Quick Hits, Vol. 306 (Kurt Vile, Pusha T, Willie Nelson, Action Bronson)

Well, back to the old grind of listening to new albums by artists that I like or have heard something good about!  No more gigantic 140 band listening project until next April or May!  I'll readily say that I had a lot of fun listening to this year's ACL crop - some cool new things among those tunes (as well as some garbage that I hope to never hear again!).

Kurt Vile - (watch my moves).  More of the same from old Kurt.  Low key, kind of sloppy, sorta mumbly, relaxified guitar rock.  Not too long ago, I recall reading an article, I think it was in The Ringer, about a band called Dry Cleaning who were becoming the face of a new style of music where the lead singer pretty much just talks the lyrics - like an old Lou Reed vibe.  This is reminding me of that "Flyin (like a fast train)" encapsulates that style.  If you really want to quibble, he is singing - his voice is on a certain note as he intones the lyrics - but he isn't giving you much in the way of different notes.  Just kinda vibing along as he talks through what is going on.  But also, every song feels a little bit the same.  A drum loop kicks in, some woozy guitars start doing something over the top, and then here comes some talking time.  I know that is the thing here, but I could also use a little bit of variance here and there - you just miss the album after a while as it fades into the background of your brain.  And that is what it does - at about an hour and thirteen minutes, it feels like he's just mumbling in your head forever by the time the album is finally over.  The top track is "Like Exploding Stones," with just over 3 million streams.

A stoner's anthem if I ever heard one.  "Thoughts become pictures become movies in my mind."  Yeaahhhhh, man, yeah.  I feel that, brooooooooooo.  Almost seven and a half minutes of a slow dive into that man's inner zen.  Overall, I still like the album, I just wish it was a little shorter and had a little more variance to it.  Like, give me a few upbeat burners to balance out all of that sleepy chill.  But for a mood when all you want is sleepy chill, this one is a gold record.

Pusha T - Its Almost Dry.  I've always been a Pusha Backer, since the Clipse days.  And this album calls back to some of that sound as well, with some Neptunes ass beats and some more stories about pushing drugs.  He's got Pharrell on a track with Jay-Z, and he has Ye on two tunes, and a few other lesser cameos, but mostly it's just King Push getting grimey on these beats.  "Just So You Remember" has a sampled piece of a song by something called Colonel Bagshot, and it grates my nerves like those collaborations Big Boi did with Phantogram.  I figured "Diet Coke" was going to be the hit single from the disc, as it is for sure my favorite track, but the one with Lil Uzi Vert has more streams by a good amount.  "Scrape It Off" fires up at 42.0 million.

Which is too bad, because I never care for the mumbly crap in my rap, so starting off that track like its some crud new hit being done by a Travis Scott copycat isn't what I'm looking for here.  You should peep "Diet Coke" instead.  And I know that Kanye and Pusha are close, but I sure wish that Pusha would have come out and commented/condemned the recent garbage from Ye about Jewish folks.  It is an up-and-down record overall.  Nothing on it is absolutely vital, but most of it sounds really good.

Willie Nelson - A Beautiful Time.  Willie's 72nd studio album was released on his 89th birthday.  What a legend.  HIs voice is still declining a little bit, but this definitely sounds better than the last time I saw him live.  But he's got more of an unstable warble than ever before, while at the same time still writing strong lyrics and playing Trigger like a champ.  And this album never shies away from the man's mortality, with multiple songs talking about death or funerals or living while you can.  But it is mostly a lovely records - very few silly or offbeat tunes, mostly wonderful sounding gems like "I'll Love You Till The Day I Die."  "Don't Touch Me There" isn't intended to be silly, but it makes me think of the "No No Square" song and dance that a friend's kids' did one time, so now I can't hear it without thinking about that silliness.  Handful of covers on here as well, which tracks with Willie's more recent albums - a few good new originals, and then a handful of worthy covers.  Anyhoo, the top song is the opener, "I'll Love You Till The Day I Die" with 1.2 million streams.

Huh.  Written by Rodney Crowell and Chris Stapleton.  I wonder if they wrote it especially for Willie?  It's a nice little tune.  The whole album is generally good - it is honestly amazing that he is still out there making good music when most people should be living in a nursing home.  Good cover of "With a Little Help from My Friends" too.

