ACL 2022: Friday, Weekend One: Schedule and Thoughts

YES!  It's finally happening!  I freaking love putting together my schedule.  Running back through all 100+ of the artists I have listened to.  Remembering the ones that were cool, figuring out how to navigate the stages, activating my true inner (and outer, I guess, since this is pretty public) music nerd.

I keep hearing people, especially young people, say that the lineup is bad or weak or whatever.  But after pushing through the full lineup of bands, I've got to disagree.  It reminds me a little bit of the 2015 lineup, where the headliners weren't my favorite thing, but the next few lines had some top notch stuff (Alabama Shakes, Sturgill Simpson, Tame Impala, The Decemberists, TV On the Radio, Gary Clark Jr., Father John Misty).  And so again, while many of those headliners are not my top choices for what I'd want to see, I'm digging a bunch of those second-tier bands who will make up the core of the weekend for me.  We're going to have a great time!

If you can bail on work, the early Friday time at ACL is so great.  I usually try to go eat a good lunch with my out of town buddy - impress him with something awesome and Austin-y that he can't get in the park.  I'm still mad that Freedman's closed - that place ruled.

A few prelude thoughts before the hour-by-hour thoughts:

• The comments for each band are those "One Liner" things that I added to my reviews. It helps me to remember who they are (sometimes) and provides some detail on the kind of music they play.  Every once in a while they make me giggle too.
• Honestly, sometimes those one liners are freaking hard to write.  Some of this music is super crazy forgettable and I just can't come up with anything useful to write.  "uhhh, another 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 first column in each box is the stage where the band is playing (in case you thought I was just playing a weird word association game).
• No more VRBO/HomeAway stage?  Damn!  I had a hookup last year to go sidestage there!
• Honestly, not a lot of hard choices to be made on this day.  One or two, but nothing that truly breaks my heart.

A playlist of the tunes for my selections...

Here we go:

12:30/1:00

Honda	Asleep at the Wheel: Every year's favorite western swing purveyors
Kiddie (12:30)	Elena Moon Park: Kiddie music with a Hawaiian and East Asian bent
American Express:	Tamino: If Jeff Buckley gave middle eastern flair to the downtempo Radiohead songs

I doubt I'll make it to the park this early, but at the same time, both of these non-Kiddie options would be enjoyable.  Asleep at the Wheel is a classic starter.  Tamino makes really good alternative rock stuff with a middle eastern flair.  No wrong choice there.

1:45

Miller Lite	Nation of Language: Brooklyn indie rockers channeling the 80's
BMI	Girlhouse: Really good indie rock in the vein of Snail Mail or Soccer Mommy Elijah Wolf: a bedroom pop guy turned into a pretty great folk rock dud
Barton Springs	Cassandra Jenkins: Lovely, gentle singer of gently comfortable indie folk/rock
Tito's (1:30)	Thebrosfresh: Remember Jamie Foxx's sweet solo music career?
T-Mobile (2:00)	ZAI1K: Auto-tuned rapping and singing with a viral hit on TikTok

You could have offered me $50 to recall anything at all about ZAI1K as I started to write up this schedule.  No freaking clue.  He really sticks with you!  This is actually a tough hour.  Nation was probably my favorite of all of the 80's redux bands on this poster, and the Cassandra Jenkins music is super beautiful.  That being said, I like Girlhouse a lot - I've been going back to that and listening more because it is just good stuff.

[EDIT] Well, too bad!  Because Girlhouse is no longer on the poster, so no such luck!  New entry Elijah Wolf is really good though, but I'm sad that they pulled my favorite thing for this hour!  I'd probably choose Wolf in this slot now.

2:30

Honda	Kevin Morby: Chilled out folky rock greatness
Tito’s Tent	Cory Henry: Keyboard prodigy playing fun funk and critically acclaimed jazz
Kiddie (2:30)	School of Rock: Kids jamming cover tunes based on what they learned at private lessons
American Express	Noah Cyrus: Miley's little sister

Bummer.  Honestly, all three of the real things in this hour are very good.  I will go see Kevin Morby, because I have been wanting to catch his music for a while, but I had planned on seeing Noah when she was announced.  And beyond those two, Cory Henry is an extremely talented dude - if you feel like rolling the dice I bet his show would be really good.

