ACL Festival Schedule 2008

The Austin City Limits Music Festival schedule always includes conflicts for me. I suppose that's unavoidable. But picking which acts I'm going to see this year is going to be tough.

On Friday, I'm going to have to choose between Gogol Bordello and Patty Griffin; I'm sure I'll choose Gogol Bordello because the band has so much energy, but I do love Griffin's music, so that's going to hurt.

Saturday's even tougher. Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, the Drive-By Truckers and Eli "Paperboy" Reed are all scheduled to perform at approximately the same time. I'm leaning toward the Drive-By Truckers because I missed their set the last time they appeared at ACL, but I adore Sharon Jones, too. It might depend on how hot I am and whose venue offers the most shade. I'll also have to choose between Robert Earl Keen and Erykah Badu; my friends will probably opt for Keen, but I'm not so sure which show I'll pick. Then Roky Erickson is scheduled at the same time as Robert Plant and Alison Krause. I was looking forward to seeing Plant and Krause, but Roky trumps everyone. I might even skip John Forgerty's set at 6:30 so I can get a good spot to see Roky again. This year he's playing for an hour and I plan to stay for every minute of it, even though it overlaps with some of Beck's set.

There aren't a lot of conflicts for me on Sunday. Yeah, I'd like to see Neko Case and Joe Bonamassa. I'd also like to see Galactic and The Raconteurs. The beauty of ACL is that I can. I figure I'll wander from show to show on Sunday.

The good news, is that the Old 97's have been added to the festival. Make that great news. I'm also psyched that Rodney Crowell will be there.

At any rate, it looks like my friends and I will have a great weekend. Here's my tentative schedule:

Friday
• 12:30 p.m.: Rodney Crowell
• 3 p.m.: Vampire Weekend
• 4:30 p.m.: Gogol Bordello
• 6:30 p.m.: David Byrne
• 7:45 p.m.: Alejandro Escovedo

Saturday
• 12:30 p.m.: Old 97's
• 3 p.m.: Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings or the Drive-By Truckers
• 4:30 p.m.: Robert Earl Keen or Erykah Badu
• 6:30 p.m.: John Fogerty
• 7:45 p.m.: Roky Erickson
• 8:30 p.m.: Beck

Sunday
• 3 p.m.: Gillian Welch
• 4:30 p.m. Neko Case
• 5:30 p.m.: Okkerville River
• 7 p.m.: Galactic or the Raconteurs