Action Bronson - Cocodrillo Turbo.  More generally good, laid back stoner raps from Bronson.  Although, there is one track on here that involve the sounds of pigs screaming and I hate them.  Zero need for me to hear that shit, it stresses me out every time.  "Jaguar," I'm looking at you.  Whole album is just barely more than 30 minutes, so there isn't much meat on the bone here, but Bronson still rips a couple of great turns of phrase here and there.  The beats are, as usual for Bronson, kinda weird and off-kilter and abnormal.  Like, "Subzero" sounds like it is being backed by a jazzy interlude of an old Doors song, and barely has any bass at all.  Oh, bummer for you, "Jaguar" is actually the most streamed tune.  3.1 million streams.

Why is he in the tree like the jaguar?  I want to learn the trick of knocking pajamas off with one finger flick.  Nothing all that special, feels like a tossed off free-style where he just spits some off the cuff stuff about random ideas.  Kind of the feel of the whole thing - tossed off while he was high AF.  I'm good letting it go.

ACL 2022: Second Weekend Friday Recap

Great day of more stuff for the second weekend, and a fun time to hang with my youngest kiddo while watching tunes.  She got to introduce me to Conan Gray, while I got to make sure she heard Twen.

But also, dear Lord, the dust.  I thought weekend one was bad, I honestly don't know if I could have survived three full days of the dust level I experienced on Friday.  If it keeps being like that I'm going to have to be one of those weirdos in the gas mask looking filter thing.  I spent the long wait in the post-fest Whataburger drive-thru hacking and sneezing for like 30 minutes.  Blech.  I saw a video from yesterday of someone filming how huge the crowd was for Paramore, but what I really saw was how huge the dust cloud was over that big crowd.  Just awful.

I really don't know much about the world of Pokemon, but I had a thought as I was watching the super fun Wet Leg show, that I felt like I had just watched the evolution of a Pokemon.  We started at Twen, which was really great.  I love "Ha Ha Home," its got a great sound and a fun set of lyrics.  And they seemed to be pleased to even be here, and jamming out accordingly.  I left that stage to go see Blondshell, which felt like more of the same thing - another rock band fronted by a woman with a strong voice and a lot of personality.  So we moved up to the second-level of the Pokemon.  And finally I went over to Wet Leg, while the wife and daughter went for Noah Cyrus, and they were the final evolution of excellent rock and roll sounds fronted by two super fun ladies.  They sounded great - the set was pretty much their album on shuffle - but the tunes were tight and everyone seemed in sync.  So glad I got to finally catch a set.

Here we went and sat in the TV tent for 30 minutes, listening to Vacations play from the stage nearby, while we recharged for a bit.  Pretty hot day and lots of sunshine.  After a beer, we headed towards Conan Gray at the AmEx stage.  He was something - very flamboyant and staged - like he had thought hard about where to stand for each moment of the show.  This was not a show that I had been previously excited about seeing, but honestly, "Maniac" and "Heather" were freaking fun.  I'll be curious if that dude turns his quick rise into fame into an actual career, or if he disappears from the spotlight.

Arlo Parks is also surprisingly good.  She walks the line between straight R&B and some rap flavors, but we enjoyed a little bit of that from the back of the crowd before wandering back for Nathaniel Rateliff, who was excellent yet again.  That was the fourth time I have seen Rateliff and the Night Sweats, just this year, so by now I feel like I know the set pretty well.  I love the exciting moments, when the horns are going wild and Rateliff's voice is maxed out, but I have also learned to love the quiet beauty of songs like his solo track "And It's Still Alright."  That song is lovely.

We left there to hurry over to get close for Billy Strings and get up close with some friends, and he still freaking jams.  I already talked about him last week from that show, but it's just a wonderfully fun thing to see someone at the absolute top of the instrument game hammer their way through songs.  I'd go see him again anytime he comes to town.

