Austin City Limits Festival was back at Zilker Park for a sweltering Weekend 2 of its 23rd edition, Friday-Sunday, October 11th-13th. After Chappell Roan’s park-packing performance from Weekend 1, the second week saw the return of headliners such as Chris Stapleton, Dua Lipa, and Tyler, The Creator, but added singer-songwriter Santigold and rock legends Grand Funk Railroad to round out the fest. A persistent dry spell combined with hundreds of thousands of trampling feet left the grounds like most of the city, a dusty bowl of shredded wheat. Fortunately, the low humidity made the evenings pleasant with cool breezes greeting the crowds as they danced, sat on their blankets, and reveled in the late autumn air.
A later start on Sunday was no reprieve from the heat as it kept the crowds thinner than in five of the six previous festival days. Austin recorded 101 degrees as fans slowly descended into the park during the late afternoon. Battling the sun’s fierceness, pink-wearing concertgoers heard Bakar (QRO Weekend One photos) at T-Mobile Stage as they made their way to the alternative Western artist Orville Peck (QRO Weekend One photos). Eschewing his traditional fringe-lined cowboy hat for a lone ranger-like mask, Peck’s return to ACL Fest included Austin’s own Willie Nelson as a surprise guest. Good on Nelson for joining along in the Ned Sublette cover “Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Other”, a song about gay cowboys and passing the torch to a new generation of country/western artists.
If folks weren’t deterred by the direct sun, they moved to the adjacent Miller Lite Stage for Jess Glynne’s afternoon set. Dressed in white flowing oversized collared shirt and lace bodice with thigh high silver boots, the red headed English singer pumped up the crowd with “I’ll Be There” from her 2018 album Always in Between and the banger “My Love” originally recorded with Route 94. The vocalist’s tour in support of her 2024 album Glynne continues west to Las Vegas and California before ending the year in various dates across Europe.
While a noticeable dust storm of concertgoers moved towards the American Express Stage to queue up for festival sensation and most anticipated time slot at ACL 2024, many stopped by misting fans at the Tito’s Tent to cool off and amped up at San Holo. Meanwhile, on the Honda Stage you had to give it up to mike. for the enviable task of being the only performance at magic hour up against Chappell Roan. Sporting a Longhorn Football jersey, Michael Francis Seander, the singer who goes by mike., thanked the crowd for showing up and likened his set to a big house party. Judging by the uneven distribution of concertgoers, he was a good sport and deserved a mention for his service and dedicated fan base.
One of the great things about ACL is how viral an artist can get between their booking and their actual performance at the festival. Take for example, Lizzo in 2019, her stardom had skyrocketed by the time she took the Miller Lite Stage that year. After the first weekend, festival organizers reorganized some elements of the fest to accommodate her draw, placing extra monitors on the larger adjacent Honda stage to accommodate the audience size. If you were there that year, you weren’t surprised by the Chappell Roan phenomenon.
As the sun set on the park, a good 70% of the crowd crammed their way to the east side of the field with folks watching monitors featuring the American Express Stage in little viewing areas on the way and fans jockeying for position in front of the stage and at multiple levels of VIP groves, bungalows, and balconies for Chappell Roan. At 26 years old, the singer songwriter Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, has built an incredible following since her debut full-length album Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, which has birthed multiple accolades and massive crowds. Known for her makeup, wardrobe, and theatrics, the fire truck red haired singer commanded the audience wearing long black leather gloves, matching top, and studded red leather pants with what looked like a black jock strap on top. Watching the performer lead the audience to a Guinness World record approaching choreographed dance with her song “Hot To Go” and hearing thousands sing the chorus of Pink Pony Club in unison will certainly be a highlight of ACL 2024.
While Chappell Roan and Orville Peck reinterpreted country/western wear with their creative and expressive takes, Sunday’s closing line up leaned more into traditional elements of the genre with The Red Clay Strays and Sturgill Simpson on the west side of the park. The Alabama-based country rock band Red Clay Strays, gave out strong Lynyrd Skynyrd vibes rocking the remaining crowd with a high energy set featuring songs from this year’s album Made by These Moments. Closing out the Honda Stage on Sunday was Sturgill Simpson, whose deep voice boomed across the field. Simpson did a little genre-bending himself by covering Prince’s “Purple Rain” and the Doors’ “L.A. Woman” in his 15-song set, but then returning to his roots with the 2016 song Call to Arms, a song who enlivened those on the right side of the political spectrum. Sunday was a perfect example of how music festivals, especially in election years that feature extreme partisan politicization and discord, provide a great service to their communities by providing a space for people from various backgrounds to come together and put down their differences for the sake of music.
