Yoooooooo! It's time to get to prognosticatin'! Last year, I didn't really get the time to make my normal posts about who I thought might come along to the Fest, and even if I had, I have no clue how I would have judged any likely candidates. Nobody was touring. Many new albums had been postponed. Coachella was being punted yet again. NO way to have any idea who would be showing up in Austin in October.
And even if I had made guesses, I more than likely would have failed miserably in guessing the folks who ended up showing up. George Strait? Billie Eilish again when she had just been here? DaBaby? Rufus Du Sol again? Duran Duran back from the grave? Nope, nope, nope. Hell, I'm sure the folks at C3 didn't even know how to fill out the lineup in the first place, much less while replacing artists left and right, even up to a few days before the shows kicked off! Brutal.
Trying to predict what will happen in 11 months is almost always a fools errand, but let's have some fun with it anyway. I'm not going to go in to the wish list, because that never seems to work out. Just know that if Springsteen, a Led Zeppelin reunion, an R.E.M. reunion, an Oasis reunion, Madonna, or Rolling Stones could roll through, I'd be all over it.
Rage Against the Machine. Their big tour from 2020 was postponed, and I was predicting at the time that they'd be a headliner for ACL. AND I'D FREAKING BE ALL ABOUT THIS. Time to break out the old mosh pit moves and scream along. We'll see though. Their tour starts March 31 in El Paso, ending in NYC, without ever coming anywhere else in Texas. So that sounds to me like a band who will be announcing a handful of Texas shows when they announce a trip to Austin in early October. Lock it in.
Other big tours that I just don't see being here - Backstreet Boys, Billie Eilish, Morgan Wallen, Kenny Chesney, DaBaby.
Olivia Rodrigo. Feels like the biggest new pop star out there, and one who would hop into the Miley Cyrus or Billie Eilish slot from this last year. But she has no tour announced as of now, and this article makes it sound like her TV commitments are going to keep her off the road. Too bad. I'd actually like to see her if she could come through. Fully ready to mosh to "good 4 u." Doubt it.
Red Hot Chili Peppers. I was just telling a friend how these guys have been getting crazy radio play all of a sudden. Feels like every commute ends up with at least one RHCP song in it. And that day that I had that conversation, I literally heard "Fire" and "Otherside" on the drive home on different radio stations. It was "Around the World" this morning. Just weird. I don't actually believe that the ACL bookers somehow coordinated a radio blitz to go with an announcement they may make in 7 months, but it just piqued by interest. Anyway, their tour (WITH Frusciante back in the group!) kicks off June 4 in Spain, comes to the US in late July, and ends on September 18 in Dallas (with no other Texas dates). That sounds like the perfect way to come down to Austin in early October! I'd love it! I'm sure some people would be annoyed with the 90's Bro Rock-ness if both RHCP and RAM were here, but I say SCREW THEM! Feels good.
Taylor Swift. I figured there was no way she was coming to ACL - she just feels way too big to get for the Fest - but since she's going to be on tour, I figured I'd take a look. But, although the Internet says she'll be touring in 2022, her website still says that she's sad to say she can't do the Lover tour. Feels like she's positively bursting with music to be played on tour - Lover, folklore, and evermore have all been released since she last toured - but who knows when it will come about. Doubt it.
Chris Stapleton. Just saw him in August (jammed, yet again) and he's playing here in Austin again tonight. So he'd be fresh and ready to go for a late '22 date in Austin. His tour takes a big break from December 11 to April 20, and then ends in mid-August in Ohio. if he releases some new music, then maybe that would charge him up for more touring, but as it is, that seems like a good time for him to take a touring break and get some new material in the can. Doubtful.
Bad Bunny. The Fest has aimed at the Spanish language audience recently, so this could make some sense. He's playing Astroworld festival in November of 2021, and then his tour rolls through El Paso, Hidalgo (the Valley), Houston, and Dallas at the start of 2022. So no San Antonio or Austin? That seems suss. But the tour ends, as of now, in April. Maybe that is because he wants to leave the entire festival season open to jam at the big four? He played Coachella in 2019, so he can rock a Fest. Feels like a good fit, but I don't have any good evidence here. Medium Level Defcon.
Justin Bieber. Nah. Plays Austin at the new Moody Center on April 27. That is too close to the Festival to come back again. Nah.
Lorde. After listening to her new album a few times, I would not be excited about this one. Tour kicks off in late Feb, and ends, as of now, in late June without any dates in Texas. Dammit. That seems suspiciously like she's going to announce new dates that involve both Lolla and ACL. Hope that is wrong, but it also feels right. Ugggghhhhh.
My Chemical Romance. Another tour that was supposed to kick off and reunite a band, but then got COVID-ed. The rescheduled tour rolls from mid-March to mid-October, including late September dates in Houston and Dallas. Hmmm. Strangely there are gaps for the October weekends. They play Friday of the first weekend of October but not the rest of that weekend, same with the second weekend of October. If that is when ACL is, then they could play Sat. or Sun. of either weekend. I've never seen them live and would freaking love to. Absolute guilty pleasure band for me. But having shows in Vegas and California during the weekends of the Fest seems less likely to come right, especially for a band that isn't a MAJOR draw. I'll predict No.