In a weird shift, my youngest decided that she wanted to see The Chicks instead of SZA.  I had been committed to going to SZA (even if I wanted to watch The Chicks with the wife) just to make sure she got to see the one thing she wanted to see the most, but she and her friend pulled an audible for reasons that are still unclear to me and went to see The Chicks.  I don't know if they knew a single song.  But whatever, it was good fun to watch them again, this time with my best gal in tow.  Again, too many of the new songs, but we got to hear some of the key hits from their old catalog, so it was good stuff.

ACL 2022: First Weekend Recap

My lungs would like a word with their owner.  Holy crap, it feels like I have a pound of pure sand in my lungs today.  Ugh.  While walking out of the park last night, those huge floodlights really highlighted the thick clouds of dirt and dust hanging over the top of all of us.  Foul.

But you know what?  The dirt will be absorbed into my body and I'll become a strong rock-based superhero guy (probably) and I'll forget that this was a dirt year, and instead I'll remember the good stuff that I got to see.  I'm listening to Paramore some more right now, because that show was freaking ridiculously fun.  "Rose Colored Boy" is a straight jam.

Friday:

• Kevin Morby was a little slow.  He kicked off the show with the new single - "This is a Photograph," which is loud and exciting and fun and lyrically interesting.  And then he downshifted into a more downtempo thing that left me wanting a little more hype.  He sounds good though.  I'll keep listening to him in general, but that might have been a better show for a small, indoor venue.
• We heard a little of Noah Cyrus while getting some drinks, and she sounded really good.  "July" really is a lovely tune.
• Zach Bryan was excellent.  I really think he is going to be big.  Such a good songwriter and he's got that relaxed surety of someone who knows they're legit.  My daughter didn't like it, but I think that was mainly because she didn't know any of the songs.
• Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats.  Super good.  That was the third time I have seen them this year, and they're just great entertainers.  The whole band is in to the schtick.  Fun show for sure.
• Billy Strings is the damn truth.  I loved this show.  Every member of the band is just so freaking good with their individual instruments, it's just a cool experience to let it all wash over you - watch their little fingers work so dang hard.  Funny thing, makes me both wish that I could learn to do that, but also too intimidated to ever try.
• The Chicks played a better set than I had been led to expect from looking at old setlists, but they still played (IMO) too many of the new tunes.  By far, more songs from the angry divorce album than from any of the other discs.  But I got "Travelin' Soldier," Goodbye Earl," "Wide Open Spaces," and "Cowboy Take Me Away," so it feels like I got enough of the things I wanted the most.
• Taco Bronco for dinner was a win.  Really good tacos.

Saturday:

• The Aquadolls.  We sort of heard this one as we walked in to the park and got ourselves situated.  Angrier than I expected, I remembered the tunes being more surf rock, kind of California breezy, but much less so in practice.
• We walked past Slayyyter on our way in and WTF, man.  Just terrible stuff.
• Cimafunk was one of the best things of the whole weekend.  Just the highest energy, greatest fun, the reason to listen to music.  I couldn't tell what he was saying in any of the songs, as he's Cuban and wasn't using English, but the whole band looked like they were having a blast.  They invited part of the crowd on to the stage to dance as well, and this one woman looked a like a plant - like they snuck a 20 year old J.Lo into the crowd to dance her ass off for the room.  SO fun.
• We heard a little bit of the Adrian Quesada Boleros Psicodelicos while walking to another stage, and that wasn't for me.
• Heard a little of Samia, and it was pretty good, but by then we'd found some friends and I was chatting instead of really digging in to the tunes.
• Wallows.  Didn't see the whole show here either, our timing got off because the stage start times got staggered.  But I thought they sounded good.
• Manchester Orchestra was fantastic.  I know I've said this before about them, but it is always a surprise that their studio albums make them sound like a quieter, sweeter band, but then you see the live product and it is a full-on punishing rock and roll show.  I dug it.
• Bog Boi ruled.  Played a bunch of classic Outkast bits as well as his own hits, and even the "International Players Anthem," which is the JAM.  He felt like a guy who truly knew the assignment of why he had been asked to come to that stage - very entertaining, hype, played a perfect setlist.  Now, it would have been dope to get Andre 3k up there with him to do the other verses in those songs, but beggars and choosers and all of that.
• The War on Drugs was another great rock show.  We didn't stay for the whole thing to get collected and in a spot for P!nk, but I really enjoy those guys.
• I have to apologize to P!nk.  I have been a punk about the fact that she was a headliner for this whole time, and then she came out there and probably threw down the most exciting of all of the headliner shows.  High energy, pumping up the crowd, the whole thing.  And she flew.  Other folks may already know all about the flying, but it was honestly shocking.  She was legit rotating in the air, while also shooting sideways faster than I would have expected, and yet still singing her song.  My gripe with the show was that she did too many covers - I don't need to hear 4 Non Blondes ever again, and that I dislike that treacly Cover Me With Sunshine song with the little kid voice in it.  But, I'll readily admit that that was a real-deal SHOW to end that night.
• A terrible Frito pie for dinner was a fail.

