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Book Festival Interview With Jonathan Foer
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Austinist's Will Mills Gets Dunked For Charity [Video]
Friday, September 26
Zilker Park (2100 Barton Springs Road)
first act at 1:00 p.m., $80 single day pass
[info] | [tickets]
Going hard (and soft, and twangy) for nearly forty years now, Austin's own Asleep At The Wheel opens the AMD stage at 1:00 p.m. with their finely honed Western Swing, an excellent kick-off to a weekend of music in the ATX. Accessible to anyone with toes for tappin' and an appreciation for fine fiddling, Asleep At The Wheel's classic renditions of "Boogie Back to Texas" and "Am I Right or Amarillo" will be fine primers for Western Swing skeptics. But if you don't want to hear songs about whiskey, Texas and two-stepping on a warm Friday afternoon, ACL just ain't for for you anyway, sweetie.
Next up, it's NYC's Vampire Weekend at 2:30 p.m., moving ACL swiftly from its old-school past into the hype-band present. But much more than just a buzz group, Vampire Weekend has garnered critical and mass appreciation by meshing Afro, punk and pop sounds into richly layered tunes that demand multiple listenings. So here's hoping they do an encore before folksy Patty Griffin takes the stage at 4:30 p.m.
Griffin, a soothing sad-bastard songstress with a trademark lilt, has shared the stage with the likes of the Dixie Chicks and Emmylou Harris, but tunes like "Rain" and "Heavenly Day" prove she'll be more than able to hold her own in front of an ACL crowd. Bring a box of tissues to mop your brow and dry your eyes ... not that N.E.R.D., up next, won't be doing all they can to cheer you up.
Everything you'd expect and more from the Neptunes, N.E.R.D is funk rock for non-nerds. (In fact, it stands for "No one ever really dies.") "Fusion" is probably a bad term here, considering Pharrell is way too sexy for that f-word, but their alterna-hip-hop mash-up style should have the AMD stage crowd having quite a boogie session for 6:30 p.m. Save your energy, though--The Mars Volta demands it.
The good old M-V, the seminal prog-rock band by the guys who brought you At The Drive In, headline the AMD stage at 8:15 p.m. At ACL, their Rolling Stone-approved sound may not be quite the same as their tightly produced concept albums, as they're known for improvisation and deviation during live performances.
Five very different acts, one fine AMD stage. Across Musical Disciplines. Austin Must Dig. A Massive Day.
Asleep At The Wheel [MySpace] [Official]
Vampire Weekend [MySpace] [Official]
Patty Griffin [MySpace] [Official]
N.E.R.D. [MySpace] [Official]
The Mars Volta [MySpace] [Official]
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