by Virginia Hernandez
One of Austin’s most anticipated events of the year, the Austin City Limits Music Festival just wrapped on two weekends of bands, food, flags, and sun. We joined for weekend 2, and anticipation was riding high after seeing photos and reviews of a very successful weekend 1. Now we’re here to bring you the highlights from the weekend, clue you in on the bands you should be listening to, and to review the festival experience.
Biggest Surprises:
Carin Leon, The Beaches, Lola Young
Up and Comers:
Jon Muq, Nico Vega, Say She She
One of the biggest hopes for any music festival is discovering artists you might have yet to hear of. In previous years, ACL Fest has focused more on household recognition or legendary artists, with the middle of the bill filled with skippable acts. While 2024 brought a handful of big names, the lineup was very well-rounded with artists from across the spectrum of genres and levels of fame. Showing up to a stage without knowing any of a band’s songs and being won over by their stage presence, artistry, and music is exactly the mutual exchange of energy the audience hopes for.
Mexican singer-songwriter and Latin Grammy winner Carin Leon drew a huge audience on Friday at the AmEx stage, and his Sonoran-flavored Spanish songs charmed the crowd as he showcased his impressive vocal range. Playing to the audience, he also covered Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” with power and grace.
Canadian all-female indie rock band The Beaches played a killer set on the T-Mobile stage on Saturday afternoon, full of swagger as singer/bassist Jordan Miller stalked around the stage in sunglasses and a black bikini top. Fresh off of an opening slot for The Rolling Stones and winning a Juno award for Best Rock Album, The Beaches know how to captivate with their grooves while connecting with the audience with down-to-earth joking and stage banter.
English singer-songwriter Lola Young made a splash on Saturday at the AmEx stage – so much so that it wasn’t even in my plans to review her set. I was walking by and was utterly taken aback from afar by her strong stage presence and R&B-rooted raspy voice. Young is poised to become a household name; she possesses a rare confidence and delivery that drew in festival-goers during the hottest part of the day and kept them dancing throughout the hour.
Three to keep your eyes on: Jon Muq, Nico Vega, and Say She She. These artists threw down with sets to be proud of, earning new fans and demonstrating their place in the current music scene.
Established Artists Who Delivered:
Norah Jones, Leon Bridges, Chris Stapleton, Bob Schneider, Benson Boone, Teddy Swims
There were a handful of artists who it could almost be assumed would put on a wonderful show, and in fact, they did just that.
Longtime vocal chanteuse Norah Jones performed on Friday on the Honda stage, with a gorgeous stage design that matched her colorful outfit and makeup. While a festival might not seem the right atmosphere for Jones’ laid-back style, her silky voice floated through the park and for this reviewer, it was a highlight of the type of experience a seasoned artist can bring to a large crowd.
Innovative soul singer and native Texan Leon Bridges hit the AmEx stage at golden hour on Friday with a fun and funky set that showcased his heartfelt vocals and songwriting prowess. Bridges’ danceable hits were the perfect accompaniment to the sun finally setting. If you’ve lived in Austin long enough, you might remember the days of Bridges performing around town – coming from those days and seeing him perform on the headliner stage to an enormous crowd is a source of pride for a deserving artist.
Local artist Bob Schneider packed the Tito’s Vodka tent on Saturday, with plenty of dedicated fans screaming out every word. It also happened to be Schneider’s birthday and his band surprised him on stage with a cake and a round of Happy Birthday. The set was an excellent display, with complex instrumentation, crowd sing-a-longs, and a truly appreciative energy on stage.
Benson Boone and Teddy Swims are relative newcomers to the popular music scene, but with both delivering notable sets at ACL weekend 1, expectations were high for weekend 2. Both artists gave crowd-pleasing sets on the Honda stage on Saturday, with soulful vocals and strong stage performances that left their dedicated fans swooning in the Texas heat.
Finally, no review would be complete without discussing the unforgettable moment when Chris Stapleton opened his headlining set by duetting with the one-and-only Willie Nelson on Friday evening. Willie is a Texas treasure, and any sighting of him in Austin is always met with an enormous amount of joy. With the first few notes of “Whiskey River”, the crowd was ecstatic and surely witnessed a moment they won’t soon forget. The rest of Stapleton’s set was marked by a solid performance – his trademark gritty, resonant voice echoing throughout the park.
Best Shows of the Weekend:
The Marias, Khruangbin, Dua Lipa, Chappell Roan, Dom Dolla
With all the highlights and excitement of the festival, there were 5 artists whose sets were true standouts. On Friday, that honor belonged to the American indie band The Marias. The Marias have a wide-ranging sound – indie pop with elements of jazz, even bordering on art pop, with moments evocative of the dark, pulsing sounds of Bjork. Puerto Rican singer María Zardoya switches effortlessly between English and Spanish lyrics and that combined with her mesmerizing stage presence easily captures and holds the audience rapt. The Marias will be supporting Billie Eilish on tour at the end of the year, where they will surely gain a larger audience and broader recognition.