3:15

Miller Lite	Gayle: Bad pop-rock singer with one huge kiss-off TikTok hit
BMI	Lilyisthatyou: Overly sexualized pop garbage for the TikTok age
Barton Springs	Gabriels: Throwback soul bops with co-signs from Sir Elton and Harry Styles
T-Mobile	Charlotte Cardin: Power-singing Canadian is the sixth most-popular Charlotte on Spotify

Weak hour - none of those just sucked me in with a need to see them live.  I'd go with the Gabriels though, out of these.  Can you tell I think TikTok is crappy for finding music?  ;)

4:00

Honda	Jazmine Sullivan: Fantastic voice used for R&B powers
Tito’s Tent	Genesis Owusu: Ghana/Aussie rapper/singer with a little funky flair
Kiddie (4:30)	Q Brothers: Possibly not the worst Kiddie Limits band, if you believe Joseph
American Express	Zach Bryan: Excellent low-key singer-songwriter Americana

Easy choice for me to go see Zach Bryan, although I think Owusu is a surprisingly solid rapper.

5:00

Miller Lite	Arlo Parks: British indie pop singer with a lovely voice and smooth delivery
BMI	Sarah & the Sundays: Danceable and fun indie rock from our own backyard!
Barton Springs	L'Imperatrice: Funky French groovy pop
T-Mobile	Benee: More indie pop that sounds like lesser Billie Eilish

Two fun choices here, I don't feel like I could go wrong with either Sarah & the Sundays or L'Imperatrice.  Both seem like a good time to bop around to for a little while.  And honestly, I like Arlo Parks more and more as time goes by.  She's pretty slick!

6:00

Honda	James Blake: Falsetto-singing, glitchy-electronic R&B Brit
Tito’s Tent	Big Gigantic: Electronic hip hop and jazz with lots of guest vocalists
American Express	Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats: Soul revival masterminds who will hurt you with their live show

Nate is the easy call here.  I didn't care for Big Gigantic at all.

7:00

Miller Lite	Omar Apollo: Great singer with pop music in English and Spanish
Barton Springs	Carly Rae Jepsen: Call Me Maybe!  And more pop action since then apparently!
T-Mobile	Billy Strings: Absolutely kickass bluegrass with a jammy side by killer musicians

I'm sure that Jepsen will be a fun show that many people will appreciate, but I just want to revel in the excellence that is Billy Strings.  I'm actually surprised that Jepsen isn't the opener for Pink.  That makes a lot of sense in my head.

HEADLINERS:

Honda	SZA: Alternative R&B gal
Tito's	Silent Disco
Lady Bird	The Chicks: One of the finest country bands of all time

It's too bad that someone else isn't the headliner opposite the Chicks, since I know I'll be seeing them for Weekend Two with the wife.  So, it would have been cool if this was Paramore or Kacey Musgraves.  Oh well, I expect that my friend will likely want to see the Chicks so we'll end up seeing them in this slot.

ACL 2019: Weekend One: Friday: Thoughts and Schedule

YES!  it's finally happening!  I freaking love putting together my schedule.  Running back through all 130+ of the artists I have listened to.  Remembering the ones that were cool, figuring out how to navigate the stages, activating my true inner (and outer, I guess, since this is pretty public) music nerd.

If you can bail on work, the early Friday time at ACL is so great.  I usually try to go eat a good lunch with my out of town buddy - impress him with something awesome and Austin-y that he can't get in the park.  I'm still mad that Freedman's closed - that place ruled.

As I did last year, I've changed up the preview format so that you get hour-by-hour thoughts and layouts.  Previously I had ranked all of the bands and that was insane, and also completely useless, because who cares if Oliver Tree is my 83rd favorite band?  What you need to know is a choice during each set, where the artists are actually duking it out on the poster.

