Predicting ACL 2020: Major Tours

Normally, I like to do a post that looks at all of the other festival lineups of the year (like this one from 2018), but Rob Mitchum has apparently stopped making the spreadsheet that I used to get all of that information in one place.  Which is super lame.  And after looking online for 30 seconds, I couldn't find a comparable listing of all festival lineups mashed together for my convenience, so I'm super not going to do that post this year if it means looking at posters myself.  That would take at least 8 minutes.

So, instead, I'll look at those artists who are supposed to have big tours this year, to see what their schedule looks like and if ACL can fit into those spots.  I'm using a few lists online of "anticipated" or whatever tours, so if you don't see your favorite in here, blame Google.  Or tell me what else is coming, and I'll dig in to that as well.

I also left out the more minor bands/artists - trying to think about headliner, or at least the big type people, so leaving out someone like Schoolboy Q or Angel Olsen.  Also, leaving out Tame Impala or Brittany Howard or others who just played ACL last year.

• My Chemical Romance.  I thought about adding these guys to the whole "Old Guys" lineup, just because they were ostensibly broken up, but I feel like they "broke up" for all of eight minutes, so I'll just keep them here.  The big news the other day was that they have not only re-formed, but that they are also about to go on tour in 2020.  Confession here - this is one of my guilty pleasure bands.  They're kinda emo, kinda high school drama club, but whatever dude, I still like to jam both Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge and The Black Parade.  Anyhoo, they're about to hit the road, with dates in Australia first, and then the US by September.  Sadly for me, no Austin dates on the calendar, and they'll be in Denver and Tacoma for weekend one, and then Sacramento and Vegas for weekend two.  So no chance for me to scream about how "I'm not O fucking K!" with a crowd of Gen X dads in eyeliner.  No.
• Adele.  Her website has this weird letter to the fans on it about cancelling shows at Wembley a few years ago when her voice gave out on her.  Which is odd.  You can probably take that down now?  Also, whatever website said she might tour this year, is full of it.  Nothing on her website says anything about a tour, and this article from 2017 says she may never tour again.  So, I could have deleted this line, but I'll leave it in since I just spent four whole minutes googling her for your benefit.  No.
• Vampire Weekend.  Playing the South American Lollas, and the Paris Lolla, as well as a bunch of other Fests, including Bonnaroo (booked by C3).  Their touring schedule doesn't quite fit with Chicago's Lolla, they will be playing Montreal on the Friday night of Lolla.  They could still make it for the other two nights.  BUT, the tail end of their tour leaves an absolutely perfect gap for ACL.  They play Tulsa on Sept. 30, then have shows in New Orleans and Alabama on October 6 and 7 (which is the Tuesday and Wednesday of the week in between the two ACL weekends).  I had been hoping for them to come last year, but they booked two nights of sold out shows in Austin not long before the Fest, so it didn't happen.  I think this looks really solid.  Yes.
• The Avett Brothers.  Playing Austin (with the Violent Femmes?  That seems weird.) at the end of April.  Also, playing three sold out nights at Red Rocks, which is wild.  They have a perfect gap for Lolla, with nothing scheduled between July 24 and Aug. 8.  Tour is over in mid September with a date in Vienna.  I won't say that I'm super psyched to see them again, the new album isn't my favorite of their stuff, but they're a pretty good band and they appear to have the time in their schedule, so I'll give it a yes.
• Rage, Springsteen, Elton, Dixie Chicks, and Bon Jovi - talked about these dudes in the Old People post.
• Coldplay.  Another one that is a big fat pssssyyyyyych.  They have zero tour dates on the calendar, and in fact, last year they said that they won't tour for this album (and they claim they won't tour again until touring becomes more environmentally friendly).  So, this is a no.  Which is too bad - I'd still really like to see them live.
• Harry Styles.  This one just smells right.  We've gone into this style of music recently, with Camilla Cabello and Shawn Mendes, so this sort of pop rock stuff is no longer a stretch for ACL.  He plays Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas in mid-August.  But, he's in Mexico on the Saturday of Weekend One, and then Brazil and Argentina for the Friday and Sunday of Weekend Two, so that isn't smelling as sweet anymore.  He could probably figure it out to come, but I really doubt it with that schedule in place.  No.
