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.
Like many festivals, by Day Two you get a sense of the prevailing fashion trends of the year. While 2023 was marked by all sorts of Barbie-like wardrobe and every kind of cowboy/girl attire imaginable, many concert goers got the memo this year to wear their ‘70s throwback amber tinted glasses – Amazon must be out of stock in the southwest region of the U.S. by now. Also popping up was a trend seen in boutique EDM festivals that has completely gone mainstream now – sprouts. These clipped on plastic pieces look like they were ripped from a doll house and came in different organic forms such as mushrooms, flowers, and just plain grass sprouts. Pink was and still is the prevailing garment color of ACL Fest along with colored patterned shirts with wacky things such as cacti printed on them.
Saturday was steamy and it got to a slow burn as the day progressed. Seated in front of a black and white stylized eagle set design, Ecuadorian brothers Alejandro and Estevan, better known as Hermanos Gutiérrez, took solace in the shade of the T-Mobile Stage for an hour of stripped-down Latin instrumentalization. Rotating through acoustic guitars, bongos, and lap steel guitars, their ghostly desert sounds were a welcomed shift from the bouncing bass heard nearby at Remi Wolf. While not quite danceable, the brothers entranced the late afternoon crowd with songs such as “Esperanza” and “Until We Meet Again”. The brothers made excellent use of their time in Texas, playing two weekends in Austin, as well as dates in Lubbock, San Antonio, and El Paso – a welcomed side-effect since the festival went to two weeks in 2013.
As magic hour approached on Saturday, Texas’s own Khruangbin (QRO Weekend One photos) buoyed the large field in front of the American Express Stage with their infectious instrumental grooves. Having played in the Austin area frequently, it was good to see these regional stars recognized with a notable spot on the festival’s most prominent stage. Their twelve-song showcase included “A Love International” and “May Ninth” from this year’s A LA SALA, and closed with a cover of “All My Exes Live in Texas” with Say She She joining them on stage.
Over at the Miller Lite Stage on the west side of the grounds, JUNGLE (QRO Weekend One photos) lit up the nighttime with a blinding spectacle that punctuated the Saturday lineup. Sounding scarily like their studio releases and nary taking a breather, their dance grooves had everyone moving the entire set. The British neo-soul trio was rounded out with live instrumentation and stage-wide pulsating visuals, giving them a larger-than-life presence. “Us Against the World”, the opening track from JUNGLE’s 2023 release Volcano was a notable banger, and it showed that the group isn’t stopping their quest to build a fanatical fan base for their form of Nu Disco.
While Dua Lipa kept Khruangbin fans on their blankets as she closed out the east side at the American Express Stage, the west side continued the energy harnessed by JUNGLE at the Miller Lite Stage for the electronic and live sounds of Pretty Lights on the adjacent Honda Stage. Building up slowly, Colorado producer Derek Vincent Smith, a.k.a. Pretty Lights, led the stage band through eleven tracks, dousing the crowd with blinding colorful lights from the start. Nods to Texas artists ZZ Top and Leon Bridges, with funky versions of “Cheap Sunglasses” and “Texas Sun” gave the set a Lone Star flavor. The new track “Berlin Dream Smile” with vocal samples of “Dreams” by The Cranberries was drenched in geometric fractals and oscillating lights which added to the vibe. Pretty Lights closed out their set with a kaleidoscopic take Johnny Nash’s “I Can See Clearly” as fans exited the grounds.
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.
-words: Alex Freeman
-photos: Sam Wilkinson