Sunday:

• This day was definitely the one with the majority of the bands I wanted to see the most - which is of course the opposite of my fourteen year old daughter who did freaking Silent Disco instead of the headliners!  Where did I go wrong?!?!
• Moving slowly today as well, so we missed out on Taipei Houston and DEHD.
• Goth Babe was better than expected, did a great Killers cover.  Larry June wasn't special.  Gave him a little bit and then just wandered on.
• I tried BIA, and like Larry June, nothing special.  She did the new usual, where her DJ played some other popular tunes to get the crowd psyched up, but those earlier tunes were honestly more fun than her originals.  I will say that she and her four friends could dance really well!  I left there, hoping to see some of Muna, but they must have ended early.
• Really annoyed at myself here, as we missed the first few songs of Spoon because I got the stages wrong.  Walked up into the Oliver Tree nightmare (which was kind of fun because my friend got to experience the hell of that garbage - he asked if it was an SNL skit) before realizing our mistake and having to trek all the way back to the other side of the park.  Which was a bummer, I was psyched to see Spoon.
• Spoon was great though.  I really don't understand how they aren't a bigger band.  Is it a marketing issue?  Did Britt Daniel piss off the CEO of his record label?  I just feel like they're as good as many of the rock bands that have blown up much larger, and yet they don't get that love.  Also interesting, big outflow of people in the crowd after "The Underdog," which I wouldn't have tagged as their big hit.
• Paramore, as mentioned above, were fabulous.  One of the top shows for sure.  I just don't understand why I never noticed them during their actual popular period, but the lead singer is so fun.  High energy, goofy, interactive with the crowd, beautiful, and with a killer voice.  The crowd around me was roaring her songs right back to her, made it feel like a really cool show.
• Here, we squeezed up closer for the Chilis, so I missed out on Goose, which I'm sad about.  Also, we expected to be able to hear Mumford (who was playing the T-Mobile stage that aims at AmEx), but we legit couldn't hear a lick.  Really weird.  I don't know if they had the sound super down for some reason, of if they've done some speaker magic to shield sound, but that was sad.  I wanted to hear him.

THE CHILIS!  This was the biggest thing I was excited about for the whole weekend.  One of my favorite bands of all time.  I think last night was my fifth time to see them play live.  And it was rad.  I think Chad Smith gets ignored in this band because he's not such a goof like Flea, or huge personality/trainwreck like Antony Kiedis, or out-of-the-band-in-the-band-out-of-the-band-in-the-band John Frusciante, but Dear Lord Baby Jesus that dude can flat out play.  They started the show out with a little instrumental ditty and he was absolute fire.  People talk about a rock band sounding "thundering" and that was Smith's sound right away.  I loved watching him play.  And Flea, of course, was over there making sweet Flea sounds and goofin', which Frusciante was doing his guitar wizard stuff on his side.  All of those pieces ruled.  

The setlist was great too - they played some new tunes but not a ton.  They didn't dig back as far as I would like (of course) but it felt like we were getting a legit greatest hits show (with some new stuff in there).  I didn't realize it until scrolling Twitter later, but they debuted "Eddie" for us as the first time they had ever played that tune on stage.  It was good times!  I got to sing along to "Pea" while almost everyone around me was silent and wondering what was happening!

