Online Frenzy Over ACL Bands

Update: THE SHINS are playing ACL!

South by Southwest ended a mere month ago, but there's already an online frenzy building up for this fall's ACLFest -- which, dudes, is still five months away! Early-bird tickets came and went (in less than an hour, much to the chagrin of most people who received their notification emails later that evening), and the regular lot of full-price passes are selling at a healthy clip.

So you've snagged your 3-day badge, stocked up on sunscreen, and ordered a HEPA filter mask or two. Now the only left to do is wait and see what bands Charles Attal and Co. are bringing to town.

As a sneaky ploy to drive up public hype surrounding the festival, ACL's put together a nifty little game called the Festival Lineup Scavenger Hunt. From April 13th through this Friday, they're posting a "daily artist clue" on the Scavenger Hunt page, like yesterday's:

This group's latest release cites drum licks copped from Detroit Rock City.

You're then invited to spend ages scouring the net for the answer, like so:

* Visit this website each business day between April 13 and April 21. The daily artist clue will be posted at 9:30am (CST) each morning. * Think, ponder, google, and then go searching on official artist web sites for our official spokesbird, the Zilker Park Grackle. You will know you have solved the clue when you find the Grackle image on an artist's website. * Click the Grackle and complete the submission. * You are officially entered to win a daily prize of two 3-day passes to this year's ACL Festival. * The Grand Prize: entrants who discover all 7 artists and complete the contest entry will have a chance to win VIP passes. No lie!

Some folks have set up a blog dedicated to figuring out just who's planning on playing in Zilker Park come September. According to ACLFest 2006 Rumors, the following are confirmed acts:

The Shins, The Flaming Lips, Los Lonely Boys, Iron and Wine, The New Pornographers, Son Volt, Asleep at the Wheel, Jimmy Dale Gilmore, The Subdudes, The Greencards, Kasey Chambers, Buckwheat Zydeco, Melissa Reaves, Eli Young Band, Elvis Perkins

There's also a separate forum site at aclrumors.com, which they're planning on merging with the rumors blog.

forums: http://www.aclrumors.com
blog: http://aclfest2006rumors.blogspot.com/
contest: http://www.aclfestival.com/scavengercontest/