is lovely, but boring, while Monae is highly exciting and should be a true star.  I don’t want to see the Ambassadors at all, which likely means that both my kids and my buddy are going to demand that one both weekends.  I need to start a smear campaign now.  

[EDIT] Monae was freaking amazing.  She is a hell of a show woman, with loads of dancing, a great voice, multiple costume changes, and a real-deal show crafted for maximum enjoyment.  I actually tried to get my son to let me take him to X Ambassadors, going completely against my prior statement up above, but all of my children were being such massive annoyances that I couldn't do that to the wife.  No regrets though.  You should do this show, and get close.

5:00

Miller Lite	Tinashe:   Strong-voiced hook singer making bad, generic pop R&B
Barton Springs	Houndmouth: Shaggy southern rock goodness.
BMI	The Sisterhood Band: Country-ish acoustic ladies that get on my nerves
Home Away	Rezz:   Aggressive electronic "body" music

Easiest decision of the day, I think.  Houndmouth is the only band I want to see of these four.  If only the female hadn't left Houndmouth, then this could have been an all female singer hour.

6:00

Honda	Shawn Mendes: Former Canadian vine star turned pop star (sound familiar?)
Tito’s Tent	The Revolution:  Prince's backing band, carrying on without him.
American Express	Vince Staples: Great flow from an odd rapper with critical love

Interesting hour.  On the one hand, I’d kind of like to see the pop star with all the big hits.  On the other hand, I’d love to sing along to Prince’s hits.  On the third hand, which is weird unless this is talking about a character in The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, Vince Staples is great and would likely be a fun rap show.  I think I lean Mendes, but I’m not convinced.

[EDIT] I heard great things about the Revolution.  I did Camila Cabello with the kids, and then left the park, but two different people said that the Revolution was a blast.

7:00

Miller Lite	Illenium:  More entirely generic EDM with the usual female singing platitudes
Barton Springs	Shakey Graves:  Excellent local musician and songwriter doing bluesy rock
Home Away	St. Vincent: Quirky electro-indie rock

Well, this certain changes things.  Before the change to add St. Vincent to this hour (and day), this was an easy choice for me to go see Graves.  But St. Vincent is legit, and she is supposed to put on a good show, so I’m not sure what to do here.  I’d say at this moment, since I am currently listening to St. Vincent just for the pleasure of it, I might choose her.

8:00 or 8:45

Honda	Arctic Monkeys: Fabulous rock and rollers with a recent lounge act bomb
Tito’s Tent	Silent Disco:
American Express (8:45)	Travis Scott:  Auto-Tuned/half-sung Houston rapper with an attitude problem

Theoretically, you could do both of these, from afar.  Since they start 45 minutes apart, you could go listen to 30 minutes of the Monkeys and then trudge all the way over to the other side of the park to Travis Scott mangle words and generally disappoint the world.  I'd rather try out the full set from AM.  I guess, at the very least, I’ll wander over there once the Monkeys are done to hear Scott's last few songs from afar.

ACL 2018: Major Lineup Shakeup

This is a huge bummer.

https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/music/2018-09-26/childish-gambino-cancels-acl-performance/

Bummer for the fans, like my friend's son who is coming into Austin on Sunday for the express purpose of seeing Childish Gambino.  Bummer for the C3 people who had booked a big up-and-coming guy right before his "This is America" blew up and became a huge tune, but now are catching loads of crap from people on social media for not somehow having an instant replacement in their pocket. .  Bummer for everyone who writes an exhaustive blog about Austin City Limits and HAD ALREADY PREPARED ALL OF THEIR SCHEDULE MATRICES AND NOW HAVE TO RE-DO ALL THAT CRAP!

I saw this news come through my Twitter feed the other day, saying that Gambino had broken his foot during a Dallas show.  Then I saw that he had pulled out of a few shows, and I started to get worried.  Then the announcement comes.

And to that, I say WTF?  It's not like we're talking about Bruno Mars or something, why can't he just put a cast on and come jam?  It's not like he's well known for some huge dancing spectacle on stage, he just needs to rap and sing.  Dave Grohl played ACL from a guitar throne because of a broken leg (and continued the show when he broke it)!  Axl Rose later used that throne to keep a tour going.  Also just going to note that Killer Mike, from Run the Jewels, beat a guy's ass during a performance in Austin, apparently ripped up his shoulder, and kept the tour going.

So, what I'm saying, is that this is a punk move from Gambino.  I'm sure it sucks to have a broken foot, and I get cancelling the show the next night after it happened, but two weeks later?  Put a cast on it and let's go!  Get a badass motorized chariot to drive around stage in!  Big bummer.

