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Book Festival Interview With Jonathan Foer
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Wine: Austin Cellar Classic Is Tomorrow
Austinist's Will Mills Gets Dunked For Charity [Video]
This morning marks the release of the ACL 2007 schedule grid. This is probably the most stressful day of the year for the avid ACL festivalgoer, as hopes of seeing every act one likes are dashed when seeing how many of your favorite bands are playing at the exact same time. It's impossible to program such a big festival without a couple of conflicts, but three stand out to us this year as particularly unfair to many attendees:
#1 (by a wide margin) The Arcade Fire vs The White Stripes: Wow. This is really going to make people angry. If ever two bands had the same fanbase, these are the bands. The (many) ticketholders who banked on these as their two favorite bands of the fest will be very disappointed to find them playing opposite each other. This one will probably cause a few online petitions and message board meltdowns to occur this morning. It might have been better to have The Arcade Fire precede The White Stripes on the main stage rather than compete with them.
#2 My Morning Jacket vs Wilco: Again, this one hurts, as the audience for these two bands (intelligent indie Americana with a side order of jamming) has a huge overlap, meaning that many will be forced to choose between two favorites. We're surprised that MMJ wasn't moved back an hour or two to avoid this result.
#3: Arctic Monkeys vs Muse: Fans of British arena rock are also crying into their coffee and cereal this morning. Switching either band (likely the Monkeys, who rely less on lighting and more on songwriting) to the 4:30 or even 2:30 mainstage slot would probably mean conflicts for far fewer concertgoers.
We also suspect that LCD Soundsystem vs M.I.A. and Queens Of The Stone Age vs Spoon will cause some teeth gnashing, but in far lesser numbers than the three mentioned above. We feel for festival organizers who have rock star egos, logistics, and multiple audiences to consider, but it would sure be nice to see a little same-day band shuffling to maximize happiness and minimize conflict.
In other ACL news, the 3-day passes priced at $145 have now completely SOLD OUT. Single day tickets priced at $80 per day have just gone on sale this morning, and are the only tickets left for the festival unless you're willing to hit Craigslist or eBay. Austinist would advise people looking for 3-day passes that a glut of tickets always seem to hit the CL/eBay gray market at decent prices about a week before the festival (mostly due to out-of-towners who change their plans or can't find a hotel), so think twice before paying someone $225 for the 3-day pass they bought a month ago for $120.
In one final, more positive bit of ACL news, there's been little to no movement in the ACL lineup this year, so thankfully all the bands you were happy to see on this year's lineup are still attending. Last year, there were quite a few band swapouts in May and June, so we're glad to see this calm down a lot this summer.
What do you think of the ACL schedule conflicts and ticket pricing? Let us know in the comments below.
Austin City Limits Festival
September 14-16, 2007
Zilker Park [map]
Doors at 11am
$80/day [tickets]
White Stripes image via their MySpace page; image by Autumn de Wilde. Arcade Fire image via Merge Records.
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"...The [Arctic] Monkeys, who rely less on lighting and more on songwriting..." ho, snap! Bet they're jealous cuz they don't get to sing about spaceships tho'
The "competition" is intentional, I'd imagine. Rather than have the bulk of the attendees crowding one end of the park or the other, the fest intentionally splits the focus between two similarly liked bands. They can't do that in all cases, but here and there they are trying to blunt the flood of people in one particular area.
I'd have to agree with the #1 conflict. I actually yelled "awww, that is bullshit!" at my computer as soon as I saw that one. Those were the two bands I wanted to see the most. Devotchka vs Rodrigo y Gabriela hurt too. Two bands I was really excited about checking out live and thinking both would be a great early afternoon show.
Yup, you nailed my list of conflicts, in order, too. It's like you're reading my mind. Austinist, please stop reading my mind. Now I'm scared. Hold me. NO! DON'T HOLD ME, AUSTINIST!
Amos Lee and Regina Spektor hurt as well. But I also am upset over the LCD and MIA time slot. It sucks to have to choose between 2 great artists. I'll put off that decision till I have to make it.
THIS IS HORRIBLE. peter bjorn and john vs joseph arthur? andrew bird vs steve earle?! ghostland vs the decemberists!
I have to agree with comment #2. People would complain that it's too crowded or that they can't hear if the majority of everyone is at one stage. I know I was doing the same complaining about The Shins last year.
I'm not happy about the conflicts either, but it's how things go at festivals I suppose.
I think what I'm most angry about is the $80 1-day tickets. Last year I bought my parents and brother each a 1-day for early Christmas gifts. There's no way I can pull that off this year.
Daddy A Go-Go vs. The Wonderful Harmonizers ... Damn you ACL, Damn you. Don't make me choose! sweet agony.
