Quick Hits, Vol. 328 (Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, The Revivalists, Killer Mike, Fall Out Boy)

Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit - Weathervanes.  I am coming around to the idea that Isbell is the best songwriter around right now.  I deeply love some of his older songs like "If We Were Vampires" and "Elephant," and this album has a few that tell exquisitely crafted stories like that.  "King of Oklahoma" is super good - the story of a guy with a nice married life and a good job who gets hurt while doing something stupid on the job (pissing off a 20 foot ladder), gets hooked on pills and behind on bills, and is having to resort to theft to get his fix on pills.  The chorus says so much: "She used to wake me up with coffee every morning/ And I'd hear her homemade house shoes slide across the floor/ And she used to make me feel like the king of Oklahoma/ But nothing makes me feel like much of nothing anymore."  "Death Wish" and "Cast Iron Skillet" are also great stuff.  That first one opens the album and has the most streams with 3.1 million.  Criminally understreamed album.

Thankfully not a story that I can associate with, but damn, man.  Thorny lyrics.  "Middle of the Morning" sounds like "Into the Mystic" at the start.  The lyrics to "Cast Iron Skillet will crush you if you read through them - pieces of fatherly advice interspersed with details of a stabbing of an old friend and a dad who disowned his daughter for falling in love with a black guy.  "When We Were Close" is also a jam, and it makes me wonder what the story is behind it - is this something about his time in the Drive By Truckers?  Or is it all fictional?  Let's find out?  Oh damn, this is about his relationship with Justin Townes Earle, Steve Earle's son, who died of an accidental drug overdose in 2020.  When you hear it that way, it is a completely different song.  Also, this line is good Goddamn damn: “I saw a picture of you laughing with your child and I hope she will remember how you smiled. But she probably wasn't old enough the night somebody sold you stuff that left you on the bathroom tiles…”  Fuuuuuuuck.  Wild song, because it is looking at Earle with sincere tenderness and sadness, while the tune behind it is pretty rockin'.  Absolutely going to keep listening to this disc.  Great stuff.

The Revivalists - Pour It Out Into The Night.  I've been on a tear with these dudes - seen them three times in the last month - and this album has become a real-deal love.  Several songs on it are absolute jams.  The first single was "Kid," which is great.  "Down in the Dirt," is also really good - reminds me of Ryan Bingham with a gospel choir, although that guitar solo makes me think of Mark Knopfler.  "The Long Con" has a stone-cold groove in there - a pile of heft behind the breakdown.  The chorus bops along over the top of a light little drum and guitar bit, but then the band kicks in for the "one step forward, two steps back" part and you need to be prepared to mosh. "Don't Look Back" makes me want to run through a wall - that driving guitar riff at the start that erupts into the imminently danceable chorus - "six feet deep in the fire now!" is a great line to yell along with.  That is for sure my favorite tune - I was annoying my buddy at the Red Rocks show with how much I was repeatedly singing it.  "How We Move" is another than is going to make me dance my ass off at the show.  "Kid" is the top streamer - even though I saw today that "Good Old Days" just made it to #1 on the AAA charts for them.  Pretty tight.  But here is "Kid" with 5.7 million streams.

It helps that I just got to see this song performed live, and really well, three times, but I just really like the groove and the message.  This album will definitely go into the keepers pile.

Killer Mike - MICHAEL.  It is interesting to consider whether Killer Mike is cool or if he is an ass.  I love Run the Jewels, and so my normal response to that question would aim for the cool side of the equation, but then I hear him rap something like "N****s talk to me about that woke-ass shit (Yeah) / 

Same n****s walkin' on some broke-ass shit / You see, your words ain't worth no money, I ain't spoke back, bitch / All of you n****s hang together on some Brokeback shit."  I'm not saying that being annoyed with people talking about "woke" issues is off limits, he can complain about people being woke all they want.  But to call people who espouse woke ideals to be both broke and gay is just really weird.  Like, some Junior High level joke crap.  Just catches me off guard as gross when so much of his RTJ stuff mixes killer bars with smart ideas ready to fight the power.  Which is too bad, because that track - "TALK'N THAT SHIT!" is otherwise a cool beat and sound.

