ACL Band Clash, Round 1: Spoon Vs. Queens Of The Stone Age

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Every fall, Austin looks forward to ACL Fest, and each year, there's always a point where two of your favorite bands are playing on different sides of the park at the exact same time. ACL Band Clash is a new, theoretically weekly series in which Austinist scribes Paige Maguire and Tom Thornton examine the worst ACL scheduling clashes, and try to provide good advice on finding a resolution. Well, good advice might be a stretch, but advice, anyhow. This week's entry looks at the Friday clash between local heroes Spoon and hard rockers Queens Of The Stone Age.

Tom: I think Spoon is the better band of the two. And Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is a great album. But why would any self-respecting Austinite give away a prime ACL Fest slot for a band they can see four times a year? I mean, Spoon played at Fun Fun Fun Fest in December, then at SXSW, and recently they did a secret gig at Mohawk and an in-store at Waterloo. So that's four appearances in the last eight months! They're also playing the Thursday night of ACL at La Zona Rosa, so anyone in Austin that likes Spoon should have seen them at least once in the last year or two. So, why not see the out of town band, even if it's not as much my bag?

Paige: I hear you, and given the fact that Spoon is still perfecting a truly stadium-ready live performance, I'd be tempted to agree. Do you remember last year, waiting for The Flaming Lips amidst a sea of Tom Petty fans? I was sandwiched in between a couple of grandmas in straw bonnets with ice chests (no clue how they got those inside, I couldn't even bring a Nalgene through the gate) and a quartet of burned out hippies in lawn chairs, seemingly unaware of their location. I imagine waiting for Queens of the Stone Age would feel almost as alien: a sea of roid-raged dudes with their girlfriends on their shoulders, waves of people with lower back tattoos, people who are there to see QOTSA and White Stripes, and...that's about it. I can't even fathom trying to enjoy that shit when I can go to a less crowded stage (I'm assuming here, but I think your argument backs me up) and watch local favorites play a set full of songs I know and love. That being said, "No One Knows" is a pretty fantastic fucking song, and might be worth getting a little moshed. Nah, no way. Hey, doesn't he look a lot like Craig Kilborn?

Tom: Well, it'd be far more interesting if the QOTSA guy resembled Jon Stewart, but I digress. Yes, fighting the metal crowd sounds a little scary, but given that it's $145 to go this year, will that crowd actually be there? I'm figuring it'll be more UT-fratty and such. It's nice that both of these groups are playing La Zona Rosa for people who view this as a big conflict. Why there's no Arcade Fire or My Morning Jacket aftershow is beyond me. I agree with you on "No One Knows," and would raise you "Another Love Song" as well. I'm not really into the QOTSA genre, but they do have a knack for being memorable and interesting when you hear them. But the more we talk about this, the more I'm tempted to go see Spoon again anyway. I suppose this festival gig will be Spoon's 'rockstar' coming out party in a way: they sold almost 50,000 records in Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga's first week! In the pirated music era! That's pretty cool, and the out-of-town contingent will likely be excited to check them out and eager to love them. Plus, maybe they'll hire mariachis for those new songs with horns since it's a big rock festival in their hometown. I'm not exactly making a strong case for my original point, am I?

Paige: Maybe I'm being too harsh on the QOTSA fans, but the crowds at ACL aren't necessarily indicative of the entire range of fans that follow certain bands, clearly. Turns out, those grandmas waiting for Petty immensely enjoyed Flaming Lips last year. That being said, consider the "I'm Waiting Here During This Band Because I Want a Good Spot for the Next Band" factor: The Killers follow QOTSA, which means you're fighting that UT jock type you were referring to earlier plus mascara'd Killers fans. If you're watching Spoon, you're dealing with throngs of girlfriends and Icelandic fetishists eager for Bjork. I do tend to generalize, eh? Regardless, I'll be watching Britt & Co., hopefully witnessing some new fans becoming attached and singing along with those of us who are still hoping to hear "Advance Cassette" one more time. As for The Killers and Bjork, well, we'll get to that next time.

Both Spoon and Queens Of The Stone Age play the Austin City Limits Festival on Friday, September 14th at 6:30pm. Both acts are playing official ACL aftershows at La Zona Rosa: Spoon plays Thursday the 13th, while QOTSA plays on Saturday the 15th.

[Spoon MySpace]
[Queens Of The Stone Age MySpace]
[ACL Tickets - Friday 9/14]
[Aftershow Tickets]

Contact the author of this article or email tips@austinist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Tom Thornton in Arts & Entertainment, Arts & Entertainment on August 8, 2007 9:30 AM 0 Comments

Comments [rss]

uselessgoo

Queens kill it live. They were on fire during the NIN shows.