The Weeknd. His website says that the tour dates are moving and will commence in summer of 2022, and that he won't be playing arenas but only stadiums because he wants to do something bigger and special. Hard to know, but it kind of feels like he's got his eye on something other than festivals. Nah.
Adele. Huh. She announced two dates for next summer, both at Hyde Park London, on July 1 and 2. Nothing else. New album drops later this month, and I could totally see her being the hot ticket to get for all of the Fests. But at the same time, I could see her not wanting to stand on a hot ass, dusty Texas stage to save her voice from the ACL crud. I'd love to see her sometime, but I don't think this would happen.
BTS or BLACKPINK. I know these guys are gigantic K-Pop groups, but I just wouldn't see the draw? Well, that isn't true. I could see a massive draw, those bands are huge, but I also don't see those bands agreeing to play in a hot dusty field for the normal ACL crowd. They feel like they need a bigger stage for dancing and all 38 members to have space.
Silk Sonic. This is the Bruno Mars/ Anderson.Paak supergroup thing. Would be an awesome thing to see live, I think, but no tour announced. We'll see.
Coldplay. The tour kicks off in Costa Rica on March 18, and makes it to Houston and Dallas by early May. No dates in Austin or San Antonio. Which is always so damn annoying. San Antonio is the 7th largest city in America by population. Austin is #10. I get that Houston and DFW are larger than both of those, but Tampa isn't! Atlanta isn't! Gimme the big shows, yo! Interestingly, Coldplay have a Lollapalooza-sized gap in the schedule. Lolla is July 28 to 31 next year, and the tour schedule shows a gap between July 20 and August 5. That would give them the time to bop over from Paris, jam Chicago, then head back to Belgium. And then the tour ends at the Rock in Rio Festival on September 10, which would leave plenty of time to come to Austin and get ready to play two weekends at Zilker Park. Hmmm. Huh. I had no clue that they had just released a new album in October. That is weird. I guess it slipped under my radar during the ACL time. But yeah, with a new album to support, a world tour that ends right in time, a gap for Lolla, and a deep desire by yours truly to finally see them, this could work out. I'm feeling pretty good about it.
Ed Sheeran. Like other major pop stars, I had always figured these types of artists would be an easy and quick no, but then we've had major pop stars show up in the past few years. Still neither of the two mega-pop stars (I see Beyonce and Taylor on their own level, personally) but Shawn Mendes and Camilla Cabello and Billie Eilish and Miley seem like on the same level as Sheeran. Anyway, his tour never leaves Europe as its currently scheduled. And it plays right through Lolla. it ends on September 25, so he'd have time to bop on over the pond and gently melt our faces, but I don't see it.
Eminem. I would not be excited about this one, after his last lame lip-synch fest at the Fest a few years back, but some website said to expect a tour in 2022 that jumps off from his planned performance at the Super Bowl. His website says no upcoming events, so I'll go with a no on this one.
Kacey Musgraves. It hurts me to say that I'm less interested about her coming back, as she's had a good and an excellent show at ACL that I've seen over the years, but I don't love the new album. Her tour kicks off in January, hits Dallas in February, and ends on February 20. Her schedule shows a slot at Primavera in June of 2022, but otherwise nothing after Feb. No good date making me lean either way.
Kendrick Lamar. The only thing on his calendar are three dates this weekend in Vegas at something called Day N Vegas 2021. Nothing else. Like Eminem, something I read said to expect new music and a tour from him to jump off after his Super Bowl halftime performance. There were rumors that the new album would release on October 22, but not so much. Dunno. Until more is announced, I don't see anything giving me hope to see him again.
Matchbox 20. I know, strong left turn there, from huge artists to a 90's redux thing, but I read that they were going to do a reunion tour and they'd fit into the box on the ACL poster previously held by bands like Live, Bruce Hornsby, Billy Idol, The Breeders, or Deftones. Anyway, they kick off in May of 2022, and run through Dallas and the Woodlands in June/July. They play right through the Lolla weekend, and end their tour on August 7. Nothing in that schedule gives me any idea that they'd legitimately be here, so for now I'll go with no.
Lady Gaga. Another major pop star who I have no reason to believe would show up for a Fest like ACL. But she's apparently planning on rescheduling her tour that got dropped by COVID, so I guess it could happen? No new dates announced though, so I'm going to stick with my gut and say no.
Shawn Mendes. I saw him a few years ago, and remember being pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed some of the show. His tour kicks off in March, bouncing around Europe until moving stateside by June. BUT, he actually plays a show in Austin, at the new Moody Center, on October 3, 2022, so I think that is a hard no. But hey, Austin gets a real show! Check it out!
Steely Dan. I know, as a middle-aged white man who likes music, I'm supposed to love Steely Dan. I think some of their songs are jams, but the majority of what they have going on missed me. But, they're throwing down a tour (despite half of the band being dead now) that will make it through ACL Live on June 5 and 6. With those two shows already on the calendar, I'm thinking this is a negative. I don't see them coming right back after two nights in town.
Any other ideas for big touring bands? That was all I found after reading a few articles about the expected biggest tours of 2022. I gotta say, I lineup that included Rage, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Coldplay would make me deeply happy. Maybe then we get Bad Bunny and Lorde and, uh, LilBaby, on the other stages during their sets, and all the kids can go be happy while the olds get to jam out.
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