That isn't to say that this doesn't sound rad - brawny beats and his excellent flow drawl along together and make this album mostly feel like a tough guy vibe that you can bump in your car.  Lyrically, it is uneven for me and not nearly as interesting as the RTJ stuff - and actually I think that is part of the problem as well.  Mike is definitely the better rapper in RTJ, but it helps to break up his sound with El P's rap tradeoffs in those tracks so that you get a better whole.  He has a bunch of collaborators on here, even one with El P, but overall it just feels like a lesser product than the RTJ albums.  The top two tracks are the El P one - "Don't Tell the Devil" with 3.4 million - and "Scientists and Engineers," which features Andre 3000 and Future.  8.4 million streams.

I love me some Andre 3k, but there's not much on that verse.  And Future bugs with all of that AutoTune.  Beat is pretty milquetoast as well - it sort of kicks in by the time Mike takes over, but even then there isn't much there that will be memorable five minutes from now.  I still dig his flow, but he just doesn't do much with it there.

Fall Out Boy - So Much (For) Stardust.  I keep coming back when these guys release a new disc, chasing the pure pleasure I found with From Under the Cork Tree.  And this still has some of those flashes - overly bombastic singing, cheesy double-entendre in the lyrics, pounding rock and roll with the catchiest, poppiest progressions around.  And so sometimes I catch myself enjoying it and bopping along to the soaring chorus backed by a killer drumbeat and an imminently sing-a-long-able bit.  This feels tailor made for an arena.  Except it definitely wears me out after a while - when the voice is always at its highest level, its most pleading, plaintive, max-emote spot, it just gets exhausting.  The streams for the album tell my same story for me, in that the streams go down as the album goes on - 34 million streams, 24, 21, 10, 8, etc.

I hadn't considered before how much Pete Wentz looks like one of the dudes from It's Always Sunny.  Catchy tune, I heard it again on the radio over the weekend and can respect the craft, but those lyrics just seem like nonsense.  And also, those lyrics sometimes bug - "hold me like a grudge!" is a clever little idea, but when you hear it sung 38 times in one song it becomes exhausting.  Like a kid who keeps pushing the same fart joke from the back of the car, begging for someone to finally laugh.  And then there are pretentious little asides, like a spoken word track from Ethan Hawke.  I won't deny their pop mastery - its like Maroon 5 and Adam Levine in that way - but it doesn't make me love it.

Quick Hits, Vol. 327 (Manchester Orchestra, Larry June, Nickel Creek, Foo Fighters)

Manchester Orchestra - The Valley of Vision.  I like these guys and have gotten to see their live show a few times.  They have a funny way of coming off as quiet and laid back on their studio albums but then cranking it up to an enjoyable fervor when they play live.  It is a little weird to go back to a new album and hear them being so relaxed after knowing how hard they go in person.  These songs keep it pretty chill - they might wind up in the end to a crescendo, but for the most part you are hearing the lovely harmonies and catchy choruses of a delicate album.  The top track right now is "The Way," with 3.3 million streams.

Those soaring vocals are where they nail it - hits you right in the feelings as they grow the vocals from a falsetto whisper to an arena-sized howl.  I do not like that video at all though.  Creepy ass AI person.  But yeah, this is another nice album from these dudes.  I wish they would shift it up and include some more rocking stuff in the midst of the loveliness, but it's still good.

Larry June - The Great Escape.  I've enjoyed this dude ever since he was tacked onto the ACL poster last year.  He's got a good flow and this laid-back vibe on these tracks that is really appealing to me.  Not trying to do any crazy tongue-twisting, not trying to do voices and play characters, he's just rolling along over some chill beats.  He's got the Alchemist making the beats on this, and they are relaaaaaaxed cruisers that will have you nodding along immediately.  Lots of piano samples, horn bleats, and smooth jazzy elements - it feels like you are in the coolest afterparty just vibing it out after a long night before you finally call it a night.  He's got a number of appearances on here too - Action Bronson, Big Sean, Ty Dolla $ign, Wiz Khalifa, Slum Village, Joey Bada$$ - and mostly those work as well.  The Bronson one just matches up perfectly between their two styles.  The top track is the one with Big Sean - "Palisades, CA," with 8.5 million streams.

That beat just kicks off like it is smoking weed.  I don't know how a beat can smoke weed, but that one does and its a little paranoid about what is happening now.  Sean gets a little hyped in comparison to the flow from June - I kind of dig the slow-mo on the rest of the album instead.  But, good tune and a very enjoyable album.  One of those where it keeps ending and I'm a little disappointed that it's already over.