• Pearl Jam.  Be still my beating heart.  Please, please, please let me get what I want.  The fact that they are touring at all gets me excited, but the idea that they might come back to ACL has me positively turgid.  Playing Lolla Stockholm, Lolla Paris, and then their tour "ends" on July 23, right before Lolla Chicago.  You know they're not really done in July.  Come on.  No dates in Texas at all, no date in Chicago, so this certainly looks like an incomplete touring schedule that could absolutely soon be revised to include both Lollapalooza and Austin.  WHICH WOULD BE FREAKING AWESOME!  I'm going to give in to the joy and hope and go for it.  Yes.
• Taylor Swift.  Playing a handful of European fests like Mad Cool, Glastonbury, and Roskilde, but the tour, as of now, ends in Boston on August 1.  So she's not making it to Lolla.  Years ago, I would have given this an automatic no - ACL doesn't do mega pop stars - but that has changed over time.  Now we do get megapop.  I mean, we've never had TayTay, but we've had folks from the next tier down show up.  I'm still of the mind that they wouldn't get her for Austin, but she'd be a massive draw, and her schedule currently has the time, so who knows?  It could happen.  I'm going to stick with my gut for now though and say no.
• Green Day.  They are currently on tour with Weezer and Fall Out Boy (of all things), and they come through Dallas and Houston on the same dates as Lolla.  For some reason, I thought their tour came through Austin, but apparently not.  The tour is over on August 29, so they will have the time to swing to Austin and jam out.  But I'm not feeling it.  Something about them touring with Fall Out Boy rubs some of the shine off of their status to me.  They could totally do it, but without also playing Lolla, I'm gonna say no.  
• Post Malone.  This freaking guy.  I hope he's not coming, but he very well could be a headliner.  I wish I could type in a way that evoked his weird mega tremelo.  Thiyiyiyiyiyiyis guy blohohohohohohohohows so haoaoaoaoaoaoaoard!  He's playing the Erwin Center on March 10, but that's not so close to the Fest to preclude him showing up at both.  However, there are still a ton of tickets available for that show, so maybe it makes no sense to have him come to ACL if he can't even sell out a regular show.  [hopeful thoughts...]  His tour peters out in June, so he would have the time to make it to ACL, but I'm hoping that he is not going to!  No.
• Sturgill Simpson.  Another guy who is playing the Erwin Center in March.  Another one who is not sold out either.  And like Malone, his tour ends in May, so he has the time and space to come out to ACL.  But, without more information I don't see any reason to predict this one.  No.
• The Black Crowes.  I'm so pissed that they are coming here in June - I'll be out of town that week so I can't go.  I still love their first two albums - absolute classics.  Their tour ends just right before ACL, with a show in LA on Sept. 19, so they could pull it off.  And I'd be thrilled!  But it doesn't feel like they would - a non-sold-out Austin show in June, no new music that I know of, just doesn't seem like a buzzworthy band that the kids would get pumped to see.  No.
• The 1975.  Playing Austin in April, and show isn't sold out.  Nevermind, they'll be in Spain for Weekend one and Belgium/Germany for weekend two.  No.
• Dave Matthews Band.  Hmmm.  The tour finishes right before ACL with a 9/23 final show in Mississippi.  And not a single show, as the tour is currently listed, is in Texas.  Which seems odd, right?  Durant, Oklahoma can get two nights, but neither Dallas nor Houston get anything?  Huh, that feels like maybe the right call.  Maybe they are holding up on listing the other dates because they are playing Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio on the nights in between the two weekends.  Hmmmm....  I like it.  Going with a yes.
• BTS.  I feel like a fraud even mentioning them.  I have no clue what the deal is with them, but I also get that they are exceedingly popular.  Playing two nights at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, and then the tour stops in July.  No reason to imagine them coming here and serenading a crowd in Korean.  No.
• Foo Fighters.  That is not a tour.  Their website shows seven festival dates.  I'm not sure I'm entirely ready for them to come back so soon either, quite frankly.  But this doesn't really look like a tour, even if Grohl told people they had "big plans" in 2020.  Nope.

There were a couple others that some websites said should be announcing a tour soon - Kendrick Lamar, Lana Del Rey, Beyonce - but there is no indication now that they are doing a big tour, so I dropped them from this list for now.

If these predictions are true, I'm all set for a supremely awesome and bro-tastic ACL.  Pearl Jam?  Vampire Weekend?  Avett Brothers?  Dave Matthews Band?  My college dorm called and they've got my beer bong.  I would be positively giddy to get all four of those on the schedule.