“For the 21st time, welcome to Austin City Limits Music Festival!” Those were the first words Ray Benson spoke into the microphone on the Honda Stage as he and his band Asleep at the Wheel kicked off the weekend.
It’s a tradition that’s been in place since the very first ACL in 2002. That year, the fest was a two-day event, a single-day pass would set you back $25, and was headlined by The Black Angels and two sets from The String Cheese Incident. Now, 21 years later, the festival has grown to a two-weekend event hosting hundreds of artists across nine stages and bringing in 75,000 people each day. I’ve been attending the fest since 2018 and it’s always such a joy to go back each time.
In my five years of attendance, I had never gotten to the park early enough to see Asleep at the Wheel. Thanks to my flight getting changed from a 2 PM arrival to an 8 AM arrival, I was finally able to see them. They were a treat to finally see and there’s a reason why they keep getting to come back every year. At 72 years old, Ray Benson hasn’t lost a step and could still shred on his guitar. The band blazed through 45 minutes of country and swing standards along with songs from special guest band members Joshua Hedley and Brennen Leigh.
After making a lap and getting my bearings in the press lounge, I headed back to the Honda Stage to see Thee Sacred Souls. What a beautiful set this was. One of my favorite things about early-day sets is how interactive the bands and artists can be when they’re on stage and lead singer Josh Lane was no exception, jumping from the stage onto the massive catwalk The Lumineers brought along with them, hopping down onto the grass and standing along the barricades, and even at one point taking a run throughout the crowd. Lane’s voice is straight out of a 70s soul record and the band just has a way of making you feel so good. I hope it’s not too long until I can catch them again.
Once Thee Sacred Souls wrapped up, I finally took a trek over to the other end of the park to catch Half•Alive on the T-Mobile Stage. I’ve been wanting to see them for so long and I’m so glad I finally did. Their set caught me by surprise, mainly because of all the choreography in it. Their studio output can be kind of theatrical at times but I was not expecting there to be as much of a stage show as they had. I desperately need to see the band as I left after about 25-30 minutes to go get some food, charge my phone, and head to the American Express Stage for the boat boy himself, Lil Yachty.
Yachty’s set was kind of odd but that’s why I think I loved it so much. My biggest issue with it was how it contrasted itself. For some background info, Yachty put out an album in January called Let’s Start Here. It’s unlike anything he’s ever released as instead of rapping, the album is full of incredible psych-rock and psych-pop songs and it’s an extremely bold artistic statement. When he was running through material from that album with a full band, it was incredible. The live band added so much depth and flavor to the new songs…which is why I’m sort of bummed that when he did do rap songs, it was just him and his DJ. If I only saw the middle part of his set when he was doing only his rap material, I’d probably assume that it had been that way the entire time. Nothing about that portion of the set made him stand out at all. I hope he can eventually have the full band with him for full shows because songs like IVE OFFICIALLY LOST ViSiON!!!! and the BLACK seminole. both packed such a mightier punch than the studio version, mainly just because of the guitars blaring through the speakers and rattling into my head. Also, and I hate to say this but, I think most of the crowd felt the opposite. At least that’s the read I got as people left in droves as he launched back into full band material. Those that stayed though were treated extremely well.
As Yachty’s set came to a close, I headed back to the T-Mobile Stage to catch Little Simz. This show was one of the most understated of the whole weekend. On stage with nothing but her microphone and her screen, Simz did not miss a single word rapping over her instrumentals. Her music is already fantastic and her performance took it to the next level. However, my favorite part of her set wasn’t a song or a performance. It was before her song Heart on Fire when she took a moment to address the crowd, saying, “You are witnessing greatness right now. It’s not cockiness to say that, it’s confidence. Cockiness is made up, confidence comes from within and it took me a long time to be confident in myself.” She ended by saying “If I can believe in myself and be confident in myself, you can too.”
Simz commanded the stage like a seasoned veteran, as did Maggie Rogers right after her on the Honda Stage. I saw a lot of great sets on Friday but I still believe Maggie Rogers is at the top of the list for the day. Rogers’ set was an absolute blast and her and her band are incredibly talented people. Finally getting to hear songs like Alaska, Want Want, and Light On live was a huge treat but the performance of the songs Love You For A Long Time and especially Shatter left the largest impression on me and I’m honestly getting goosebumps thinking about the former. It’s a beautiful song in its own right and it’s even more beautiful live.
