by Alexa Scott
We arrived in Austin at 7pm and after a quick bite at Arlo’s, Austin’s grab-and-go all vegan burger joint (pictured below), we bolted over to the Long Center, which would become our stable parking spot for the rest of the weekend. Although located a mile from the park grounds, we only paid $15 for all day parking and the walk was pleasant, especially during the mass exodus in the night. After a sprint to the ticket pickup only minutes before it closed we were finally in. The ACL gates awaited us.
The Chicks
We arrived at the Austin City Limits grounds just in time to see the Chicks, an American country music band active since 1997. Notably this was The Chicks first ever appearance at a festival, with an appearance at both weekend one and weekend two, performing a two hour set both weekends. We arrived just in time to hear “Traveling Soldier” echoing through the crowd at the American Express Stage, what I’m sure was an absolutely stellar moment for The Chicks after that song was pulled from country stations after it came out. Soon after they followed with “Wide Open Spaces” and “Cowboy Take Me Away” both hits sung by the crowd. Lead vocalist Natalie Maines shared the stage with both her father and son who were playing supporting instrumentals, with her father, famous producer Lloyd Maines, stopping to take a video of the three of them together in a heartfelt moment. This was followed by the Chicks surprising the audience with a cover of “Landslide”, by Fleetwood Mac, during which Martie Maguire and Natalie Maines absolutely shone on the fiddle and omnichord, respectively. This wasn’t the only cover by the Chicks that prime saturday night, with Beyonce’s “Daddy Lessons,” making a feature. The show took a more sober turn as the beginning of “March March” began to play, with the backing visuals showing the locations of shooting and the number of casualties, with the names of victims of gun violence around America also included. The honky tonk country set ended with an absolute fan favorite, “Goodbye Earl” as the crowd’s screams sent them off.
We started our 1 mile trek back to the Long center soons after that, but not before stopping by ACL’s Hydration Stations, basically giant water bottle filling stations developed under the plan to both avoid showgoer dehydration and promote recyclability. Combined with this was the “Rock and Recycle” program which rewarded festival-goers who walked and filled a plastic bag with recyclable cans with a cool t-shirt. For the record, this was actually super effective, wish I had figured out the process earlier.
The next morning we started our day at Bouldin Creek Cafe, a local woman owned vegan/vegetarian restaurant. Where we feasted on their migas breakfast plate and vegan eggs benedict. The star of the show was the vegan blueberry cornbread with vegan butter, it set us up perfectly for the delectable day ahead (pictures obviously included). Traffic, and the cafe wait, caught up to us and we missed spill tab, a French-Korean artist who I was very excited for. I mourned it with the cornbread.
Habibi
We walked into the park just as Habibi was playing on the American Express stage. The all-woman rock band from Brooklyn-based quintet whose psychedelic rock vocals echoed through the field in front. The band’s backdrop pictured an Iranian woman with her fist raised in the air with the words “Women Life Freedom” in the corner, clearly displaying their support for Iranian women. We sat in the field in front of the stage for this performance, laying out on a blanket and allowing the delicious bass lines to wash over us. Although neither of us had heard of Habibi before we were instantly entranced with the red-garbed women on the stage. The group had clear Motown vibes, a nice nod to Habibi’s original Detroit roots. Their set closed with “Come my Habibi,” which is also my recommendation for those looking to get into this stellar band.
Tai Verdes
The set ended and we packed up our things, beelining to Honda stage to line up early for Tai Verdes. The moment his band stepped on stage, the energy was infectious with everyone ready to see the man himself swagger up onto stage. If nothing else, Tai is a Performer and with his initial success attributed to blowing up on TikTok this is no surprise. Throughout the show he was clearly having fun with the crowd, by incorporating the “left side” and “right side” component of audience interaction he had us all screaming the choruses and catchy bits of his songs. Having recently released his debut album “TV,” I was expecting mostly new songs, but he featured a delightful mix of new and old, playing fan favorites like “Stuck in the Middle” and “DRUGS,” which originally garnered him his success on TikTok. The show took a more heartfelt turn during “Last Day on Earth,” where Tai encouraged the audience to chase the things they would if it were their final day, obviously incorporating the aforementioned “left side” “right side” mechanic. The concert ended and the crowd left energized with high spirits, successfully avoiding the 3pm slump.
