If you noticed an ungodly amount of traffic and commotion in downtown Austin last weekend, then there was good reason: Austin City Limits drew over 450,000 (75,000 per day) music lovers of all ages and inclinations to the rolling greens of Zilker Park for its 16th annual appearance. Since its humble beginnings as a one weekend event in 2002, ACL grew to two weekends in 2010 and hasn’t looked back since. Taking place this year from October 5-7 and October 12-14, the festival featured eight stages and an impressive 148 performances – 110 during Weekend 1, and 107 during Weekend 2. Headliners included groups from nearly every genre: classic-rock and ex-Beatle Paul McCartney, metal legends Metallica, rapper Travis Scott, indie outfit Arctic Monkeys, Odesza‘s electro-trap plus Justice and The National. Lil Wayne and Phoenix were also added to the lineup after Childish Gambino, originally scheduled for Weekend 2, was forced to cancel due to a foot injury.
In contrast to the scorching heat of the first round of ACL, Weekend 2 was threatened to experience heavy rains and cold fronts from tropical storms building in the Atlantic. Thankfully, the weather proved to be no problem; it was either pleasantly sunny or cloudy the entire weekend. There were plenty of shady trees that allowed festival-goers to evade the heat as they listened to bands from afar, napped, or enjoyed food from one of the many booths in Austin Eats. Featured restaurants included Austin favorites – Torchy’s Tacos, Stubbs BBQ, and Amy’s Ice Cream- as well as everything from funnel cakes and turkey legs to vegetarian curry. In addition to having great food, ACL gave artists from the community an opportunity to showcase their unique talents at the Art Market. This section of the festival allowed attendees to leave with more than just a concert t-shirt; hats, boots, posters, and paintings were all for sale by local artisans.
Ralph and Makayla Arvesen spent the weekend traversing Zilker Park, and below Makayla has highlighted three performances from across the weekend.
LIL WAYNE
YUNGBLUD
JANELLE MONAE
Perched atop a large royal throne, donning a loud, black, white, and red accented pant suit, singer/actress/feminist Janelle Monae proclaimed, “Love… love is what draws people together,” and thanked every person in attendance for simply being themselves. She killed her politically-charged performance, delivering important messages about feminism and sexuality between numerous outfit changes that were all equally as eye-popping. Being located at the American Express Stage and surrounded by five talented, flashy dancers, missing Janelle Monae would’ve been both a shame and hard to do.
Check back later for a full gallery from across the entire weekend, featuring David Byrne, Odesza, Hozier and many more.
