The last day of a festival is the most bittersweet.
You’ve had two days of fun, you’re ready for a third day of the same. But at the same time, the finish line is clearly in sight. The timer is counting down the second you scan your wristband and walk into the venue. It’s inescapable, and you have to go right back to the real world.
That’s how I felt as I scanned my wristband and walked into Zilker Park for the final day of ACL Fest. I did have one goal in mind though. Leave everything I had left in the tank in that park. It would take a while for me to fully expand upon that goal but as some foreshadowing, it did end up happening.
I started the day by trying one of the most hyped-up food offerings I’d been told about in the park, Chi’lantro’s Kimchi Fries. A bed of french fries topped with Korean BBQ Beef, kimchi, cilantro, onion, and two sauces, siracha and “Magic Sauce” (I’m pretty sure it was just spicy mayo.) These things absolutely lived up to the hype. Eating these as I listened to Wesley Bray & the Disciples of Joy from the back of the Tito’s Tent was an absolutely religious experience. I felt all the troubles in the world lift off my shoulders in that moment. The deeper I dug into the fries, the deeper the band dug into the soul, the more I realized that it was going to be a really friggin good day.
Wait this isn’t a food review? So I can’t talk about the disappointing $20 Wagyu Burger and Tallow Fries combo I had later in the day? Durn. Alright.
My music day started at the Honda Stage which I think when all was said and done was my most attended stage this year. Michigander kicked the stage off and they’re a band I’ve been watching to catch for a little while. Their music gives me flashes of The Killers, Arcade Fire, and 2000s rock in that lane. Lead singer Jason Singer made sure to say from the stage that the invitation and opportunity was a huge honor, especially after they had to drop off the lineup in 2021 due to Singer first breaking his leg during a music video shoot, then nearly losing his wife in a tragic car accident. Singer got emotional on stage as he thanked the crowd, saying that it was a dream come true to play for everyone that got there early. They rose to the occasion and commanded that giant stage.
After Michigander wrapped up, I finally got to head to my favorite stage at the festival, Barton Springs, for the first time the whole weekend but the first of three times that day. Randall King took the stage at 2:15 PM and it still blows my mind that he got on the bill. A Red Raider alumni and a country singer who could be on Cody Johnson’s level of success if a few more doors like this could open for him, it felt like a triumph for the Lubbock country scene and the Texas country scene as a whole to have him play the fest. For 45 minutes, in the words of my buddy Travis Fuentes, that boy tonked. Whether it’s his barnburners like Baby Do, Heart Strings, and Dent in It or slower stuff like Hey Cowgirl and Mirror, Mirror, both of which he asked the crowd if it was cool to make the field a giant outdoor honky tonk, King took full advantage of his opportunity to represent Lubbock, to represent the Texas country scene, and to represent himself. He gave shoutouts to the school, Dalton Domino, as well as The Blue Light and so many of the artists that found their start in that venue all while the set was being live-streamed on Hulu, giving those shoutouts even more weight. While I’m bummed that this is likely my only time seeing Randall this year, I’m still surprised that he played this fest, and while I think he may have been too to some extent, he delivered and made sure the people that came to the set remembered his name.
One of my favorite parts of festivals is discovery. Finding artists you’ve never heard of and falling in love with them. In years past for me, that’s been The Wombats, Brittany Howard, and KennyHoopla. This year though was a discovery I made completely by accident. After running to the press lounge to refill my water and grab a popsicle from GoodPop, I decided to just take it easy for an hour before an interview with King, grabbing a seat in the grass near the flags and taking in the sound of whoever was playing on the Honda Stage. As I laid back, taking in the sun and the sounds, I could not get over how amazing the band playing was. They hit a perfect sweet spot for me. It was kind of sleazy and kind of fuzzy, but the vocals were still super cool with some effects on them. I could not get enough of this band. Their name was Dope Lemon and they were my discovery band this year. While I don’t know if I would’ve enjoyed them as much if I would’ve gotten up close, laying out in the very back while their music played was one of the highlights of the whole weekend for me.
After the Randall King interview that I’ll get transcribed and published soon, I headed back to the Barton Springs stage to catch Morgan Wade, one of my absolute favorite newcomers in country music in the past couple of years. The first time I heard her name was when she was announced to open for American Aquarium at Gruene Hall in 2021. She played a 45-minute-long acoustic set and was absolutely fantastic. She knocked the room out. I’ve been wanting to see her with a full band ever since then and I finally got my chance at ACL. Touring in support of her incredible new album Psychopath, Morgan and her band are killing it with ease. While I wish I could’ve seen much more of her set, seeing her with a full band was worth the wait. Also, just getting to hear some of these songs again hit differently now that I actually know them.
