Pearl Jam, Beasties, Dave Matthews To Headline Austin City Limits Fest

David J. Prince, N.Y.

Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews Band, and the Beastie Boys will make their Austin City Limits Music Festival debuts as headliners of the eight edition of the event in Austin's Zilker Park on Oct. 2-4. Kings of Leon, Ben Harper and Relentless7, Thievery Corporation, John Legend, the Dead Weather, and the Levon Helm Band and hometown favorites Ghostland Observatory are among the 130 bands and musicians who will play the annual festival.

Sonic Youth, Mos Def, Toadies, Flogging Molly, the B-52s, Lily Allen, Citizen Cope, Arctic Monkeys, the Decemberists, Coheed and Cambria, Andrew Bird, Girl Talk, Phoenix, Poi Dog Pondering and Los Amigos Invisibles and dozens of other pop, rock, country, hip hop, blues, reggae and indie rock acts that will fill eight stages for three days on the vast Zilker Park lawn.

Three days festival passes are available for the regular price of $185 (with no service fees), as well as VIP packages, at aclfestival.com.

Pearl Jam have long been courted by festival producers C3 Presents for the Austin event, especially after the promoters convinced the band to play the Lollapalooza festival in Chicago in 2007, its first large festival show in the U.S. since the mid-1990s. Pearl Jam is also planning to tape an appearance on the Austin City Limits television show, the beloved public television series that is the festival's inspiration.

The full 2009 Austin City Limits Music Festival lineup is:

Pearl Jam
Dave Matthews Band
Beastie Boys
Kings of Leon
Ben Harper and Relentless7
Thievery Corporation
John Legend
The Dead Weather
The Levon Helm Band
Ghostland Observatory
Sonic Youth
Mos Def
Toadies
Flogging Molly
The B-52s
Lily Allen
Citizen Cope
Arctic Monkeys
The Decemberists
Coheed and Cambria
Andrew Bird
Girl Talk
STS9 (Sound Tribe Sector 9)
Phoenix
Bassnectar
Bon Iver
!!!
The Avett Brothers
The Airborne Toxic Event
Medeski, Martin & Wood
Clutch
Michael Franti & Spearhead
Grizzly Bear
Heartless Bastards
Passion Pit
White Lies
Dan Auerbach
The Walkmen
The Scabs
Reckless Kelly
Devotchka
Blitzen Trapper
The Virgins
Here We Go Magic
Eek-A-Mouse
K' Naan
Asleep at the Wheel
Dr. Dog
The Raveonettes
The Knux
Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears
State Radio
Los Amigos Invisibles
The Felice Brothers
Federico Aubele
Raul Malo
Daniel Johnston
Poi Dog Pondering
Brett Dennen
Rodriguez
Henry Butler
Preservation Hall
Sam Roberts Band
The Greencards
Sara Watkins
Walter "Wolfman" Washington
David Garza
John Vanderslice
Zac Brown Band
Todd Snider
School of Seven Bells
The Dodos
Robyn Hitchcock and the Venus 3
Alberta Cross
Deer Tick
Bell X1
Alela Diane
The Wood Brothers
The Parlor Mob
Rebirth Brass Band
Marva Wright
Terri Hendrix
L.A.X.
Lisa Hannigan
The Low Anthem
Sons of Bill
Suckers
Sarah Jaffe
Cotton Jones
The Henry Clay People
Papa Mali
Jypsi
Vince Mira
Jonathan Tyler & the Northern Lights
Mimicking Birds
Jeffrey Steele
Jonell Mosser
Leatherbag
Keith Gattis
Damien Horne
Sarah Siskind
Dexateens
Nelo
Danny Brooks
Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band
The Soul Stirrers
The Durdens
Palm School Elementary
The Gospel Silvertones
Diaconos
Quinn Sullivan
Ralph's World
Q Brothers
Milkshake
Telephone Company
Loose Cannons
Lunch Money

Blonde Jovi or pretty boy Jon Bon Jovi

Although I was wondering if this was a late April Fool’s joke when I first read it, apparently this story isn’t one that someone made up to honor that tradition.

As reported by Australian music site Undercover, an all-female tribute band has found themselves in the crosshairs of Bon Jovi's crack legal team. Never having been a rock star myself, I have know way to know if this is something that the group’s legal eagles do as part of their normal duties without making anyone in the group aware of it or not. That seems unlikely, but I’m no lawyer and have never even been friends with one!

One thing is for sure, however, if they were not aware of it before, they are now.

Who would want to pick on these ladies?

One would presume that it is well within the group’s power to put a stop to foolishness like this. You know, ring up the suits at “Blakely Sokoloff Taylor And Zafman” and tell them to back off.

As others around the net have pointed out, the tribute band calling itself “Blonde Jovi” (nice play on words, by the way) are obviously fans of the original group. Heck, they probably all had crushes on pretty boy Jon Bon Jovi at one time or another during their lives. And after viewing their site on MySpace, I’d have to say that having some of these ladies pining for you would not be a bad thing!

Speaking of their MySpace page, it appears that the ladies may have caved to the demands made of them by Bon Jovi’s lawyers. Although I reached their page at this URL: http://www.myspace.com/blondejovi, there are now signs that the group is calling itself “Blonde Jersey.” Reading further, I was able to confirm that they have indeed changed their name as a result of the legal action that was being threatened.

How pathetic is that?

I’m seated firmly on the bandwagon with Undercover on this one, and will echo their sentiment that this is indeed a new low for Bon Jovi if they allow something like this to remain final. This whole thing should be called off and they should tell the ladies that they can resume the use of their original name.

This whole thing would be understandable if these ladies were out there performing for big crowds at major venues and making records, but it’s a local tribute band who are probably working their butts off playing clubs and other small venues just trying to make a living, and honoring Bon Jovi at the same time!

You don’t see the guys from Led Zeppelin sending their legal attack dogs after Lez Zeppelin, do you? And that name even more closely matches the original. Heck, I’ve even seen Lez Zeppelin ringtones for sale on some of the major ringtone websites. Apparently, Plant, Page and Jones are sensible enough to appreciate the sentiment.

Gee, I hope the ladies don’t have to worry about the state of New Jersey coming after them now that they are calling themselves “Blonde Jersey” until they come up with something they like better. Perhaps they could borrow a page from Prince’s handbook and call themselves “The Artists Formerly Known As Blonde Jovi,” but I suppose that wouldn’t keep the lawyers off their backs since it still contains the sacred word “Jovi.”

At the risk of being redundant, which in this case I feel is warranted: How pathetic.