Fall Preview

The Set List

By Brian Washburn

It might not be officially fall yet, but the school year is here, so summer is definitely over, at least for students. While the summer might offer plenty of festivals and big name tours, the fall will also offer those returning to college campuses the chance to see big names, local favorites and wait for the release of the next great album of the year.

For Fayetteville, a number of concerts and events are already on the calendar. The biggest of which, so far, will take place at George’s Majestic Lounge Sept. 21 when up-and-coming indie rockers the Silversun Pickups will perform alongside rising stars Manchester Orchestra and Cage the Elephant. Even though this concert will be a highlight for those on the inside of the indie music scene, the biggest event of the year in Northwest Arkansas will also take place in September.

Bikes, Blues & BBQ will roll into town Sept. 23 and will offer attendees some blues and good old southern rock that those in NWA have become accustomed to over the past few years. While last year featured the Allman Brothers Band and an array of local and national acts, this year will feature a few more big names because of a new partnership between the festival and the Arkansas Music Pavilion, aka The Amp.

On Sept. 24 classic rockers Molly Hatchet and Blackfoot, will be at The Amp. The following night The Amp will host southern rockers the Marshall Tucker Band, bluesman Steve Pryor and Oreo Experience, a tribute to Jimi Hendrix by NWA’s award-winning Oreo Blue.

However, these are not the only shows of note for the fall. September will also feature sets by techno act and local favorite Boombox (Sept. 18 and 19 at George’s), rockers Framing Hanley (Sept. 10 at George’s), Ghostland Observatory (Sept. 4 at The Amp), Cross Canadian Ragweed and Lucero (Sept. 12 at The Amp), and Brandi Carlile and Amy Ray (Oct. 12 at the Fayetteville Towncenter).

This fall the UA will offer its fall edition of the headliners concert series. While bands have not even been discussed yet, it is certain the committee will lock down a musician popular with the UA students, as they have done in the past.

These are just some of the acts that will be performing in NWA this fall.

Several local acts, too, will be performing, release music and attempt to break through the NWA scene into a bigger national spotlight. Some of the bands that will be hitting the local stages include Silverstone, A Good Fight, Kory Montgomery, Boom Kinetic and Benjamin Del Shreve. However, this is not to say some new bands will not pop up on the local scene and have instant success this fall.

Concerts are not the only musical aspect to be new in the fall. Several different bands are releasing albums this fall that might prove to be some of the year’s best. Releases in September alone include Shwayze, The Used, Brand New, Paramore, Madonna, Muse and Jay-Z.

Fall 2009 is looking to be a step up in the music industry, and not just nationally, but in the NWA area, as well. It’s only a matter of time until Fayetteville is hopefully on the list of every big name tour stop in the nation.