Sat, 10/27/2018 - 10:47 am

Austin City Limits Music Festival (ACL) is a fixture in every Austinite’s schedule. Whether it be to leave town and avoid the influx of people and traffic, or to attend the festival either weekend, you can tell when the weekends are coming. Having gone to college in Austin, and attended the festival several times throughout college and after, I’ve found it to be a popular activity with friends, year after year. It’s truly a festival filled and loved by locals and tourists alike.  Whether they’re new to Austin, alumni, or travel-junkies, they find a city with something for everyone and a festival to match it.  You really can’t feel out of place here with all kinds of delicious foods, everything from vegan options to mounds of barbeque, and a craft beer tent where football games are screened, and plenty of stages filled with all genres of music.

Trampled By Turtles | Austin City Limits

Months leading up to the festival, the lineup is revealed.  Eager ACL-alumni wait by their computers and phones, to see who they will be seeing, as many have already bought an early-bird pre-sale ticket. Like I said, it’s a popular to-do in the Austin social circles, especially, more recently, the younger population.

Jungle | Austin City Limits Music Festival

Over the years, ACL has changed, as has the city. Namely, it has grown. What was once a one-weekend festival, which sold out in minutes before a lineup was announced, is now a two-weekend festival. Additionally, as it grew, and became very, very crowded, the festival grounds expanded too. The festival has also seemed to include more and more hip-hop and electronic artists, which appeal to a traditionally younger crowd. Nevertheless, ACL stands its ground for those who have been attending year after year before it was quite as cool as it is.

Metallica | Austin City Limits Music Festival

This year, the weekend was, by-and-large, characterized by incredible performances, which were true performances to a tee. There were lights, incredible stage designs, including the infamous snake stage-extension Metallica uses, cool costumes, lights, pyrotechnics, and fireworks, not to mention energetic stage presence, and the music itself. What’s not to expect when you have names like David Byrne, Janelle Monae, Odesza, Brockhampton, St. Vincent, Metallica, Paul McCartney, and many more, on the lineup.

Janelle Monae | Austin City Limits Music Festival

Highlights (there’s a lot):

Paul McCartney took the audience on a journey through time, as cheesy as it sounds. Performing with a full band, or singing the classics of his former band and his own new songs, with nothing more than an acoustic guitar or piano, or a full band, he had everyone singing along, listening intently, all while appreciating why he is the legend that he is. Highlights of this highlight include his sparse performance of, “Blackbird,” and his unforgettable performance of the classic, “Hey Jude.” He’s one of The Beatles. What’s not to like.

David Byrne | Austin, TX

David Byrne’s stage set-design was simple, hanging chains from the floor to the ceiling, creating a room, minus a fourth wall, where the audience watches the show.  David Byrne walks out, alone, wearing a face mic and a grey suit, to sit at a table where a model of a brain sits. The rest of the show includes other band members entering the stage through the curtains of chains, wearing matching suits, dancing choreographed dances, playing and performing alongside the former frontman of The Talking Heads. David Byrne, being the former frontman of, The Talking Heads, didn’t leave Paul McCartney alone in playing songs popular from a time a few decades past while including some of his more recent work, incredible as ever. It truly seemed the audience felt solidarity at the moment they sang and danced along to, “This Must Be the Place,” singing, “Home is where I want to be, I guess I’m already there.”

Khalid | Austin City Limits Music Festival

Khalid performed on one of the largest stages at the festival, the Honda stage, and he had a blast the entire time he was up there, at least based off his cheesy grin which seemed to be nothing other than authentic and from a place of surreal enjoyment.

Brockhampton | Austin City Limits Music Festival

All-American boyband, Brockhampton waltzed out on the stage, one by one, rapping with such incredible energy and bravado you didn’t have to wonder why their performance had one of the largest crowds of a daytime-performance at the festival. Amongst other performers, they clearly had some of the most fun out of anyone at Zilker Park, audience and artists alike.

Phil Cook | Austin, TX

Phil Cook, genuine as ever, played good ole fashioned blues with such earnestness, it didn’t take long to tell the compassion which bleeds through his songs was a true reflection of who is to his core. Clearly, he loves music nearly as he loves people, even strangers, as he called upon the audience to, “Talk to strangers,” as an act to connect to one another, as an act of kindness. It’s really, really, hard not to like a guy like Phil Cook, who is doing what he loves with people he loves for people he loves, which seems to be everyone.

Duncan Fellows | Austin City Limits Music Festival

Duncan Fellows, a local Austin band, played an early afternoon set to kick off the second weekend. There’s something truly captivating to witness a band grow and to make it to a place they are truly grateful to be. Visibly having a good time, they played incredibly fun “Cheesy Gordita Crunch Pop” to the crowd of cult fans, family, and friends, who knew every word to every song. With smiles all around, a cover of, “Time After Time,” and a song about breakfast, it was my favorite of the festival as a very proud friend and was beautiful to see a dream become actualized.

