Anyone who's read Neal Pollack's Alternadad knows that Neal's family's experience 2 or 3 years agao at the Austin City Limits Festival, though not a debacle on the level of Woodstock '99, wasn't a familial high point, either.
Still, that's not gonna bring the fine friends at the ACL Festival down, because once again they're organizing Austin Kiddie Limits, a separate stage just for the young folk at this year's edition scheduled for September 14 through 16, 2007. (Note: that's "young folk," not "Young Folks" -- Peter Bjorn & John are on an entirely different stage.)
In any case, I'll leave the obsessive "this lineup is awesome/this lineup is sucks" discussion for the 93% of the lineup not specifically for the kids to other websites; this is the place for the obsessive "this lineup is awesome/this lineup is sucks" discussion pertaining to kids music.
Now, the lineup can be basically divided into two categories:
1) Adults Playing For Kids
2) Kids Playing For Adults
In the former category, you have the following:
-- The Sippy Cups -- Psychedelic-inspired kids rock, with a hint of punk and Replacements tossed in. Also, costumes. As a result, those attending ACL for Bob Dylan and Bjork might find them slightly amusing.
-- Daddy A Go Go -- Straight-ahead rock 'n' roll with a side of smart-aleckness. It's exactly as if ACL artist LCD Soundsystem played Southern-fried rock with teenagers. OK, it's nothing like that, but until Jimmy Buffett plays ACL Fest, I got nothin'.
-- Farmer Jason -- Countryfied rock without a trace of irony. The obvious parental equivalent would be Jason and the Scorchers, but no dice.
-- Sara Hickman -- I understand from the folks in charge that she'll be pulling double-duty, playing both an adult and the kids stage.
-- Q Brothers -- Good-time hip-hop and rap. (Is there any other kind for kids? I mean, is gangsta rap for youngsters doomed to be forever untapped?
-- Jambo Kidz -- Bluesy stuff from LA
-- Bummkinn Band -- Gentle country for the kids. Not Shania Twain country, much more traditional.
-- Jellydots -- If you've been reading this website for any length of time, you're familiar with Doug Snyder and his band, The Jellydots. Awesome stuff.
In the second category are bands made up of youngsters or recently-adulted young folks. I really got nothing on these three except that the School of Rock has a Police song up on AKL's Myspace page (a perfectly acceptable version, and timely to boot), and the Steps is an Austin-based band.
-- Paul Green School of Rock All-Stars
-- The Steps
-- We Go To 11
As 2 1/2 afternoons of music go, pretty good. (And the evenings, not for the kiddos, might have a band or two worth catching...) If we can avoid chucking juice boxes onto the stage, then even better.
More details to come.
