Last weekend was great! After all the crazy weather worry, and band cancellations/schedule shuffling, we ended up with a classically hot and sweaty good time. The lines to get it got a little long at time, and even the No Bag lines could be slow as folks had to show their vaccine stuff, then go through the metal detector, then scan their wristband. It's a lot this year.
Also, because of the weather delay, we ended up without a bunch of the fun local bands that I had been thinking would be good to see. I'll just have to hunt down Nane some other time.
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 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).
- Y'all get Bleachers! I was bummed to have them drop out of Weekend One, so I hope the COVID stays away from them this week and they end up able to play!
- Also a bummer, last time the main headliner started at 7:30, so we got a bigger, longer, better show. That has been pushed back and both headliners start at 8 now.
A playlist of the tunes for my selections...
Here we go:
1:00
Honda | Saleka: The daughter of M. Night Shyamalan doing R&B (yes, I'm being serious) |
Lady Bird | Vincent Neil Emerson: Texas singer-songwriter taking cues from Townes and sounding great. |
Emerson is great stuff. Top notch songwriter and just seems like a fun dude. I'd go check that out for sure. Just sit out in the grass and relax while you listen along to the lyrics.
1:45
Miller Lite | Daydream Masi: Annoyingly genre-less rap/singer with Caribbean flairs |
BMI | Leah Blevins: Appalachian gal making pretty solid country tunes. |
VRBO | Claud: Non-binary bedroom pop singer who reminds me of Maeby Funke. |
Tito's | Riders Against the Storm: Local couple dropping rap knowledge |
T-Mobile | Maggie Rose: Strong-voiced country singer who has transitioned into soul and bluesy pop |
I think it makes good sense for the Fest to add some country artists on the day that King George is playing, but it seems weird to pit them against each other instead of spreading them out. Both Blevins and Rose have great voices and would be good to see, but I'd honestly like to check out Riders, if I were going this day, just to check the pulse of the local rap scene and see what they have going for them.
2:30
Honda | jxdn: Another emo rapper dabbling in bad pop punk after becoming TikTok famous |
Tito’s Tent | Q: More R&B, this time, from a guy with an unsearchable name! |
Lady Bird | Heartless Bastards: Bluesy rock goodness |
Easy call here for me, as Heartless Bastards sound great. Also fun that they are semi-local now, but I'd 100% choose them over the TikTok emo guy with frosted tips or more R&B.
3:15
Miller Lite | Skip Marley: Grandson of Bob Marley, doing a pretty solid job of holding up the mantle |
VRBO | The Teeta: Solid local Austin rapper |
BMI | Hinds: Spanish lo-fi rocker ladies. |
T-Mobile | Durand Jones and the Indications: Retro Soul goodness with a great live sound |
Out of this group, I think I'd go give Durand Jones a shot. I liked their sound when they came to the fest a few years ago, and generally dig the retro soul thing. I heard from some people that Skip Marley was solid last weekend, and I think The Teeta is legitimately a talented rapper. So you have some good choices in this hour.
4:00
Honda | Machine Gun Kelly: Rapper turned generic pop punker |
Tito’s Tent | Disko Cowboy (Vinyl Ranch): DJ with a western flair, I suppose. |
Lady Bird | Bleachers: Pop mastermind churning out eighties inspired pop bangers and some filler |
Because Bleachers had to cancel last weekend, we went to about half of the MGK show. It was predictably bad. He's trying really hard to be cool, but that just entirely misses the mark for me. But, as you can see with my dismissal of jxdn above (I even hate typing that guy's dumb name!) I'm not really into the bratty, emotional Blink 182 wannabe movement. Kelly should just go back to rap.
5:00
Miller Lite | Moses Sumney: Quiet, pretty, soulful guy with amazingly beautiful voice who bores me |
BMI | OMB Peezy: Sacramento, via Alabama, rapper who maybe confessed to actual crimes in his raps |
VRBO | Finneas: Billie Eilish's brother singing generic blue-eyed indie soulfully |
T-Mobile | Leann Rimes: Country pop royalty from the 90's who is apparently still making music |
Ehhhhhh, I don't know what to tell you here. These are all over the map. I guess I might go to Rimes just to hear songs that I know and see someone who has been around for a long time? I could hear Sumney last week while grabbing dinner, and his voice is lovely, but it just sounded like naptime. Peezy would probably be fun if you felt like getting up in the crowd and pushing a bunch of annoying teenagers. I wouldn't do Finneas if you paid me.
6:00
Honda | Megan Thee Stallion: Cocky, Nasty, Freaky Lady Rapper from Houston |
Tito’s Tent | Lane 8: |
American Express | Black Pumas: Austin-based soul rock masters bringing good music back |
That surprise in the Tito's tent had better be something pretty damn amazing, because this is the best hour of the day so far. Either of those two would be a good time, but I'm for sure going to go see the Black Pumas. I've been kicking myself for skipping their run at Stubb's earlier this year, so I for sure want to see them live.
[EDIT - the surprise artist is now gone from the Schedule. Damn. I guess they read my write-up (yeah right) and realized they couldn't put anyone in this slot. More likely, the surprise was Emotional Oranges and they needed them once more bands dropped out].
The emptiness on the schedule, in between these two artists, is so very sad.
7:00
Miller Lite | Erykah Badu: Legendary neo soul singer from Dallas |
VRBO | Dermot Kennedy: Lovely voiced Irish pop with folky undertones |
T-Mobile | Jon Pardi: Obviously the opener for George Strait, but thoroughly generic country |
Last week was a hard call here, but now Badu is in Chet Faker's slot and I heard from some musically smart friends that Kennedy was very good. So that is who I would check out this time. I absolutely will not go see Jon Pardi. I still don't understand what he is doing on the lineup. There are thousands of country artists who make more sense for ACL.
HEADLINERS:
Honda | Miley Cyrus: Hannah Montana turned sexy weirdo rocker |
Tito's | |
Lady Bird | George Strait: The King of Country |
I'm going to go see George Strait. I've never seen him before, I know and love a ton of his songs, that is what I'm doing. But I also feel like the proper Festival end-of-the-night closer is more like Cyrus. I'll be over there with the old fogeys wistfully singing about "could I drink you a buy? oh listen to me. what I mean is could I buy you a drink?" while the youths are at the Honda stage licking each other and screaming "We Can't Stop" at the top of their lungs. It's too bad Miley didn't end up at the back end of Saturday, as that would have been fun to check out.
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