Ghostland Observatory @ ACL '09
Well, after months of the rumor mill doing what it does best, the Austin City Limits Music Festival lineup is official...and the headlining rumors were pretty spot on: Phish (yes, it's really happening), Muse, The Eagles, M.I.A., The Flaming Lips and The Strokes.
What's interesting - at least for the masses of musically inclined Austinites - is that over half the bands announced will have already played here this year by the time ACL rolls around. So, I guess you could call us Austin dwellers pretty spoiled. And that's just how things work here. On top of Austin being a mecca for general touring (despite being in the middle of Texas), thousands of bands descend upon our fair city in the spring for the madness known as SXSW, and then the bands that created some hoopla for themselves find their way back for ACL fest in the fall.
From off the top of my head and several google searches to boot, the following ACL performers will be making at least their second 2010 appearance in Austin:
Muse, The Flaming Lips, LCD Soundsystem, Norah Jones, Spoon, Vampire Weekend, Band of Horses, The Black Keys, Gogol Bordello, Broken Bells, Yeasayer, Slightly Stoopid, The Sword, Pat Green, Rebelution, The xx, Portugal. The Man, Beach House, The Temper Trap, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, Girls, Local Natives, Lucero, The Soft Pack, Robert Randolph & The Family Band, Ozmatli, Manchester Orchestra, Miike Snow, Bear in Heaven, Mayer Hawthorne, Midlake, Cage the Elephant, The Morning Benders, Hockey, White Rabbits, Beats Antique, The Henry Clay People, GIVERS, Dawes, Band of Heathens, Charlie Mars, Lissie, Two Door Cinema Club, The Constellations, T. Bird and the Breaks, Frank Turner, Those Darlins, Carolyn Wonderland, Kings Go Forth, The Ettes, MyNameIsJohnMichael, Basia Bulat, Balmorhea, The Jane Shermans, The Kicks, Ponderosa, Two Tons of Steel, SPEAK, Ruby Jane Smith, Tom Freund
That list definitely speaks pretty highly of our music scene, huh? Also, the fact that C3 secured Phish for the Friday night headlining slot is pretty cray-zee considering the jamband hasn't toured in Texas since 2000, and they've never played a non-camping fest (and even rarely play fests that aren't their own).
3-day passes for the festival, which will take place October 8 - 10 in Austin's Zilker Park, have been sold out for awhile, and single day tickets are on sale now. Get 'em while they're hot! Oh wait, they already are...
by @crunchyMunckin