Now, let me be like all the people on Twitter right now. “Just get Taylor Swift to play instead waaaaaaaaa!  Why can’t they get Beyoncé and Jay-Z to take that slot?  This is BS!  I wanna refund!”  You really should go read the comments on Instagram or Twitter.  People are idiots.  Are there really people who think that Drake is just sitting around, staring at his phone, available and willing to come play two headlining shows?

On my walk this morning, I was thinking more about this, and the problem of proving damages.  The social media masses are pissed about this.  Loads of people bought tickets for certain days to see Travis Scott or Gambino, and now those shows are moved or cancelled, and they are super mad about it.  Is that anger going to last?  Will people keep a bad taste in their mouths about ACL in the future, and refuse to buy tickets?  Obviously, the Sunday single tickets just lost a ton of value on the open market, but what about a deeper, lasting damage to the brand?  Seems like there would be, but I have no idea how that could be quantified.  Sucks.  Someone tell Gambino that I'm willing to build him a motorized throne made of pistols.

ACL 2018: Second Weekend: Saturday Thoughts [EDIT AGAIN]

Rock and Roll, baby.  This day could allow you to mosh your way into the end of the night, with three bands on the American Express stage from 4:30 on that are either hard rock or metal.  I'm curious to see if we get an influx of metalheads with their cool Hot Topic t-shirts on to show how O.G. their love for thrash metal really is.

But, even if you aren't into the metal world, you can get some other great bands this day.  Chvches, Trampled by Turtles, Highly Suspect, The Breeders.  Even smaller things like Wallows and Ruston Kelly.  This will be a good day.

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 weekend, I think I'd like to make it out there for the 12:45 hour to see Wallows.  We'll see how that works with tiredness and our Lyft ride.

AAAAAAND they just added Lil Wayne to Saturday or Second Weekend only.  That is cool as hell.  Trying to make up for the loss of Child Ass Gambino.  BUT, for me, that makes things difficult.  Wish they would have added him to Sunday night instead, because now he conflicts with Chvrches and goes right up to the start of Metallica.

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.  
• 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!

12:00 – 1:00

Miller Lite	Lo Moon: Gently lovely indie pop.
Barton Springs	Mamafesta: Local jam band grooving out in the dark.
Kiddie Limits (12:30)	Barton Hills Choir: The elementary school choir from the campus closest to Zilker Park.
Tito’s (11:45)	Ty Morris &H.O.W.: Gospel
BMI	Charley Crockett: If Hank Williams Sr. liked to get soulful and bluesy every once in a while.
Home Away	Slenderbodies: Whispery, falsetto indie pop that still somehow grooves

These early morning offerings are pretty bland.  If I’m there this early in the day, I guess I'd go for Crockett (but will probably just show up a little later...) 

12:45

Honda	Donna Missal: Strong-voiced pop with a retro bend
Tito’s Tent	Harry Paradise: Forgettable electronic guy from Austin that even ACL doesn't seem to care about.
American Express	Wallows: B-list movie star band with great indie rock chops.

Wallows is the easy choice here for me.  Paradise is not good.  Missal is fine, but I'm not going to pass up rock for retro pop most days of the week.

1:30 to 2:30

Miller Lite	Durand Jones and the Indications: Retro Soul goodness with a great live sound.
Barton Springs	IAMDDB: Generic mix of rap and R&B from a Brit lady
Tito’s (1:45)	Ikebe Shakedown: Funky instrumental jam outs with tons of horns
BMI	Ruston Kelly: Very good Americana and alt country from husband of Kasey Musgraves
Home Away	Verite: Moody electronic pop and 1975 covers.

This hour is all over the map.  You can literally just choose the type of tunes you want.  Durand Jones is good, if you are looking for retro soul.  Ikebe Shakedown are super funky and groovy, if you want instrumental groove.  But Ruston Kelly is legitimately good.  I've been listening to his new album even after being done with all of these bands, he was one of the few bands in this whole thing that have stuck in my head.

2:30 to 3:30

Honda	Mon Laferte: Spanish-language music I don't understand
Kiddie Limits	Lard Dog & theBand of Shy: Kiddie Limits silliness
Tito’s Tent (2:45)	Curtis Harding: O.G.-sounding soul man.
American Express (2:15)	The Wombats: Highly fun Brit rock and roll with that Dance to Joy Division hit

On the one hand, Curtis Harding is pretty freaking cool.  I might be swayed to go over there and eyeball his style.  On the other, upper hand, I think I’d likely prefer high energy rock and goofiness of the Wombats.