I caught a tiny bit of The Mars Volta afterwards who I was excited to see but I think this set is one of the few the entire weekend that I didn’t really enjoy all that much. This was the only set I caught at the Miller Lite Stage so I’m not sure if it was an issue the whole weekend but the sound was just too quiet. I feel like it could’ve been a lot punchier for their set. Also, I think the band would be much better enjoyed at one of their own proper headline shows. It was cool to have them at the fest but when they’re just kind of noodling on a song for 10 minutes without much direction, it was easy for them to lose me. I got to hear Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of) live though and despite the sound, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala are extremely animated on stage and that kept me engaged above all else.
After The Mars Volta, I went to intercept one of my roommates by the merch tent and headed back to the Honda Stage for The Lumineers. “But wait, Andrew, I thought you didn’t like The Lumineers?” Okay, let me explain myself. For starters, The Lumineers set began at 8:10 while Kendrick Lamar was scheduled to start at 8:40 so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to go catch a little bit of them. Second, while I wouldn’t consider myself a fan of the band, their fest setlists leading up to this show had been extremely frontloaded with their songs that I do enjoy. So, despite saying they’re as thrilling as watching paint dry in my Most Anticipated Sets article, I saw them. This next part is going to shock you guys but…I loved their set.
I don’t know what it was but the band was on fire and hearing these songs in the live setting I guess gave them a little more grit and a little more bite. Also, it should be criminal to have an opening run as strong as the band did. Playing at the end of their catwalk in the middle of the crowd, the band opened with Cleopatra before running through Flowers in Your Hair, Ho Hey, and Angela to kick their set off. I can’t believe I have so many good things to say about their set. From how great lead singer Wesley Schultz’s voice is to how engaging and animated the whole band is, from waving, smiling, and clapping, trying to get the crowd into the songs to Schultz walking through the crowd for the song BRIGHTSIDE. Even past that, I can’t believe how great these songs sounded live. It’s definitely made me rethink my stance on them. Schultz also was pretty sentimental for the entire time I stayed, even getting emotional saying that it had been a decade since they’ve played ACL and they were just grateful to just have so many people at their set after that long. This is never something I thought I’d ever say but…I would love to see The Lumineers again. And then there was Kendrick Lamar…
About five minutes before The Lumineers started, I got a call from my roommate and colleague, Andrew Fallon, who was on the other end of the park waiting for Kendrick Lamar’s headline set to begin.
“Did you hear the news?” he said, “Kendrick’s delayed, he has plane issues.”
I didn’t believe him at first but then I got a few texts from other friends sharing the same news. Scheduled to start at 8:40 PM, Lamar wouldn’t hit the stage until 9:45 PM which was already concerning given the park has a curfew at 10 PM. He addressed this before his performance of the song DNA. saying, “They told me they got a curfew and you know what I told them? I told them they’re gonna have to turn my f*cking microphone off if they wanna stop me from partying in Texas.” He got his wish three songs later as the sound slowly faded out as he reached the third verse of his song Alright. The crowd continued to chant the chorus as Lamar walked to both ends of the stage waving goodbye, nodding his head and rapping with his hands as the song finished, and blowing a kiss to the crowd as he walked off stage unable to say goodbye as his microphone was turned off.
It was incredibly bittersweet. On one hand, the little bit of Lamar we did get was fantastic. Outside of stumbling over the words in DNA., Lamar didn’t miss a word and his band hiding in the wings were incredible musicians, adding a lot of flavor to all of the songs. Whether it was an accented drum fill or blazing guitar leads, the live band was a great addition, even if they couldn’t be seen. Additionally, his setlist was all gas and no brakes just dropping banger after banger. However, on the other hand, having the top-billed headliner for the festival show up an hour late and only getting to play for 30 minutes is a terrible look and while I understand it’s not in the festival’s control, it still felt like a gut punch.
If I had to do a top 3 sets of the day, it would probably go:
1. Maggie Rogers
2. Thee Sacred Souls
3. The Lumineers
Professional photos provided courtesy of C3 Presents and ACL Fest.
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