I have always wanted to attend the Austin City Limits Festival. Every year in high school, I was stuck with marching band competitions on both weekends. In college, I got caught up with other college radio work. My dreams of attending this festival became a reality thanks to C3 Entertainment and having a solid group of friends attend alongside me. Over the weekend, I enjoyed some of the best live music all year night after night, and in this article, I recap every artist I saw.

Thursday:

Portugal. The Man (ACL Nights)

I started off my ACL weekend with an ACL Nights show of Portugal. The Man at the Historic Scoot Inn. For over an hour, the band went through their massive catalog of music touching on their new album Chris Black Changed My Life with songs like Dummy and Summer of Luv to songs as early as their debut with Marching with 6. Knowing I was going to miss their set the following day, I was glad I was able to catch an extended set at a fantastic venue. The ACL Night shows are really great for the people living in Austin to catch some of the best acts of ACL weekend without having to go to the entire festival. It is something that really benefits the city and the venues surrounding Austin.

Friday:

I started my Friday with a nature walk down to the gates where I got my wristband. The journey through the scenic route to make it to Zilker for my first time at ACL. I sadly missed seeing Font whose song Sentence I is a banger.

We Don’t Ride Llamas

Austin-based alt-rock outfit We Don’t Ride Llamas opened my ACL with their rebellious sound and their energetic attitude. The outspoken band blew through their 45-minute set with a full on punk rock performance with elements of soul and R&B.

Thee Sacred Souls

Thee Sacred Souls’s replication of the sounds of Motown and 1960s soul is done so well that even after seeing the band live, I thought I had stepped through a time machine. Their self-titled debut is a masterclass of good energy and the sounds of autumn. Lead singer Josh Lane has such an immaculate stage presence to a point where the crowd gets hypnotized by the music. One of my favorite moments was during Running Away where Lane jumped through the barricade and started sprinting through the crowd while still singing the song. His breath control is one of a kind.

Ethel Cain

During the entire duration of ACL, the largest crowd at the IMG stage was when Ethel Cain performed. The crowd was active, dedicated, and passionate as she performed 6 of her best tracks from Preacher’s Daughter plus Crush just for good measure to close out the set. She is a fantastic performer and I know that a full-length show would bring the emotions out of the crowd.

Lil Yachty

Let’s Start Here was such a left field project for Lil Yachty, but some of his most ambitious and interesting work in some time. On top of that, his recent run of tracks like SOLO STEPPIN CRETE BOY and Strike (Holster) are just as exciting, so I knew I had to catch his set. Lil Boat opened with a full band performing drive ME crazy! And the ride- before introducing the band and performing a solo set. During his solo set, Yachty ran through his massive discography of hits performing Broccoli, iSpy, Minnesota, From the D to the A, and One Night and hitting newer favorites like Flex Up, Coffin, Poland, and TESLA. He closed the set by bringing the band back out and performing IVE OFFICIALLY LOST ViSiON!!!!, THE zone~, WE SAW THE SUN! and closing with the BLACK seminole. It is genuinely impressive to see Yachty to be just as relevant now as he was in 2016 while taking his knowledge of performing into this new era. He clearly had a vision of how he wanted to perform his new album live, and with how much heart he puts into his sets, it shows why he remains on top.

d4vd

I got to catch d4vd over the summer at The Echo Lounge and in the midst of opening for SZA during the American leg of her tour, d4vd has already progressed as a performer in the mere months since I last saw him. Balancing between cuts from Petals to Thorns and his new EP The Lost Petals, d4vd has continued to grow as an artist and seems to be even more focused than before. I wish him the best.

FKJ

Seeing the names on the lineup for ACL, it is still shocking for me to say one of my most hyped sets of the weekend was French multi-instrumentalist French Kiwi Juice and his sunset set on the Tito’s stage. For the duration of his hour-long set, FKJ bounced between multiple sets of keys, the saxophone, the guitar, and more by live looping instruments on the spot creating a rich and sonic masterpiece. If you have ever seen his viral performance of Tadow with Masego at the London Red Bull Studios, this was exactly how that felt. The crowd’s energy boosted the performance to another level taking the midday festival slump and turning that energy into a therapeutic dance party.

Kendrick Lamar

I don’t think there is much to say about a Kendrick Lamar performance that has yet to be said in his ten plus years of dominance. Due to plane issues, Kendrick Lamar only got around 30 minutes of stage time for weekend one, but weekend two got the full performance. Playing 21 songs, Kendrick bounced between his hits and gave the crowd a masterclass in performance. Some of my favorite moments were him playing Worldwide Steppers and Nosetalgia back to back. I think his verse on Nosetalgia is his greatest verse ever written, and hearing it live whether the crowd cared for it or not made me so happy. Being in 9th grade when DAMN. came out, Kendrick Lamar shaped a major portion of my high school experience, and to see him at the back end of my college life really bookends this era of life for me. His set was balanced between his major projects with him playing a decent amount of cuts from Mr. Morale, DAMN., To Pimp a Butterfly, and good kid, m.A.A.d city while also throwing A.D.H.D from Section.80 in there for good measure. I felt lucky to be there. Shoutout to the couple next to me that made for good conversation before Kendrick’s performance.