Spoon:newborn baby's junk as

Queens:Ron Jeremy

There should really be no debate on this one my friends.

guest

i heard that #28

guest

I'd rather go hang out with the QOTSA fans than a bunch of whiny indie snobs.

guest

Why would the metal crowd be at ACL? There are no metal acts playing. If you're going to have this feature, either call it what it is; a display of your bias towards bands you like or get people who actually know something about the bands they're discussing.

guest

Yes, fighting the metal crowd sounds a little scary, but given that it's $145 to go this year, will that crowd actually be there?

yeah,metal is for the poor

Ursel

Oh jeez, Spoon again? against the ultra boring QOTSA....equal suckage all around. tHANK yOU goodnight

guest

this one's a tough call, but the lead singer of QOTSA's craig kilborn-esque hotness and their fairly decent new album is still easily overshadowed by spoon basically ruling in general and ga ga ga ga ga being the best album of 2007 so far! i've seen spoon seven times since sxsw '06 and i fully intend to see them during acl and the aftershow at la zona rosa prior. yes, i know i'm obsessed and i don't care! i can't wait!

guest

this could be the roids talkin', but qotsa fucking rocks.

adi

i might try the 'arf and 'arf policy for this conflict

guest

From La Zona's website:

"In the course of scheduling promotion for Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga and the September tour, we were told we'd have to cancel the La Zona Rosa show to accomodate our travel. Yesterday, we were able to figure out a plan B (unfortunately not until after the show was cancelled) in order to keep the La Zona show, so we apologize for the back and forth... We're just glad we get to play it after all. Hope everyone can still make it.

-Spoon"

guest

Its also apparent that the author thinks QOTSA has been around for only a few years and is a radio band? It's not like the guys were putting out music since the 80's or anything.

guest

"Stadium-ready live performance" - seriously? Is that the Mohawk "stadium" after the expansion?

guest

While your article sucked for the already mentioned reasons, I'd also like to point out how pointless it is to debate two bands when both of the debaters are obviously groupies of one of the bands. Maybe for the Arcade Fire/White Stripes Clash you can interview Jack and Meg White for their opinions. I'm sure that would be just as balanced as this one.

Patrick C

I think Spoon has canceled their La Zona Rosa show, so you don't have that to fall back on any more.

I'd still sooner go see QOTSA, though. Spoon will play here again, probably in the not-too-distant future.

guest

"If you're watching Spoon, you're dealing with throngs of girlfriends"

Thankfully, the music editor in question is neither interested in watching Spoon nor someone's girlfriend (future, ex, or current). Right?

JohnM

^ I agree, there are too many conflicts this year.

guest

I think this is a cool feature, hope to see more in the future.

guest

Now I'll go whip myself into a bloody stump to atone for speaking ill of anyone on austinist.com.

guest

Yeah, if this article taught me one thing, it's that Paige Perfectionist is a complete bitch.

guest

Thanks again to the Austinist for the in-depth looks into staff opinions. I completely rely on the Austinist for all things cool, so it's great that you guys are so ahead of the game. I don't know what I'd do without you.

guest

Here's my advice Paige Maguire: Stay at home locked in your living room with a Spoon CD so you can enjoy only the perfect company of yourself.

**I think amongst the typical hated-by-Austinist.com groups (hipster douchebag, UT jock, roid-raged dudes, people with lower back tattoos, burned out hippies, yuppie Lance fans and now grandmas) there should be a new "people to hate" category added: The Austinist Writer.

guest

spoon has made some great records, but watching them live is torture. they don't move!

qotsa wins on this one.

guest

Or, hypothetically speaking, the people could be leaving the area after QOTSA because those folks (QOTSA fans or otherwise) don't necessarily want to sit in silence for 45 minutes before the Killers.

Unlike what this article would like to suggest, people who watch QOTSA at ACL Fest might also go see another band or two... instead of committing date rape at Sig Pi.

Also, Crowded House is on BEFORE QOTSA.

guest

I think you'll see a lot of the crowd leave the area after QOTSA as the crowd will be dominated with the cool kids who follow the current radio trends. While QOTSA have been around for a long time and have some long time fans, most will be younger and/or people who only started to listen to them after Lullabies.

marym

qotsa all the way.

guest

QOTSA are on before Crowded House. So I'm hoping that all the QOTSA will save some space for a CH fan like myself.

I have nothing against QOTSA but I really want to be sure that I can be relatively close to the stage for CH.

Seriously.

Allen Y Chen

great work! that banner is beautiful

heyzeus

Nice new feature. I'm voting for the rawk of QOTSA since I've already seen Spoon at every ACL, ever.

guest

Austinist music writer: Both bands have some interesting songs and some interesting musical potential for their ACL Fest sets

Austinist music editor: Gah, I don't uh.. like.. people.. who.. uh.. err.. dress/act/look/are older/are younger than me. Why.. uhh.. would our readers.. err... they're all white hipsters right? .. umm.. should I care ... about umm.. the music? at a music.. festival? and uh maybe reflect on.. uh.. those bands.. music since errmm... hmm.. i'm the music editor? naaaaahhh.

Austinist music writer: Seriously though, both bands have their music merits and both will probably put on a helluva rock show in the sun! Work with me here, you're the goddamned music editor! Stop talking about how people dress when standing in a big fucking dusty field!

Austinist music editor: Umm.. derr...people around you might not be your clones! Sixty hundred..no.. thousand people.. they all.. should be... like... hip! Can't.. enjoy.. rock without rest of hive!

guest

QOTSA is hands down the better band overall. Spoon is great in the studio, at least as of late, but QOTSA is in a different league all together.