A few prelude thoughts:

• The comments for each band are those "One Liner" things that I added to my reviews. It helps me to remember who they are (sometimes) and provides some detail on the kind of music they play.  Every once in a while they make me giggle too.
• Honestly, sometimes those one liners are freaking hard to write.  Some of this music is super crazy forgettable and I just can't come up with anything useful to write.  "uhhh, another EDM guy with electronic stuff?"
• I've made each band name a link so that you can go read the full review and listen to some tunes if you are unswayed by the One Liner.
• The first column in each box is the stage where the band is playing (in case you thought I was just playing a weird word association game).
• Interesting that nothing starts before 12:30 this year?  Do we have less bands than in the past?  Going to need to dig into that question.
• Also, note that the old HomeAway stage is now called T-Mobile, and the old Barton Springs Stage is now the VRBO stage.

Playlist!  This is mainly going to be the bands I recommend, with a few extra songs if they are notable or I couldn't make a definitive choice of bands.

 


Here we go:

12:30

Honda (12:45)	Asleep at the Wheel: Every year's favorite western swing purveyors
Kiddie Limits	Barton Hills Choir: The elementary school choir from the campus closest to Zilker Park.
American Express	The Amazons: Slightly lighter Royal Blood (apparently the only rock reference point I recall now)

There is a part of me that feels like a bad Austinite if I ever skip out on Asleep at the Wheel, but I actually really like The Amazons.  That would be my choice if I am out there that early.  Although, now that I think about it, kind of a bummer for those guys, right?  Come all the way from England to be posted up against some children singing Dead tunes and a band that has played the Fest 17 times?

1:15

Miller Lite (1:30)	Houses: Depressingly rote chillwave and sad piano balladry.
VRBO	Sam Fender: Voice like Brandon Flowers with some good guitar-driven Springsteen anthems.
Tito’s (1:00)	Erin Rae: Lovely crooner walking a line between country and indie
BMI	Kim Viera: Like an up-and-coming Shakira?
T-Mobile	Alesia Lani: Local R&B lady who made a video maybe at Bull Creek

You could have offered me $50 to recall anything at all about Houses as I started to write up this schedule.  No freaking clue, even though I listened a bunch and wrote them up back in May.  They really stick with you!  This one is an easy call for me – Sam Fender is really good.  Although if you dig Americana, Erin Rae is solid.

Random aside: I'm pre-emptively pissed that T-Mobile is a stage sponsor.  Because my shit AT&T service is going to be the usual garbage, and some kid with a T-Mobile next to me is going to be streaming the Texas game, while I can't get a single text to send.  Dammit.

1:45 – 2:45

Honda (2:00)	Scarypoolparty: American Idol runner-up with fantastic voice.
Tito’s Tent (2:00)	Oliver Tree: Weird ass rapper with terrible hair and bad sunglasses
Kiddie Limits (2:30)	School of Rock: Kids jamming cover tunes based on what they learned at private lessons
American Express (1:45)	Fidlar: Punky LA dudes with some tunefully fun, cheeky jams.

I’d feel a pull to go see Scarypoolparty just because his voice is so amazing, I feel like I might be missing out.  But I’m almost certain I’d rather go freak out with Fidlar.

2:45 to 3:45

Miller Lite	Black Pistol Fire:
VRBO	Cherry Glazerr: Grungy pop rock named after an NPR reporter
BMI	Palm Springsteen: One song that sounds like a Jack White alter-ego who loves synths
T-Mobile (2:30)	Jai Wolf: Varied electronic tunes that border on indie rock

Dang.  Didn’t even write a one liner for Black Pistol Fire!  So rude!  They are some good times rock and roll blasting though.  I’d probably choose them here, even though I actually enjoyed all four of the bands on this list.  Maybe do Cherry Glazerr instead?  Game time call on this one.