Samia
Looking for a more chill concert experience after our energized stint with Tai Verdes, we mosied our way over to the Miller Lite stage, where Samia was playing. “It’s going to be pretty sad for pretty much the whole time,” Samia warned us early on – and boy was she right. For those unfamiliar with Samia, she is an alternative singer-songwriter artist from New York, known for her heartfelt and often gut-wrenchingly melancholic music with themes of growing up and drifting apart. The majority of her songs came from her debut album “The Baby,” with the first song of the set also being the first song of the album “Pool.” She followed with “FIt and Full,” an upbeat song that disarmed us for the melancholy ahead. Shockingly transparent about her on-stage nerves, at one point she said, “I can’t believe all of you chose to be here, listening to me,” a clear testament of the humility that sets her apart from other up and coming indie artists. Laying on a blanket, we allowed her beautiful voice to wash over us once again.
Wallows
After Samia we quickly hustled over to catch Wallows at American Express, both ready for lunch and the American alt-rock band that awaited us. ACL was clearly ready for Wallows with a large crowd already there by the time we arrived. We laid out our picnic blanket and munched on our sandwiches, ready for the two hour set list. Early on Wallows surprised the crowd by feeding their song “Sun Tan” into a cover of One Direction’s “What Makes You Beautiful” (the crowd loved it, needless to say). Wallows filled their set list with a mix of old and new, despite having recently released their sophomore album “Tell Me That It’s Over.” The band kept it interesting by having Dylan, Braeden, and Cole alternate vocalist responsibilities, with Dylan displaying his ability to play the drums while Cole sang. The set ended with the hit “Are You Bored Yet?,” with Dylan complimenting the crowd as they sang Clairo’s part “You guys sound just like Clairo” (how sweet, but if Dylan had heard me singing this part, he would have not said that).
Lil Nas X
Well fed, and energized we stayed in the area for Lil Nas X, hoping to score a good view of the stage. The effort was successful as 6:05pm hit and we were hit with ACT 1: REBIRTH on the stage screens, setting up what quickly became the most impactful and life changing two hours of my life. Soon after the title flashed on the screen, a futuristic Black queen popped on the screen, introducing herself as the so-called “Wizard of Naz” and establishing herself as the storyteller of the life of our young protagonist “Montero.” At this, Lil Nas X himself stepped onto the stage, settling into the most energetic rendition of “Panini” known to man. Soon after this, the second surprise of the show came along, beautiful, ripped background dancers, glistening in the light of the setting sun. The entirety of ACT I, and the set in general, dripped with sensuality, with Lil Nas X commanding the audience with his performance and presence. Before we knew it, we were in ACT 2: TRANSFORMATION, warranting a costume change for all parties on stage, proving the perfect introduction to a performance of “That’s What I Want,” roared by the crowd. This led us to ACT 3: BECOMING, with the Wizard of Naz herself, welcoming us to Montero and to the dancers crawling on stage as “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” began. Montero himself appeared on stage with yet another costume-change. Here he introduced his upcoming song, “Down Souf Hoes,” inviting the crowd to shake their asses one more time, with a couple of lucky concert goers getting the opportunity to shake ass on stage (shoutout assless chaps). In a heartwarming (as heartwarming as throwing it back and twerking can) moment, the dancers were all introduced in their own solo dance moment. The show ended with the words “LONG LIVE MONTERO,” a reminder that our protagonist’s journey is not over.
FLUME
By this point we were dog tired, but we knew our final battle awaited us….Flume. On the way there we passed a genuine sea of people watching Diplo, by far the densest crowd I had seen at ACL. We knew a similar fate awaited us. A message on the screen promised us good visuals and the crowd roared as Flume took his rightful place between two mixing tables, his side facing us. He started the set off strong with his most popular song, “The Difference” featuring Toro y Moi. The crazy, trippy visuals started from the beginning, with Flume transporting us into a sweaty head bumping rave at the Honda stage of Zilker Park. With his recently released Palaces, we expected nothing less, easily controlling the ebb and flow of the crowd. He had us in his vice grip, till the very end, head banging along with the crowd. The set ended as he thanked us for having him (we would rather no one else Flume).
Exhausted we trekked the mile back and ended our ACL trip the only way we knew how.. a vegan burger at Arlo’s.