Like a Rolling Stone

With all the excitement of the concerts that I have attended lately, I almost completely forgot about the announcement of this years Austin City Limits Festival line up. This is unquestionably the most top heavy line up that I have seen in the four years that I have attended the festival. Topping the list of established acts that I am most excited about are My Morning Jacket, Muse, The Arcade Fire, Wilco, The White Stripes, and Bob Dylan and his Band. Of (what they consider) the second tier acts, I am most excited about Damien Rice, Spoon, The Decemberists, Regina Spektor, Devotchka, Ben Kweller, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, and Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. The lesser known acts that I think will be fantastic are Ghostland Observatory, Pete Yorn, Peter Bjorn and John, Yo La Tengo, Blonde Redhead, Midlake, The Greyhounds, and The National.

The producers of ACL have certainly sought after more established bands for this years festival than in that of years past. While the headliners of the past have always been rather big (Ben Harper, Coldplay, Tom Petty), I've never seen such an overwhelming list of names. On the other hand, I have never seen ACL have such an underwhelming list of up-and-coming artists. In my opinion, this was one of the things that set them apart. It could very well be that I am digging further into the musical landscape these days. There is quite a list of bands for me to get acquainted with between now and the weekend of September 14-16. I hope to see everyone out there as I think this will undoubtedly be one of the festivals of the year.