Random aside here: I've been thinking in my head about what the perfect ACL lineup would look like.  Well, perfect but also realistic.  And one of the sticking points I keep having is who is the right rapper to put at the top of the lineup.  They just did Kendrick, and he was kind of weird because he straddles this line between party rap and smart rap.  A lot of the best rappers of all time wouldn't really move the needle on getting people excited (at least in my opinion).  Drake is lame.  Kanye is evil. (I asked my 15 year old, and her insight was that people want tracks they know the words to, so Ye and Drake would be the number one choices.  Ughhh).  Jay-Z was boring as hell last time.  Eminem just lip synced (and hasn't released anything good in years).  Lil Wayne just isn't big enough, same with Future, or like Nas, Lauryn Hill, Ludacris, LL Cool J, or other older folks.  I wonder if they could pull off a West Coast Party thing and have Snoop, Dre, and 50 Cent handling headlining duties together?  That would be cool.  Maybe Nicki Minaj?  Probably not big enough for a headlining spot.  Same with currently popular stuff like Ice Spice, Young Thug, 21 Savage, etc.  Maybe they just need to go rapper adjacent and get Beyonce or Rihanna to come and blow the doors off the park.

Nickel Creek - Celebrants.  I love me some old school Nickel Creek.  I've seen them a number of times, and the Punch Brothers (the Chris Thile band that came out of NC when they went on hiatus), and they are just a lovely combination of skill and beauty.  My instant issue with this album is that it is crazy long.  18 songs?  9 seconds under an hour?  Come on, man.  I don't know if it is the length or just a lack of great songs, but this one just kind of floats along in the background for me without ever grabbing my attention.  Which is too bad.  Overall, it sounds nice, they're still studs on their instruments, but I don't get snagged out of my work to pay attention to anything here.  And their earlier albums absolutely had attention snaggers that I love to this day.  This one may just need more time to percolate and grow on me.  I don't know.  The top song is the title track and first one on the album.  987k streams.

Still doing the pandemic thing there with songs about the lockdown and surviving it.  I get to see them play live again this Saturday, so hopefully something from these songs will click when I see them doing them in person.  I'd hate to think that I had outgrown them, or they had left me behind.

Foo Fighters - But Here We Are.  Taylor Hawkins dying was insanely sad.  For those of you reading this without background knowledge, Taylor was their kick ass drummer.  Gallons of ink have been spilled about how tough it was for Hawkins to step in to a band with Grohl, the drummer for the biggest grunge band of all time (and who had played the drums himself on the first two albums), but Taylor was amazing.  His drumming really does a ton of hard work in their songs, and he'll be missed.  In fact, I was a little surprised to see the Foos keep going after losing Hawkins.  Felt like they might just fold up shop and go home to count their millions.  But they're back, baby!  And having just seen them play live twice in the past two weeks, I'll readily admit that the new guy they got to play drums can jam.  Really good.

So, this, the first post-Hawkins disc, was released in June 2023 and picks up the general Foos' sound right where they left off.  The album itself deals with a lot of the heavier elements of life, in that Grohl is obviously dealing with two devastating deaths in rapid succession, as his mother died a few months after Hawkins.  If you know Grohl's history, he was very close to his mother, and so these deaths were likely crushing, and you can hear it in these lyrics.  Just the opening salvo of "Rescued," the album opener and lead single, gets you the mood: "It came in a flash/It came out of nowhere/It happened so fast/And then it was over."  Or "The Glass," where he more expressly sings about watching his mother die from behind glass inside of the hospital room.  The thing that you get here overall though is a return to the classics.  This sounds like the old Foos, without the weird detours into silliness or caricature.  They just fully engage the power-chord machine and pounding drums and tear into the real deal rock and roll here.

Nothing maudlin or subtle about that tune - they aren't pausing their normally scheduled program - they just kick in and blast phasers at 11.  Catchy and full of generic platitudes.  I dig it.  And most of the album tracks that feel, up until the last two songs.  "The Teacher" and "Rest" aren't acoustic sad songs or anything, but they just more explicitly dig into his sadness even as they chug along with rock aggression.  "You showed me how to breathe, never showed me how to say goodbye."  Those two songs show alot about what this album is actually about, despite all the bombast and arena-ready choruses.  Good stuff.

Quick Hits, Vol. 326 (Logic, boygenius, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Miley Cyrus)

With ACL over, now it's back to our regularly scheduled programming of me writing about other music I've listened to or seen.  I hope you stick around!  And yes, I know that some of these albums below are very old, but my listening is directed exclusively at ACL bands for half the year.  Love ya, mean it.

