Band Vs. Band at ACL Fest

A festival like ACL, which takes place in a central location won't have as many tough choices as say, SXSW but there are multiple stages so you're still going to have to make some tough decisions every now and again. I'll be posting my picks for each day of the fest the day before each day...does that make sense? Firstly though I want to highlight some of the tougher choices when making your picks this year. For me, Saturday has the most conflicts but I'll try to go chronologically.

The first hipster music conflict I notice of the festival is the pitting of Miike Snow against Girls. For me, I definitely am leaning towards Girls since I'm such a big fan of theirs HOWEVER I have already seen them play before whereas Miike Snow I have not seen. Miike Snow played several times during SXSW, even at some events I attended but they were never playing while I was in attendance. So, I guess it comes down to whether you want to rock out or electro out? Dance out? Pop out? Not really sure how I would classify the Snow sound.


Miike Snow - Silvia video via YouTube


The next major conflict for Friday is, Beach House Vs. local metal heroes, The Sword. These artists are on complete opposite ends of the musical spectrum and while I adore Beach House especially their latest LP, Teen Dream, the Austinite in me says I have to support The Sword. Besides, I really don't think the Nyquil-pop of Beach House is well-suited for the festival experience.


The Sword - Tres Brujas video via YouTube

The final conflict of Saturday pits the old-guard of alt--rock against the new guard of blog-rock. The legendary, Sonic Youth are playing the same time as Vampire Weekend. Do you want to rock or do you want to twee-rock? Personally, I had the chance to see VW before their first LP on the Mohawk's inside stage and I don't see anything topping that. However, I will (hopefully(*fingers crossed)) be in attendance when Sonic Youth tapes their Austin City Limits Television performance Thursday night. In otherwords by Saturday I will have seen both artists. In either case, you have to pick the legends simply because you can. Sorry, vee dubs, maybe next year?


Sonic Youth - Sacred Trickster video via YouTube

Saturday has lots of conflicts so I'm going to keep it more brief. The conflicts start early (12:15p) when First Aid Kit and the Very Best take stage simultaneously. I vote the Very Best based on having fun at a festival. Also, it's quite likely we'll see Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend at the Very Best's set as he lends vocals to the title track from their LP.


the Very Best - Warm Heart of Africa video via YouTube

The always handsome, Pete Yorn will be playing while BOTH Ninjasonik and Two Door Cinema Club perform. I'll probably skip Ninjasonik despite really enjoying them, simply because I caught them at SXSW this year.


Ninjasonik - Negative Thinking in Tight Pants video via YouTube

4:30p-5:30p on Saturday is going to be the toughest hour of the whole festival. I literally like EVERY artists playing at that time. Silversun Pickups, Broken Bells, Local Natives, AND Dan Black are all playing at the same time?!?! Damn, that's going to be a tough decision. I have actually seen all of those artists already this year but that doesn't mean I don't want to see them all again?!?! I want Local Natives to get a good crowd, but SSPU were soooo effing good and a festival is really where they shine. I'm not going to pick a horse in this race, I'm going to just let the fest lead me.


Dan Black - U + Me = video via YouTube

That's not the end of Saturday's conflicts though, not even close. We've got, Gogol Bordello playing at the same time as LCD Soundsytem.


LCD Soundsytem - I Can Change video via YouTube

Then at 7:30p on Saturday both Matt & Kim and Deadmau5 will take to their respective stages.


Matt and Kim - Silver Tiles video via YouTube

Finally M.I.A. and Muse are playing at the same time. Personally, I have seen M.I.A. twice (on here first tour(natch)) and I have never seen Muse so I'll most likely be checking out Muse. For you, who knows? Might be a tougher call to make. On the bright side, Muse's set time is 30 minutes longer than M.I.A.'s, also her new material pretty much sucks soooo...


Muse - Sunburn video via YouTube

On to Sunday, the Lord's day, lucky for us there are far fewer conflicts on the fest's final day. Unfortunately (or fortunately) MOST of the conflicts are early in the day when it SHOULD be easier to move from stage to stage. There are THREE Bloggy favs all playing at the same time between 11:30a-12:30p on Saturday. Two local favs, TV Torso and Shearwater will both be performing while Warpaint performs at another stage.


Shearwater - Hidden Lakes video via YouTube

A little later you'll have to choose between Ted Leo or White Rabbits.


Ted Leo - A Bottle of Buckie video via YouTube

Finally the toughest VS. of the day, will you choose Band of Horses? Or would you rather see the Flaming Lips? I did hear a nasty little rumor that the Lips and Spoon swapped slots, which would mean Spoon and BOH would be playing at the same time. To either scenario I say, dang.


the Flaming Lips - The Sparrow Looks Up at the Machine video via YouTube

So those are the time conflicts as I see them, stay tuned for the next few days and I'll break down who you should see and/or where you might see me at the fest.