But something was definitely off with Keidis.  It looked like maybe his in-ear monitors weren't working right, because he kept getting help while the rest of the band was jamming.  And we noticed a few times where his vocals slowed way down, like slower than the rest of the band, who had to change tempo to sync.  One song he was pretty flat in the lyrics.  And I guess he must have just gotten sick of it and ended the show.  Which sucked ass.  

About an hour in (for a two hour show), they kick out "Give It Away," which was rad, and loud, and fun, and everything sounded good!  And then they said THANKS and left the stage.  Everyone stood there looking around and being like, uh, what?  But then a few minutes later the band came back out, and played "By The Way" - which also sounded really good!  But then they left the stage and were like "Thanks Austin!  Hope we do this again soon!" or something like that, and the roadies started taking apart the stage.  Like, 40 minutes early!  As we started to walk away, everyone in the crowd was just like "what is happening?  That can't be it!"  But that was it.  We got to catch the last bit of Kacey Musgraves singing "Slow Burn," but then she ended on time, and randomly behind us, where the Chilis should have been ripping off a sweet rendition of "Fire" or "Otherside" or SOMETHING, a huge fireworks show started firing off to an empty stage.  I'm sure the plan was messed up by the Chili's bailing early, but it really felt weird.  Like a birthday cake lit for a birthday boy who didn't show at the party.

But whatever!  At the end of the day, I got to see great sets by Cimafunk, Manchester Orchestra, Nathaniel Rateliff, The War on Drugs, Spoon, Billy Strings, Paramore, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Chicks, Big Boi, Zach Bryan.  Hell, even P!nk was fun.  If I can just clear out my lungs, it'll have all been worth it!

ACL 2022: Sunday, Weekend Two: Schedule and Thoughts

Sunday baby!  Sunday can be tough - if you've been going hard for two straight days already, it can be hard to get up and moving with the same verve and excitement as the past two days.  And that is especially true when the schedule is packed and you need to get there for something first thing.  A few years back, we were there right when the gates opened so that we could catch cleopatrick's set.  Which was soooooo hot.  And supremely awesome as well.  They rule.  I might just have to pull one of those days again here to see if Taipei Houston is as good as I think it could be...  

A few prelude thoughts for Sunday:

• 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 R&B lady with a pretty voice?"
• WHAT I GOT YOU GOTTA GIVE IT TO YO MAMA
• 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.
• This may be the most packed day for bands that I actually want to be able to see.  Lots of the best headliners and almost headliners are set up for this day, as I'd love to see the Chilis, Kacey, Spoon, Goose, Marcus Mumford, Paramore, and Japanese Breakfast, but I won't be able to do it all!
• Is it weird to anyone else that there is only one gospel band playing on Sunday?  Shouldn't the point of naming a handful of gospel bands to the lineup be that they'll play for a Sunday morning crowd of sinners?

Playlist!

Here we go:

11:45

Miller Lite	Flora & Fawna: this just made me re-watch that scene in Napoleon Dynamite where Napoleon first meets LaFawnda, and it is amazing
BMI	Siena Liggins: Entirely forgettable pop R&B singing
Barton Springs	Pleasure Venom: Breakneck local punk thing
Tito's	The Spiritualettes: Gospel
T-Mobile	Danielle Ponder: Killer-voiced former lawyer channels Aretha and Yola

Ponder, for sure.  I liked the Pleasure Venom thing too, but I really admire her voice and sound.  

They just added Flora & Fawna, so they might be super good, but it will take a me a minute to go write up a review now that I have noticed them.

12:30/12:45

Honda	Taipei Houston: Sons of Metallica's Lars Ulrich, doing a Royal Blood-esque two man blast
Tito's (12:45)	Me ND Adam: Trashwave from some local dudes
Kiddie (12:30)	Alphabet Rockers: Positive kiddie raps
American Express	Glove: 80's mopey new wave redux tunes

Taipei Houston is not only a good curiosity, because of their famous dad, but also more up my alley than the awful trashwave thing or more 80's regurgitation.  Although 12:30 sure seems early on a Sunday!  I wish they could have gotten a later slot.