Saturday:

Day Two, I opted for the city route where I hit up Austin’s JuiceLand and got a coffee before hitting the gates. As I entered I downed a Liquid Death and bought an ODESZA shirt. I was ready for another day of partying.

Nemegata

I only caught the backhand of their set as I entered into Zilker, but the trio sounded absolutely awesome. I need to jump into their work soon enough, but their sound fused psychedelic rock with old Brazilian funk records. I am hooked.

CVC

Next up was CVC which is another band with a psychedelic rock sound, but more rooted in sounds from the 1960s like The Beatles Rubber Soul and Revolver. They were a lot of fun, and I really hope to see them again performing a longer set in front of a huge crowd because they deserve it.

Devon Gilfillian

Devon Gilfillian’s sound is so easy on the ears and so enjoyable channeling classic sounds of R&B to create a beautiful collage of old soul and modern storytelling. His early set brought the crowd together with good energy and a fantastic full-band set with enough funk and groove to give me a stank face. I am extremely excited to see what’s next for him because he might be the next Leon Bridges.

Jessie Ware

There was no way I was going to miss the Jessie Ware set for the life of me. Her last two albums What’s Your Pleasure? and That! Feels Good! are some of the best Dance-Pop records and I am a huge fan of everything she is doing. The way she performs on her albums and her music videos, I knew there was going to be an immaculate stage presence from her, and I was still blown away. With a backing band and dancers, Jessie Ware made time stop as she gave a masterclass in performing and brought a party to the Honda stage.

Amaarae

Ghanaian-American singer Amaarae grew to popularity with her TikTok hit SAD GIRLZ LUV MONEY with Moliy and Kali Uchis. Her summer album Fountain Baby is a fantastic sophomore effort and is a great fusion of R&B and Afrobeats. Her performance consisted of her running through her songs almost rapid fire with her DJ transitioning between tracks including Sociopathic Dance Queen and KAYTRAMINÉ’s Sossaup. She is a genuinely impressive performer and was able to match the energy of her music with her stage presence.

Mt. Joy

With only an hour of stage time mid-festival, my first thought while seeing the Indie Rock group Mt. Joy was how much better they would be at an extended show at venues like the Dos Equis Pavillion in Dallas or other amphitheaters because they put on such a great show of relaxing and fun Americana and Folk-influence Rock. The mid-day slump started hitting so I only stayed for a portion of their set before getting some food, but they are fantastic.

Poolside

Earlier that Saturday, I got a chance to interview Jeffrey Paradise of Poolside which you can read here. Poolside converts the electronic sound into an instrumental outfit and though I don’t know if it fits as well as a traditional DJ set done by Jeff, I enjoyed the sunkissed sounds by the band.

Alanis Morissette

ACL is known for always grabbing a fantastic “legacy” artist that puts on a show, and Alanis Morissette’s discography run to kick off the back end of the shows was high-energy. Running through her catalog touching on a huge list of songs from her classic album Jagged Little Pill, the crowd filled with people of all ages were having such a fantastic time belting out songs like You Oughta Know, Ironic, Hand in My Pocket, and more. It was a blast and I hope her forthcoming tour is extremely successful.

Noah Kahan

I was early to acknowledge the Noah Kahan hype train, but never gave him a chance until KTXT’s Music Coordinator Libby Veatch told me I needed to give him a chance and I have been obsessed since. The entirety of the deluxe version of Stick Season is amazing, but regardless of that, he is a performer at heart. His ability to emotionally control a crowd is so impressive and that’s thanks to his songwriter, his powerful voice, and just passion for performing. It was also the one-year anniversary of Stick Season, so it felt like a celebration of his success which you love to see. He also casually brought out Mumford and Sons to perform Call Your Mom mid-set which still blows my mind. 

The 1975

A major pull for a lot of people to pick weekend two over weekend one was The 1975 returning to Austin and closing out night two of ACL exclusively in the second week. The band’s 16 song show had them running through some of their best songs throughout their discography with classics like Chocolate, Robbers, Sex and The Sound as well as new favorites of mine like About You, Oh Caroline, and Happiness. They also hit my favorite song of theirs If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know), so I consider the show to be an extreme success as a whole. Compared to a lot of the viral moments that have gone through social media, Matty seemed pretty tame throughout the performance leading to a simple but beautiful run-through of songs.

Foo Fighters

It’s a shame amazing headliners get double booked all three nights of major festivals, but it’s the way the festival world works and sacrifices have to be made. Luckily the buffer between The 1975’s end and Foo Fighters’ end led to my group being able to catch Everlong live and it was as beautiful and emotional as one could hope. Dave Grohl knows how to burn a stage down.