As I left Morgan’s set to go back to the American Express stage, it felt like the entire festival had the same plan as me and that end of the park filled up quickly for 1/5 of the boyband for my generation, One Direction’s Niall Horan. It feels like a diss to just say he’s Niall from One Direction because, just like most all of his other bandmates, Horan forged on in the midst of the group’s splintering to pursue a solo career. Horan has three albums under his belt now, Louis Tomlinson has a pair of albums to his name and just recently wrapped up a nationwide summer amphitheater tour in July, Zayn Malik is three albums deep and they’re definitely albums for sure, Liam Payne also has an album to his name. I think that touches all the bases, surely Harry Styles isn’t leagues above them in popularity, sales, and discography quality, right?
Horan’s set was another one like Mt. Joy’s on Saturday that was just the perfect vibe for the perfect time. The songs he played from his latest album The Show were fantastic live and sounded way better than they did on record. On stage, Horan was another artist grateful for the invitation and was just happy to be back in Austin in general. He said that the city was always one of his favorites to play in and he made tons of memories in it. No one will top how hilarious Noah Kahan was, but Horan had a few quips that came close, most notably him telling the crowd, “If you know the words, go ahead and sing along. If you don’t know the words don’t sing along. You’ll sound like sh*t.” He also pulled off a solid fakeout before his performance of One Direction’s classic Story of My Life saying “I don’t think you guys will know the words to this song, I apologize in advance.” He then quickly contradicted himself saying, “Told y’all you would know the words!”
As the final notes of Slow Hands rang out, I made my way over to the BMI stage to get set up for another artist I couldn’t believe made it onto the lineup this year, Tanner Usrey. Hailing from Prosper, Texas, Usrey has been killing it on the Texas country circuit the past few years and is finally seeing the successes of that. He’s signed to Atlantic Records and has been putting out a steady stream of singles this year including one of my favorite songs of the year so far, Give It Some Time. Usrey was ending a run of four shows in four days at this fest and the signs of wild travel did not show at all. He and his band absolutely killed it and were determined to blow the roof off of the BMI Stage. Opener ‘Til The Morning Light nearly did just that. Just like Randall King did earlier in the day, Usrey took full advantage of the platform he had and absolutely crushed it. Usrey and his band rock very hard live and had the crowd in a frenzy for their entire hour. I cannot wait for his album to be out.
After Usrey came time for another of my most anticipated sets all weekend, New York rock legends Yeah Yeah Yeahs. All weekend, my colleague and buddy Andrew Fallon kept mentioning that he couldn’t wait to see how I acted at this set because I kept mentioning that I was going to be in rare form as they performed. Here’s what I can say about how I acted, I was determined to leave all of my energy in the Honda stage field and I’ll be damned if I left anything in the tank after that set. I’ve been a huge Yeah Yeah Yeahs fan for a minute and finally getting to see them at this fest was a dream come true.
Karen O is an icon. She is the ideal rock and roll lead singer. She’s energetic, she’s always enthusiastic, she never stops smiling, and she just gives every performance her all. It’s hard to keep your eyes off of her while she jumps and spins around the stage in her flowy outfits. I know I’ve said this about every artist’s setlist but I can’t believe how many bangers they packed into their hour-long set. After Spitting Off the Edge of the World got the set off to a slower start, the band did a complete 180 playing Cheated Hearts, Pin, Burning, and Zero all in a row and setting the energy level sky high. I was headbanging, I was singing, I was jumping, that run of songs is probably why allergies are still wrecking me as I write this. But it didn’t even stop there. After another slower run of Soft Shock and Lovebomb, the band ended their set with a surprisingly heavy rendition of Gold Lion, two throwbacks to Fever to Tell with Y Control and “the only Yeah Yeah Yeahs love song,” according to Karen O, Maps. To end their set, the band threw the biggest dance party in the entire city of Austin by playing Heads Will Roll.
