I look at a music festival as a chance to see some great headlining acts I really want to see along with the opportunity to catch some other artists I might not see individually but have heard great things about and would like to check out. I kind of assumed Jack Johnson would be headlining since he’s heading up most of the big music festivals this year and yet his name is no where to be found. Instead, ACL is throwing out the Foo Fighters, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss and Beck as its headliners, all acts I’ve either seen before and don’t care about seeing again or have no interest in seeing in the first place.
I’d love to see The Raconteurs and Gnarls Barkley again, but I’m not sure they’re worth the expense of ACL when more than likely they’ll be heading to Houston before or after their stops in Austin. Surprisingly the mid-card acts are actually more appealing this year than the headliners with appearances by Conor Oberst (a.k.a. Bright Eyes), M. Ward, Gogol Bordello, Hot Chip and Vampire Weekend. Hot Chip alone is almost enough to get me to commit to Austin. I saw those guys at Lollapalooza 2006 and have been a huge fan ever since. Then you get to the bottom of the lineup and it’s a ton of bands I’ve never even heard. Unfortunately, unless there are some additional names added to the top of the lineup I just can’t see myself heading to ACL anymore. Thank goodness I haven’t already purchased my three-day pass. I might skip ACL and just drive to Austin for the weekend anyway to catch all of the soon to be announced after-party shows.
2008 Austin City Limits Music Festival Lineup
Foo Fighters
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
Beck
Manu Chao - John Fogerty
David Byrne - The Raconteurs
The Mars Volta - Gnarls Barkley
Conor Oberst And The Mystic Valley Band
N.E.R.D. - Erykah Badu - Robert Earl Keen
Patty Griffin - Tegan & Sara - Iron & Wine
G. Love & Special Sauce - Neko Case
Band Of Horses - The Swell Season
Silversun Pickups - Gogol Bordello
Gillian Welch - Eli Young Band - The Black Keys
Against Me! - Jakob Dylan And The Gold Mountain Rebels
Okkervil River – Galactic - Kevin Fowler
Sharon Jones And The Dap Kings - Hot Chip
Vampire Weekend - Slightly Stoopid - Flyleaf
Duffy Alejandro Escovedo - Roky Erikson
Yonder Mountain String Band - Spiritualized - Flyleaf
Drive-By Truckers - Ingrid Michaelson - Stars
Jose Gonzalez – CSS - Del The Funky Homosapien
Man Man - Jamie Lidell - MGMT
What Made Milwaukee Famous - Jenny Lewis - M. Ward
Asleep At The Wheel - Mason Jennings - Heartless Bastards
Antibalas - The Nachito Herrera All-Stars - Shooter Jennings
Xavier Rudd – Yeasayer - Octopus Project - Joe Bonamassa
The Kills - White Denim - Louis XIV - Delta Spirit - Mates Of State
Nicole Atkins & The Sea - Electric Touch
Black Door Slam - Tristan Prettyman - The Strange Boys
Ryan Bingham - Scott Biram - Freddy Jones - Colour Revolt
Five Times August - Langhorne Slim
Black Joe Lewis & The Honey Bears - Sybris
Eli "Paper Boy" Reed And The True Loves – AA Bondy
Bavu Blakes And The Extra Plairs - Christopher Denny
Mike Farris - The Lee Boys - South Austin Jug Band
American Bang - Bobby Bare, Jr. - Massacoustics
Belleville Outfit - We Go To 11 - Band Of Heathens
City And Colour - Sunny Sweeney - Elizabeth Wills
Autamata - Bonnie Bishop - Ben Solee - Ben Cylus
The Concert Supremes - River City Christionettes - Shields Of Faith
The Jones Family Singers - Nakia And His Southern Cousins
Brotherly Luv - The Hensley Ensemble - School Of Rock
Jambo - Q Brothers - Buck Howdy With BB - Uncle Rock
Big Don - Mr. Ray - The Jimmies