ACL 2019: Weekend Two: Friday: Thoughts and Schedule

Weekend Two, baby!  (if you are looking for Weekend One Friday, click here)  I'm doing a full-on assault of weekend one, and as of now only have a pass for Saturday of weekend two to take my kids to Billie Eilish, but I may try to finagle a Friday pass so that I can see Tame Impala.  We shall see.  

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 Austin-y that he can't get in the park.  I'm still mad that Freedman's closed - that place ruled.  For this second weekend lineup, I personally would take my time and enjoy some drinks and food away from the park, because you aren't going to miss much in the early hours (IMO).

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 Oliver Tree 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.  "uhhh, another EDM guy with electronic stuff?"
• 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).
• Interesting that nothing starts before 12:30 this year?  Do we have less bands than in the past?  Going to need to dig into that question.
• Also, note that the old HomeAway stage is now called T-Mobile, and the old Barton Springs Stage is now the VRBO stage.

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:

12:30 / 12:45 

Honda (12:45)	Mahalia: Alt R&B with a little rap work from England
Kiddie Limits (12:30)	School of Rock: Kids jamming cover tunes based on what they learned at private lessons
American Express	The Beaches: Poppy garage rocking ladies

I'd pick The Beaches, but I also wouldn't rush out of work to make sure I got to see any of these.

1:15-ish

Miller Lite (1:30)	Houses: Depressingly rote chillwave and sad piano balladry.
VRBO	The Band CAMINO: Glossy pop rock like a lesser The 1975
Tito’s (1:00)	Jane Ellen Bryant: Local gal with a great voice
BMI (1:30)	Savannah Conley: Americana Jewel
T-Mobile (1:15)	Pike & Sutton: Local-ish founders of Sister 7 doing blues rock

You could have offered me $50 to recall anything at all about Houses as I started to write up this schedule.  No freaking clue, even though I listened a bunch and wrote them up back in May.  They really stick with you!  No easy call in this pack, but I think Savannah Conley probably wins for me, even though that is a pretty lukewarm endorsement.

I'm honestly scared of Jane Ellen Bryant's new sound on one of her recent singles.  And Pike & Sutton feel like they are going to just do extended blues rock jamouts and sloppy covers.

1:45 – 2:45

Honda (2:15)	Madison Beer: If the expired Natural Ice you found in the back of your grandad's garage fridge after he died was pop music.
Tito’s Tent (2:00)	Flamingosis: Chillwave electronic perfect for your next Abercrombie shopping excursion.
Kiddie Limits (2:30)	Bears & Lions: Rock and roll rap kiddie music
American Express (1:45)	The Aces: Snappy pop indie girl group that I like despite myself

Yikes.  Would it be weird to tell you to go to the Kiddie Limits stage to see the weirdo furries play their song about pancakes?  Because that might be the right call.  If not that, then I think The Aces are the best of these four?  Maybe?

2:45 to 3:45

Miller Lite (3:00)	Black Pistol Fire:
VRBO (2:45)	Cherry Glazerr: Grungy pop rock named after an NPR reporter
BMI (3:00)	Friday Pilots Club: Alt. rock teetering in between Muse and Imagine Dragons.
T-Mobile (2:30)	Jai Wolf: Varied electronic tunes that border on indie rock

Dang.  Didn’t even write a one liner for Black Pistol Fire!  So rude!  They are some good times rock and roll blasting though.  I’d probably choose them here, even though I dig Cherry Glazerr too.  Game time call on this one.

3:30 / 4:00

Honda (4:00)	King Princess: Gritty pop music reminds me of cleaner Billie Eilish, dirtier Maggie Rogers.
Tito’s Tent (3:30)	Monsieur Perine: World music chameleons that seem perfectly fine
American Express (3:30)	Tyler Childers: Great lyricist making fine Americana and country music.

Easy one for me – Childers has the songwriting chops to be a legit star.

4:30 / 5:00

Miller Lite (5:00)	Kaytranada: Groovy electronic producer with a bunch of B-list singers.
VRBO (4:30)	K.Flay: Not Britney's ex, instead, surprisingly good indie hip hop from the lady who went to Stanford
Kiddie Limits (4:30)	Ray Emmanuel: 14 year old rapper
BMI (5:00)	The Score: Bad facsimile of the worst band in rock
T-Mobile (4:30)	TroyBoi: Pretty solid EDM guy

Ehhh?  None of these light me up as must see artists.  The Score is very terrible.  Maybe I would pick K.Flay?  Maybe I'll just go get a beer and some tacos?

I'm just waiting for the Score to become the next huge band in the world, and everyone to make fun of me for not liking them, but I refuse to apologize for refusing to buy in to an Imagine Dragons musical cosplay.

5:30 / 6:00

Honda (6:00)	Lil Uzi Vert: Random lyric generator rap garbage
Tito’s Tent (5:30)	The Comet is Coming: Freaky jazz instrumentals.
American Express (5:30)	The Raconteurs: Jack White's power pop band still tossing out jams

No brainer for me.  Lil Uzi is terrible.  The Raconteurs are fantastic.  The Comet is Coming is freaking weird.  Jack4LYFE!

6:30 – 7:00

Miller Lite (7:00)	Thom Yorke’s Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes: Radiohead's lead singer doing his 2014 solo album for some reason.
VRBO (6:30)	Jenny Lewis: Kind of funky indie rock stuff with a great voice
T-Mobile (6:30)	RL Grime: EDM guy with a name playing on his childhood reading.

I mean, if I’m being perfectly honest, I’m not seeing any of these.  I’m gonna see every second of Raconteurs and then wait for Guns n Roses.  But if I had the choice, would absolutely do Jenny Lewis.  She’s great.  So maybe if I get to go this second weekend Friday, then I'll bop over to JL.

Although, I watched Thom Yorke's Netflix special the other night with my wife, and both of us were straight-up entranced.  It is extremely weird, but the choreography and imagery and music all work together in a hypnotic way.  I really liked it.  Made me think that this show might also be interesting...

HEADLINERS:

Honda (8:15)	Tame Impala: Tasty psych rock goodness and modern groove science
American Express (7:30)	Guns N’ Roses: One of the best hard rock bands ever

Man…  I really would have liked to have seen Tame Impala.  Their show a few years ago opened my eyes to a different side of rock and roll, and I was pumped to have them on top of the lineup this year.  But I’m seeing GNR.  There is no way I pass up the opportunity to see the mostly classic lineup for Guns N’ Roses.  If I got to do GNR first weekend, then I might see Impala this night second weekend.  Also, with a 7:30 start time, does that mean we are going to get two and a half freaking hours of GNR?  Or are they just building in an hour for Axl to throw a fit backstage and refuse to go on?

I feel like, regardless of the rest of the day, getting to see Tyler Childers, The Raconteurs, and Guns N' Roses (or Tame Impala) is going to be a pretty solid day.  The rest is just the good times gravy of the Fest.