re: Any guesses on ACL headliners? Announced noon on Tuesday

We obviously have different tastes

Depeche Mode - not my style but good
The Cure - good
Muse - not my style but good
Kings of Leon - no
Atoms for Peace - no
Phoenix - no
Wilco - love wilco
Vampire Weekend - not big on them live
The National - good
Passion Pit - don't care for passion pit
Queens of the Stone Age - good
Local Natives - good
Joy Formidable - no
Neko Case - eh
Divine Fits - no
Jimmy Eat World - eh
Black Angels - seen them many times.. they are from austin
Bright Light Social Hour, - good

The headliners are underwhelming for an ACL lineup. It's not terrible, just underwhelming. That's all I'm saying

I'm excited for the Cure and the National. I really like JSBX and I'm pretty sure QotSA will put on a good show, as will Local Natives, who I've seen but I wouldn't mind seeing again. There's a bunch of bands I sort of like but I'm pretty sure will be terrible live (on top of Vampire Weekend, who I know for a fact is terrible live). I love Neko Case, but singer/songwriters get swallowed by the venue and it's really an awful place to see them. Divine Fits is essentially a studio project which I highly doubt will translate live.

I'd rather be punched in the testicles than pay money to see the Kings of Leon. Phoenix is a band whose 15 minutes I can't believe hasn't expired yet. There's just lots of bands who have no idea how to play to a club, much less a large venue like this.

Sure, there's some decent acts on there, but it's over $200. The only two bands that made me perk up were the National and the Cure. I like Dawes, but I've seen 'em three times and never had to pay more than 15 bucks. I like Personal Jesus as much as the next guy, but Depeche Mode is so far past their sell by date, and weren't all that good in the first place. I saw them in high school and I'm not that nostalgic for them. They were a decent B-level art school band.

Man, I thought Fun Fun Fun Fest had a better lineup last year than this, and its a third of the cost at a smaller venue. I'll wait for it instead. Maybe hope the National play a separate show on their trip to Texas.

I think what gets me is that it is such a safe lineup. There's nothing intriguing on there. It's a pretty middle of the road lineup with about the least interesting headliners I could imagine.

Just to throw a band out there -- there's nothing on the lineup like Metz. An up and coming, ferocious sounding band that would really pique my interest (I'm not a huge Metz fan, I'm just using them as an example of a band that doesn't sound like it would fit on an AOR station). I think a lot of the bands seem "pleasant", which is distinctly un rock n roll. Really, I have a hunch Jon Spencer will have the most raucous show of the weekend, and that's kind of sad. I'm a fan, but it's a nostalgia tour for him.

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I think what gets me is that it is such a safe lineup. There's nothing intriguing on there. It's a pretty middle of the road lineup with about the least interesting headliners I could imagine.

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totally understand.

normally id be in the same boat as you but i think im chalking this trip up as a laid back vacation. my other half tends to like the more "safe" stuff anyway, so keeping her happy and occupied all day i think will be easy on this lineup. a lot of the bands i wouldnt normally go out of my way to see individually but itll be an easy way to check a lot of those off the list at once and i dont think ill have a lot of time where im stuck without a band that id be down to see.

it works for me this go around, but i can easily see how someone wouldnt be that excited. especially if they are an ACL regular (this will be my first trip to it). while its a safe lineup, i think itll make for a pretty comfortable stress free trip with some good music.

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normally id be in the same boat as you but i think im chalking this trip up as a laid back vacation. my other half tends to like the more "safe" stuff anyway, so keeping her happy and occupied all day i think will be easy on this lineup. a lot of the bands i wouldnt normally go out of my way to see individually but itll be an easy way to check a lot of those off the list at once and i dont think ill have a lot of time where im stuck without a band that id be down to see.

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And that's cool. This lineup won't alienate the casual fan. In fact, it seems designed to attract non-music heads. It's more "festival" than "music" if that makes sense. It's not a very "challenging" lineup (and yes, I know I'm using air quotes, and that's obnoxious). This is a great lineup to drag your significant other to with minimal complaint. Except Mrs. Baloo is a musician and likes super challenging bands, so she's the opposite.

Take a blanket, check out the local bands, chill out to Neko Case. It's not the worst thing in the world. It's just a lot of money for nothing that really excites me. I'd rather go to the LSU-Florida game.

makes total sense - air quotes and all.

now that the lineups confirmed, im just holding out for great weather and ill be set.

Same here. If people are dumping tickets on craigslist for $100 or $150, we might go the weekend of the MSU game. But it's not a must buy.

I think we'll do FFF instead.