Sunday:

I woke up Sunday exhausted but excited. As I returned to JuiceLand for a smoothie, I went straight to Leon III for some morning jams.

Leon III

Another early start had me able to catch the Psych-Folk outfit Leon III. Led by Andy Stepanian and Mason Brent, the full band brought such a soothing and full-sound energy to the stage and rocked out. I checked their sophomore album Antlers in Velvet leading up to ACL and was impressed, so I knew I had to make it to the show. It was a great time and I got to interview the band following their performance which you can read here!

Madison Cunningham

Grammy award winning Folk-rocker Madison Cunningham had been touring across the country with Hozier and just like Hozier’s stop at ACL, she came along as well. Madison has such a well-crafted sound and brought out a large and dedicated crowd especially as early as a 1:00 pm slot.

Quarters of Change

As I headed to catch Lubbock’s own Randall King, Quarters of Change hitting the T-Mobile stage caught my attention. Their Brooklyn-rock sound was similar to the revival scene from the early 2000s and were quite an impressive bunch.

Randall King

Being so many miles away from Lubbock and The Blue Light, I needed my wellness shot of Honky Tonk, so catching the backend of Randall King’s set was a must. He is used to playing shows closer to the evening, so he kept wishing people to have a good night though it was only 2:00 in the afternoon which I got a good laugh out of each time he did. The crowd of country aficionados showed out giving the Barton Springs stage a good crowd.

Suki Waterhouse

Following my Leon III interview, I caught some of Suki Waterhouse’s set before waiting for M83, and her voice is just as impressive live as it is on the record. It was great to hear Moves live, but hearing her take of Mazzy Star’s Fade Into You was my favorite part of her set and she killed it.

M83

M83’s return to Austin was much discussed following Anthony Gonzalez’s illness right as the show kicked off at Stubb’s, so for the band to come back for a weekend at ACL was amazing especially that I got to catch them. Though the show wasn’t as intensive as their 3 hour tour average, the hour long set was filled with new and old favorites hitting Water Deep and Oceans Niagara to open the show and playing classics from Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming with songs like Wait and Midnight City. With Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming being one of my gateway albums into music, seeing Anthony Gonzalez and co. performing was all I needed.

Little Simz

Another must see was the illustrious Little Simz who has seemed to be on an insane run with her albums GREY Area, Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, and NO THANK YOU all being favorites of mine. She is a confident and elegant perform switching between a band and a DJ, and really brought the energy. She played her huge songs like Venom, Gorilla, Introvert, and Women, but brought attention to her lesser known cuts like No Merci, Heart on Fire, and 101 FM as well, showing how well-rounded she is as a performer.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Karen O will forever have my heart. After briefly watching the Jets win against the Eagles in the Beer Garden, I got to see the YYYs perform the best off their catalog. Hearing Date with the Night, Maps, and Y Control live was amazing and Karen O controls a crowd so miraculously.

Death Grips

I genuinely think the Death Grips show was set up with them pressing play on an hour long audio file of the backing instrumental of their setlist as Zach Hill and Andy Morin played drums and keys, respectively with MC Ride rapping on top of it. Hitting 17 songs in an hour with no room to breathe and a bright red LED covering the stage’s screen giving the band a look of silhouettes seemed fitting. As I stood in the back and watched the people fight for their lives in the mosh pit, it was an incredible opposition to any show I had seen all weekend. Chaotic and beautiful. I need to see them live again. Holy cow.

ODESZA

There is a reason ODESZA has been headlining every major 2023 festival and that is because it is a feat in performing. ODESZA had multiple guests including Sudan Archives and Mansionair, lasers, a marching band, and stunning visuals all the while touching through their cinematic electronic discography including their side project BRONSON as well. It is as much as a Blue Man Group show as it is a rave and spectacle. I cannot describe how mesmerizing it was to watch ODESZA perform. Were they actually performing anything? I don’t know, but it was one of the greatest moments I have ever witnessed.

Mumford and Sons

On the opposite side of the genre spectrum and Zilker Park lied Marcus Mumford and ACL’s seemingly resident performers Mumford and Sons. Their Stomp and Holler sound resonates with so many of the ACL goers and they were burning their stage down to close out the final moment of this year’s Austin City Limits festival. Catching the backend of their show and seeing the band bring out Hozier was amazing. Most importantly, I Will Wait deserves to be heard live by every person on Earth. I don’t care how commercially popular or overrated people might think the song is. Hearing the entire crowd enjoy the power and energy of I Will Wait was a genuine top-five moment of ACL. I don’t understand how much hate and belief of mediocrity people have attached to the song. It is one of the most powerful songs of the early 2010s and I will die knowing that it is a pinnacle of music from this century.

In conclusion, for my first ACL, I feel blessed to be amidst so many fantastic musical moments catching a consistent array of artists spanning so many genres and I look forward to hopefully going next year.