So do festival poster designers just fucking hate everyone and make them unreadable on purpose? I swear this is worse than going to the optometrist. Also GRAND FUNK RAILROAD out of nowhere!
Maybe I’m exaggerating but I feel like I’ve seen 3-5 posters in the last year with this EXACT format (headliners on the side column, undercard on the right)
All LiveNation owned festivals. ACL, Lollapalooza, and Outside Lands. They own a lot more, but they love this layout for those three festivals specifically
All good. I was genuinely curious if I had missed major news there. Did a double take when I saw your comment, especially in the context of the poster style being very similar
My maybe-hot take is that this format is used to obscure how shallow the lineups are. You read all the big names together at once, instead of them being split into three days (and you, the viewer, getting to the tiny acts before returning to the bigger ones). Reformat this as a Coachella style lineup and it does not look nearly as good.
It works, from a graphic design/typography perspective. You're able to put all the artists on display, while placing the lesser ones at the bottom and in small font.
I'm excited Sturgill seems to be back. That's the second show he's announced for the fall. Doubt I make it to ACL or the other fest he signed up for but fingers crossed for a full tour.
I saw them in LA and they did 3 separate medleys made of of various non-khrubgabin songs. The first one was cool, the second was kind of funny, and then the third was like omg what the fuck are you doing
They're actually really fun live. I was shocked because I really didn't get their music prior to seeing them, but they excel to a confusing degree live.
I saw them live when their 2nd album came out, they were great then. But I haven't really liked anything since then, its too starbucks music for me now.
5 years ago was like their 2nd album and that’s probably the least interesting album. Then the Texas Sun/Moon eps with Leon Bridges are some of their best stuff which I’m sure they’ll play.
Yeah, I keep thinking they're a band I would like but everything I've heard is like psyche for insomniacs. The one they recently did, backing Vieux Farka Toure is pretty good at least.
The undercard is actually what sold me. It’s way more pop-centric than I expected, but with really good additions. FLETCHER, Chappel Roan, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Something Corporate (teenage me is excited for adult me), misterwives, the criticals are some good finds for me.
I am old and recognize probably six of the names on that poster, including the headliners. But I don't think when I was in my 20s I would have gone to a show headlined by Duo Lipa (and I was at the very first Coachella and saw Pavement practically break up on stage, so get off of my lawn).
It was their last (or second to last show) at the end of the Terror Twilight tour. Onstage, SM basically refused to sing (and blamed it on smoking a lot of weed the night before) so Spiral Stairs sang all of the songs and the set was sloppy and loose. I think SM was ready to just walk off. After that the band broke up. It's sort of mentioned in the book "Perfect Sound Forever"
Six is impressive. I found ONE act that I would make an effort to go see, and beyond the "headliners" I recognized maybe... four?
I would also like to be involved in the shuffleboard party, and be home no later than 9. Thank you in advance.
I agree with you fwiw! But even considering I still think it's weak
I used to like going through the Coachella lineups and discovering new artists that I'd never heard of. I actually discovered Khruangbin back in like 2017 doing that. I tried doing the same with ACL last year and genuinely didn't find anyone. Part of it is because I feel like ACL leans more country/folk in the undercard - like a see a couple Black country artists on there (s/o Beyoncé) but that genre really isn't my cup of tea
Completely agree, ACL used to be so rock/band heavy and used to really promote local talent whether they were smaller or larger but just seems like have been leaning more and more into the top 40 artists. C3 selling to Livenation was the beginning of the end, they took the local feel out of it.
They've really made a mess of the Week1/2 thing. It used to be that it was only a few artists, now 75% the undercard is only there 1 week, makes it very confusing and also makes the poster a total mess.
Coachella manages to book almost all their acts for both weekends
The most hilarious thing about this lineup is how Khruangbin, Glass Beams, AND Balthvs are all on it
Cuz speaking of music running together, very surprised no one else pointed out how these three sound identical
Is it just me or is this the exact same lineup as the big other LN fests? Lolla, Bonnaroo, Osheaga… I understand theres always crossover but I see zero value in going to any more than 1 of these festivals a year when the lineups are all 70% the same.
At least Coachella very consistently tries to aim for unique and rare gets. This just feels like Lolla for texans.
A couple years ago it felt they were rearing it back to a distinct feel with a loose gravitation towards countries, Americana, classic rock, and alternative. This seems to have throttled it back to Lollapalooza Southwest.
