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.
Watching the forecast for Weekend 2, many thought Austin would get relief from the persistent hot summer, but the second week of October proved to be a record breaker, with Sunday topping 100 degrees. To beat the heat, wise fans found the shadiest areas of the park such as the T-Mobile Stage, the IHG Stage over in the pecan grove, or under the Tito’s Tent that separated the large east American Express Stage from the large west Honda Stage. Festivalgoers on Friday wisely took shelter after their 4:20 break to catch Eggy in their late afternoon slot under the Tito’s Tent. The Connecticut jam band quintet touring in support of their September 2024 release Waiting Game got the crowd grooving with their Phish-like grooves.
As the day turned to evening on Friday, totem holders marched their squads across the crunchy park to see St. Lucia, the music project fronted by South African singer and musician Jean-Philip Grobler. Recalling a Devo-like uniformity in red and black, the band’s dreamy synth sounds blasted leaves off the pecan trees at the IHG Stage. As the sun receded, the west side of the park welcomed throngs of fans to bear witness to the unique vocal stylings of Mark Foster, frontman of festival favorites Foster the People (QRO Weekend One photos). Flanked by video projections, the band’s infectious grooves delighted as they moved through a baker’s dozen of hits closing with “Pumped Up Kicks” – a song they chose not to play at ACL Fest 2017 (QRO recap) due to the Las Vegas music festival shooting that took place days before their first-weekend set.
Adjacent to the Honda Stage, crowds shuffled their sneakers over to T–Mobile to see The Marías (QRO Weekend One photos), an up-and-coming Los Angeles indie pop band led by Puerto Rico-born María Zardoya. Recent collaborations with Bad Bunny and Cuco have helped garner large crowds like on that Friday night. Zardoya engaged the audience by joining the VIPs near the barricades and melted the crowd’s hearts with the band’s rendition of “Lovefool” by The Cardigans.
While Chris Stapleton, kicked off the western stylings of the weekend at the American Express east stage with special guest Willie Nelson, ‘90s emo punk icons Blink-182 (QRO Weekend One photos) closed out the west side of the park. Kicking off with “Feeling This” and moving through nearly two dozen songs during their headlining set that featured “Dammit” with Pink Pony Club inserted in the bridge. Singer Mark Hoppus stopped periodically throughout the set to prod the crowd with his unmistakable ‘90s bratty, jocular humor – with album titles like Enema of the State and Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, it is an important part of the band’s persona. Travis Barker proved he still had the energy of a teenager with a raucous drum solo during “Not Now”, a treat for those who missed Blink-182 in their heyday.
