ACL 2018: First Weekend Friday Thoughts [EDIT]

I can just imagine the pure happiness of that first Friday at ACL.  Like an ice cream I'll never taste.  Something awesome like salted-caramel-fudge-Frito ice cream.  Because I got conflicted out of weekend one this year, and now I'll miss that fresh, crisp, green grass.  It'll be so lush that first Friday.  But still, I'll feel happy for you anyway, and just act like I'm gonna be right there with you.

If you can bail on work, the early Friday time at ACL is so great.  I usually try to go eat a good lunch with my out of town buddy - impress him with something awesome and Austiny that he can't get in the park.  In past years, when my mom lived right up above the park, we had easy park-and-walk access, but I think this year we'll get on the Lyft program and see how that works for us.  Probably a lot more safe!  Or try the weird electric scooters?  I need to research transportation this year!

As I did last year, I've changed up the preview format so that you get hour-by-hour thoughts and layouts.  Previously I had ranked all of the bands and that was insane, and also completely useless, because who cares if Sofi Tukker is my 83rd favorite band?  What you need to know is a choice during each set, where the artists are actually duking it out on the poster.

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.
• Honestly, sometimes those one liners are freaking hard to write.  Some of this music is super crazy forgettable and I just can't come up with anything useful to write.
• 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).
• 2:45 and 4:45 and 6:45 are tough calls.

Playlist!  This is mainly going to be the bands I recommend, with a few extra songs if they are notable or I couldn't make a definitive choice of bands.



Here we go:

11:15

Miller Lite	NAM: Glitchy beats for electronic pop with a good vocalist.
Barton Springs	The Coronas: Irish indie rock that belongs on a CW drama
Tito’s	Wesley Bray & the Disciples of Joy: Gospel
BMI	RF Shannon: Relaxed tunes like My Morning Jacket with a twang
Home Away	Topaz Jones: Pretty solid rapper over funky beats

  

While I doubt I’d be there by 11:15 on Friday, if I were to get out there that early, I’d likely choose RF Shannon out of these five.  That being said, The Coronas are pretty good and if you want to see rap, Topaz Jones is very solid.

12:00 to 12:45

Honda (12:00)	Asleep at the Wheel: Every year's favorite western swing purveyors
Tito’s Tent (12:15)	Fatai: Powerful voiced coffee house tunes from Aussie Voice finalist.
Kiddie Limits (12:30)	Barton Hills Choir: The elementary school choir from the campus closest to Zilker Park.
American Express (12:00)	Natalie Prass: Funky indie singer songwriter with a great voice

I know that the pure nostalgia and old school decision here is to open ACL like everyone has opened it for decades and go to Asleep at the Wheel, but not for me.  Easy choice.  Natalie Prass is very fun.

12:45 – 1:45

Miller Lite	Ben Kweller: Piano heavy indie rock in the Ben Folds vein
Barton Springs	Big Thief: Chilled out indie rock with high quality lyrics.
Tito’s (1:15)	Ravyn Lenae: R&B lady from Chicago with a little freakiness.
BMI	lovelytheband: One hit wonders who love alliteration but hate capitalization.
Home Away	Cuco: Terrible Spanglish indie bedroom slow jams

Easy choice, just because most of this is very unpleasant.  You should go see Big Thief.  Capaldi isn't bad either, but I would still recommend Thief.

[EDIT] Not so fast!  Lewis Capaldi (Strong-voiced blue-eyed soul from Scotland) just got replaced by Ben Kweller.  Kweller is a good time!  That's a much harder decision.  I might still choose Big Thief, but I'm not so certain now.

1:45 – 2:45

Honda	Gang of Youths: Aussie indie rockers who are huge back home.
Tito’s Tent (2:15)	The Weather Station: Pleasant Americana/folky tunes with a light touch and very good lyrics
Kiddie Limits (2:30)	School of Rock: Kids jamming cover tunes based on what they learned at private lessons
American Express (1:45)	Bishop Briggs: One hit wonder with that River song, and some forgettable other alt-pop

Personal opinion here.  I know a lot of people will want to do Bishop Briggs because she has that one really big hit song.  I would counsel against that.  Instead choose between rocking (Gang) or chilling (Weather) and attend accordingly.  Think I'll do the Gang.

