Like Christmas Eve for giant music nerds, the Austin City Limits Music Festival lineup announcement keeps the faithful speculating endlessly, staying up late, and then combining the joy of an exciting new thing with the vague disappointment that follows the appearance of anything you’ve built up so much in your head. There’ll be time for both jubilation and longing later — for the time being, let’s just take a look at the full ACL lineup and see what there is to learn.
1. The top of the bill is a who’s who of artists who’ve been promoted from the smaller stages in years past.
One of the cool things about ACL is that you can chart an artist’s rise by where they play when they’re invited back. The Black Keys have risen through the ranks at ACL, performing at the Fest in 2005, 2008, and 2010. The Avett Brothers held played an earlier slot in ’09. Jack White’s a veteran of the fest with both The Dead Weather (2009) and The Raconteurs (2006 and 2008), though not the White Stripes, after the band canceled in 2007. This will be his first time at the festival without a supergroup to back him up. Bassnectar returns after an appearance in 2009, and The Roots are back at Zilker Park for the first time since 2004.
This provides an excellent opportunity for old-timers to brag about how they totally caught The Black Keys back when they were a mid-day act, which is at least half of the people who bought their tickets when they did the earlybird specials.
2. The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Neil Young, constant stars of the “who’s gonna headline ACL this year” speculation, finally make their appearance.
The fact is, there just aren’t that many mega-star bands who can serve as a true headliner for a festival the size of Austin City Limits, Lollapalooza, Coachella, Bonnaroo, etc. Barring an unexpected reunion — like Black Sabbath, Snoop and Dre, or The Beach Boys — you’ll see the same names batted around year after year. Last year, the needle stopped on Stevie Wonder, Coldplay and Kanye West; this year, the perennially begged-for Chili Peppers and Neil Young sets will close down a couple of nights. Maybe eventually they’ll even book Radiohead and shut everybody up.
3. If you hated all the hip hop on the bill last year, congratulations!
It was something of a sore subject at the time, but whatever the reason for it, a lot of people were pretty unhappy about the number of rappers who played the 2011 version of the festival. (Who can forget the homemade “Fuck Kanye” t-shirts?) Those people will have very little to complain about in September — beside The Roots, there is Childish Gambino and there is Big K.R.I.T. There are no other rappers on the bill. (Canadian DJ A-Trak is also performing, at least.)
4. Electronic music, meanwhile, is all over this thing.
It looks like ACL is placing a big bet on electronic music this year. Dubstep hero Skrillex’s mid-afternoon set last year was one of the most fiercely-attended sets of the entire festival, and this year the fest doubles-down on electronic headliners, with both Bassnectar and Avicci in the big type at the top. Just below them, look for Thievery Corporation, Polica, Zola Jesus, Crystal Castles, M83 and Big Gigantic. “Electronic music” is probably not a big enough umbrella term to fit artists with such disparate styles as the above, and it’s to ACL’s credit that they didn’t shy away from booking so many artists who eschew guitar rock.
5. There are a few big surprises in who’s included — and a few in who’s not.
Big surprise number one: where’s Bon Iver? His name was on the scratch tickets that leaked early bits of the lineup last week, but it doesn’t appear in the official announcement or on the festival’s website. Number two: no At The Drive-In? With the reunited El Paso emo icons making a killing on the festival circuit at Coachella and Lollapalooza, the band seemed like one of the safest bets for a final Texas show before returning to their current projects.
On the other hand, who cares, because friggin’ Iggy & The Stooges are playing. Also unexpected: the return of Weezer to Austin; the Afghan Whigs’ first show in town since a bouncer at the Liberty Lunch fractured frontman Greg Dulli’s skull in 1998; and, of course, surprise appearances by the Old 97’s, Asleep At The Wheel and Steve Earle. No, just kidding about that last one.
6. The undercard has some sleepers to watch.
Buried under the hype, be sure to add English folk/soul singer Michael Kiwanuka to your schedule, as well as Mississippi rapper Big K.R.I.T. It’s a fair bet to say that Alabama Shakes aren’t going to be ignored by too many of the more obsessive ACL-goers, but if you’ve got a casually-attending uncle, make sure he knows to get to whatever stage they’re playing. Hard rockers The Whigs (almost certainly to be confused with The Afghan Whigs) make an appearance in advance of their new album, and the young harmony enthusiasts in Infantree will delight those who wish Fleet Foxes were playing. This’ll be a fun year, top to bottom.
Take a look at the full lineup:
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Punch Brothers
Kopecky Family Band
Neil Young and Crazy Horse
Bombay Bicycle Club
River City Extension
The Black Keys
A-Trak
Quiet Corral
Jack White
Trampled By Turtles
Wheeler Brothers
Florence + The Machine
Patterson Hood
The Relatives
The Avett Brothers
Michael Kiwanuka
Space Capone
Iggy & The Stooges
Big K.R.I.T.
The Staves
AVICII
Oberhofer
Native Run
BASSNECTAR
POLICA
Nikki Lane
The Roots
Tennis
Quiet Company
The Shins
Zola Jesus
Infantree
Weezer
Stars
Wild Child
Gotye
Kimbra
La Vida Bohème
The Civil Wars
Black Lips
The Eastern Sea
M83
Los Campesinos!
The Dunwells
Tegan and Sara
Jovanotti
Kenny Vaughan Trio
Childish Gambino
Ben Howard
Justin Jones
Two Door Cinema Club
Ruthie Foster
Sonámbulo
Thievery Corporation
Freelance Whales
Royal Teeth
The Afghan Whigs
Civil Twilight
Noah Gunderson
Crystal Castles
The Whigs
The Aaron Ivey Band
Andrew Bird
Dev
The Mighty Sincere Voices
Gary Clark Jr.
The Lumineers
G.S.T.
Metric
Bad Books
Colorfeels
Band of Skulls
The Devil Makes Three
Lera Lynn
Esperanza Spalding
Asleep At The Wheel
Megan McCormick
Alabama Shakes
First Aid Kit
Shields Of Faith
Delta Spirit
Patrick Watson
Stapletones
M. Ward
LP
The Baylor Choir
Randy Rogers Band
Caveman
Disciples Of Joy
Die Antwoord
Lee Fields & The Expressions
Ralph's World
Rufus Wainwright
Father John Misty
Orange Sherbet
NEEDTOBREATHE
Dry The River
Big Don
Big Gigantic
The Boxer Rebellion
Rocknoceros
Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra
Soul Rebels Brass Band
Hullabaloo
Steve Earle
Willis Earl Beal
Jambo
The War On Drugs
He's My Brother, She's My Sister
Peter DiStefano & Tor
Umphrey's McGee
Kishi Bashi
The School of Rock
Barrington Levy
Deep Dark Woods
The Q Brothers
Old 97's
Moon Duo