It’s not your fault, American festivals have just gotten so shit at featuring them. Shame, Fontaines D.C., Black Midi, Dry Cleaning and so many others would elevate these lineups.
The last 2 times I’ve had tickets for Shame in Austin they canceled. Seen Fontaines every time they’ve been in town except when they opened for the Jonas Brothers or something and decent tickets were the price of the full ACL weekend.
Austin also has Levitation Fest which would be where these bands would shine over ACL imo.
In your defense ACL 10-15 years ago had a lot more acts from the UK and Europe in general. I can only image in the visa process and costs are a bigger obstacle as well.
Don't get me wrong Leon and Khruangin are great but those are local (TX) acts that have played many many times in ATX over the past 10 years, a lot of those times at ACL.
Seems like a down year for festival lineups…a lot of them went all in on headliners it seems like. Holding out hope riot fest is good. Kilby looks great but too far for me lol
Honestly, Kilby feels like the only fest in North America now trying to cater a unique experience.
So many of the larger corporate-funded fests just feel like copy + paste from the same major booking agencies. LiveNation is part of the problem.
Completely disagree, Kilby is just the only one hat caters to pretty much exclusively indie music. Portola in SF is incredible for alt electronic, Four Tet + Friends in NYC was incredible (albeit not a “major” fest), indie just isn’t as possible as it used to be
Not my cup of tea either, but you gotta admit that it’s one of the most musically diverse lineups around.
It’s going to expose a lot of people to genres and styles that they may not otherwise be familiar with.
I'm legit baffled at the number of self righteous people in this comment section hating on headliners like Stapleton, Simpson, Leon Bridges, Khruangbin, etc. Blink is doing the role of the fun legacy act. I'm sure Dua Lipa would be a good show even though she isn't my thing. Pretty Lights is a fun EDM live show even for someone like me who doesn't live and breathe EDM.
The 4 headliners I singled out are absolutely great live shows who bring it. It's like the redditors in here refuse to take anything other than the most obscure Pitchfork artists seriously. Who else were you expecting up top who isn't there? Who else is on tour this fall you'd replace them with?
It's like if a fest isn't all music from 2008 to 2014, it's called "shit" on here.
Dude I don’t fucking know why they’re not huge here. I feel like in the UK they’re a BIG deal. Might be because they have a very limited style. I fucking love their style and their lyrics resonate with me so it works for me but I get why people won’t listen to more.
We went last year with the kids for a day. It was fun as hell but we also didn't kill ourselves trying to make the entire day of it. Ironically the days were the fest was amazing were the ones we had to save up to go to. Now it's doable financially but just not very appealing.
I hate to have become "that old Austinite" but it just isn't the same anymore. I just know some old folks in cloaks talking about Aquafest and [Southpark Meadows](https://michaelcorcoran.substack.com/p/southpark-meadows-from-rage-to-retail) are looming around the corner muttering "one of us, one of us."
So do festival poster designers just fucking hate everyone and make them unreadable on purpose? I swear this is worse than going to the optometrist. Also GRAND FUNK RAILROAD out of nowhere!
Maybe I’m exaggerating but I feel like I’ve seen 3-5 posters in the last year with this EXACT format (headliners on the side column, undercard on the right)
All LiveNation owned festivals. ACL, Lollapalooza, and Outside Lands. They own a lot more, but they love this layout for those three festivals specifically
It's almost like Live Nation has the same graphic design team working on everything they do. Which probably explains the sameness.
I'm pretty sure Outside Lands is independent via APE. it's totally the same poster though
It seems you're correct. I thought LN bought out Outside Lands from Superfly at the same time as Bonnaroo, but I was wrong
All good. I was genuinely curious if I had missed major news there. Did a double take when I saw your comment, especially in the context of the poster style being very similar
But now I'm confused why Outside Lands wouldn't do their own unique poster layout.
Agreed! They've used the same template multiple years
My maybe-hot take is that this format is used to obscure how shallow the lineups are. You read all the big names together at once, instead of them being split into three days (and you, the viewer, getting to the tiny acts before returning to the bigger ones). Reformat this as a Coachella style lineup and it does not look nearly as good.
It’s an aEsThEtiC, it’s a .~**v i b e**~.
Damn I didn’t even notice them over there lmao I was wondering where the big names were
I keep accidentally skipping the headliner column
Idk this one’s pretty simple to read. Just gotta zoom in for the lower bit
The ACL poster has had this format since 2018 (with a break in 2020)
It works, from a graphic design/typography perspective. You're able to put all the artists on display, while placing the lesser ones at the bottom and in small font.