Logic - College Park.  I thought Logic had retired?  I've always liked him more than I feel like most people do, but this one is a weird album.  Way too many skits that are overly long, and also spoken outros or intros to songs.  Like the weird one in the fast food drive thru takes forever and not for any discernably good reason?  Do I really need to hear the passenger's order repeated that many times?  My guy wants "light ice," but who cares?  Some of the tracks are good - the beat and flow on "Redpill VII" is enjoyable, same with "Playwright." Norah Jones makes "Paradise II" sound lovely.  The RZA appearance makes me realize just how great that dude sounds.  The top track is one featuring a very odd guest list - Seth MacFarlane (the Family Guy guy), Redman (the How High rapper), and Statik Selektah (who is apparently a producer, rapper, and radio personality from Boston).  16.9 million streams.

Cool sample loop to kick it off.  The weird thing is to try to figure out the verses.  That is Logic to start for sure, and then Redman second for sure.  I'm guessing Seth MacFarlane is the Frank Sinatra ass singing?  And then a too-long outro skit thing...  And some of the voices on the skits suck - like some dude trying to do lady voices that are awful.  I guess Statik is just there for the beat?  Either way, it is a good track.  Not sure it's the best thing on the whole album, but I think people are listening for the shock value of MacFarlane.  In addition to the skits, "Highlife" is a terrible track, like a crap 808's & Heartbreak copycat.  But if I could extract these tracks away from the skits, I'd keep bumping a lot of it.

boygenius - the record.  Killer supergroup, I am really hoping that they'll show up in Austin in October.  Phoebe Bridgers feels like the star of the three to me, but I feel like Lucy Dacus keeps providing the moments in this album that stick out and make me notice.  Kind of a weird opener, with the folky "Without You Without Them" track of them harmonizing for a minute.  And the strongest song is six tunes in, which also seems weird.  I figured "Not Strong Enough" was definitely going to be the top single - every time I hear it on the radio I feel like it demands my close attention.  It's a great song, achingly beautiful and also rockin'.  But "Emily I'm Sorry" actually takes the stream-count crown for now with 17.1 million streams.

Feels less like a group track and more like a Phoebe track.  "fuuuuck you Peobe Bridgers! [sounds of a bike accident and thudding of body on pavement]"  Julian and Lucy just give background harmonies here.  The ending of the video was badass with them helping her to light the fire.  "Cool About It" really sounds like Paul Simon when it starts out.  Up and down record for me - I want to love it because I think all three of them are genius in their own right, but a lot of the album is too low-key for what I want to hear.  I want them to keep the rock cranked up.

Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Nadja.  I think officially this is just an EP and not an LP, although I'm not sure that such distinctions really matter anymore in the streaming world.  But, this disc picks up right where they last left off, songs made up of woozy guitar and laconic, shuffling drums underneath of the relaxed vocals.  They can pump it up a little more at times, but I think they are at their best when going full woozy.  I got to see them a few times over the years and I just really enjoy the vibe they put out.  "That Life" is the top streamer with 20.1 million.

Creepy ass video right there!  But I kinda want the outfit of the puppeteers.  Going to wear that to ACL next year.  Great groove in that one - gets me wiggling all over the place in my desk up in here.  "Nadja" has the laid back vibe I want though.  But, nice little disc.

Miley Cyrus - Endless Summer Vacation.  A quick story that is still making me grin to this day.  There is a strip-mall Italian restaurant on 183 in north Austin that is pretty solid.  Reale's.  Good food, good prices, good vibe.  But sometimes, they have a musician playing tunes in this tiny gazebo thing on one wall of the main dining area, which can be great or it can be a little cringey.  I took the boy up there one evening for a dinner with just the two of us, and a lady with a nice voice was playing some classics with her guitar and a laptop.  You know, James Taylor, Dolly, Neil Diamond - unoffensive dinner tunes.  Well, there was a massive table of ladies next to us - mostly over 50 but a few between 30-50 - pounding wine and getting progressively louder with their singing and laughing.  Until the singer looked over at them and was like "okay ladies, here is your song!"  And they roared and stood up and immediately started grooving before the first notes of this song had even played.