3:30

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

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

4:30

Miller Lite	Kaytranada: Groovy electronic producer with a bunch of B-list singers.
VRBO	K.Flay: Not Britney's ex, instead, surprisingly good indie hip hop from the lady who went to Stanford
Kiddie Limits	Gustafer Yellowgold: Kiddie Limits alien with a nice, sweet sound
BMI	Weyes Blood: WTF?  Gentle, soft-focus 70's rock is apparently back.
T-Mobile	TroyBoi: Pretty solid EDM guy

Ehhh?  None of these light me up as must see artists, but all of them, even the Kiddie Limits guy, have some fine tunes.  Maybe just make a call per your mood – you can choose between EDM, groovy R&B, rap, 70’s soft rock, or an alien.  Go for it.  

I actually read the book that Weyes Blood named herself after, and while it was 100% weird, I enjoyed it and it made me think alot.  Mainly about how freaking weird it was, but also about how weird it was.

5:30

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

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

6:30 – 7:00

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

I mean, if I’m being perfectly honest, I’m not seeing any of these.  I’m gonna see every second of Raconteurs and then wait for Guns n Roses.  But if I had the choice, would absolutely do Jenny Lewis.  She’s great.

HEADLINERS:

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

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

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

ACL 2018: Second Weekend: Friday Thoughts [EDIT]

Weekend Two, baby.  For the first time in years, this will be my primary weekend this year, which will be fine (I keep trying to convince myself).  I just fear that all of the grass will be dead (edit, it is very dead.  And in front of the Amex stage?  Total mudpit as of last Sunday).  And Greta Van Fleet and Nelly will already be gone.  And East Side Kings will have run out of Poor Qui Buns (edit, they stopped even having them on the menu!  Life has no meaning!).  And we'll get another torrential rain that will cancel Sunday (60% chance for rain as of Tuesday).  OR the weather will suddenly cool off and it will be the greatest ever weekend of ACL (high of 78, baby!), one that Sir Paul himself will write a song about to be played by his gravestone on a loop.  Yes, that is the positive vibe I'm going to adopt.

Friday, baby!  Opening day of the weekend!  Last year, I took my buddy to Freedman's for the pre-show lunch and drinks, and it ruled.  But Freedman's is closed (R.I.P.) so I need to come up with a new spot.  Pool Burger would be tight, have a few Tiki drinks and then just wander on down towards the park?  Or maybe Loro?  Hmmm.  Already excited about that part of the day.  Even if it means missing a few bands at the start...

[MORE EDITS to this!]  Two more artists have been removed from the poster - Cuco because he got into a car wreck, and Borns because he apparently groomed young girls so that he could sexually assault them (or something, sounds creepy AF).  Of course, fans on social media are all pissed off, as though Borns was the ONLY REASON they were coming to ACL, which is stupid.  Anyway, I've adjusted the schedule yet again to show these changes.  WHICH SUCK, by the way, because they moved a bunch of stuff around, and now you can't see both Big Thief and Alvvays, and some other issues...

As I did last year, I've changed up the preview format so that you get hour-by-hour thoughts and layouts.  Previously I had ranked all of the bands and that was insane, and also completely useless, because who cares if Sofi Tukker is my 83rd favorite band?  What you need to know is a choice during each set, where the artists are actually duking it out on the poster.

A few prelude thoughts:

• The comments for each band are those "One Liner" things that I added to my reviews. It helps me to remember who they are (sometimes) and provides some detail on the kind of music they play.  
• I've made each band name a link so that you can go read the full review and listen to some tunes if you are unswayed by the One Liner.
• The first column in each box is the stage where the band is playing (in case you thought I was just playing a weird word association game).
• 2:45 and 4:45 and 6:45 are tough calls.

Playlist!  This is mainly going to be the bands I recommend, with a few extra songs if they are notable or I couldn't make a definitive choice of bands.

Let's get down to it!