On Saturday, Texas trio Khruangbin made a deep impact on the AmEx stage with their unique mix of psychedelic rock, dub, and funky instrumental jams, wowing the festival audience. ACL is not a festival usually known for embracing jam styles, but Khruangbin’s bass-heavy pulsing beats were a total win, pulling in a huge crowd and earning new fans who were camping out for Dua Lipa. Their music is refreshingly different from most other current bands and is the type of sound you could easily listen to repeatedly and find different sonic frequencies to enjoy and deconstruct.
Following Khruangbin, Dua Lipa hit the stage as Saturday’s headliner. Die-hard fans had been waiting all day to see the Albanian-English pop star, and Lipa was out to prove it would be worth the wait. Featuring the most elaborate stage set of the festival, a huge troupe of talented dancers, and admirable choreography, Dua Lipa belted out her biggest hits while seducing the crowd with flicks of her hair and hips. Lipa is a bonafide superstar and seeing her live, it’s not hard to understand why. The show is nonstop entertainment, punctuated with self-empowerment anthems, embracing sexuality, and clever playfulness. The highlight of the show was when Lipa stopped to talk about how much she loves Austin and even donned a UT Longhorns jersey in honor of their winning earlier that day. The show had all the bells and whistles called for by a Saturday headlining slot, and Lipa was charming, humble, and captivating to watch.
Sunday… well, Sunday was all about the Chappell buzz. Much has been said and written about Chappell Roan leading up to her canceled festival appearance prior to ACL Fest. All ACL ticket holders waited with bated breath to see if Roan would perform at ACL, and thankfully for us, she did. Weekend 1 saw her with one of the largest recorded crowds in ACL Fest history. Weekend 2 was no different. From the moment the gates opened – on the 100+ degree day – Chappell-stans were camped out at the stage with more than 8 hours to go.
As a hardcore Chappell fan myself (but with only the willpower to camp out for an hour before her set), I can confirm – she lives up to the hype and beyond. With a clearly worn-out voice that cracked when she spoke to the audience, Roan still managed to hit powerful high notes and sustains throughout the entirety of her set. She brings to life on stage small moments from the recordings that capture the emotion and intensity of her intricate lyrics. An incredible amount of elation, heartbreak, and just plain fun weave through her songs and she embodies those emotions so well in her performance. It was the only set of the festival that I had tears in my eyes while listening – no small accomplishment.
Finally, thinking that nothing could compare to Chappell’s set, I hit the T-Mobile stage to watch a set by Australian house DJ Dom Dolla, and proceeded to be blown away. ACL Fest has a reputation for bringing some of the hottest DJs to the park, and Dom Dolla was no exception to that rule. Best known for his hit song “New Gold“, featuring Gorillaz, Tame Impala, and Bootie Brown, and collabs with Tove Lo and Nelly Furtado, Dom Dolla came to ACL Fest fresh off a successful stint at Coachella. The beats were solid, the stagecraft with pyrotechnics and lasers was perfectly synched with the music, and the crowd was definitely feeling it. Dolla himself was feeling it too, expressing awe at the crowd magic, with thousands grooving along right after sundown.
ACL Fest Overall:
It is impressive how the ACL Festival continuously improves year after year. The first time I attended was nearly 20 years ago when it was one weekend (in the hottest part of September) and the park always seemed so massive. Additions like the Hendricks Gin and Aperol Spritz pop-ups, the markets, and expanded places to gather like the Club Tiki Bar and Bonus Tracks make the festival seem more intimate and communal than ever before. There are more hydration stations with more efficient faucets, better bathrooms, more food options, and far more bars, all reducing wait time in the brutal Texas sun.
The shuttle service to and from Republic Square Park has notably improved as well, with far shorter wait times and much quicker service than before. The staff deserves a shoutout for being incredibly helpful and friendly.
Things that still need some help: the lines to get in are rather chaotic and take a long time, depending on when you arrive. Security staff had vastly different standards on checking bags and what was allowed and it varied line by line and day by day. When it takes more than 20 minutes to enter the festival after reaching the gates, causing people to stand still in the dust and sun, there is a pain point that can be improved.
On pain points that can’t be improved, despite the mid-October dates for weekend 2, the weather didn’t get the memo, and temperatures soared to the upper 90s and hit 100 on Sunday. The grass at Zilker notoriously gets trampled and destroyed during the festival, causing a great amount of dust throughout the park, which is unfortunately simply a feature of the festival at this point. Invest in a neck gaiter, bandana, or neti pot, and save yourself the inevitable sinus infection.
But music is and always will be the real draw of the Austin City Limits Music Festival. The sound quality is markedly better than even some outdoor concert venues, with clear and bright sound coming toward all vantage points of the stage areas. There is also excellent video quality on the jumbotrons, and combined with the top-notch A/V professionals who run and direct them, gives festgoers the feeling of being up close and personal with the artists no matter how far away they are.
All in all, ACL Fest 2024 was a wild, hot, dusty ride that was incredibly fun from start to finish, with one of the most solid festival lineups found anywhere this year. So cheers to the festival runners on a job well done, and here’s to next year!