Vince Staples | Austin City Limits Music Festival

Vince Staples, a rapper from Long Beach, CA, owned the American Express stage, which is no easy feat as s solo artist. With songs which are far from pop, filled with meaningful lyrics, it was a performance in and of itself. Vince is one of those artists who can’t be mistaken for anyone else, a very distinct vibe and personality; he was one of several incredible hip-hop acts of the weekend.

Brandi Carlile | ACL Music Festival

Brandi Carlile is cool. Everyone who knows of her knows that. Her voice is powerful, as are her lyrics, and now, after seeing her perform, one can confidently say her performance matches the former. Such bare honesty present in her songs paired with this caliber of talent is rare. Bringing out her “dear friend, Mike McCready, lead guitarist of Pearl Jam, to perform a cover of Joan Baez’s, “I’m Never Gonna Leave You” and an epic rendition of, “The Star-Spangled Banner” to close her set, she played an Americana set that showed being loud isn’t limited to Metallica and the likes.

St. Vincent | Austin City Limits Music Festival

St.Vincent plays guitar like no one else at the festival. Really, St. Vincent is simply and wholly unlike any other musician. Whether it be her custom guitars, her style, outfits and performance, videos playing behind her, she is unique. You can tell she loves music. You can especially tell she loves to play music and all that it involves, the performance, the theory in her guitar work, and returning to the stage for an encore, a rare occurrence for a festival.

The National | ACL Music Festival

The National is a band of music nerds for music nerds, but also, for everyone. Matt Berninger, lead singer, performed while occasionally (often) drinking from his customary red solo cup, invited Lauren Mayberry of CHVRCHES onto the stage to join him in singing a truly captivating rendition of “Guilty Party.” With beautiful, dynamic songs, filled with heavy emotions, the band creates a cinematic atmosphere which is truly engaging.

Travis Scott is enjoying the ride | Austin City Limits Music Festival

Travis Scott has all the confidence in the world, and performing a pseudo-homecoming set in his home state, certainly lend it to his bravado. With pyrotechnics, a surprise appearance by Shaquille “Shaq” O’Neil, a crowd filled with fans who thought it to be a good idea to rush the stage, it was quite the set to end the night.

Sun, 06/23/2019 - 12:48 pm

About two months ago, the lineup for Austin’s music festival, ACL, was announced to the eagerly awaiting music fans from near and far. ACL makes Austin a popular destination during both weekends of the two-weekend festival.  When there are names like Guns N’ Roses, Mumford & Sons, Tame Impala, and Robyn, amongst many, many more, on the lineup, you’re sure to attract locals and tourists alike.

Mumford & Sons will play ACL

ACL always delivers a lineup which offers something for everyone. This year the lineup offers more diversity in some of the bigger acts from weekend to weekend than in years past(i.e., Robyn is only performing Weekend Two, and Cardi B will only perform Weekend One), but maintains its typical formula: some big-name artists appealing to the younger crowd, the legacy acts, the old school music legends, some EDM acts (Griz, RL Grimes), and of course, the many acts which currently have a lot of hype around them, either because they’re already big names and have been big names, because they’re young and will be big names in a couple of years, or, honestly, just because they’re on the lineup.

Cardi B

Much to 2018 festival-goers’ collective dismay, Childish Gambino canceled his appearance due to an injury, but alas, all will be made right come October. Some other Hip-Hop/Rap/R&B headliners include Lizzo, Cardi B, 21 Savage, and Lil Uzi Vert.

Tyler Childers

While Austin may be one of the most unique places in Texas, it shares an affinity for country music alongside the rest of the state. This year, ACL offers the likes of Kacey Musgraves, Jenny Lewis, Tyler Childers, and Orville Peck, in the way of big country names, each bringing something wildly different to the table.

The Cure will return since their last appearance in 2013. Also, encouraging the resurgence in emo-indie music, The Metric, and Third Eye Blind will be performing to the likes of older millennials.

Jack White

Also making a return to Zilker Park, where ACL is held each year, The Raconteurs will be celebrating their comeback with a full tour and appearance at the festival. It’s going to be good to see Jack White back at Zilker Park.

Some of the indie-rock artists worthy of mention include Men I Trust, Weyes Blood, Cherry Glazrr, Idles, Briston Maroney, Julia Jacklin, Faye Webster, and many more.

Folk singers Dylan LeBlanc and Texas-native Thomas Csorba will be bringing the kinds of songs where you don’t want to miss a lyric.

Gary Clark Jr.