11:15

Miller Lite	Curtis Roush: Chilled grooves from a member of The Bright Light Social Hour
Barton Springs	NOTHING
Tito’s	The Gospel Stars: Gospel
BMI	The Blancos: Brooklyn dudes singing platitudes over hip hop beats.
Home Away	NOTHING

Ooooh, I had forgotten about how crappy the Blancos are!  Delicious to remember that garbage!  Nothing in this is going to make me burn to leave the office early on Friday, although Curtis Roush would be my choice if you were already going to be there at the opening bell.  Just go chill on the grass (or what is left of it by second weekend) and enjoy some relaxed tunes.  I think this means I'm not going to the park first thing anymore.

12:00 to 12:45

Honda (12:00)	Alice Merton: The "No Roots" lady.
Tito’s Tent (12:15)	Fatai: Powerful voiced coffee house tunes from Aussie Voice finalist.
Kiddie Limits (12:30)	School of Rock: Kids jamming cover tunes based on what they learned at private lessons
American Express (12:00)	Natalie Prass: Funky indie singer songwriter with a great voice

Easy choice.  Natalie Prass is very fun.  I know others think I'm dumb to not love listening to Merton force the word "roots" into my ears 342 times in 3 minutes, but I choose not to suffer through that.

12:45 – 1:45

Miller Lite	Ben Kweller: Piano heavy indie rock in the Ben Folds vein
Barton Springs	The Coronas: Irish indie rock that belongs on a CW drama
Tito’s (1:15)	Ravyn Lenae: R&B lady from Chicago with a little freakiness.
BMI	Nicole Atkins: Crooner who apparently sounds like a Brill Building singer
Home Away	Magic City Hippies: Kind of crappy white boy funk pop

My two original suggestions for this hour are gone now.  No more Lewis Capaldi (Strong-voiced blue-eyed soul from Scotland).  Big Thief got moved from here back to 2:45. Cuco (Terrible Spanglish indie bedroom slow jams) is out entirely.  As this article shows that he was in a car wreck last night and is cancelling the rest of his tour.  

Ben Kweller got added in here, and then The Coronas and Magic City Hippies got moved back into this space.  So now this is a totally different hour of music.  I guess, from these choices, I'm going to go with Kweller.  Kweller is a good time!  This was a harder decision with Kweller against Big Thief, but now not so much.

I heard good things about the Coronas after weekend one, FYI.

1:45 – 2:45

Honda (1:40)	Reignwolf: Real deal blues rock and roll with raw guitar shreddage
Tito’s Tent (2:15)	Duncan Fellows: Surprisingly fun indie rockers from Austin
Kiddie Limits (2:30)	Ralph’s World: Kiddie Limits silliness
American Express (1:45)	Bishop Briggs: One hit wonder with that "River" song, and some forgettable other alt-pop

Personal opinion here.  I know a lot of people will want to do Bishop Briggs because she has that one really big hit song.  I would counsel against that.  I think Reignwolf will be the best of this group, although I also enjoy Duncan Fellows and would likely enjoy that show too.

2:45 to 3:45

Miller Lite (2:40)	Alvvays: Top notch indie rock with pretty vocals and that Archie song
Barton Springs	Big Thief: Chilled out indie rock with high quality lyrics.
BMI	Sasha Sloan: Sad electronic indie you can relate to.
Home Away	NoName: Super chilled Chicago lady rapper

With the shuffling of artists, this gets even harder.  I don’t want to see Sasha at all, but the other three are all solid.  I saw both Alvvays and Big Thief first weekend, and I really enjoyed both shows.  That being said, if I had to pick between the two (and I do), I'm going with Alvvays.  Their show was perfection last weekend.  And they made fun of Ted Cruz (as Canadians do).

Also, NoName just put out a legit enjoyable new album, so you're not going to go wrong listening to her relax your soul with some chilled out raps.  