Which I thought was freaking hilarious.  Relatively new song at the time, but these ladies were feeling 100% of the empowerment from Miley's "Flowers" and it's funky message of doing things for yourself.  It was very funny to watch, and also a little disconcerting.  Is it weird that I found the workout portion of that video sexier than the shower scene?  If that is really her house, that is awesome.  600 million views for that video, 1.5 BILLION streams of the song.  Feels like she nailed the mindset of a large swath of folks.  She's got a tune on here with Brandi Carlile, and another with Sia, but that one above is for sure the hit.  I honestly like the album - she does a good job of straddling pop and rock and fun and seriousness.  I don't love it all - like "Handstand" is an annoying tune - but it has enough enjoyable tunes to stick around.

ACL 2023: Weekend Two Friday Review

Through the kindness of a friend, I got to go check out Friday for the second weekend after my blitzkrieg through the park on weekend one.  I was excited, and so we got down there likely earlier than I expected.  Fun to be had, baby!

First off, the heat was back.  Weekend one was just glorious on the temperature, man.  Untouched in my many years of attendance.  So, this Friday popped up in to the 90's and was less pleasant for sure.

We heard the closing screams of We Don't Ride Llamas, and whooo boy am I glad I didn't hurry up to get in and see them.  It was not something I need to be there for from the final tune.

Bailen was great.  My comparison to Haim kept popping up in my head, as they played really well together and threw in some excellent harmonies.  The weird thing that I did not like was that there was something creating massive bass sounds during the show - like, intentional ones - when no one in the band was obviously doing it.  Like, the drummer was drumming, the lead singer had an electric guitar, and the third guy had an acoustic guitar, and yet somehow there was an 808 thrum erupting from the stage during those songs.  Offputting.  Also, hot AF in the Tito's Tent.

Here, we did half of Oliver Hazard and half of Ethel Cain.  Hazard was just as expected - I immediately told my wife that she needs to listen to those guys, because it is just the kind of Americana-ey, pleasant music she would love.  Ethel Cain was insane - I had never seen the little Barton Springs stage so full of humanity.  And I don't really get why either - she was fine, but nothing about the show was a revelation of amazing proportions.  Odd.

Ugh.  My friend wanted to go see Lil Yachty, and it was just as terrible as I expected.  The crowd's biggest excitement was when he played his snippets of two other people's songs, both of which are like a decade old.  Okay, seven years, but whatever.  His trippy, fake, wishing-he-was-Tame-Impala stuff is just depressing.  I did not enjoy this portion.

We did a few songs from The Moss, but it was meh.  Went to grab food instead.  Now is when the good stuff kicked in.

Maggie Rogers is a golden goddess.  She was just everything that you want out of a show - powerful vocals, great musicians, perfect set-list, a commanding presence on stage, performers who look like they are having fun and loving it too.  I really loved it.

My wife cannot comprehend why I would want to see the same band twice right in a row, but The Revivalists killed it again, AND did a completely different show.  They opened with "Kid," instead of ending, they played some tunes that they skipped last time like "The Long Con," "Got Love," and "Pour it Out Into the Night," and they covered the imminently rad "High and Dry."  If I hadn't seen both shows, I would have been sad about missing out on certain tunes!

Finally, we did Kendrick Lamar.  And, well, meh.  I've been through all of this before, but he just isn't that terribly interesting to watch perform.  Part of that is definitely on me, in that I really only know the lyrics to Good Kid tracks, but even without that, he just kind of stands there and spits, while his weird little pack of dudes marches around behind him on stage.  And the tracks go from undeniable bangers to kinda boring and long meanders.  If I had been deep into the pit up front, maybe the perspective would have been different, but from half-way back in the crowd, it just never got off the ground.  Felt like the abbreviated set from the week before was actually the better one because he just hit us with his best shot.

I am honestly glad that the Fest is over.  I'm exhausted and my lungs are full of dirt.  I got to see some amazing things that made me deeply happy, but now I just want to sit back and chill out.  Well, until I go see Nickel Creek this weekend and maybe the Killers tonight...  ;)

Until next year, know that I will continue writing stuff on here about other music, and shows I see, and guesses for next year's lineup.  So stay tuned!

Foo Fighters: ACL Live at the Moody Theater: 10/12/23

This was a show that I had been looking forward to for a really long time - the Foo Fighters ACL TV show taping.  When it was first announced I put out feelers with everyone I knew to see about getting in the door, but it was looking dire until about a week before the show, when my firm decided that I would get the tickets the firm doles out to only its biggest and best star performers.  (or, I'm an immaculate kiss ass with the people in control of those tickets.  Or, none of the other stodgy people I work with wanted to hear Dave Grohl shred his vocal chords in a tiny theater.  Not sure which.).

