ACL 2010 Bullets (9/17/10)

A few news and notes about some of the bands at this year's festival.

• The Strokes (Fri 8-9:30, AMD Stage) played a "surprise" gig last weekend at the Met for Tommy Hilfiger's 25th anniversary party. Apparently the secret was not too well kept, hence the quotation marks. Jada Yuan provides a brief, humorous look at the festivities on Vulture (New York Magazine). Most important note: "Neil Patrick Harris, the Gossip Girl cast, Russell and Kimora Simmons, and Jennifer Lopez were there, but they weren't part of the enthusiastic dance party on the Met steps, so forget them." Elsewhere, Refinery29 offers a slide show from the evening and interview with another famous attendee, Jeremy Piven. If you want something a bit more about the music, NME also offers a report and a short fan-shot video.
• Say this 10 times fast: "Is there a bigger gig than Hilfiger?"
• In other important news, Ted Leo (Sun 12:30-1:15, Bud Stage) has really done it this time! The hardest working punk singer-songwriter in indie rock pissed off the cast of the Green Day-themed musical "American Idiot" (which, by the way, I didn't even know existed before writing this). Ted and his band The Pharmacists' shot a video for recent single "Bottled in Cork" that according to Spinner.com apparently "lightheartedly mocks the production." Leo then proceeded to fool some into believing he too was putting together a stage show based on his music. Among the fooled? "Idiot" cast member Michael Esper, who had this to say about the affair: "Well, Ted Leo can suck it." So, who's the Idiot?
• MOG Blog reports that Gayngs (Sun 3-4, AmEx Stage) will make their network TV debut October 4 on the Late Show with Jimmy Fallon. A few days later the rising band will be here in town for the festival. You can also read about how prince "kinda" appears in their new video clip on Pitchfork.com.
• Who's on a bigger streak than The xx (Sat 5:30-6:30 AmEx)? Just picked up a little Mercury Prize. For now, the band is taking it slow. After just one album, the band has no plans for a second ... yet. Can you blame them? What did you do (or what do you plan to be doing) when you were 21?
• Gogol Bordello (Sat 6:30-7:30 AMD), the punk Gypsies, have a political side. Read about how they push for immigration reform in their new video for “Immigraniada (We Comin’ Rougher)” on PasteMagazine.com.