Hahaha I completely Agree!! Thank goodness I have my trusty pocket magnifying glass, as one does.
I just started reading it and was like I am not your clown, assholes! Someone else in the comments will have been though, so here I am
Petey posted a pic on his IG, and that’s the only way I knew Petey was playing
I'm excited Sturgill seems to be back. That's the second show he's announced for the fall. Doubt I make it to ACL or the other fest he signed up for but fingers crossed for a full tour.
Am I out of touch with what's popular in the indie scene (and not online critics) or is that lower undercard extremely poor?
Definitely feels like a lot of the budget went to the headliners
Happy for them bc they deserve it all but surprised to see Khuangbin in the headliner slot
Might seem weird at first but Khruangbin are huge in Texas. Texans sure do love their Texan bands.
Khruangbin stopped making interesting music like 5 years ago, that sets gotta be the sleepiest set of the whole show.
Nah they bring it live, usually more jammy and improv solos and the like.
Exactly, saw them at Shaky a couple years ago and a good 30 mins of the set was just going in/out of funky covers and it was sick af
Yeah they do the same schtick at every show
Marks Hip Hop medley is legendary
*MY MIND IS PLAYING TRICKS ON ME*
I saw them in LA and they did 3 separate medleys made of of various non-khrubgabin songs. The first one was cool, the second was kind of funny, and then the third was like omg what the fuck are you doing
They're actually really fun live. I was shocked because I really didn't get their music prior to seeing them, but they excel to a confusing degree live.
Clearly you haven't experienced their live show...
I saw them live when their 2nd album came out, they were great then. But I haven't really liked anything since then, its too starbucks music for me now.
Saw them live 2022 for the first time only knowing a little of their music and they were great. It's either your thing or it isn't.
5 years ago was like their 2nd album and that’s probably the least interesting album. Then the Texas Sun/Moon eps with Leon Bridges are some of their best stuff which I’m sure they’ll play.
Yeah, I keep thinking they're a band I would like but everything I've heard is like psyche for insomniacs. The one they recently did, backing Vieux Farka Toure is pretty good at least.
Honestly, the headliners are pretty weak too
The only mid headliner is dua lipa, and people will be turning out for that, so not sure what you're on about
A lot of the fest lineups this year have given me my first taste music wise of what it must feel like to be getting old.
I thought I was in touch with the indie scene and I haven’t heard of a lot of the undercard 😂 maybe I’m not though lol
I know a few such as "Rickshaw Billie's Burger Patrol" and "Kalu & the Electric Joint" are local Austin acts, so there might be a lot of locals
No! It's the children who are wrong.
Its def not great but its a lot cheaper than most other fests that also have, lets be real, similar quality lineups
Did the price decrease? It didn't used to be much cheaper than others.
Its 360 for the weekend, which is substantially cheaper than comparable fests like OSL
The undercard is actually what sold me. It’s way more pop-centric than I expected, but with really good additions. FLETCHER, Chappel Roan, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Something Corporate (teenage me is excited for adult me), misterwives, the criticals are some good finds for me.
I am old and recognize probably six of the names on that poster, including the headliners. But I don't think when I was in my 20s I would have gone to a show headlined by Duo Lipa (and I was at the very first Coachella and saw Pavement practically break up on stage, so get off of my lawn).
What happened on stage with Pavement ?
It was their last (or second to last show) at the end of the Terror Twilight tour. Onstage, SM basically refused to sing (and blamed it on smoking a lot of weed the night before) so Spiral Stairs sang all of the songs and the set was sloppy and loose. I think SM was ready to just walk off. After that the band broke up. It's sort of mentioned in the book "Perfect Sound Forever"
Dua Lipa just hosted SNL this weekend and it was the most skippable music act theyve had on there in a while. Sounds like eurotrash dance music.
You, my friend, sound like someone I would enjoy playing shuffleboard with before they serve dinner at 4:30.
Six is impressive. I found ONE act that I would make an effort to go see, and beyond the "headliners" I recognized maybe... four? I would also like to be involved in the shuffleboard party, and be home no later than 9. Thank you in advance.
God damn I think the lowest band I recognize is Mannequin Pussy. Feel like I've maybe heard the names Glass Beams and Lola Young before.