1:15

Miller Lite	Jake Wesley Rogers: Pretty piano pop from a dude with a major change in his look
BMI	Joshua Ray Walker: "baby-faced, 6XL guitar hero with a Dwight Yoakum voice."
Barton Springs	Tom Odell: Brit piano-playing singer with one mega hit (and a sound kinda like the New Radicals)
T-Mobile	DEHD: Surf-y indie rock that sounds like lost 80's New Wave

This is a really solid hour here in weekend two.  First choice is Joshua Ray Walker, I really want to check him out.  Great songwriter and excellent voice.  But even if country isn't your thing, both Rogers and Odell have a good sound and nice voices.  I have a friend who likes DEHD a lot, so I may peek over there.  But pretty open competition here.

2:00

Honda	Larry June: Chilled out rapper from the Bay Area
Tito's (1:45)	Buffalo Nichols: Rootsy bluesman with all the right notes
American Express	Yungblud: Dance rock slash Machine Gun Kelly thing with lyrics built to shock.

Larry June was my automatic response, I think he is really good.  With so few rappers on the bill this year, you've got to take what you can get here.  But also, I think Buffalo is talented as well.  No thanks on Yungblud.  I've tried him before and was unimpressed.  Unless you are very into seeing a man's tongue.  That part was impressive, just how many times he felt the need to stick it out.

3:00

Miller Lite (3:15)	BIA: Lady rapper who leans in to her name's Lil Jon relation.
BMI	Urban Heat: Local group making dark synth pop for the goth kids who want more 80's
Barton Springs	Faye Webster: Americana singing photographer leaning towards R&B sometimes
T-Mobile	Pinkpantheress:   electro pop with a squeaky Brit

Titos (2:45)                             Wilderado: Genuinely great rock and roll AND a cool name. 

Wilderado for sure.  I'm sad they aren't playing weekend one.  But also, Faye Webster has a really great, gentle sound, and BIA could be fun if you are in to the brash lady rapper thing.

4:00

Honda	Spoon: Austin's finest rock and roll band
Tito’s Tent	Magdalena Bay: More synth pop that loves the 80's and the Eilish bedroom pop sound.
American Express	Oliver Tree: Weird ass rapper with terrible hair and bad sunglasses

A million times over I'd choose Spoon here.  Not only because they are great and I need to see them play live, but also because Oliver Tree is awful and Magdalena is not good.  Seriously, I know that the world loves some attention-grabbing weirdness - purposefully ugly clothes and haircut, dopey but catchy lyrics - a whole freaky package.  But I can't stand Tree.  I'm sure he'll be the top artist in the Chronicle's review of the day.

5:00

Miller Lite	Big Wild: Electronic chill music for your next terrible mixtape
BMI	Jackson Dean: Nothin' but Country from the kid who went viral with the National Anthem
Barton Springs	The Marias: dime store Billie Eilish bedroom pop with that "Hush" song.
T-Mobile	Japanese Breakfast: Great melodic indie rock to go with thoughts of sushi pancakes

Japanese Breakfast is my choice.  Breakfast is great and I've never gotten to see her before.  I could also be talked into the Marias, but I also think I'd just be sad the whole time.

6:00

Honda	James Blake: Falsetto-singing, glitchy-electronic R&B Brit
Tito’s Tent	Robert Glasper: Killer piano player who collaborates well
American Express	Paramore: Pop punk and emo heroes coming back for another round

Paramore is my choice for sure, but I genuinely think I would enjoy Glasper as he rips up that little Tito's tent, as there is no way you could contain that much power into a tent.  Nope on Blake for me.

7:00

Miller Lite	Zhu: EDM that is more clean, house music for dancing not hard thrashing
Barton Springs	Goose: Jam band goofy goodness
T-Mobile	Marcus Mumford: Mumford without the Sons

This is a bummer.  I'd really like to check out Goose, but I'd also dig the solo stuff of Mumford.  They've been playing one of Mumford's new tunes on the radio recently - I think called "Grace" - and it sounds great.  If pressured to choose right now, I'd want Goose to try out a new thing, but I'm bummed.  Wish one of those was on Saturday night against the headliners over there.

HEADLINERS:

Honda (8:15)	Kacey Musgraves: Bad ass country chick with legit lyrics and cool sound
Tito's	Silent Disco
American Express	Red Hot Chili Peppers: One of the greatest rock bands ever (IMO), and boasts the prime time funk of Flea.