ACL always does a good job at celebrating local artists too. Even though he is a full-on rockstar nowadays, we have Gary Clark Jr. returning. Additionally, some other local acts include Night Cap, Otis the Destroyer, Jane Ellen Bryant, Ley Line, Alesia Lani, Kady Rain, Stone Wheels, and Blackillac.  As per usual, Asleep at the Wheel will be performing both weekends, giving us that consistency, we all want.

All in all, it’s a lineup worth being excited about. Festival-goers will see bands they’ve wanted to see for years and years, bands who have stopped touring but have returned and made this one of their stops, bands they’ve never heard of, bands they can dance to, bands they can sing along with, bands they can watch while sitting or lying on the lawn. No matter who you are and what you like, you’ve always been able to find something you love at ACL Festival, and this lineup seems to promise more of the same.

Thu, 10/10/2019 - 11:07 am

October came quickly this year, and with it so did ACL Music Festival. There’s something special about the first of the two-weekend music festival.  It was hot. It was sweaty. It was exhausting. But that is to be expected. We, the people, prevailed. Fun was had, regardless of weather by tourists and locals alike. 

ACL made the move to become a two-weekend festival beginning in 2013 and has continually been a festival who listens and continually makes improvements. Whether it be expanding the festival grounds to allow for another stage and more space, or a “Wine Grove,” or partnering with companies like American Express or T-Mobile to include exclusive perks for patrons, the festival remains true to form. It’s a festival with something for everyone. There’s the Instagram-able groups of colorful flags, the notorious ACL frame with an ever-growing Austin skyline as a backdrop, and the massive beer tent complete with massive TVs to air football games.

The first weekend of this year’s installments of ACL was hot. With headliners like Lizzo, The Cure, Mumford and Sons, Guns & Roses, Kacey Musgraves, Childish Gambino, Billie Eilish, and Cardi B, it was hard not to have fun.

Lizzo

Each year, it is almost guaranteed to have some sort of “legacy band” (in the past this has included Paul McCartney, Willie Nelson, Pearl Jam), as well as a plethora of rising and risen stars in the pop-music scene, as well as a sprinkling of some indie and country favorites. Guns & Roses and The Cure played the part of legacy band(s) very well. There were countless Guns & Roses shirts, eager to see Slash and Axl Rose bring the rock. And they did. Slash even wore his hat. Guns & Roses performed a beautiful rendition of “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door,” which lasted a very long time. The Cure also included guitar solos in their set and ended their set with “Friday I’m In Love” and “Boys Don’t Cry.” It was truly beautiful.  Part of the magic of a festival like ACL is whoever the headliner is whichever evening, the sheer size of the crowd makes it feels like the whole park is watching the same show as you.  This kind of experience rarely happens outside of a music festival.

The festival felt sleepy at 1 pm on Friday. People are still at work, still traveling, still in school, or simply lazy and don’t want to face the heat. I respect it. It was really hot. It’s nicer to be hot for less time. Slowly, but surely, you see the park fill out each day. Saturday and Sunday follow suit, just with some pace.  Still, as each day progresses, you keep wondering again and again,  “Wait. Where did all of these people come from?”

ACL 2019

This question was particularly felt during Lizzo’s performance. She was slotted for a non-headliner stage, and the people showed up like they didn’t know any better. The crowd was one of ACL’s biggest. It’s as if the crowd knew Lizzo had sold out nearly every date on her current tour. They probably did.  The mass quantity of persons posed quite the challenge for any individual (me) who decided to leave early and catch some air before Cardi B/Mumford and Sons’ performances. All I have to say is, “Wow.” And, “That was awesome.”

On Saturday, it was still hot. Same with Sunday. What do you expect? It’s Texas in October. However, it looks like weekend two festival-goers will catch some kind of a break in regards to weather. I wondered what the marginal temperature increase was per square foot given the concentration of humans in Zilker Park. Probably measurable, depending on where you stood.  There were moments where I wanted nothing but shade, some kind of relief, and rest. There were also moments that made all of the standing and sweating worth it. Here are some of them, but not nearly all of them:

Friday

Tyler Childers

The kid isn’t a kid anymore. Clearly. He commanded the American Express stage (one of two headlining stages) the stage with an incredibly talented backing band. He still plays like he’s got something to prove, full of spirit and grit. It’s a hard task to play on a stage where part of your crowd is just waiting for the next act, or an act that isn’t going to come on until 8 pm. It’s even harder to close your set, hot as hell, acoustic. But Tyler Childers did and had the crowd of all ages singing along.  It’s good country, as far as things go, but it’s also just good music and is even better live. I could go on and on. But I won’t.

Weyes Blood

Weyes Blood

This was purely pleasant. Anthemic, cinematic, soaring. Slotted for an afternoon slot on a small stage, scheduling was prime. Sometimes there’s some noise bleed from other larger stages. Fortunately enough, not at this show.  With soothing vocals and lyrics about space, cinematic instrumentation, and an overall timeless sound, Weyes Blood provided the dedicated fans at the small BMI stage with a moment of respite.

