Following the announcement that "Girls" creator-star Lena Dunham would be among the keynote speakers in the film portion of the 2014 SXSW festival and conference in Austin, Texas, and that Grantland's Bill Simmons and beloved statistician Nate Silver will highlight the newly added SXSports segment, organizers unveiled the first wave of bands booked for South-by-Southwest’s 28th annual music fest.
Though the big names tend to be held back until closer to the ten-day March event, they did reveal that among the 2000 acts we can expect alt-rock icons Urge Overkill alongside Brooklyn punks The Men, UK indie-pop star Eliza Doolittle and standout Canadians like Montreal DJ/producer Kaytranada, Vancouver pop-rockers Hey Ocean! and Winnipeg pop experimentalists Royal Canoe. As well, Cracker frontman David Lowery will presumably continue his campaign against music-streaming services.
Considering the recent music trade mission that brought Toronto mayor Rob Ford to Austin to sign a "Music City Alliance," one can hope that there may be something special involving Toronto acts, as well.
Last year's festival was the biggest and most diverse SXSW yet, with performances and speakers ranging from Prince, Dave Grohl and Justin Timberlake to space entrepreneur Elon Musk and almost-president Al Gore to cult-pop icon Joss Whedon and everywhere-man James Franco to news personalities like MSNBC host Rachel Maddow and hero-mayor Corey Booker.
Here's the full list of announced bands.
Aer (Wayland MA)
Kyle Andrews (Nashville TN)
Atlanter (Oslo NORWAY)
Atomix (Mixcoac MEXICO)
The Autumn Defense (Chicago IL)
Avi Buffalo (Los Angeles CA)
Belle Adair (Muscle Shoals AL)
Betunizer (Valencia SPAIN)
The Black and White Years (Austin TX)
Jeff Black (Nashville TN)
Black Taxi (Brooklyn NY)
The Black Watch (Los Angeles CA)
The Blank Tapes (Los Angeles CA)
The Boxing Lesson (Austin TX)
Boyfrndz (Austin TX)
Bring Me The Horizon (Sheffield UK-ENGLAND)
Bugs of Phonon (Tainan TAIWAN)
Burgess Meredith (Austin TX)
Allysen Callery (Bristol RI)
Capsula (Bilbao SPAIN)
Casual Sex (Glasgow UK-SCOTLAND)
[Champagne] (Tokyo JAPAN)
The Chevelles (North Fremantle WA)
CHRISTEENE (Austin TX)
Shawn Chrystopher (Los Angeles CA)
Cinco Doce (Austin TX)
Amy Cook (Austin TX)
Crossfaith (Osaka JAPAN)
Rodney Crowell (Crosby TX)
Current Swell (Victoria CANADA)
David J (Santa Rosa CA)
Deidre and the Dark (Brooklyn NY)
DeLorean (Houston TX)
Dems (London UK-ENGLAND)
Desert (Barcelona SPAIN)
The Devil Makes Three (Santa Cruz CA)
Division Minuscula (Matamoros MEXICO)
Eliza Doolittle (London UK-ENGLAND)
Doughbeezy (Houston TX)
Dråpe (Oslo NORWAY)
Drenge (Castleton UK-ENGLAND)
Dumb Waiter (Richmond VA)
The Dunwells (Leeds UK-ENGLAND)
Lincoln Durham (Austin TX)
Dusty Stray (Amsterdam THE NETHERLANDS)
East Cameron Folkcore (Austin TX)
East Forest (Portland OR)
Andrea Echeverri (Bogota COLOMBIA)
E-Dubble (Baltimore MD)
Robert Ellis (Houston TX)
Sean Falyon (Atlanta GA)
Feathers (Austin, TX)
Folly and the Hunter (Montreal CANADA)
Ghost Loft (Los Angeles CA)
Ariana Gillis (Toronto ON)
Glass Animals (Oxford UK-ENGLAND)
The Great Wilderness (San Jose COSTA RICA)
Gungor (Denver CO)
Hamell On Trial (Ossining NY)
Elias Haslanger (Austin TX)
Hey Ocean! (Vancouver CANADA)
Micah P. Hinson (Denison TX)
Hollow Jan (Seoul SOUTH KOREA)
Hopsin (Panorama City CA)
Hyenaz (Berlin GERMANY)
Il Pan del Diavolo (Palermo ITALY)
INVSN (Umea SWEDEN)