Anyway, I had just gotten to see the Foos play their big stage show at ACL, and I have been playing their new disc on repeat to get into the new tunes, so I was very much ready for the experience.  My hope was that we were going to get something a little more intimate, almost like an MTV Unplugged thing where they would tell stories about losing Taylor Hawkins or Dave talking about losing his mom.  Nothing really like that, overall, this was a loud ass rock show, but there was one moment like that that has changed my appreciation for the song "The Glass."

Funny not funny start to the story.  I laugh at people all the time who go to the rock show and feel the need to WOOOOHOOO about everything.  At the ACL show, Grohl was introducing "My Hero" and said something about how it's been "thirty-three fuckin' years" of something, and the lady beside me was like WOOOOOOOOOOYEAHHHHHH!  Which just makes no sense.  So, at the taping, Grohl started talking about losing his mom, and when he did, some lady on the floor goes WOOOOOHOOO!  Which caused Dave to pause, look over with a incredulous look, and say something like "well, you really fucked that up."  Pretty funny.  

Anyway, this song is about how he couldn't be with his mom as she was dying in the hospital, that he had to sit on the other side of glass as he visited her - that is the "something between us" that he could see through, but also reflected his own face back to him as he was seeing her face.  Definitely changed the tenor of the song to think that he wrote it about watching his mom die.

So, the show was great - just a powerful blast of rock and roll.  A few tender moments - he played "Everlong" solo acoustic from the front of the stage - but mostly it was songs from their last few albums blasted as loud as they could go.  Which, of course, I would have rather had a different setlist that hewed more to the classics, but at the same time, it was really fun to get some different stuff on the table.

The one spot where I would have replaced the tune - they played "La Dee Da" from Concrete and Gold, and I just think that song is weak.  "T-Shirt" is my favorite tune from that album, but even "Run" would have been a better tune to play.  But, I have been told that I bitch too much about setlists at shows that I otherwise enjoy, so I'll stop my critique there and just say that hearing "Aurora" and "Generator" and "This is a Call" were excellent.

ACL 2023: Weekend Two: Saturday Schedule!

I have tried to reduce some of the bloat in these schedule posts so that you can just get the goods.  I think I am going to make a separate place to find playlists and other thoughts about the days.  Click the name link to find out more about each artist.

Saturday, Weekend Two:

11:45/12:00

Miller Lite	Miya Folick:  I honestly have nothing for this - another perfectly acceptable folk pop singer?
BMI	Pony Bradshaw: Solid singer-songwriter type who I couldn't quit listening to.
IHG	Nemegata: Columbian/African/I Have No Clue stew
Tito's	Blakchyl: Local female rapper without many streams but some good flow.
T-Mobile	Goodnight, Texas: Cross-country troubadours of folky Americana

Literally couldn't tell you a thing about Folick.  I wrote a long ass post about her and listened to the tunes, but it left no mark on me at all.  I think I would pick Pony Bradshaw out of these, but could lean into Goodnight as well.

12:30/12:45

Honda	Sincere Engineer: Pop punk thrashings from an unsafe bike rider
Tito's (12:45)	Valley James: One nice little song that is apparently considered Western AF
Kiddie (12:45)	Resonate: A few dank raps from a weed store owner.
AmEx	CVC: Absolutely fun times throwing back to the 60's rock and then riding up on My Morning Jacket's coattails

I really enjoyed both Sincere Engineer and CVC.  I think I'd probably lean to CVC in this hour, but I think both will be fun.

1:15

Miller Lite	Eloise: Jazzy/torchy R&B singer gal with a difficult to google name
BMI	Rattlesnake Milk: Laid back rockabilly grooves
IHG (1:30)	Eddie Zuko: Spanglish rap and reggae sounds mashed together.
T-Mobile	Devon Gilfillian: Soulful dude with good guitar-based grooves

Rattlesnake Milk is good stuff - I could see that being a really nice one to chill in the dirt for while you wait for your buddies to gather at the park.  But I also think that Gilfillian is really enjoyable - he keeps getting the shaft with these crazy early set times though.

1:45 / 2:00

Honda (2)	Jessie Ware: Big-voiced sophisti-pop and disco-fied R&B
Tito’s Tent (1:45)	Angel White: Semi-countrified black dude with a confusing name
American Express	Declan McKenna: Fun, bright, poppy rock that sometimes gets political

McKenna for sure here - I'm listening to him still and it is just a fun time.

