Red Hot Chili Peppers & Neil Young highlight 2012 ACL music fest line-up — butno Bon Iver?

Like Christmas Eve for giant music nerds, the Austin City Limits Music Festival lineup announcement keeps the faithful speculating endlessly, staying up late, and then combining the joy of an exciting new thing with the vague disappointment that follows the appearance of anything you’ve built up so much in your head. There’ll be time for both jubilation and longing later — for the time being, let’s just take a look at the lineup for the big music fest Oct. 12-14 and see what there is to learn.

1. The top of the bill is a who’s who of artists who’ve been promoted from the smaller stages in years past

One of the cool things about ACL is that you can chart an artist’s rise by where they play when they’re invited back. The Black Keys have risen through the ranks at ACL, performing at the Fest in 2005, 2008, and 2010. The Avett Brothers held played an earlier slot in ’09. Jack White’s a veteran of the fest with both The Dead Weather (2009) and The Raconteurs (2006 and 2008), though not the White Stripes, after the band canceled in 2007. This will be his first time at the festival without a supergroup to back him up. Bassnectar returns after an appearance in 2009, and The Roots are back at Zilker Park for the first time since 2004.

This provides an excellent opportunity for old-timers to brag about how they totally caught The Black Keys back when they were a mid-day act, which is at least half of the people who bought their tickets when they did the earlybird specials.

2. The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Neil Young, constant stars of the “who’s gonna headline ACL this year” speculation, finally make their appearance

The fact is, there just aren’t that many mega-star bands who can serve as a true headliner for a festival the size of Austin City Limits, Lollapalooza, Coachella, Bonnaroo, etc. Barring an unexpected reunion — like Black Sabbath, Snoop and Dre, or The Beach Boys — you’ll see the same names batted around year after year. Last year, the needle stopped on Stevie Wonder, Coldplay and Kanye West; this year, the perennially begged-for Chili Peppers and Neil Young sets will close down a couple of nights. Maybe eventually they’ll even book Radiohead and shut everybody up.

3. If you hated all the hip hop on the bill last year, congratulations!

It was something of a sore subject at the time, but whatever the reason for it, a lot of people were pretty unhappy about the number of rappers who played the 2011 version of the festival. (Who can forget the homemade “Fuck Kanye” t-shirts?) Those people will have very little to complain about in September — beside The Roots, there is Childish Gambino and there is Big K.R.I.T. There are no other rappers on the bill. (Canadian DJ A-Trak is also performing, at least.)

4. Electronic music, meanwhile, is all over this thing

It looks like ACL is placing a big bet on electronic music this year. Dubstep hero Skrillex’s mid-afternoon set last year was one of the most fiercely-attended sets of the entire festival, and this year the fest doubles-down on electronic headliners, with both Bassnectar and Avicci in the big type at the top. Just below them, look for Thievery Corporation, Polica, Zola Jesus, Crystal Castles, M83 and Big Gigantic. “Electronic music” is probably not a big enough umbrella term to fit artists with such disparate styles as the above, and it’s to ACL’s credit that they didn’t shy away from booking so many artists who eschew guitar rock.

5. There are a few big surprises in who’s included — and a few in who’s not

Big surprise number one: where’s Bon Iver? His name was on the scratch tickets that leaked early bits of the lineup last week, but it doesn’t appear in the official announcement or on the festival’s website. Number two: no At The Drive-In? With the reunited El Paso emo icons making a killing on the festival circuit at Coachella and Lollapalooza, the band seemed like one of the safest bets for a final Texas show before returning to their current projects.

On the other hand, who cares, because friggin’ Iggy & The Stooges are playing. Also unexpected: the return of Weezer to Austin; the Afghan Whigs’ first show in town since a bouncer at the Liberty Lunch fractured frontman Greg Dulli’s skull in 1998; and, of course, surprise appearances by the Old 97’s, Asleep At The Wheel and Steve Earle. No, just kidding about that last one.

6. The undercard has some sleepers to watch

Buried under the hype, be sure to add English folk/soul singer Michael Kiwanuka to your schedule, as well as Mississippi rapper Big K.R.I.T. It’s a fair bet to say that Alabama Shakes aren’t going to be ignored by too many of the more obsessive ACL-goers, but if you’ve got a casually-attending uncle, make sure he knows to get to whatever stage they’re playing. Hard rockers The Whigs (almost certainly to be confused with The Afghan Whigs) make an appearance in advance of their new album, and the young harmony enthusiasts in Infantree will delight those who wish Fleet Foxes were playing. This’ll be a fun year, top to bottom.

Take a look at the full lineup:

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Punch Brothers

Kopecky Family Band

Neil Young and Crazy Horse

Bombay Bicycle Club

River City Extension

The Black Keys

A-Trak

Quiet Corral

Jack White

Trampled By Turtles

Wheeler Brothers

Florence + The Machine

Patterson Hood

The Relatives

The Avett Brothers

Michael Kiwanuka

Space Capone

Iggy & The Stooges

Big K.R.I.T.

The Staves

AVICII

Oberhofer

Native Run

BASSNECTAR

POLICA

Nikki Lane

The Roots

Tennis

Quiet Company

The Shins

Zola Jesus

Infantree

Weezer

Stars

Wild Child

Gotye

Kimbra

La Vida Bohème

The Civil Wars

Black Lips

The Eastern Sea

M83

Los Campesinos!

The Dunwells

Tegan and Sara

Jovanotti

Kenny Vaughan Trio

Childish Gambino

Ben Howard

Justin Jones

Two Door Cinema Club

Ruthie Foster

Sonámbulo

Thievery Corporation

Freelance Whales

Royal Teeth

The Afghan Whigs

Civil Twilight

Noah Gunderson

Crystal Castles

The Whigs

The Aaron Ivey Band

Andrew Bird

Dev

The Mighty Sincere Voices

Gary Clark Jr.

The Lumineers

G.S.T.

Metric

Bad Books

Colorfeels

Band of Skulls

The Devil Makes Three

Lera Lynn

Esperanza Spalding

Asleep At The Wheel

Megan McCormick

Alabama Shakes

First Aid Kit

Shields Of Faith

Delta Spirit

Patrick Watson

Stapletones

M. Ward

LP

The Baylor Choir

Randy Rogers Band

Caveman

Disciples Of Joy

Die Antwoord

Lee Fields & The Expressions

Ralph's World

Rufus Wainwright

Father John Misty

Orange Sherbet

NEEDTOBREATHE

Dry The River

Big Don

Big Gigantic

The Boxer Rebellion

Rocknoceros

Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra

Soul Rebels Brass Band

Hullabaloo

Steve Earle

Willis Earl Beal

Jambo

The War On Drugs

He's My Brother, She's My Sister

Peter DiStefano & Tor

Umphrey's McGee

Kishi Bashi

The School of Rock

Barrington Levy

Deep Dark Woods

The Q Brothers

Old 97's

Moon Duo