Yeah Yeah Yeahs To Replace Beasties at ACL

Your feelings regarding Beastie Boys and whether they are still in their prime or not, are irrelevant. Many ticket holders paid good money to see them. I am traveling 9 hours to see the festival and one of reasons i paid a lot of money for three day passes and took off an extra day of work was because the Beastie Boys were going to be there on Friday. Beastie Boys SHOULD be replaced with someone i have HEARD of. Guess i am going to see KOL.

REALLY, PEOPLE?!!!

Have even ever SEEN the YYY's live much less listened to them?

Well, I have, twice. And I've seen the Beastie Boys live, thrice. And I'm not talking about just seeing the Beastie Boys at Tibetan Freedom Concert or HORDE Festival(does anybody remember that?), I'm talking about seeing them on their own headlining bill with Tribe Called Quest opening up for them. It was a great show, definitely one to be remembered, but they were still in their prime then. That is no longer the case, and I can definitely tell you that the YYY's ARE IN THEIR PRIME. I am much more excited about the prospect of seeing the YYY's. Go see the show and get your mind blown, if you can open it up for a second or two.

I support this sentiment. The Beastie Boys did some really solid work 15 to 25 years ago but their best days are behind them.

Couldn't disagree more. Did you see the Beastie Boys at Stubb's a few years back? Still an amazing show. On another note, there is a reason they have been around so long. The YYY's won't be discussed in 5-10 years from now, let alone 20, the BB's will continue to be discussed even then however.

No one actually saw that show @ Stubbs. It is an urban legend.

Anyway, I have no doubt that a BBs show would be entertaining and that YYYs will ultimately be a minor footnote in indie rock history but I stand behind the statement that the BBs best days are behind them. Same thing goes for Pearl Jam and DMB.

the BBs best days are behind them. Same thing goes for Pearl Jam and DMB.

The cynic in me says that's why they're all headliners to begin with. Is there any headlining band at any festival this year who hasn't already passed their peak? I can't think of any.

[Note, typing this a second time because the craptacular austinist.com website dumped my first attempt, saying I have to register before posting. Why the hell login is required so often is a mysterious annoyance, and I'm sure people in third world countries agree with me.]

While I agree with you that it can't be trivial to find a replacement band, there don't have to be "tons" of available top-tier bands; merely one.

I'm not going either, but I think C3 owes it to the ticket-buyers who paid for a headlining band each night to come up with a suitable replacement. Or at least give out coupons for a free slushy-drink or something.

Not to belabor the point (this is the internet though), but don't you think getting the Beastie Boys in the first place took some luck and hard work even when it wasn't on short notice? I just don't think it's as easy as you make it out to be to find "merely one." If it is that easy, where are the other 1st tier acts you are going to be bringing to Austin? That is not a request by the way - I prefer local and 4th or 5th tier myself. Also, I'm not qualified to say if the YYYs are a 1st tier band or not, so I don't mean to imply something on that count one way or the other. I hope folks have fun whatever their plans are that weekend.

Nowhere did I try to say it would be easy. I'm only disputing your argument against a replacement being that people think there are "tons" of headliners available.

As I said before, I'm not going; I don't care. But if I had bought a ticket sold to me with the understanding that there would be a "big name" band closing the evening, I'd be cranky.

I'll give C3 this: Unlike in the example I used above, where they merely reshuffled the lineup to replace a headlining act, at least they did bring in another band that wasn't scheduled to play before.

Why do you people assume that there are tons of 1st tier bands beating down the door to play ACL at the last minute? I don't think the issue is money here, I think it's a matter of getting a decent band that can fit it into their schedule. But then I don't know much about the promotion business and I'm not even going to ACL this year (it's always too hot and I'd rather go tubing).

Whine, whine, whine. No one is ever happy. One of the best festivals in the world actually plays in the middle of our city in an awesome park and people just complain. I wonder if people in third world countries eating uncooked rice and drinking dirty water are this upset about acts canceling at ACL.

Whine, whine, whine. No one is ever happy. One of the best festivals in the world actually plays in the middle of our city in an awesome park and people just complain.

Seth

Yes it does, take a look. Not enough non-NA bands, no women so and so on...while the poster was incorrect, they still had a complaint within hours of the piece going on line.

I don't think people realize how great live music is here. Try living somewhere that you have to drive at least 4-6 hours to get to any kind of a decent show and having that only happen once a month at best. I've been there, it sucks.

This really shouldn't be a surprise. Wasn't it just two years ago that when The White Stripes canceled, their slot was filled just by moving Muse to the main stage? It should be understood by now that when a headliner is replaced, it won't be a 1st-tier replacement.

Certainly when tickets are already sold out there's nothing to be gained by bringing in a big-name band.

I'm not planning on attending ACL Fest, so I have no right to complain ... Still, it seems obvious, as Seth said, C3 didn't go out of their way to book a 1st-tier replacement for the Beasties.

Tickets are already sold out. Yeah Yeah Yeahs are available. Their asking price is probably 50% less than BB's. Do the math.

man, we all get jacked around every year with this stuff. i say don't get emotional about it though - they don't know any better. if anyone thinks that the c3 people even know what they are booking (or actually listen to the records) you're crazy. why else would they unknowlingly pit 2 bands against each other that play to the same exact crowd? its a business and we are feeling the wrath of a money decision. just like last year, and every year really. if it was up to the CDs that are in the cars of the c3 board of directors, we would be bitching about why hootie and blowfish was brought on to replace right said fred.

Uncommon is spelled "uncommon". I know.

For what it's worth: I'm happy. I not it's easy to complain about big festivals, but this one is HERE and it's always a good time. I would have liked to see the Beasties again but look forward to YYYs.

Go ahead and bitch people. It's a festival. It's not uncommen for changes to happen when you have 100+ acts. Sell your ticket if you don't like it!

For what it's worth (which is jackshit!), I was only mildly excited for the Beastie Boys (more because I'd like to see them once, but not because I actually was dying to see them) and couldn't care less about KOL or the YYYs.

But, maybe because I've made a pact with the devil not to complain about C3 or maybe because this will allow me to see two bands for ~20 minutes each and then head home or maybe because I know it'll piss people off that the YYYs replaced the Beasties.. but I'm happy with this choice.

Bring on Karen O's asymmetrical stupid haircut and American Apparel leggings I say!

C'mon, no one is going to complain about the replacement for Lily Allen?! The lack of bitterness on this subject is confusing to me!

I think I would rather watch an Aerosmith cover band, actually...

Ah well. Guess my Friday night will be spent with the Kings of Leon.

Cha-ching!! More money for Charles Attal. Tickets all sold. Doesn't have to pay the Beastie Boys. Get's a third-tier act to fill their place at a reduced fee. Might as well have gone low-rent and booked an Aerosmith cover band.

Seth