3:30

Miller Lite	SMINO: Singer/rapper leaning more to R&B soul than hip hop.
Barton Springs	Japanese Breakfast: Great melodic indie rock to go with thoughts of sushi pancakes
BMI	Lucie Silvas: British pop early, morphing into rootsy almost country, with dramatic violins always involved.
Home Away (3:15)	The Breeders: Alternative rock's girl group from the 90's (yes, you remember "Cannonball").

Kinda tough call here.  Japanese Breakfast is one of the new things I’ve found through this process that turned me into a fan.  But the Breeders are a part of my 90’s alt rock upbringing.  I might make my buddy choose for me.  I think I’m leaning Breeders.

Note, however, that they just adjusted the time for that show to 3:15.

4:30

Honda	Brandi Carlile: Great lyricist walking the line between rock and Americana
Kiddie Limits	Ralph’s World: Kiddie Limits silliness
Tito’s Tent	Rhye: Beautiful falsetto-driven chill tunes
American Express (4:15)	Highly Suspect: Excellent alternative rock

This is where Saturday could become your hard rock day.  Interesting the way that the Fest has cooked up a three show run here at the AmEx stage where you could just dig in for a series of mosh pits and head bangs from 4:30 to 10:00.  If it weren’t for Chvrches, I’d be tempted.  Anyway, Highly Suspect will get my vote here, although Brandi Carlile is very very good.  If you get to go both weekends, then go see her for one of them.

For real, I'm playing the playlist up above as I painstakingly put together all of these little charts, and "Little One" just came on.  I've heard that song 40 times by now, and yet I still broke into goosebumps during the chorus and needed to belt it out.  Definitely doing HS.

5:30

Miller Lite	Blood Orange: Bummer R&B crooner over down-tempo synth beats
Barton Springs	Marian Hill: That Apple commercial song with the wall dancing.
BMI	Trampled by Turtles: Bluegrass traditionalists who can haul ass on the banjo
Home Away (5:15)	Bazzi: Generic R&B guy made famous by a meme

This one is very simple, because most of this is not good music.  Trampled by Turtles is fun and exciting bluegrass music.  Maybe you don't like fun music and want to go suffer through bad R&B or bands with one massive hit and then a bunch of detritus.  Be my guest!  

6:00 to 6:30

Honda (6:30)	Chvrches: Excellent electronic dance pop from Scotland
Tito’s Tent (6:30)	San Holo: More generic EDM
American Express (6:00)	Disturbed: Oooo wahahaha!  Nu metal rockers with a schlocky side.

Chvrches, all day, for me.  A case could be made to go see Disturbed and relive some of my Nu Metal days, but they just dive too deep into some bad tunes in their shows.  If they would just play "Down With The Sickness" over and over for 45 minutes, then end with the dumb "Sound of Silence" cover, I'd consider it.  But as is, Chvrches.

Just noticed this will be the first show that takes me from the Amex side of the park.  I need to lobby the C3 folks to move swap Chvrches for Disturbed so I can just stay on that one side of the grounds.

7:00 and 7:30

Miller Lite (7:30)	Sylvan Esso:  Glitchy-sounding electronic indie pop that weakens after the Get Up Get Down one.
Barton Springs (7:30)	Residente: Spanish-language EDM and hip hop from Puerto Rico
Home Away (7:00)	Lil Wayne!  Self-proclaimed best rapper alive.  I don't go that far, but he can drop some perfect one liners (among a bunch of groaners).

Now this got all jacked up because of stupid Childish Gambino.  Justice got move up to the headliner slot here, and St. Vincent got yanked from this hour (and day) and put onto Sunday night.  
So, that totally changes the question here.  Where did Sylvan Esso come from?  Ah, they used to be Sunday night.  WTF.  Both of these are not good, so this will be the time when I get up close to see Metallica.
Wait!  Now they added in Lil Wayne to this spot!  I'm going to go crazy trying to keep up with all of these changes, I can only imagine what the people are C3 are feeling like right now.  BUT, with him playing at a 7pm slot, that jacks up me seeing Chvrches.  Too bad they didn't add him to Sunday night, rap lovers could have done Staples, then Wayne, then Scott.  Oh well.  As it is, I'll miss this hour to go from Chvrches to Metallica.

8:00 to 8:30

Honda (8:30)	Justice: Old school electronic dance party
Tito’s Tent (2:45)	Silent Disco
American Express (7:50)	Metallica: Metal Gods

Travis Scott is out, moved to Sunday night headliner.  Now you get Justice, who is actually pretty legitimately good for electronic dance.  That being said, I would not miss out on Metallica, regardless of who was in this slot against them.  I know I have been beating this into the ground, but they are seriously great live.  Even if you’re scared, just go anyway and let yourself be taken in by the power.  Also, note that the Metallica show has been expanded to two hours and ten minutes (instead of just 1.5).