Yup. There sure are a lot of exclamation points up in that headline, and with good cause: we're heading off for Austin City Limits this weekend, to catch some bands and some tan in the near-hundred-degree sun. Between pre-trip laundering, hydrating, charging our camera batteries and getting all that three-ounce-or-less business handled for the flight, we thought we'd take a minute to let you know about some of the acts we're particularly excited about this year -- especially since there seems to be a particularly strong PNW presence to be reckoned with every single day of the 'fest.

The start of the fest on Friday is kind of like easing in to that hot, soapy, not-too-dirty-yet festival bath. Hometown heroine Brandi Carlile will be getting things going early in the day, and we're hoping her sweet sounds will put us in the right kind of mood to slide over into Ray LaMontagne's late afternoon set -- they're both playing at the AMD stage starting around 2p. As the day darkens, we hope to get a little more gritty with the Cave Singers, and while Cold War Kids and Bright Eyes blow their sets out back-to-back {on the Honda and AMD stages respectively, for those of you following along in your custom-made schedules at home}, we might have to weasel our way forward to get a bigger-than-Bumbershoot-sized helping of Charles Bradley as he closes out the Vista Equity stage just before forever-legend Mavis Staples. As to whether we end day one with Kanye West or Coldplay -- my vote's on Kanye. But seeing as the fest is all sold out except for a few Sunday passes, we might not be able to make it close enough for a photo report. Fingers crossed!

Pending crowd surges (and weather permitting), we hope to also make time to get a little Delta Spirit, Smith Westerns, Kurt Vile, and Santigold into our schedules too!

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Late last night, Bumbershoot unveiled their final lineup for the Labor Day weekend festival this year (barring any unforseen cancellations, of course). As usual, it looks like a pretty great lineup. I was especially thrilled that The Yeah Yeah Yeahs will be playing a Main Stage show. Also added were Cold War Kids and Old 97s, also playing Main Stage sets. Disappointing: that Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground, De La Soul and The Long Winters will be playing at the same time (9:30pm on Saturday night).

The full schedule is here.

I (and a lot of TIG writers) will be writing more in the coming days uptil to and through Bumbershoot about who we are excited to see this year but who are your "can't misses"?

{Photo of Cold War Kids by Julie Harmsen from the TIG Flickr Pool.}

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at Showbox at the Market

This night will always be remembered as the first time I heard the music of Crystal Antlers.

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You're probably familiar with indie rock outfit Cold War Kids through one of their hit singles, as "Hang Me Up to Dry" and "In Hospitals", both from their debut album Robbers and Cowards, have experienced heavy rotation on radio stations across America. Their singles are infectious, with lead singer Nathan Willett leading the steady song rythms by wailing his heart out with a bit of swagger and a touch of soul.

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Win a pair of tickets to see Cold War Kids at the Showbox by emailing us at tig @ three imaginary girls.com with your name and the subject line "ColdWarbleKids" by Thursday, April 16th at noon PST.

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Animated short film for "Grapevine Fires," a pinch of Obama, and a US tour gets underway in April.

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at WaMu Theatre

Featuring Death Cab for Cutie, Cold War Kids, Aqueduct, and Shiny Toy Guns.

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The Killers, DCfC, Cold War Kids, Shiny Toy Guns & Aqueduct blew it the ____ up!

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