3:00

Miller Lite	Ben Kweller: Piano heavy indie rock in the Ben Folds vein
BMI	Snooper: Unhinged, frenetic punk rock with new wave angles
IHG (3:15)	Amaarae: The most annoying thing I can think of on the poster, but with fun Afrobeat grooves
Tito's (2:45)	Calder Allen: Solid singer-songwriter type with chill tunes and a good pedigree

T-Mobile

Gus Dapperton: Underwhelming bedroom pop music by weird haircut

Kweller is the easy answer for me - I feel like he is super underrated and his show last weekend was not only awesome, but also featured McLovin' on bass.  For real.  Calder Allen is actually really good as well, and Snooper is super awesome.  If Snooper had been in the next hour, I would have said to go see that!

4:00

Honda	Rina Sawayama: Super catchy pop that gave me Gaga vibes
Tito’s Tent	Sudan Archives: So much violin and strong R&B vibes
Kiddie (4:30)	Ralph's World: Kiddie Limits silliness
American Express	Mt. Joy: Pleasantly anonymous indie rock with good lyrics

I've gone back and listened to some more Mt. Joy and I like it more and more.  Rina is actually better than I would have expected from a pure pop star, but I'd likely choose Joy.

5:00

Miller Lite	Poolside: Daytime Disco is what they call it, but I'm not along for the ride.
BMI	New West: All I can think of is Coldplay on their big TikTok hit
IHG (5:15)	Coi Leray: Lady rapper biting everyone else's thing.
T-Mobile	Tanya Tucker: She's a classic country star, but I don't recognize much of this.

A definitely varied hour.  Poolside is kind of generic electro-pop.  Leray is forgettable for me but likely will be packed with kids wanting to mosh.  Saw some of Tanya last weekend and wasn't in love.  I guess I would lean into seeing country music royalty out of these choices, but none of them feel like a must-see for me personally.

6:00

Honda	Thirty Seconds to Mars: Increasingly more operatic alt rock from Jared Leto's band with his brother
Tito’s Tent	Tegan and Sara: Identical twins churning out the indie tunes
American Express	Alanis Morissette: The biggest post-grunge hitmaker still out there teaching people about irony

Alanis was so fun last weekend.  She has some odd mannerisms on stage that were a little distracting to me, but singing along to the hits ruled.  My friend who went to 30 Seconds was also very pleased with his choice.  I know this will be unpopular with some of you, but I tried Tegan and Sara again just now and I just don't care for it.

7:00

Miller Lite	Bob Moses: Chilly electro that sure seems out of place at ACL
IHG	Tove Lo: That "Stay High All The Time" electropop girl
T-Mobile	Noah Kahan: Gentle indie pop-rock with a lovely voice and non-real Irish accent

Kahan for me in a landslide here.

HEADLINERS:

Honda (8)	The 1975: Incredibly catchy pop rock interspersed with tremendously pretentious and boring songs
Tito's	Silent Disco
AmEx (8)	Foo Fighters: Probably the most perfect arena-rock singalong band of all time

Foos.  Easy choice.  The 1975 has some great tunes in the catalog, but they also have some that seriously get deeply under my skin.  They would be the ones to choose if you don't really care about the music but hope to see their lead singer praise Hitler or drink his own feces.

ACL 2023: Weekend Two: Friday Schedule!

I have tried to reduce some of the bloat in these schedule posts so that you can just get the goods.  I think I am going to make a separate place to find playlists and other thoughts about the days.  Click the name link to find out more about each artist.

Here we go - Friday, Weekend Two:

12:45/1:15

Honda (12:55)	Jimmie Vaughan & Tilt-A-Whirl Band: Stevie Ray's big brother laying down classic blues guitar action
Tito's (1:15)	The Huston-Tillotson University Jazz Collective: The Huston-Tillotson University Jazz Collective
Kiddie (12:45)	School of Rock: Kids jamming cover tunes based on what they learned at private lessons
AmEx (12:55)	Font: Only one song but it is full of cowbell and fun

Font is my easy choice here.  I am honestly disappointed that they have stuck them at such a terrible slot, as even with only one song in the ether, it jams.

1:40 (some weird start times this year!)

Miller Lite	We Don't Ride Llamas: Shape-shifting local band of siblings
BMI	Emlyn: Aggressively empowering pop from a gal who is not taking your crap anymore
IHG	The Altons: Old school soul tunes on their most recent hits.
T-Mobile	Jaime Wyatt: Classic country sound with a little brassy Outlaw to her

Surprising even myself, I'd likely choose Wyatt and the old school country here.

