Praise the music gods. The Austin, Texas music festival scene has a new addition – with one of the best lineups this town has seen in years. The inaugural Sound on Sound Festival proves Austin can still bring hip up-and-comers as well as music’s best names to the people.
Sound on Sound may take the place of Austin’s long-running post-Austin City Limits (ACL) music festival and Fun Fun Fun Fest. Fun Fun Fun founder, Graham Williams, split from Fun Fun Fun’s promotions company Transmission Events this May, after it was sold to Stratus Properties (notable for building the bourgeois W Hotel), leaving Fun Fun Fun Fest’s future in question. His new company, Margin Walker, announced the Sound on Sound 2016 lineup this past June 28.
Lose one festival, but gain another with a sick lineup! The Sound on Sound lineup boasts some of the hippest artists in the scene, including headliners Beach House, Run the Jewels, Explosions in the Sky, Death Grips, Purity Ring, Mac Demarco, Courtney Barnett, Phantogram and Big Boi.
The festival’s other acts are either big or notable, too, and offer something for everyone: there’s rapper Wale, blues magician Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires, legendary punk band The Dead Milkmen (still loving that Bitchin’ Camero), electronic pop group STRFKR, there’s Boyz Noise and A-trak, sensitive rapper Aesop Rock, brother-sister duo Thee Oh Sees, indie darlings Diet Cig, Spanish indie band Hinds, Pitchfork-beloved Car Seat Headrest, bassist (to put it simply) Thundercat, DIY-rockers Bully, and electronic artist Alex G.
The festival also boasts a hoard of Austinites: rap group Magna Carda, Calliope Musicals, Leopold and His Fiction, Night Drive, Hard Proof, American Sharks and Boyfrndz.
“I’m really happy about all the bands and how it came together,” Williams told the Austin Chronicle. “It’s gonna be very similar to stuff I did before as far as booking a festival of this caliber. Same formula: an even balance of heavier stuff – punk and metal – with upbeat, dancey stuff – electronic, hip-hop, DJs – and indie rock.”
The fest takes place November 4-6 at Sherwood Forest. The Forest is an enchanting forest in Bastrop, 40 miles outside of Austin in the Lost Pines area of Texas. The land is a 23-acre permanent renaissance village with shops, tents and pubs that hosts the annual Sherwood Forest Faire, an annual renaissance festival. Sound on Sound plans on utilizing the available buildings to their fullest potential, which means vendors in pubs and stages that look like they came from the Renaissance.
General admission Sound On Sound 2016 tickets and Sound on Sound VIP passes are now on sale, with general admission costs starting at $169, while VIP is around $450. Single-day Sound On Sound Fest tickets are starting at just $85 and ON-SITE CAMPING is also available!