I'm just glad I got the souvenir ticket presale. Im not too bummed out about the list cept for wilco vs mmj. Seems to be less b.s. this year. lets hope the "Chair Rule" is kicked out and chairs banned. Chairs caused so many incidents last year. Like when medical attention is needed and it takes you 30 min to get out of the crowd or for rescue to arrive. bogus. plus if you are in the back, you could have been 2x as close to the stage, but guess what...the empty chairs were there, taking up your space.
Really?!?! $80 for a single day when early birders got 3-day passes for just $20 more?!?! Unbelievable. ACL, how about you drop the early bird crap seeing as it only pisses people off anyway and pass the profits on to those looking to buy 1-day passes? Some of us are (really) white and can't take the brunt of a 3-day sun bender, so a 1-day pass is our best option. I just can't believe the prices this year. Sigh.
^There is line beyond which you can't place a chair. Go stand in front of it. "Problem" solved.
Wes, that chair line is way too close to the stage. If they moved it several hundred yards back, maybe you'd have a legitimate point.
Insult to injury: Also playing against Wilco/MMJ is Patterson Hood of the Drive-By Truckers and Del McCoury. That just ain't right.
and they don't enforce the chair line very well at all. if they could and would, that would help alot.
this is just tragic. I'm curious to see what the internet backlash is going to be as it has already started to swell here. mmj and wilco?? for real? did someone's grandmother over a ACL set this schedule?
I'm beside myself.
The prices are entirely way too much. I really am upset that 3 day passes sold out soon. I just arrived back from Bonnaroo. 4 days of music for $245. Sets lasted more than 1 hour. ACL is entirely way too expensive. $80 per day with horrible conflicts....moving in the wrong direction.
i've said it before, i'll say it again:
no chairs within 200 feet of the stage. you wanna lounge, go sit in the back.
I'm pretty happy with the schedule -- the conflicts are expected and are just a part of multiple-stage festival shows especially with the bigger acts. As someone mentioned earlier, it likely has alot to do with managing the crowds -- I'm sure the schedulers were very aware of what they were doing with regards to which groups were at the same time.
So... chairs, schedule conflicts, 1-day ticket prices... what else can we all totally freak out about?
my morning jacket really isn't nearly on the same level as wilco. not that hard of a choice.
white stripes are an easy pick, too.
however, the muse/arctic monkeys combo is ridiculous. they could have easily moved one of those 2 to the third day.
on a personal note, the bjork vs. the killers time slot will cause a bit of conflict in the group i'm going with, but we'll just split up.
God I hate this shit.
The bands are fantastic but the heat and expense and the massive crush of people are enough reasons not to go. Add to that scheduling conflicts and you've gotta be fucking kidding me.
1. $245 for 4 days @ Bonnaroo. $120 for 3 days @ ACL Fest. Yes. You're right. I like doubling the price for 33% more music. Is that you, Stephen Hawking?
2. If it's so easy to schedule bands and move them to different days, why don't we just have a festival 365 days a year? There's probably a reason why Muse and Artic Monkeys are on the same day at the same time and I'm going to wager that the folks at CAPresents didn't do it just to fuck with hipsters' lives.
3. Backlash Smacklash. There's always going to be people who aren't happy. My guess is the people who use the internet and post on blogs aren't so happy about the pairings of bands at the same time, but a lot of people in different demographics that don't read and comments on blogs are very happy. Which one of these demographics makes up more of the ACL Fest attendance? Your guess is as good as mine, but the world doesn't revolve around what we want (and unlike suffrage, these minority rights to an awesome ACL Fest schedule aren't a protected freedom sadly!)
4. I bet the people of Des Moines would settle for this shitty festival scheduling in a heartbeat.. but maybe not since hometown boys Slipknot seem to have gotten left off. Again. Fuck.
I just looked up my one day pass for ACL last year... with service charge and delivery, it was $67.50. Remember this year, the advertised price includes all that with no extra charges at the end.
$80 is a little more, but theres more better music this year.
Not a bad deal at all.
tom
i appreciated your post because i scoped the sched., and the folks i most wanted to hear (crowded house, MIA and bjork) are pretty much tag-teaming it. kinda uncanny.
any guesses as to when those 1 day passes will sell out? i ask b/c i'm an extraordinary procrastinator (and i know there are others out there, too!)
b
ACL is totally not worth the price (especially at $80/day) -- but maybe I'm spoiled by Pitchfork and Intonation festival prices ($45 for the weekend) in Chicago.
seriously, I'd rather go see most of these bands when they come back on their own tours and play somewhere that's not 2million degrees, crowded and overpriced
Bjork being the only exception. And I might just buy that Friday pass just for her.
for the rest, I'll catch the music from my back porch
The conflicts are shocking but after carefull consideration I think it actually makes sense. They're splitting the crowd for better conditions at each stage and NOT putting someone like the The Arcade Fire or Arctic Monkeys up against a smaller act means that the smaller acts get better exposure. The third day is a prime excample, it's packed with smaller artists but a lot of REALY quality acts that deserve the attention. It also accomplishes another goal: without really strong back-to-back-to-back stages it means the people and their annoying chairs have less of a reason to park their fat butts ALLLL day in front of one stage.