Another bummer, this is definitely the best lineup day, and while I have seen both of these artists multiple times, I'd never miss out on another chance to see the Chilis again.  And I love Spacey Kacey.  I'd absolutely love to see her play again.  So you really can't go wrong here, I just have to see the Chilis more.  And while I know they are going to lean on recent songs, I so very much wish that they'd dive deep into the catalog for me.  I should tweet at Flea.

ACL 2022: Saturday: Weekend Two: Schedule and Thoughts

My take on Weekend One Saturday was that it is a weak day, and I stand by that.  But this day is actually really strong for second weekend.  Luckily for the fans, no Texas/OU weekend this weekend either!  Everything is lineup for you jerks!  I'll be there Friday of Weekend Two, but I don't know that I'll be able to pull off Saturday as well.  Either way, come along and let's look at some of this goodness.  Like this freaking song, WHICH JAMS!

My good LORD, what a fun song.  I've got full-on goosebumps right now.

A few prelude thoughts for Saturday:

• 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 R&B lady with a pretty voice?"
• 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 headliners have been pushed far back this night - Pink doesn't even start until 8:30? A few years back, GNR started at 7:30.  Kind of lame to cut back her set to only an hour and a half?
• Only 14 artists are on both Saturdays, so the overlap is surprisingly small.  39 things on the poster for today, so most of them are special just to this day.  Huh.  Sure seems easier to keep more continuity between the weekends!  Also, I want these bands there for weekend one!

Playlist!

Here we go:

12:00

Miller Lite	Spill Tab: Bedroom pop gal who is now going in a rockier direction that I like
BMI	Izzy Heltai: Excellently lo-fi gentle rock
Barton Springs	Lesly Reynaga: Local Mariachi band singer with a great voice
Tito's	J Soulja: Local rapper with a great flow and an excellent attitude about growing rap in the city
T-Mobile	Jake Lloyd: Local rapper and R&B crooner with the same name as kiddo Skywalker

Seems kinda shitty to make two local rap guys go against each other instead of growing viewership (not even getting in to the fact that they are putting both of them at a time when no one will be at the shows yet either).  I like Spill Tab, and think Soulja is more talented than I expected, but I'd spend this hour with Heltai.  He is very good.

12:45/1:00

Honda	Como Las Movies: Austin purveyor of psychedelia cumbia supreme
Tito's (1:00)	Good Looks: Austin jangly rock band that rules!
Kiddie (1:00)	Lucy Kalantari & the Jazz Cats: Jazzy scat-a-rat gal for the Kiddies.
American Express	Habibi: Surf rock girl group with some middle Eastern flourishes

Bummer!  Good Looks is for sure the choice here, as they are excellent and I think they'll be much higher on this poster some day in the future.  But I also really enjoyed Habibi, so I get going in that direction.  Already, this Saturday lineup kicks weekend one's ass.  Such a bummer.

1:30

Miller Lite	Neil Frances: Funky, groovy electronic pop that owes a debt to Daft Punk and the Seventies
BMI	Ben Reilly: Solid rapper whose flow reminds me of one of Kendrick's voices
Barton Springs	Lido Pimienta: Spanish language critical darling doing cumbia art-pop
T-Mobile	Ripe: Jammy funk pop rock that feels vitally danceable

Damn!  Another tough hour.  Ben Reilly sounds brash and tough and has a really good track.  Neil Frances is just plain fun.  But Ripe has the song of the Fest for me - every time I hear it it makes me want to jam out and dance, so they get my vote here.  But either of those three are a solid choice.

