ACL Fest Update: Aftershow Explosion, Schedule Gripes, and New Additions

There is much to report this week surrounding the Zilker Park-sized dust oven that is ACL Fest.

The big news is that a ridiculous number of 'official' ACL aftershow concerts has been announced. Many of the fest's acts will take over all of our club venues immediately after the big show ends each night. All tickets go onsale tomorrow at 10am, except for Sufjan Stevens, which is already onsale. This means that either (a) if you're hardcore, you can SXSW it and see 12 hours of music per day or (b) if you hate outdoor festivals, you can buy some tix to club shows and enjoy ACL acts without all of the heat. The complete lineup follows:

Thursday 9/14:
Thievery Corporation + Federico Aubele @ Stubb's
Ben Kweller + Sam Roberts Band @ La Zona Rosa
Polyphonic Spree + Enon + Octopus Project + Tokyo Police Club @ Emo's

Friday 9/15:
The Shins + The Black Angels @ Stubb's
Guster + Gomez @ La Zona Rosa
Particle + OHN @ The Parish
Benevento Rosso Duo + Apollo Sunshine @ Stubb's (Inside)
Sufjan Stevens @ The Paramount

Saturday 9/16:
Los Lobos @ Antone's
G. Love & Special Sauce @ La Zona Rosa
Okkervil River @ The Parish
Sufjan Stevens @ The Paramount
String Cheese Incident @ Stubb's
Sparklehorse + Feist @ Emo's

Sunday 9/17:
Cat Power & Memphis Rhythm Band @ Stubb's (you know, maybe)

While still holding out hope for an overcast ACL weekend, we think this deluge of aftershows at reasonable prices is a great thing for locals.

More line-up shuffles are still in process for the festival: TV on the Radio and Tristan Prettyman were both added to the bill this week, while folkie Alexi Murdoch has bowed out. Following the earlier departures of Editors, Damien Rice, and Goldfrapp, it seems that the bill is especially fluid this year.

One final note: some scheduling during the fest has online message boards humming. Most dismay is directed at the scheduling of Ben Harper and The Flaming Lips, Wolf Parade and Stars, and Phoenix and Feist at the same times. Honorable mention goes to the Iron and Wine and Kings Of Leon face-off. We're not sure how we feel: scheduling the 3-day bill must be tough, yet these pairings obviously share a good portion of their respective fanbases. It might be wise to move some bigger indie names to earlier in the day (for example, swapping Stars and Paolo Nutini on Friday's bill) in future years to alleviate these issues.

We'll keep you posted at ACL news continues to appear in the coming weeks.

Photo via ACLFest.com.