ACL Festival 2013 Preview: Day 3, Weekend 1

You guys, I almost forgot to write you a guide for the final day of the first weekend of Austin City Limits Festival. I went and saw The National with Thao & the Get Down Stay Down last night and I wasn't focused on helping those of you out who are attending the festival this weekend. So, let's get down to business shall we? After the break I've listed the highlight artists for Sunday of ACL Fest.


Shuggie Otis - Inspiration Information video via YouTube

• 12:00-1:00 Foxygen | Samsung
• 12:00-12:45 Kodaline | AMD
• 12:45-1:30 Typhoon | Honda
• 1:30-2:30 MS MR | AMD
• 2:30-3:30 Noah and the Whale | Honda
• 3:30-4:30 Grouplove | AMD
• 4:00-5:00 Franz Ferdinand | Samsung
• 4:30-5:30 Divine Fits | Honda
• 5:00-6:00 Toro y Moi | Bud Light
• 5:00-5:45 White Denim | Austin Ventures
• 5:30-6:30 The National | AMD
• 6:30-7:30 Tame Impala | Honda
• 7:00-8:30 Phoenix | Bud Light
• 7:30-8:30 Neko Case | Austin Ventures
• 7:30-8:30 Shuggie Otis | Zilker Tent
• 7:40-9:40 Atoms for Peace | AMD
• 8:30-10:00 Lionel Richie | Samsung

Sunday is going to be a tough day for me. I'm not planning to attend the festival until next weekend but the fact that Neko Case, Shuggie Otis and Atoms for Peace all overlap is pretty brutal. Luckily, Neko is taping a set for ACL TV this week that I will be lucky enough to attend so, I'll just have to choose between Shuggie Otis and Atoms for Peace. Radiohead is my favorite band, so I'm inclined to see Atoms for Peace. However, seeing Shuggie Otis is an extremely rare opportunity. He is an R&B legend and I highly doubt he will perform in Austin again any time soon. Sadly, the same case could be made for Atoms for Peace. As a band, they rarely perform live ever, let alone perform live in Austin. The only true saving grace for me, is the knowledge that Atoms For Peace is playing a much longer set than Shuggie so hopefully I can catch some of each.

I will say, I'm intrigued that Atoms For Peace has a 2 hour set considering they only really have one record. Although, the bad was originally formed to play Thom Yorke's The Eraser LP live, so I guess in actuality they have 2 LPs worth of material but still, can that last two full hours?

I'm also a bit conflicted about the overlap of Phoenix and Tame Impala. They are both phenomenal live performers and you could actually catch bits of both artist's sets but I plan to choose Tame Impala. I love Phoenix but I've been lucky enough to see them about half a dozen times already including their performance for ACL TV. Tame Impala I've only seen once but they were so incredibly good that I need to see them again.

My top 3 picks for your Sunday are:

1. MS MR
2. Tame Impala
3. Shuggie Otis

Tame Impala - Feels Like We Only Go Backwards video via YouTube

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Tame Impala: ACL Festival 2013 Preview

I don't want to freak you out or anything but Austin City Limits Music Festival Round 1, is NEXT WEEKEND. I feel like I don't even know where to begin so I'm just going to focus on Tame Impala. Chances are, if you're hip to Austin Bloggy Limits then you are fully aware of, Australian band, Tame Impala but pretend for a moment that you are the typical festival goer. Uh oh, did he just generalize all festival goers? You're damn straight he did. I feel like the typical person who goes to ACL Festival year after year doesn't really care who is playing. They trust the curation skills of C3 Presents and/or they know they are going to have fun regardless of what's happening on stage.

I guess what I'm saying is your typical, non-music-blog reading, festival goer uses an event like ACL Festival for discovery. Jaded, douche-nozzles like me have seen the majority of these bands already by the time they get to the big stage so we're mostly just hoping the people around us will shut the fuck up long enough for us to hear this guitar solo. SPOILER ALERT: They won't.


Tame Impala - Mind Mischief video via YouTube

So, as a jaded douche-nozzle, one of the things I have grown to look forward to is seeing the crowd's reaction (or lack thereof) to artists whom I am already very excited about. For instance, seeing Cults win over a large group of people who had no idea who they were was pretty great.

This year, I feel like Tame Impala will be the discovery story for many a festival attendee. Stop rolling your eyes and hear me out. Tame Impala has only recently been added to many "alt rock" radio stations, which means your parents are only marginally aware of some of their songs. I saw Tame Impala when they played Stubb's but the really cool kids were at their Emo's Inside show when they toured Austin behind their first record. I really kick myself for skipping that show.

If you are unaware, or only marginally aware of, Tame Impala they need to be at the top of your must-see list. These guys are seriously kick-ass musicians and their sound is going to wash over the crowd like a fog of, 'Holy shit this band is fucking awesome!' That's a fog now.

I guess I kind of fucked up by featuring them first since they don't play until 6:30p on Sunday of ACL Festival but that is how important Tame Impala is to me, you, and the greater Austin metro region. So plan to grab something to eat on your way over to the Honda Stage and get yourself a good spot somewhere between the stage and the soundboard and then shut the fuck up for the duration of the set. It's as easy as that. Oh, and if you want, you can have these Aussies sign your tits (allegedly) at the Waterloo Autograph Tent at 4:30p on Sunday.

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