For most people, it’s a long way to Austin. But this weekend, as tens of thousands of music fans converge on the Texas town, millions more will be skipping the porta potties, snaking lineups and thunderstorms and taking in one of the city’s biggest fests online.
Metric, the Weeknd, Tegan and Sara, Rufus Wainwright, Patrick Watson and A-Trak are among the Canadian acts on tap for the Austin City Limits Music Festival’s blockbuster webcast, which also includes sets by Jack White, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Black Keys, Florence + the Machine, the Roots, the Avett Brothers, Iggy and the Stooges, the Civil Wars, the Shins, Alabama Shakes and dozens more streaming live on two separate channels.
The webcast is part of a fast growing trend toward live concerts being broadcast online, with major fests including Coachella, Lollapalooza and Bonnaroo drawing millions of viewers, as did the recent Global Citizen Festival in New York.
But while online concertgoers won’t have to endure lengthy security checks or have their view blocked by girls on their boyfriends’ shoulders, there are still a few downsides: trying to body surf at home can be dangerous; holding up your cellphone during a touching song won’t have quite the same effect; and they will miss sets by two of the big headliners — Neil Young and Crazy Horse and Weezer.
The YouTube webcast begins Friday afternoon with First Aid Kit and runs through Sunday night, when the Red Hot Chili Peppers wrap up the show.
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