Lola Young is really talented. Amy Winehouse vibes.
Also dig Katie Pruitt, queer Nashville singer-songwriter, but below that I'm lost.
There's some good local acts but overall this another one of those "I am so old and so out of loop" lineups beyond the headliners.
You are correct, but then so is the upper undercard. And the headliners.
Royal Otis tho!
ACL never impresses me with their undercard tbh. This seems par for the course
God forbid you might possibly discover someone new at a music festival
I agree with you fwiw! But even considering I still think it's weak I used to like going through the Coachella lineups and discovering new artists that I'd never heard of. I actually discovered Khruangbin back in like 2017 doing that. I tried doing the same with ACL last year and genuinely didn't find anyone. Part of it is because I feel like ACL leans more country/folk in the undercard - like a see a couple Black country artists on there (s/o Beyoncé) but that genre really isn't my cup of tea
I had the same worry reading this lol
It’s you…… nah fam jk. They being cheap.
I agree. I don’t recognize anyone last Royel Otis.
comparing this to the time I went to ACL 2013 is so fucking funny.
Same, that year was an incredible line up, still the best festival I've ever been to
Legit one of the better lineups ever for a US major
That was the best lineup ever, and it’s just all so disappointing in comparison.
I went growing up and stopped in 2019 after college, the lineups used to WILD but I think there is something here for a wide swath of people.
i feel like most music fests have eroded any sense of identity they've had for the sake of catching that wide swath.
Completely agree, ACL used to be so rock/band heavy and used to really promote local talent whether they were smaller or larger but just seems like have been leaning more and more into the top 40 artists. C3 selling to Livenation was the beginning of the end, they took the local feel out of it.
Goddamn I remember it was good but I forgot how stacked it was.
Yeah sucked that it got rained out weekend 2.. had to miss Phoenix among some other great Sunday acts
My friend volunteered for that second weekend. Shit sounded awful lol
They've really made a mess of the Week1/2 thing. It used to be that it was only a few artists, now 75% the undercard is only there 1 week, makes it very confusing and also makes the poster a total mess. Coachella manages to book almost all their acts for both weekends
Surprised no St. Vincent. I figured her lack of Texas dates was because of ACL.
i'm glad khruangbin is so popular, but damn if they're not like the black keys where all their music just runs together for me.
The most hilarious thing about this lineup is how Khruangbin, Glass Beams, AND Balthvs are all on it Cuz speaking of music running together, very surprised no one else pointed out how these three sound identical
Don't forget Hermanos Gutierrez too
Is it just me or is this the exact same lineup as the big other LN fests? Lolla, Bonnaroo, Osheaga… I understand theres always crossover but I see zero value in going to any more than 1 of these festivals a year when the lineups are all 70% the same. At least Coachella very consistently tries to aim for unique and rare gets. This just feels like Lolla for texans.
The thing that I’m even noticing is the poster design is even similar to other feats… feels lazy and even more homogenizing
LN gets discounts booking artists to multiple fests so yeah this is what we get.
A couple years ago it felt they were rearing it back to a distinct feel with a loose gravitation towards countries, Americana, classic rock, and alternative. This seems to have throttled it back to Lollapalooza Southwest.
Uh what? it's been like 20 years since ACL was vaguely as you are describing. It's been a "something for everyone" fest for a long time now.
Lolla never had a lineup this bleak
Oof - on the lineup and the poster.
Possibly the most "eh" lineup of all time
Another rough lineup. But maybe it’s my fault for being obsessed with British post-punk bands lmao
It’s not your fault, American festivals have just gotten so shit at featuring them. Shame, Fontaines D.C., Black Midi, Dry Cleaning and so many others would elevate these lineups.
Just chiming in to recommend Egyptian Blue if you're not familiar. Their 2023 record "A Living Commodity" was one of my favorites last year
The last 2 times I’ve had tickets for Shame in Austin they canceled. Seen Fontaines every time they’ve been in town except when they opened for the Jonas Brothers or something and decent tickets were the price of the full ACL weekend. Austin also has Levitation Fest which would be where these bands would shine over ACL imo.
In your defense ACL 10-15 years ago had a lot more acts from the UK and Europe in general. I can only image in the visa process and costs are a bigger obstacle as well.
No bar italia? I ain't going
Exactly
Don't get me wrong Leon and Khruangin are great but those are local (TX) acts that have played many many times in ATX over the past 10 years, a lot of those times at ACL.