Tame Impala

Tame Impala

What good are genres as descriptors these days? So many bands are called “indie” or “psych-rock” or “indie neo-psych rock,” and I’ll continue to add to the noise and let Tame Impala fall under the latter umbrella. What a way to end the first night of the first weekend of ACL. If you weren’t at Guns & Roses, where Slash was nothing but gratuitous in his guitar solos, you were being mesmerized by Tame Impala’s vibey music and accompanying James Terrell-esque light show.  They performed all the songs fans wanted to hear, mostly anyway, including both new and old. The band had performed at ACL a few years back, only not a headlining spot and during the day. The bigger stage and night time allowed the band to truly shine.

Saturday

Briston Maroney

Briston

The trouble with ACL, from time to time, is there will be an up and coming artist, someone who is growing, and truly making a name for themselves, like Briston Maroney, who is slotted for a less than ideal time slot. Briston, hailing from Nashville, TN, performed early in the afternoon, ensuring a full day in the sun would be had. But he matched, maybe even surpassed, the high energy of the ever-growing group of highly dedicated fans (who even showed up early to get front row spots).  Briston and his band possess a rare quality of keeping an audience enraptured, watching every move, oscillating between dancing and listening closely to each word.

Brittany Howard

Brittany Howard

Brittany Howard spent the majority of her time in the spotlight as the frontperson for The Alabama Shakes, one of ACL’s favorites. And while she performed with The Alabama Shakes, she was a force of nature, truly. And she still is, turns out. I can’t describe it better than that. She is a force of positivity, light, truth, beauty, and goodness, and doesn’t seem like she can be stopped. She exudes confidence in herself, what she believes in, and in what she is capable of musically. It seemed like right before she went on stage, someone gave her the directive, “Hey, make sure you feel yourself this time. And she said, “Alright.” And then she did.” Then that same person went and told each band member to do the same. Words fall short. Each of the eight-person backing band was killer. It was one of the most enjoyable performances I’ve ever seen.  The end result was a crowd full of people experiencing some much needed good energy during a very hot day and during a very divided time where music which calls for love and unity is more important than ever. It’s timeless, and I wish all my friends could’ve seen and felt what I did.

The Cure

ACL 2019

What a fun show. They were slotted for the headlining spot at the same time as Childish Gambino, which made for a tough decision. I split my time between both stages and managed to see songs I love from each artist. Guitar solos were definitely “in” this year, and The Cure followed suit. They sounded and acted as classic as anyone could expect. They’re another band with a timeless special quality amongst all of their anthemic power ballads, tinged with sad nostalgia and hope.

Sunday

Thomas Csorba

Thomas Csorba is another up and coming artist, only in the folk-Americana-singer/songwriter world.  It’s clear what he grew up listening to and who made him fall in love with music. It’s only the greats, Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, Woody Guthrie, who influenced him and from whom he draws from.  Thomas performed in the shade of the Tito’s Vodka Tent, thankfully. And he brought all the excitement and thankfulness within to be shared with the audience.

IDLES

IDLES

Previous to ACL, I hadn’t listened to IDLES  aside from watching a couple of music videos.  I thought they were compelling and cool, but maybe not my cup of tea. However, I had seen photos from admired music photographers and knew to expect a fantastic live show. It was another hot afternoon at the Honda Stage (one of the headliner stages, so think big).  And man, oh, man. What a show. Their set-up ignored the amount of space the stage offered and instead clustered them towards the center, with a U-shape of monitors curving around them, creating a sense they had done this very thing before, only in a dark, grungy, cramped basement.  Just 24 hours after Brittany Howard’s performance, on the same stage at the same time, IDLES’ emerged as another force of positivity with impassioned messages and determined, driven angry energy behind each song.  It was classic punk that felt even more classic with the persona and English accent of lead singer Joe Talbot.  He was sure to remind the crowd to “Watch out for your neighbor,'' especially for those moshing in “the pit.”  Nearly every song was a protest song, each advocating improving the state of things. Another very, very fun show, not soon to be forgotten.

Lizzo

The way things go, for some artists, is sometimes really good. If you’re Lizzo, things have gone good. She clearly blew up more than festival organizers could have predicted. Looking around, you couldn’t see anything but a sea of people.  It was rumored to be one ACL’s singular largest crowds. It certainly felt like it. Another performer who breathes positivity, Lizzo performed with confidence and contagious energy, ensuring everyone was having fun, comfortable to be themselves.  Lizzo has been working hard to make a name for herself. Which she clearly has and continues to do so.

Be sure to check out ACL Weekend Two. There are still tickets, and it’s looking like it will be much more beautiful weather. Much of the lineup is the same, but there are a few key differences, most notably, Robyn will be helping close out the Sunday instead of Cardi B.