2:00/2:15

Honda	Tai Verdes: Sunshine in a pop rock package
Tito’s Tent (2:00)	Southern Avenue: Belt-y, soulful rockin' gospel-adjacent tunes
American Express	The Midnight: More 80's redux schlock
Kiddie (2:45)	Joanie Leeds: Kiddies tunes about girl empowerment and the Fauci Ouchie

And then this hour.  Nothing especially vital here, but I'd probably go watch Verdes.  I liked one of his songs and played it for my wife in the car a few weeks ago, and she was unimpressed, so I'm less pleased with the idea of seeing him now.  :(

3:15

Miller Lite	Samia: Really great indie rocker with famous parents
BMI	Sloppy Jane: Overly theatrical rock and weirdo stuff from Phoebe Bridgers' old band
Barton Springs	Tyla Yaweh: More boring Autotune mumble rap/R&B songs from a friend of Post Malone
T-Mobile	Princess Nokia: Rapper walking a line between Cardi and Nicki

Tito's Tent                        Michigander: Fun low-key but super catchy rock

                                        Josh Fudge: The Josh Fudge Universe

Another set of good choices.  For weekend one, Samia was my choice for sure, but that is because everything else that weekend was bad stuff.  Here you've also got a legit rock band in Michigander and a good rapper in Nokia, so you can kind of choose your poison.  I think I'd probably go check out Michigander.  Sloppy Jane is a hard no for me.

[EDIT]  MOFO!!!  I had been really enjoying Michigander, I've been listening to him more in the last week getting geeked up for the show.  Well now he's not on the DAMN schedule anymore.  Somebody named Josh Fudge took his place and I say FUDGE YOU!  Freaking red-headed FUDGEFACE!!!  (just kidding, he's actually pretty fun.)

4:15

Honda	Boy George and Culture Club: Classic 80's band with a surprisingly short lifespan
Tito’s Tent	Disko Cowboy: DJ with a western flair, I suppose.
Kiddie	Alphabet Rockers: Positive kiddie raps
American Express	Wallows: B-list movie star band with great indie rock chops.

Wallows for the win here, although it might be entertaining to see Boy George.  The problem is that they really only have two or three songs, and then they might try to play their new stuff, and that part would get depressing really quickly.  Maybe not, maybe their live show is a ton of fun, but I'd still probably just do Wallows.

5:15

Miller Lite	Sofi Tukker: Electronic dance music for the dumbing down of America
BMI	The Brummies: Retro, indie rock that makes me think of Harry Styles last album
Barton Springs	Sabrina Claudio: Whispery, slinky R&B lady
T-Mobile	The Front Bottoms: Lo-fi emo punk

Another tough call here - The Brummies and The Front Bottoms both have a cool thing going.  And no, it is not a hard call at all to avoid Tukker.  I think I'd choose The Brummies, although I feel torn about it as I'm typing that out.  Either would likely be fun.

6:15

Honda	Death Cab for Cutie: One of the finest indie rock bands of all time
Tito’s Tent	Big Gigantic: Electronic hip hop and jazz with lots of guest vocalists
American Express	Lil Nas X: The "Old Town Road" guy is still making insanely popular but mediocre raps

So annoying that Death Cab isn't weekend one as well.  That is rude.  I'd absolutely choose them here, although I will readily tell you that I have found the electronic bands in the Tito's tent to be a fun experience.  Everyone all packed in there and sweaty and jumpy and groovy.  I saw Griz like that a few years back and remember that experience fondly.  Also, isn't it odd that one of the eight main headliners on the initial poster gets a six o'clock slot?  Shouldn't Lil Nas be the one at the end of the night?

7:20

Miller Lite	Diplo: Electronic kingpin with generally uninteresting songs
Barton Springs	Tobe Nwigwe: Houston rapper with a great range of voices who will fight you when Jesus won't
T-Mobile	The War on Drugs: Top notch indie rock band with a heavy touch of melancholy and classic rock flourishes

They really loaded up on the EDM stuff with Big Gigantic before Diplo before Flume.  I hope the kids are able to bring enough drugs to keep it going for three whole back-to-back-to-back shows.  Nwigwe is great fun - if you are wanting rap stuff this weekend, then this is your chance.  But I've wanted to see War on Drugs for a while and will definitely choose that show.

HEADLINERS:

Honda	Flume: EDM guy
Tito's	Silent Disco
Lady Bird	P!nk: Pop rock star from 20 years ago

Ehhh, I guess I'd go see P!nk?  Or maybe call it a night and just head out to get a cheap drink at the house?  I just don't care all that much about EDM.  Maybe we'll run in to some friends and just chill at the back of the Flume show and let the sweet bass drops happen from afar?  Meh.