3:45 to 4:45

Honda (3:40)	Sir Sly: One alt-rock radio hit and a bunch of fun danceable rock.
Tito’s Tent	Golden Dawn Arkestra: Psych instrumental freakout jam music, but with horns
Kiddie Limits (4:30)	Lard Dog & the Band of Shy: Kiddie Limits silliness
American Express	David Byrne: Talking Heads singer still making funky, weird rock

Another hour that got shuffled.  Borns (One good album of psych rock pop, then one less good album of synth pop) was supposed to be this hour, but has been removed.  Sir Sly moves into that slot, which is too bad.  I heard them playing from afar last weekend and it sounded good.

But, that being said, its David Byrne all the way.  And its too bad, because both of the other guys are pretty solid.  David Byrne's set weekend one was freaking weird and totally awesome.  He puts together a legit performance and it was very cool.  Like, it made me realize how fun it is to have a performer doing something other than just standing up there playing their songs.  Make it a performance!  Super cool, highly recommend.

4:45 to 5:45

Miller Lite (4:35)	Lily Allen: Raunchy, but funny in lyrical realism, British pop star
Barton Springs	Jungle: Grooving funk soul
BMI	The Arkells: Old Arkells = good alt rock; New Arkells = generic indie dance rock
Home Away	Manchester Orchestra: Very good indie rock, in between Iron & Wine and Gaslight Anthem.

With Greta Van Fleet removed from this hour (in favor of Lily Allen), this hour gets a little more interesting for second weekend.  There is no easy choice.  Allen is raunchy and funny and likely puts on a very entertaining show of pop.  Jungle is very cool and Manchester also has a clean, classic sound that I very much enjoy.  If the Arkells would guarantee only playing their old stuff, then I’d choose that.  As it is, I think I’d probably choose Manchester, but would be open to taste testing the other two.

5:45

Honda (5:35)	Khalid: El Paso's favorite surprise high school star now doing hooks on major hits.
Tito’s Tent (5:30)	Gryffin: More generic EDM
American Express	The National: Depressing ass music loved by many people I like

It’ll be a game time decision for me to choose trying out the pop R&B stuff from Khalid or the depression indie from the National.  I’ll likely choose the latter, but we’ll see.

Full disclosure, I just tried the new National album a few more times today, and its growing on me.  Like a sad tumor of depression, but its worming its bummed out way into my brain.

{EDIT] I heard Khalid from the side of his stage as I waited for BROCKHAMPTON last weekend, and it didn't sound that great.  Seemed kinda boring.

6:45

Miller Lite (6:35)	BROCKHAMPTON: Self-described as THE WORLD'S GREATEST BOYBAND!  Off-kilter, fun hip-hop from a large crew.
Barton Springs	Father John Misty: Most interesting lyricist at the Fest
Home Away	Hozier: Massively popular Irish blues rock who needs to release another album

This one got easier now that BROCKHAMPTON has set up an after show, so that I can still go see them without ruining my chance to see either FJM or Hozier.  Now, that choice is still super hard, as I’ve seen both and they are both amazing live shows.  If you aren’t doing the After Show, then go see BROCKHAMPTON.  If you are doing the After Show, or hate original and fun rap for some reason, then I think I’ll say Father John Misty.

[EDIT] I kind of broke my own rule here, and did BROCKHAMPTON despite already having tickets to the Saturday night show.  They were awesome.  I was deep in the middle of the crowd, and my old ass jumped around and yelled incoherently with 10,000 kids between 13 and 20.  Very entertaining.

7:45

Honda (7:35)	Odesza: Chillwave electronic tunes.
Tito’s Tent (8:00)	Silent Disco
American Express	Paul McCartney: The Beatle

Although I’ve heard good things about Odesza’s live show, you have to choose the Beatle.  Also, if you go to Silent Disco while Paul McCartney is playing, then something is wrong with you.  At least, if you go to Odesza, walk over to the other side when the set is over and sing along to "Hey Jude" with all of us.

[EDIT]  Dude.  McCartney was fabulous.  His set list was top notch and he sounds great on both the guitar and the piano.  Very good show, I'm pumped to get to see him twice.