I. went. bananas.
I didn’t know if it would be their last song or not so I was in the rare form I told everyone I would be in. I probably blew my voice out for their set but it was so worth it. God bless the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
I ran back to the press lounge for a quick interview with Tanner Usrey, then grabbed my bag out of my locker for the last time all weekend before I headed over to the Barton Springs stage. In my mind, the Barton Springs stage is where the fest can book some out-of-left-field closers and have it work, artists like Metric and Goose closing this stage in years past come to mind as examples. That’s why I wasn’t shocked this year to see Death Grips closing that stage this year. I knew it was going to be a wild ride but I was not expecting it to be as incredible as it was. Ever since the schedule came out I told myself I was going to see 15 minutes of everyone playing in that time slot. 15 minutes of Death Grips, then go see 15 minutes of Labrinth, then wrap up with 15 minutes of Cigarettes After Sex. I told myself no less than five times, “Alright, I’m heading to Labrinth after this song” but each time, I ended up staying. I was just too locked into the band’s show.
Everything about Death Grips’ set was minimalist. The only people on stage were MC Ride on vocals, Zach Hill on drums, and Nick Reinhart on keys and guitar. The only lighting was the LED screen behind them which was completely red, making the three of them look like silhouettes from my spot near the soundboard. I also joked with a couple of friends that walking across the street to get to the stage, it looked like I was walking into hell. So what kept me there? The band’s enthralling music and performance. To be honest, they could be playing in a pitch-black room or on the most well-lit stage in the world, I still would’ve been blown away. I expected to like Death Grips’ set, I didn’t expect to love it. I don’t even know where to even begin starting to talk about this set because the whole thing was a whirlwind. Everything blurred together into this hour-long set of nothing but pure energy and Zach Hill being one of the best drummers I’ve ever seen perform live. The band just never stopped. There were no breaks in between songs, no time to kiss the crowd’s ass or try to get them to engage. From the first bass drop in the chorus of You Might Think He Loves You… to the final yell of “I GOT THE FEVER” from MC Ride during The Fever (Aye Aye) and whatever else was played in between, the crowd was just a solid mosh pit up front that never stopped opening and closing. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to fully explain why this set was so good but I hope y’all can at least take my word for it.
I crossed the park one more time to grab some food as Cigarettes After Sex played Apocalypse for their closing number, that’s about all I really needed to see from them anyway. Their stage show was just as minimal. Three spotlights, a disco ball, and the three band members all side by side. It was cool but I don’t think I really needed to see them.
To close out my weekend, I headed back to the Honda Stage one last time to catch ODESZA, an EDM duo hailing from Washington. This was the first time I had ever ended my nights with more than one headliner at that stage and I decided to go all in and close every night there I guess. ODESZA has been hitting the festival circuit hard this year and the trio of them, Kendrick Lamar, and Foo Fighters have been a very popular trio together at festivals this year so I figured why not go see what the hype is. As their set started, I was getting the feeling that maybe the set wasn’t for me. It was a fine EDM show with cool stage production but I wasn’t sure what the huge deal was. I don’t know what it was but as the duo started playing Better Now with Naomi Wild, something changed and some sort of switch flipped in my mind. I don’t know if the duo just started firing on all cylinders once they brought her on or if I finally just got it but from that point on, I was hooked.
While I initially wrote ODESZA off as someone who was probably just a package booking or someone that the fest couldn’t really say no to, I totally got why they’re festival headliners after their set. The grooves of their songs were fantastic, having live horns and a drumline was a super unique touch, and the stage show was fantastic. Fireworks, pyro, lasers, the most lights I’ve ever seen anyone pack onto an ACL stage, the duo went all out and I think it worked in the end. While I do think the show was a bit inconsistent, having some higher highs that outweighed lower lows, I still won’t complain. I don’t know if I’d go out of my way to see them again but if they’re at a festival I’m at, I’ll definitely be stopping by their set.
So yeah, that’s another ACL in the books. After letting the dust settle for a little bit, I think I can honestly say that this was my favorite ACL of the five I’ve been able to attend. I don’t know if there’s a specific reason for that. Maybe it was the weather, maybe it was the music, maybe it was the company, maybe there was just something in the air? I’m not sure I can confidently say if it was any of these, but what I can say is that it bums me out that this may be the last time I’m able to attend the fest for a few years. My ultimate goal post-graduation is law school and I don’t know if it would be feasible to attend a big music festival in the midst of that. Regardless, I am grateful to this radio station and to the ACL press team for granting me this opportunity to cover my favorite festival and do more than just be a fan. I will never forget this weekend.
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