ACL Must-Sees: You Know the Headliners, But Do You Know These?
Friday
The Walkmen 3:30-4:30 at Xbox 360
This is a band that's been chugging away for a while now, but it seems their critical appeal and whole-album chops are finally catching up to the curse of having an early-career hit single ("The Rat," which, still, almost six years later, is awesome). Their most recent album, the sprawling and ceaselessly rewarding You & Me, was on everyone's year-end best-of list for 2008, and the tightness of the band, their professional approach, and the increasingly skilled vocal hollers of lead man Hamilton Leithauser make this an act to see, both for where they've been and where they're going.
Them Crooked Vultures 7:30-8:30 at Xbox 360
So, we all know the supergroup thing can be a little tiresome, but when one of the three members is none other than John Paul Jones (yes, Led freaking Zeppelin's John Paul Jones), it's kind of hard not to look, even if what you see might be a little scary. Throw in the always impassioned work of Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl (this time reprising his way-back role as drummer) and the vocals of Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme, and this is the definition of a must-see, rubbernecker division: you might not ever buy the album, and you might think the whole enterprise is a bit absurd, but damn straight you've got to at least take a peek.
Saturday
DeVotchKa 7:00-8:00 at The Wildflower Center
Every festival weekend has to have a show where you end up clapping uncontrollably to the music, and dancing in spite of your well-documented inability to do so without embarrassing yourself and others. Thankfully (or not), DeVotchKa is here to provide you with just that show. Perhaps best known for their role soundtracking the Academy Award-winning Little Miss Sunshine, this established Denver quartet offers a bounty of flawless execution in unexpected packages, as sousaphone, violin, accordion, trumpet, theremin, and upright bass take prominent roles in fantastically well-crafted gypsy-folk-rock-polka-ish compositions that'll keep your spirits high.
Bon Iver 5:00-6:00 at Dell
By now many people-in-the-know are aware of Justin Vernon's "wrote a bunch of forlorn love songs alone in a cabin in the frozen wilderness" backstory, but that doesn't make the results of those efforts, nor the increasingly complex work he's done since then, any less captivating. Truth is, dude's got some amazing pipes, and he can hit the high notes without it seeming like a joke. So this is a good chance to experience the highs and lows of life and love in a single hour, as Vernon and his band are more than capable of eliciting both tears of utmost joy and tears of profoundest sorrow. If you want a more intimate look at his work, be sure to check him out pre-fest this Wednesday night at Paramount.
Sunday
The Dirty Projectors 5:00-6:00 at Dell
This late add to the festival line-up is a goodie, even if they haven't been on the mainstream radar long enough for everyone to be clamoring for spots close to the stage. And that's good news for you, because if you've never seen interweaving pointillist three-part female harmonies with a guitar-virtuoso frontman and artfully demanding rhythm section, then this is as fine a chance as you're going to get. Riding high off their stunning breakthrough album, Bitte Orca, this intellectually demanding enterprise is a great example of what happens when a conceptually-gifted Yale graduate turns his talents to pop music.
The Dead Weather 6:00-7:00 at Livestrong
So there's this one simple rule about attending a festival: if Jack White is anywhere, doing anything, you should go to it. This holds true not only for playing guitar or singing, but for him getting a drink of water, walking a dog, or, in this case, playing drums for an Alison Mosshart (of The Kills)-led hard rock outfit. While White's other ventures, namely The White Stripes and The Raconteurs, have endeared him to awe-filled concert-goers in the past, this will be his first ACL opportunity to demonstrate, once again, not only his musical versatility, but his generally captivating presence as a human being.
Honorable Mentions
Friday: Phoenix 4:30-5:30 at AMD
If you need your sugar-pop fix, this veteran group of French bloodpumpers will be eager to make good on the catchy promise of their awesomely-titled American breakthrough album, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. You may have seen them on Saturday Night Live in April. Or, well...probably not.
Saturday: Grizzly Bear 3:00-4:00 at Dell
This foursome has become quite well-known this past year, as their hyper-polished chamber-pop has made the latenight television rounds and rendered themselves a lightning rod both for incredible love and occasional frantic loathing. Don't forget their sure-to-be-quality Saturday aftershow (w/ Beach House) at Emo's.
Sunday: The Dodos/Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears 12:30-1:15 at Livestrong/AMD
Sunday provides one of the weekend's fiercest early-day schedule clashes, with the up-and-coming Dodos (built around a skilled guitar/drums combo) battling Austin's own Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears. Both of these acts are sure to be great---just make sure you get to the fest early enough to catch one of them doing their good thing.
And just in case you hadn't heard: So there's this band, they've been around for a while, you should probably see what all the fuss is about. Yeah, they're called, what is it, Pearl something? Oh yeah, Pearl Jam. I guess they were huge in the nineties? You might want to check them out, too, just for kicks.
