Photo Credit: Roger Ho

This year’s Austin City Limits Music Festival  day-to-day lineup has been released and there’s a real shocker in the mix. Arguably the biggest headliner has been moved from a typical closing night slot to day one closer. Jay-Z, who was a surprise last second addition to the annual festival’s listing – though arguably the biggest headliner of this year’s festival – will close out the Friday of both weekends. A curious and notable coincidence is that Solange (Knowles) is also listed on that day’s lineup, which will spark rumors of the inclusion of one or more of the Knowles family.

This increased concentration on the Friday lineup will, no doubt, guarantee that the crowds will be front-loaded and the city of Austin, as well as out of town attendees, take the day off from work and make the first day a priority. Additionally, this spreads out the demand over the whole of the weekend, making certain that crowds don’t concentrate on the final day, but make each day less crowded and more accessible to the music-loving public.

Like the lineups of a few years ago, hip-hop and rap have made their presence known throughout the two-weekend festival, with those acts appearing evenly across the day schedule.

Other items of note include a potential conflict for fans as the Red Hot Chili Peppers will likely force festival goers into a tough choice, programmed against Chance the Rapper, and 90’s and 00’s rock fans will be faced with a similar dilemma on Sunday, as The Killers will split the ACL audience with Gorillaz.

An early overview points to headliner-heavy lineups on Friday and Saturday – where Ryan Adams will make good on a last-second SXSW absence, Foster the People returns triumphantly to Austin, and local favorites Spoon and The Black Angels lead the charge – with an absolutely staggering lineup in the middle bill for Sunday’s acts, where the SXSW acts we championed at Texas Lifestyle Magazine come back to share their art with a significantly bigger fanship – Rainbow Kitten Suprise, Jacob Banks, Middle Kids, Tank and the Bangas and Jamila Woods are but a few of the awesome artists anchoring Sunday’s lineup.

All in all, there is an obvious effort on the part of Austin City Limits Music Festival to make it worthwhile for ticket holders to attend every day from opening act to the final encore; and, where conflicts in the day-to-day schedule arise, to consider attending the festival for both weekends.

We have to say, it’s hard to argue with that logic, and it’s the plan we’ll be setting out for ourselves. Get your still available tickets (single-day still available for weekend one and 3-day passes soon to sell out for weekend two) at aclfestival.com/tickets (VIP and Platinum tickets are also still available) and stay tuned to TLM on social media in the weeks leading up to the fest and throughout Austin’s annual fall music celebration for all the details on who to see and when.

[Editor’s preview: We’re already calling Chance the Rapper’s set a can’t miss, especially with Jamila Woods also in the lineup for both weekends – we could all use some “Sunday Candy” from time to time.]