..and here come the conflicts! Last year, the big one was Wilco vs. My Morning Jacket ( I ended up splitting it half and half). And this year is not without its frustrating scheduling choices…

The big one: on Saturday night – we’ll be forced to make a choice between seeing Beck (8:30-10) or seeing Robert Plant & Alison Krauss (8:15-9:30). Boo! Especially since Friday’s headliners are Manu Chao vs. Mars Volta (both whom I wanted to see too). But really, couldn’t Beck or Plant & Krauss have been scheduled for Friday, and Mars Volta or Chao moved to Saturday? Sort of a bummer.

Other personal conflicts:

• Friday: N.E.R.D. (6:30-7:30) vs. David Byrne (6:30-7:30) vs. Antibalas (7:15-8:15) vs. Alejandro Escovedo (7:45-8:45)!
• Friday: Patty Griffin (4:30-5:30) vs. M. Ward (4:30-5:15) vs. Gogol Bordello (4:30-5:30).
• Saturday: Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings (2:30-3:30) vs. Back Door Slam (2:50-3:30) vs. Drive-By Truckers (2:30-3:30).
• Saturday: The Black Keys (7:30-8:15) vs. Iron & Wine (7:30-8:30).
• Sunday has Gnarls Barkley (6:30-7:30) going up against The Raconteurs (6:30-7:45).

But hey, in the scheme of things, these are all good problems to have.

Other places you’ll be – how you say? – seeing my ass:

Band of Horses: Sunday, 7:30-8:30
Old 97’s: Saturday, 12:30-1:30
Hot Chip: Friday, 5:30-6:30
Rodney Crowell: Friday, 12:30-1:30
Vampire Weekend: Friday, 2:30-3:30
Erykah Badu: Saturday, 4:30-5:30
Duffy: Saturday, 5:30-6:30
Okkervil River: Sunday, 5:30-6:30

ACL SCHEDULE (Sept. 26-28): See Day One Schedule | Day Two Schedule | Day Three Schedule