"Wes, that chair line is way too close to the stage. If they moved it several hundred yards back, maybe you'd have a legitimate point."
Cry me a river.
Just like the last couple of years. If you can wait until Saturday morning, just go buy a 3-day pass from a scalper for $80-100 and get your in and out privs for the weekend.
tbone-- do you have some sort of free instantaneous travel device that allows you to get to Chicago (and stay there for at least 2 nights) without costing a penny?
if so, I'd love to hitch a ride!
if not, I think $120 and being able to walk to the festival (and sleep in my own bed) comes out as a wash vs $45 and having to spend $200-400 on airfare + transportation/parking (at both airports) + lodging of some sort. (even if you count staying at a friend's place as "free", its not really the same as your own bed)
but, i appreciate your sentiments and if I lived in Chicago, i'd think Pitchfork was the greatest thing ever. especially since I'd likely be a Cubs/Bears fan and probably want to slit my wrists.
that's a lot of ( ). oops.
As long as some kind, not-well-connected person wants to pay me for the privelege of sleeping on my spare futon, ACL can do whatever the hell they want!
Nice lineup at Pitchfork - Sonic Youth, Cat Power, Voxtrot, New Pornographers, Stephen Malkmus, etc. But that doesn't quite compare to Wilco, Bob Dylan, Arcade Fire, White Stripes, Bjork, Bloc Party, etc, does it?
I was concerned for a second about the Arcade Fire/White Stripes overlap that was until i heard the full legnth Icky Thump. I, unlike Pitchfork didn't think it was really an 8. hmmmm
stan sure is crying for attention. someone give it to him, please? he can write the word "fuck" a lot and call everyone else "hipsters."
he's the only hip non-hipster here, fer shure.
One thing to note, if you opt for the "PrintPass" method of ticket delivery (which I just did)
You might have a hard time reselling it.
I would expect that on craigslist there will be a problem of actual counterfeit printpasses or enough fear that its counterfeit, that it will be difficult to resell PrintPass.
They will be scanning the barcodes at the gate and verifing its authenticity (and that it hasn't already entered the park), so people with counterfeits will obviously be denied entry.
Not-Stan,
Saying the word "fuck" two times is "a lot"? I didn't mean to offend your sensible eyes (or ears, if you've got one of those Stevie Wonder computer things going on).
I don't consider the word "hipster" to be insulting at all; And, I like to hang out at "hipster" establishments and listen to "hipster" music as much as the next guy -- but I think my tastes and my friends' musical tastes are in the minority and as such, I don't think anyone is trying to schedule to cater to us.
If you'd like to dispute any of my points instead of making up nonsense, please do.
Stan, you actually made points to be refuted? I couldn't see them, really. Seemed to me like you were basically saying nobody had a right to complain.
notstan was correct--you were pretty much posting to get attention.
And now you got it.
Spoon could conflict with whoever is on the kiddie stage for all I care.
What I don't get is how CSE doesn't do this scheduling mess at Lollapalooza. I went to Chicago last year and had a great time. There are shade trees in Grant Park, it was about 30 degrees cooler in Chicago in August than Austin in September, and there weren't nearly as many killer scheduling conflicts of the sort ACL throws at us every year. The best thing I've heard to do is find a friend's couch to sleep on and spend a week in Chicago between Pitchfork and Lolla. It's worth the $250 airfare.
Is CSE to blame for the lack of trees in Zilker or the fact that Chicago is 1200 miles north of Austin and on a huge lake?
Yes. They're also to blame for Austin trees being short, the summer being hot, and for planning a huge outdoor festival in the heat of September instead of December when the weather might be bearable.
Maybe just that last part.
"What I don't get is how CSE doesn't do this scheduling mess at Lollapalooza."
I'm going to Lolla (no chairs allowed - darn!) and yes, there are conflicts.
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - The Roots
YYYs - Snow Patrol
Patti Smith - Spoon
Muse - Interpol
Kinfs of Leon - Iggy and the Stooges
MMJ - Modest Mouse
Conflicts are inevitable but fortunately I've seen a lot of these bands so I can check out ones that I haven't seen.
3 day passes are available again for $145
http://austincitylimits.frontgatetickets.com/