2:45 to 3:45

Miller Lite	Alvvays: Top notch indie rock with pretty vocals and that Archie song
Barton Springs	Sir Sly: One alt-rock radio hit and a bunch of fun danceable rock.
BMI	Mikky Ekko: Indie pop guy so forgettable I can't provide you any details.
Home Away	NoName: Super chilled Chicago lady rapper

Hard decision here.  I don’t want to see Mikky at all, but the other three are all solid.  I think that my quick draw-no-deep-thinking-allowed answer would be Alvvays.  But if I spent more time thinking about it, I might choose to go have fun at Sir Sly or get thoughtful and chilled at NoName.  Her Tiny Desk was SO GOOD.  Hard choice.

3:45 to 4:45

Honda	Borns: One good album of psych rock pop, then one less good album of synth pop.
Tito’s Tent	Golden Dawn Arkestra: Psych instrumental freakout jam music, but with horns
Kiddie Limits (4:30)	Red Yarn: Kiddie Limits music with a barnyard/animal theme
American Express	David Byrne: Talking Heads singer still making funky, weird rock

Don’t you think the other bands are actually pissed off about this?  I mean, if you are the pscyh rock band or the psych pop guy, don’t you want super bad to go see David Byrne?  I know I do.  And its too bad, because both of the other guys are pretty fun.  But its Byrne all the way for me.

4:45 to 5:45

Miller Lite	Greta Van Fleet: Led Zeppelin
Barton Springs	Jungle: Grooving funk soul
BMI	Fickle Friends: Fun synth-driven pop in the neighborhood of HAIM from the 80's.
Home Away	Manchester Orchestra: Very good indie rock, in between Iron & Wine and Gaslight Anthem.

Sad days for all involved.  The clear choice here is Greta Van Fleet, I need to see them do their thing.  However, Jungle is very cool and Manchester also has a clean, classic sound that I very much enjoy.  Fickle falls into fourth place, and yet it is highly fun, catchy stuff.  Brutal time slot here… but I'd still choose to see GVF.

5:45

Honda	Khalid: El Paso's favorite surprise high school R&B star now doing hooks on major hits.
Tito’s Tent (5:30)	Gryffin: More generic EDM
American Express	The National: Depressing ass music loved by many people I like

It’ll be a game time decision for me to choose trying out the pop R&B stuff from Khalid or the depression indie from the National.  I’ll likely choose the latter, but we’ll see.

6:45

Miller Lite	BROCKHAMPTON: Self-described as THE WORLD'S GREATEST BOYBAND!  Off-kilter, fun hip-hop from a large crew.
Barton Springs	Father John Misty: Most interesting lyricist at the Fest
Home Away	Hozier: Massively popular Irish blues rock who needs to release another album

This one got easier now that BROCKHAMPTON has set up an after show, so that I can still go see them without ruining my chance to see either FJM or Hozier.  Now, that choice is still super hard, as I’ve seen both and they are both amazing live shows.  If you aren’t doing the After Show, then go see BROCKHAMPTON.  If you are doing the After Show, or hate original and fun rap for some reason, then I think I’ll say Father John Misty.

7:45

Honda	Odesza: Chillwave electronic tunes.
Tito’s Tent (8:00)	Silent Disco
American Express	Paul McCartney: The Beatle

Although I’ve heard good things about Odesza’s live show, you have to choose the Beatle.  Also, if you go to Silent Disco while Paul McCartney is playing, then something is wrong with you.

Friday might be the strongest day of the whole weekend.  I mean, a Talking Head, a Beatle, new and inventive rap, hard choices at several hours.  Ooooh, I'm super jealous of y'all who get to go see this night.  Have fun and tell me what you liked.