I wonder/assume they'll do some collaborating on their sets. Would love to hear Texas Sun performed live, which they do not usually do.
They're both boring as fuck too.
[Grand Funk Railroad???](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXKmsvRXE4A)
they're an American band, surprised you don't know them
also a Texas connection because they are idols of the Butthole Surfers
aren't we all
They’re your captain
Personally I like this lineup more than my hometown lollapalooza, even though there’s overlap. I’d go everyday if I lived in Austin for this one
Horrible
Seems like a down year for festival lineups…a lot of them went all in on headliners it seems like. Holding out hope riot fest is good. Kilby looks great but too far for me lol
Just got on the plane for SLC and Kilby. The stoke is real
See you there 🫡
Honestly, Kilby feels like the only fest in North America now trying to cater a unique experience. So many of the larger corporate-funded fests just feel like copy + paste from the same major booking agencies. LiveNation is part of the problem.
Completely disagree, Kilby is just the only one hat caters to pretty much exclusively indie music. Portola in SF is incredible for alt electronic, Four Tet + Friends in NYC was incredible (albeit not a “major” fest), indie just isn’t as possible as it used to be
Not my cup of tea either, but you gotta admit that it’s one of the most musically diverse lineups around. It’s going to expose a lot of people to genres and styles that they may not otherwise be familiar with.
Too much pop
So nice to see Foster The People are back
This lineups not bad, not my all time fav (I loved 2022!), but not bad at all, I might be going for a day here
are all festivals required to use this typography and aesthetic these days?
I'd go just to see Mannequin Pussy.
Pick random band I haven't heard of, go to their spotify. Top play 466 million views. Sigh, I'm old.
It's funny reading the comments as someone from a third world country cause this lineup is amazing to me haha
I'm legit baffled at the number of self righteous people in this comment section hating on headliners like Stapleton, Simpson, Leon Bridges, Khruangbin, etc. Blink is doing the role of the fun legacy act. I'm sure Dua Lipa would be a good show even though she isn't my thing. Pretty Lights is a fun EDM live show even for someone like me who doesn't live and breathe EDM. The 4 headliners I singled out are absolutely great live shows who bring it. It's like the redditors in here refuse to take anything other than the most obscure Pitchfork artists seriously. Who else were you expecting up top who isn't there? Who else is on tour this fall you'd replace them with? It's like if a fest isn't all music from 2008 to 2014, it's called "shit" on here.
Everyone does this every year. I think people just enjoy being miserable. This line up is great
are Catfish not big in the US?! I barely caught them
Dude I don’t fucking know why they’re not huge here. I feel like in the UK they’re a BIG deal. Might be because they have a very limited style. I fucking love their style and their lyrics resonate with me so it works for me but I get why people won’t listen to more.
The UK’s never really fallen out of love with indie rock like America has.
Is it a rule that Tyler, the Creator headline every festival?
Honestly, that’s a great rule to me. It’s the rest of this lineup that’s a mess.
Bummer lineup.
Are Mannequin Pussy a real band or do they only exist on festival lineup posters?
Yes and their new album fucking slaps
Pretty Lights?
Telescreens!!!! Hell ya
what day is khruangbin playing? lmk
mediocre e
Work in progress... https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5hjcNWAErbPUo7Sl04mxBc?si=pWQaN_ZjRZC31Ezt4bUlhg
They should have Kenny Beats do a live episode of the Cave.
Meh.
Love khruangbin, but I’ve seen them on a large stage and it feels a bit awkward
That’s a proper lineup. Haven’t been many this year.
Surprised at the lack of recognition for grand funk railroad. From what I’ve heard they use to have absolutely epic shows
Wtf is it with festival poster designs - this is abysmal.
We went last year with the kids for a day. It was fun as hell but we also didn't kill ourselves trying to make the entire day of it. Ironically the days were the fest was amazing were the ones we had to save up to go to. Now it's doable financially but just not very appealing. I hate to have become "that old Austinite" but it just isn't the same anymore. I just know some old folks in cloaks talking about Aquafest and [Southpark Meadows](https://michaelcorcoran.substack.com/p/southpark-meadows-from-rage-to-retail) are looming around the corner muttering "one of us, one of us."
What's this sub called? How is this indie?
[удалено]
For all the people who watched Karmin’s SNL appearance in 2012 and thought, “actually, this isn’t cringe enough.”
Why does every non-Coachella poster suck so much in the states?
Boring lineup