Austin City Limits Festival 2010

[godsshoeshine]

wait, austin still counts as texas? news to me

[ggw]

Wait, the Eagles, Phish, Muse, and Norah Jones are indie?  News to me.

[Vas Deferens]

^^ he's talking about the rest of the lineup ...

[godsshoeshine]

i dont know why anyone would want to see phish in that kind of setting anyway. wouldnt it be better to see them in a field where trey can just smoke a bunch of crack and play for a month straight? it would be like a 10 "song" set list

[James Ford]

My point was the the television show for many years, and in turn the festival, was essentially a roots/Americana showcase. Now it is much more diverse. It's much more of a "little bit of something for everyone" show/festival and much less a niche show/festival. You're lauding that fact, I'm lamenting it.

Of course a diverse lineup is going to attract a diverse population of people, inasmuch as you can (shallowly) associate people types with music preferences. And a more diverse audience=larger audience=more $$ made.

is this aimed at married people in their mid 30's with kids? i think phish is a joke, and i fucking hate the eagles man, but other than that, the lineup looks awesome.

I've been to ACL a few times and it seems to attract a pretty diverse audience (if you do not consider race as a measure of diversity).  One funny thing is that there are lots of older people who attend and set up lawn chairs in designated areas at the main stages and just sit there all day, regardless of who is playing.

I think the lineup this year did a great job of appealing to their diverse demographic.  The headliners will probably make their older fans happy, and the undercard is pretty great as far as 2010 festivals go.  

I'm not excited about the headliners (ecxept Muse), but there are tons of aftershows that happen at night, so we will just cut out early on Friday and Sunday nights and head to an aftershow.

[godsshoeshine]

for me personally, a roots/americana specific festival would be pretty interesting too. just saying its a pretty good lineup for a "little bit of something for everyone" festival

[MonkeyPants]

My point was the the television show for many years, and in turn the festival, was essentially a roots/Americana showcase. Now it is much more diverse. It's much more of a "little bit of something for everyone" show/festival and much less a niche show/festival. You're lauding that fact, I'm lamenting it.

While the *show* is like 30 years old and originally focused on Texas (homegrown) music, the *festival* is only 8 years old.  REM and Spoon played the second year of the festival, and it seems like while association with the show set a tone for the first year or so, concert promoters will make money with whatever band will draw the crowds...there's no long, well-established tradition at the ACL *Festival*

[walkonby]

i dont know why anyone would want to see phish in that kind of setting anyway. wouldnt it be better to see them in a field where trey can just smoke a bunch of crack and play for a month straight? it would be like a 10 "song" set list

trey could indeed smoke crack and play for a month straight . . . he'd still sell more tickets than the rest of the line up combined.  actually, playing for a month straight while smoking crack, is pretty indie.  i guess he does deserve to be there.

[dave24]

The full lineup looks like it has plenty to be excited about for all sorts of different fans and tastes. 

It's a great time regardless - and a headliner that doesn't interest me just means I'll be getting in the shuttle bus line early enough to beat the crowds downtown for dinner, and get ready for the aftershow that night.

I've been a couple of times, and have gotten there early and left early most days.  The headliners are normally secondary to us...

[James Ford]

Look at the first few years compared to today, and tell me that you don't see an obvious shift in style. For every REM, Spoon, and Shins that were on the early bills, there were 10 roots acts. Today, it's the mainstream acts that predominate, and the roots acts are nearly an afterthough.

Besides, Spoon *IS* a Texas homegrown band, and REM were a southern band with jangly guitars. Both were closer in spirit to the tv show than LCD Soundsystem and Muse, to choose a couple of examples.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin_City_Limits_Music_Festival

My point was the the television show for many years, and in turn the festival, was essentially a roots/Americana showcase. Now it is much more diverse. It's much more of a "little bit of something for everyone" show/festival and much less a niche show/festival. You're lauding that fact, I'm lamenting it.

While the *show* is like 30 years old and originally focused on Texas (homegrown) music, the *festival* is only 8 years old.  REM and Spoon played the second year of the festival, and it seems like while association with the show set a tone for the first year or so, concert promoters will make money with whatever band will draw the crowds...there's no long, well-established tradition at the ACL *Festival*

[Vas Deferens]

^Agreed....especially with the 2003 lineup.


My suggestion for James Ford is to leave the island and go to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in SF if he misses the origins of ACL festival...