By Jacob Pellegrino
The first weekend of 2021’s iteration of Austin City Limits was something to be remembered. From a diverse and busy lineup to the sunny weather in spite of forecasted rain, the festival was engaging and left me feeling uplifted throughout.
Each day’s coverage was written after getting back from the festival around 11pm most nights. It has been edited since then but is largely a play-by-play accounting of my ACL experience.
FRIDAY
The start time today was pushed back to 3pm from the rain in the morning. By the time I got to Austin, it was hot and sunny – no rain in sight. The entrance was loaded with a sea of people, all with different types of passes. I pushed my way through (in a nice way) and eventually made it through and got to the media/VIP entrance, even seeing some crazy person wearing zebra Yeezy 350s to the muddy festival. After getting in, the festival opened up and movement was easy.
The immense congestion on the way in led to me missing Machine Gun Kelly’s set, except for his last two songs. Machine Gun Kelly joked about different types of candy before playing “Jawbreaker” as his closing song. He thinks that Butterfingers are underrated, I am not sure how much I agree. I do agree with his take on sour candy though (it’s good). I did, luckily, make it in time for FINNEAS, my one essential artist for today, and was able to get pretty close to the front. FINNEAS played a great selection of his music, including “American Cliche,” “New Girl,” and “I Lost a Friend.” Also included was an unreleased song from Optimist. The crowd interaction was really nice with people singing along with choruses although I will say that the people in front of me were talking a little too much about random unrelated stuff. FINNEAS also played “I Don’t Miss You At All,” one of my favorite songs from him.
Up next was Megan Thee Stallion, an artist that FINNEAS repeatedly said that he was also going to see after his set. Megan was definitely an engaging performer and got a lot of audience interaction, despite someone on her team using a bit too much airhorn while she talked. Both “Hot Girl Summer” and “WAP” were played within the first 25 minutes.
At the 30 minute mark, I walked over to another stage and saw Black Pumas. I’d definitely heard good things but was surprised at how engaging they were. “Colors” is definitely a favorite for me out of what they played. I loved the vocals (including beautiful female backing vocals) and instrumentation – just a really great sound. They walked out close to the end of their set time but then came back for their R&B cover of “Eleanor Rigby” that infused the song with a new flavor. I followed this show with a visit to the T-Mobile lounge to charge my phone and to see Jon Pardi. I only saw a few songs from him because I was tired, but he’s always a good listen.
I left later for Miley Cyrus’ set. Miley blew me away – I thought she’d be pretty good, but I really enjoyed her set. Her cover of “Heart of Glass” was beautiful and she nicely mixed a cover of “Where Is My Mind?” into one of her other songs. Just really great vibes and nice audience interaction. I sadly left after a half hour to catch George Strait and then Uber out before the rush. George Strait still had it and I enjoyed “Give It Away.” He has very lyrical music with nice country instrumentation, as expected.
I was surprised at how good the sound was throughout the festival: consistently great mixing and volume. The sound setup was better than most of the concerts I’ve been to.
SATURDAY
My first concert of the day was Payday. It began with her DJ, Rio, coming out and playing a range of music to hype people up. “family ties” was played early on, but she stopped it before the Kendrick verse because the crowd wasn’t moving. “Backseat Freestyle” was the most successful at getting the crowd hyped. The guy in front of me was going crazy. Payday gave a really engaging performance and has such a wide range of styles. I really liked the mix of slower songs and bangers. Shortly after the performance, I had an interview with Payday and Rio. They were both so nice! More about that will be in the article about the interview.
Girl in Red was next and was really good. I hadn’t heard much of her stuff but appreciated her Yankees hat and candid talking between songs. She was very open and personable. Remi Wolf also gave a great and diverse performance, but I had a bad spot in the crowd for her. The music was worth it though.
I worked my way pretty close to the front for Phoebe Bridgers. The event staff was giving away water in a box, which came in clutch. Phoebe Bridgers came out in her skeleton outfit with the suit jacket and sunglasses with her band in the skeleton suits. Her trumpet player was great and really added a lot throughout the performance. Phoebe performed “Kyoto” along with “The End” and a bunch of her other songs that I enjoy. “The End” was obviously saved for last and had a similarly destructive feeling to other times I’ve seen the song performed live on videos. “Kyoto” might be my favorite song of hers, so I’m happy I heard it. She als
o played her Bo Burnham cover “for Greg.”
I quickly worked my way over to Freddie Gibbs and slowly made my way to pretty much the front throughout the performance. He played a lot from Alfredo and restarted some songs for more crowd interaction. There was some moshing later in the show – I had to take off my glasses to make sure they didn’t fall off and get trampled. He regularly led a chant of “fuck police” while also verbally harassing his DJ (as a joke). “Crime Pays” was a highlight along with the Alfredo cuts. I really enjoyed the show: happy to see Freddie and it was fun to get into the music with the crowd.
As they had the same set time I saw the first half of Doja Cat and the second half of Modest Mouse. Doja Cat was incredibly crowded. I stood behind people with chairs, so there was some room in front of me. The stage design and choreography were incredibly well done and Doja Cat’s songs breathed really well in a live environment. She’s such a good live performer. Modest Mouse also gave an enjoyable live performance – less crowded for sure. I really enjoyed “King Rat” and hearing the wide range of instruments live. I didn’t get to hear “Float On” but recognized a few of the other ones.