Garland Jeffreys (New York NY)
Jonzieeee (Houston TX)
Vance Joy (Melbourne AUSTRALIA)
June (San Francisco CA)
Jungle (London UK-ENGLAND)
Kaytranada (Montreal CANADA)
K Camp (Atlanta GA)
Killa Kyleon (Houston TX)
Kins (Brighton UK-ENGLAND)
Kira Kira (Mosfellsbær ICELAND)
Kristal and Jonny Boy (Rättvik/Stockholm SWEDEN)
La Orquesta Vulgar (Juarez MEXICO)
Kieran Leonard (London UK-ENGLAND)
Like Swimming (Stockholm SWEDEN)
Lil Ray/Wheels Up (Houston TX)
Lions In The Street (Vancouver CANADA)
Little Daylight (Brooklyn NY)
Little Jesus (Mexico City MEXICO)
Grace London (Austin TX)
London Grammar (London UK-ENGLAND)
Lord Buffalo (Austin TX)
Los Lonely Boys (San Angelo TX)
Lost Tapes (Barcelona SPAIN)
Calvin Love (Edmonton CANADA)
Lovely Bad Things (La Mirada CA)
Love X Stereo (Seoul SOUTH KOREA)
Lene Lovich Band (London UK-ENGLAND)
Eleni Mandell (Los Angeles CA)
Marigold (Borlänge SWEDEN)
Jessica Lea Mayfield (Kent OH)
The Men (Brooklyn NY)
Mibbs (of Pac Div) (Beverly Hills CA)
Mighty Oaks (Berlin GERMANY)
Fernando Milagros (Santiago CHILE)
The Ben Miller Band (Joplin MO)
Mirror Travel (Austin TX)
Mise en Scene (Winnipeg CANADA)
Money For Rope (Melbourne AUSTRALIA)
Mon Laferte (Escandon MEXICO)
Mono Inc. (Schönberg GERMANY)
Angelo Moore & The Brand New Step (Los Angeles CA)
Mozes And The Firstborn (Eindhoven THE NETHERLANDS)
mr. Gnome (Cleveland OH)
Neulore (Nashville TN)
Nive Nielsen & The Deer Children (Nuuk DENMARK)
Nightmare Air (Los Angeles CA)
Kurt Nilsen (Oslo NORWAY)
NO (Los Angeles CA)
NONONO (Stockholm SWEDEN)
OBN III's (Austin TX)
Only Real (London UK-ENGLAND)
Palmbomen (Amsterdam THE NETHERLANDS)
Panama Wedding (New York NY)
PapaNegro (Santiago CHILE)
PEDALJETS (Kansas City MO)
Penny & Sparrow (Austin TX)
People of Letters (Melbourne AUSTRALIA)
the Pepper Pots (Girona SPAIN)
Juan Perro (Madrid SPAIN)
Phonalex (Buenos Aires ARGENTINA)
Pompeya (Moscow RUSSIA)
Porter (Guadalajara MEXICO)
Propain (Houston TX)
Pure Love (Hemel Hempstead UK-ENGLAND)
Que (Atlanta GA)
Random (Mega Ran) (Phoenix AZ)
The Rocketboys (Austin TX)
Raina Rose (Austin TX)
ROXY ROCA (Austin TX)
Royal Canoe (Winnipeg CANADA)
Rusty Maples (Las Vegas NV)
Saint Rich (Fredon NJ)
Josef Salvat (Sydney AUSTRALIA)
Saor Patrol (Edinburgh UK-SCOTLAND)
Savoir Adore (Brooklyn NY)
Jack Savoretti (London UK-ENGLAND)
Shakey Graves (Austin TX)
Sigmun (Bandung INDONESIA)
Sisu (Los Angeles CA)
Ski Lodge (New York NY)
Soldout (Bruxelles BELGIUM)
The Sour Notes (Austin TX)
Speak (Austin TX)
The Spring Standards (New York NY)
Starlight Girls (Brooklyn NY)
The Suffers (Houston TX)
Sweet Baboo (Trefriw UK-WALES)
The Swiss (Sydney AUSTRALIA)
SwizZz (Los Angeles CA)
Dudu Tassa (Tel Aviv ISRAEL)
Teengirl Fantasy (New York NY)
Kristian Terzic Band (Rovinj CROATIA)
To Be Frank (Suffolk UK-ENGLAND)
Jonathan Toubin (New York NY)
Truth Universal (New Orleans LA)
Ume (Austin TX)
Urge Overkill (Chicago IL)
Vampillia (Tenjinmachi JAPAN)
Vida Boulevard (Guadalajara MEXICO)
V.I.P (Austin TX)
Vockah Redu (New Orleans LA)
We Butter The Bread With Butter (Berlin GERMANY)
Taj Weekes & Adowa (Castries SAINT LUCIA )
Wes Fif (Orlando FL)
Whiskey Shivers (Austin TX)
Dot Wiggin Band (Brooklyn NY)
Wild Child (Austin TX)
Wild Moccasins (Houston TX)
Wild Ones (Portland OR)
Roosh Williams (Houston TX)
WonFu (Taipei TAIWAN)
Dizzy Wright (Las Vegas NV)
Yip Deceiver (Athens GA)
Gabby Young and Other Animals (London UK-ENGLAND)
Zefirina (João Pessoa BRAZIL)