2:25

Honda	Thee Sacred Souls: Sweet, smooth, lovely throwback soul
Tito’s Tent	Bailen: HAIM vibes and harmonies from NYC siblings
Kiddie (2:30)	Resonate: A few dank raps from a weed store owner
American Express	Nessa Barrett: Awful TikTok pop with overly affected voice and a death fascination

Thee Sacred Souls were freaking good last weekend.  Just a perfect early afternoon chance to kick back with a drink and let something nice wash over you.

3:10

Miller Lite	Breland: If "Old Town Road" made a full career
BMI	Oliver Hazard: Like the Lumineers popped up in small-town Ohio
IHG	Ethel Cain: Spacey bedroom indie Del Rey by an odd bird
T-Mobile	Abraham Alexander: Soulful buddy of Leon Bridges with a perfectly lovely voice

Tough slot here.  I think if you are trying to see something "important" that may be the next big thing in music, then you should go see Ethel Cain and check her out at this early stage of her career.  I think Oliver Hazard are legitimately good music that would be fun to hear.  And Alexander has the killer voice and nice sound - you could do him and Sacred Souls back-to-back and have smooth soul overload.

4:10

Honda	Raye: Pop singer with some dark lyrics
Tito’s Tent	Blond:ish: EDM that appears to be much more enjoyable when live than when streamed in the office
Kiddie (4:30)	Q Brothers: Possibly not the worst Kiddie Limits band, if you believe Joseph
American Express	Lil Yachty: That mumble rapper with the red braids

Not my hour here.  I guess I'd lean in to my soft spot in my heart for EDM in the Tito's tent because it feels tighter and more fun in community like that.

5:10

Miller Lite	The Teskey Brothers: Complete incongruity between their look and sound channeling Otis Redding-style soul
BMI	The Moss: Jangly rock and roll with a little reggae/surf tinge from dudes foolish enough to leave Hawaii for Utah
IHG	D4VD: Downbeat indie that is inexplicably huge on Spotify - the depressing Weeknd
T-Mobile	Glorilla: Crunk lady rapper bragging her way into a Cardi B guest spot

My instant preference is The Moss, but I actually think the Teskey Brothers might be a really cool show.

6:10

Honda	Maggie Rogers: A strong-voiced pop songwriter and one of my favorite songs
Tito’s Tent	FKJ: Jazzy multi-instrumentalist doing electronica solo
American Express	Major Lazer: Dancehall EDM from Diplo and many friends

Maggie is the easy call here when this was Kali Uchis, and I heard from several people that her show was magic last weekend.  I skipped it to get closer for The Revivalists.  Now that Major Lazer is slated to take that spot again, I'm less sure.  One of my daughters said ML was her favorite show of the whole weekend.  The other said either #1 or #2.  So we are talking about a show that must be a hell of a lot of fun.

7:10

Miller Lite	Portugal. The Man: Alt. rock psych guys who made a funky new jam of 60's pop that everyone has heard
IHG	The Revivalists: Jammy rock band from New Orleans with one massive alt rock radio hit
T-Mobile	Above and Beyond: Electronic trance music with at least a jillion tracks

I had not realized that Revivalists were getting shunted over to the little BS stage.  That is whack.  That is definitely my pick here.  First, because they rule and their show was fantastic.  Second, because I watched Portugal last weekend and for the third show I have seen, they sound like dogcrap.  I used to think it was just the sound engineers doing something wrong, but after three shows, you have to think that they are purposefully trying to sound that way.

HEADLINERS:

Honda (8:10)	The Lumineers: Scruffy indie folk guys who have maintained a strange level of popularity
Tito's	Silent Disco
AmEx (8:40)	Kendrick Lamar: One of the top rappers today

It's too bad that someone else isn't the headliner opposite Kendrick - put Odesza's ass over there or something!  Because even though I complained heavily about both of these artists, I'd still almost assuredly choose Kendrick and see one of the best rappers alive at the top of his game.

Obviously, last weekend was a cluster for this hour - big packs of teens walked out of Lumineers but then came back and then left again but then came back as everyone got messed up info about whether Kendrick would perform.  So, I got to see both shows (sort of), and they were both honestly phenomenal.  15-year-old's report from Kendrick was that there were way too many old people up front trying to film the show instead of getting hype and it was annoying.  I think Kendrick just invites that split - a combo of hype songs and Pulitzer-winning-NPR-nerd stuff.