I needed a break after such a long day and worked my way through the Jack Harlow crowd to the press lounge. I needed some time to sit down – while ACL is fun, it is also super tiring. From there I was able to get a great side-stage view for a little bit. They made us all leave after a while though and I was able to get an OK spot to see Jack Harlow. I enjoyed when he did his part of “Industry Baby” and a lot of his other songs. I sadly had to leave early to get a good spot for Billie.
Billie Eilish was so good. She played a lot from her first album along with cuts from dont smile at me (“bellyache!”) and Happier Than Ever. The set ended with “Happier Than Ever” with a gold-tinted cloudy background. “Your Power” was done with Billie backed by FINNEAS on acoustic guitar, showcasing her voice and lyrics. The performance was amazing – left me wanting more at an hour and a half. The songs were so good in a live context! I ran out of storage on my phone taking photos and videos of Billie’s set.
After the set ended I weaved through SO many people in the crowd, eventually following groups going in the right direction as Uber was not working right. I had to wait outside a Little Woodrow’s after walking over a mile and with 9% charge. I had 3% left when I got back to where I was staying. If you have a power bank, you should definitely bring it if you’re planning on attending a music festival.
As with before, the sound setups were fantastic across all the stages I went to. Real credit to them for that – so many concerts have bad sound now. Easily my busiest ACL day, but an amazing one with some unforgettable performances!
SUNDAY
After I got in, it was really easy to get close to White Reaper, who I had wanted to see on their last tour in 2019. That was the first time I noticed some sound mixing issues, which were fixed later in the performance. The vocals were mixed way too low compared to the guitars and other instruments. They were good though and played the two songs I really like from them.
I was pretty annoyed that they cancelled Ant Clemons for today. I was really excited for him. I finally got food at the festival and got a chopped beef brisket sandwich from The Original Black’s Barbecue because I needed energy. It was really good and not crazy expensive ($11), still expensive though. I was also able to take a short break in the press lounge and then saw Cautious Clay. I was so tired today though that I had to just go sit in the press lounge for half of his performance. I really enjoyed what I saw though – I didn’t know he could play so many instruments.
I was planning to split Polo G and 070 Shake but Polo G’s DJ came out first so I decided to do 070 first. She was really energetic and I was able to get really close to the stage. It was pretty crazy, she let random audience members onto the stage for a song if they could make it up there in a 30-second(ish) period. At one point the sound people messed up and cut the beat early and she cussed them out for the rest of the show. It was a little harsh, but I got the emotion. “Guilty Conscience” was a highlight for me. I was about to head to Polo G and then I remembered that the Kanye track that 070 Shake is on is “Ghost Town” and checked and saw that she does it in solo shows. I had to stay for “Ghost Town,” which she has such a catchy part in. She climbed into the crowd for it and the energy was amazing.
On a whim, I went to Karol G next. She spoke entirely in Spanish, which was cool, especially for such a big US festival date. It definitely put my listening comprehension to the test though. The music had a really fun energy and I enjoyed the half I saw of her show. I saw some of the second half of Greta Van Fleet but wasn’t really feeling it. I used to really like them, but I don’t know – it felt a bit tired to me.
The next hour was the most concerts put into a section as Tierra Whack, Erykah Badu, and St. Vincent were all set for the same time. I saw them in that order as it would allow me to complete an arc of stages and end up at the Lady Bird stage where Tyler was playing. Tierra Whack’s DJ took a bit to get it ready for her to come out. Her short songs came in clutch here because I still feel like I got to see a good amount from her in the short time I was there. I got very close to the stage for her. I stayed further back for Erykah Badu but really enjoyed the vibes from the performance. It had a really unique sound. Next I went over to the T-Mobile stage for St. Vincent. I think I saw the shortest amount of her performance because I wanted to be closer for Tyler, but I still enjoyed it.
Tyler, The Creator was amazing. He came out and just looked at his suitcase for a while before going into “CORSO” with fireworks in the background. The stage design was also really nice with a rocking boat in the background. Unlike in his Dallas secret show in June, Tyler played some of his earlier work like “Yonkers,” “Tamale,” and “IFHY,” all of which were awesome to see. “Yonkers” was so good live. The energy of the performance combined with the stage design was an interesting change from the smaller venue. However, the crowd was more hype at Trees (in Dallas). I think people were going to Tyler because they were already at ACL and not necessarily because they liked his music at ACL. In another change from Dallas, Tyler described “New Magic Wand” as his favorite song he had written (he had previously said it was his second favorite).
I tried to video that performance, but it didn’t save (I ran out of storage again). There were vertical jets of flames behind him, it was a really striking visual. It’s definitely still my favorite Tyler song. He ended with “RUN IT UP,” which I started walking out during to avoid the crowds.
Overall, ACL was a really cool and unique experience, especially to attend alone. At first, I had not been as excited about the lineup, but there were more than enough people to keep me engaged with quality performances. I saw 25 musicians over the weekend and would definitely recommend the festival to anyone who has not yet been!