I knew this would
happen because the same damn thing happened last year. I start off complaining about the dust bowl
that is Auditorium Shores and the fact that all of the headliners are old and
way past their prime; and then I settle down, take a look at the under card, and
realize that there are quite a few acts to be excited about. Friday in
particular has one of the greatest lineups that has been put together since the Saturday of ACL 2010 that brought us
Bear in Heaven, Beats Antique, the Black Lips, Silversun Pickups, The Temper Trap (an awful
show btw), The XX, LCD Soundsystem, and Muse. I looked at ACL's schedule for that
day and mentioned to the girl I was dating at the time “Wow! I really don’t see a
break for us to eat.” Her reply, as she was equally as excited as I was, went something like “Food??? Fuck food!!!!” She only weighed about
100 pounds and I’m fairly sure she had quit cocaine at that point. But looking
back, I’m not so sure anymore. And I wonder why I’m still single. On to the
acts…
As you know by now, I am not one for getting to festivals at
noon but my buddy’s band is in the 12:20 slot on the Black Stage. Spray Paint
is a post punk noise band; they are an acquired taste but not too far of a
departure from their former band When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth. You’ll find
yourself moshing in no time, which honestly kind of freaks them out.
Up next in the 1 o’clock slot on the same stage is the
hardcore scream metal outfit the Code Orange Kids. They have a chick
guitarist/screamer who could be considered cute if she didn’t wear shoes that
look like they were made by Dr. Scholls. Watch out for their fans who are a bit
out of control, it looks like they are literally trying to kill themselves as
they are slam dancing.
I’ll probably pass on Code Orange to see Rat King, they’re a
breath of fresh air out of NYC with their socially observant hip hop. They’re
not rhyming about drugs, alcohol, or crime but instead come with an almost punk like style to
the mic with their razor sharp lyrics. The cool thing is, they have the ability to channel early Del La
Soul on a few tracks as well. They look 16 years old but can bring some serious head nodding beats which
borderline on experimental.
At 2 o’clock I’ll head on over to see the Beach Fossils.
They sound similar to Zach Smith’s side project Diiv in that it is also dream
pop indie music. I couldn’t stand the Fossils until Diiv came around and it was
at that point that I connected with their mellow nostalgia music. This is good
stuff to listen to while you eat a Frank’s hot dog, drink a dark beer, and sit
on the dirt to relax.
This will all work as fuel for when you head on over to see
the hard core punk band from California, Ceremony. They don’t quite have the
range of the Deftones who can at one moment sound like Morrissey or Depeche
Mode and then the next sound like hard core metal but they certainly aren’t
limited. They can rock your socks off with Cross Them Out or sound
like Black Flag with Talking on the Telephone. The lead looks like he’s having
a psychotic episode on stage, they have a Johnny Rotten look-a-like guitarist
who jumps from speaker to speaker, and they have a bassist that looks like a
pirate. So in other words, they have a little something for everyone!
I will probably split time between them and the Manchester DJ/producer
Star Slinger. He can drop some pretty sick beats that have subtle RnB samples
in the background that are mixed with traditional house elements. He has made
songs with Stunnaman and the awful Lil B so you can tell that this is
definitely music you can dance to.
I will be skipping the pop acts Little Boots and Poolside
but you may want to pop in if you want to get your guilty pleasure in. I might
walk by the Orange Stage to hopefully hear Johnny Marr play How Soon is Now but
that’s about it.
At 5 I have another schedule conflict between No Age and
Small Black. I have seen No Age a ton but with every show they perform, they
always deliver. I have talked ad nauseam about them on this site so I won’t
spend too much time here but just know that they are a post punk noise band
from LA who have anthems like “Wash away what we create/ my sins like funny
calls you make” in their most popular hit Teen Creeps.
The other act to see at 5 is Small Black and they bring nice
80’s music that you can dance to. They're similar to early Cut Copy and have a
vocalist who sounds like the lead of Aha, well if he took it down an octave or two that is.
It’s a little fruity but all of the 80’s was fruity with that exception of NWA. Well,
looking back Dr Dre has always been fruity; he looked like he should’ve been a
part of Prince’s basketball entourage. “Game! Blouses!’ Hopefully these guys
are rocking the Flock of Seagulls hairdo.
Speaking of Cut Copy, I will probably skip them this time
around because I feel so white at their shows. They do the classic white guy
fist pump with mouth wide open move that makes me feel like I’m in a Mellow
Yellow commercial. It always takes me about 20 minutes to forget how white they
are before I finally let myself get into it but by then I’m sure I’m on someone’s
Facebook page with the tag “doing the Carlton dance at Cut Copy” As a side note
I don’t dance like Carlton from the Fresh Prince, more like Hammer from his Pumps
in a Bump gangster rap days.
The Walkmen are one of my top 5 favorite groups right now so
I will definitely check them out. Just don’t pay any attention to FFF’s
description of them when they call them “easy listening indie”, they aren’t
quite Michael Bolton. These guys can rock it out when they feel like it (check
The Rat and All Hands and the Cook) but they are true musicians are decide to
write some songs that aren’t completely drowning in distortion.
I won’t waste your time with the other larger acts as you
can decide for yourself whether or not to
see 50 year olds scream punk lyrics in Black Flag, see a 40 year old smoke weed
on stage in Snoop, relive the 90’s with the forgotten but good Quicksand, or
listen to the alternative rapper from Chicago, Lupe Fiasco. I will probably
skate and push with Lupe until I find that punk who called me Carlton on his
Facebook page!
Enjoy.
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