Each Austin City Limits leaves an indelible mark, a special scar that transforms your world and broadens your culture and musical horizons. However, I have never experienced any previous edition so intensely, nor have I had such an epiphany as I did this year. Rarely does a generational change occur, or at least the staging of one, so graphically before your eyes as it did in Zilker Park on a Sunday afternoon as the sun said goodbye to one era and entered another.

Aside from such an iconic experience, the festival gave us memorable moments. The sublimation of pop by Dua Lipa and her musically perfect show was just the beginning. The nostalgia of Foster The People or the ardent sensuality of The Marias offered us visions of pop from yesterday and today. The life lessons of Chris Stapleton and the mysterious exoticism of Glass Beams expanded the aesthetic and philosophical boundaries of music. And finally, the punk power of Mannequin Pussy and the new country of Orville Peck added a necessary point of vindication and risk in a fabulous edition to remember that we review below.

Dua Lipa has climbed a lot of heights since that SXSW 16 that she mentioned in her apotheotic live performance until reaching the summit of commercial music on which pedestal she currently finds herself. From performing on the street in front of barely a dozen people to headline the ACL and the world lists. In between, the British diva of Albanian descent has sublime pop, has liquefied the formula for success and has bottled its elixir in a beautiful bottle lasting an hour and a half.

Everything that happens during that fragment of time is an ode to beauty and good taste through great musicians, twenty spectacular dancers, LEDs and revolving stairs and above all, a star that knows how to shine like no one else. Beyond her radiant beauty, Dua Lipa offers pop varnished by the best producers, some like Kevin Parker have created songs capable of sounding good anywhere and in any mind. Throughout the biggest pop show in the world today, a carousel of hits takes you down the easy path of rhythm and makes you feel happy, at home, just what pop is intended to do; to find a common ground with the masses where they feel comfortable, sheltered.

Inside and outside this beautiful bubble that she forms in her concerts, everyone wants to buy the Dua Lipa product and it is no coincidence. Her live shows are the perfect temptation, the sublimation of commercial pop, they don't let you escape or leave you with no other option than to become one more of her acolytes.

Indeed, we were there. We were able to witness something that happens periodically but that is indescribable and above all, iconic. In the midst of Austin City Limits we witnessed a generational change so powerful that its consequences will continue to reverberate for months and years. Chappell Roan has been the artist of the moment for some time now. During the days leading up to the festival, she was in everybody’s mouth after cancelling a couple of dates on her European tour due to mental health issues. There were rumours of a possible absence, but Austin finally breathed a sigh of relief when she confirmed her participation at the ACL. Resale prices imploded at that time, reaching record figures of $800 for a day pass. People running, stumbles, empty concerts...

The tense calm before hurricane Chappell Roan indicated that we were going to find ourselves in a historic moment, never seen before at the festival. Thousands of people had spent 7 hours in the Texas sun waiting for the Californian's turn while ignoring the rest of the great artists on the bill. A little over an hour into her live performance, the entire venue was anxiously awaiting the new diva. And when her petite figure appeared on stage, everything changed, music and life became more rosy and mischievous.

A new generation crowned its new queen, a distinguished representative of all its fears, strengths and weaknesses. An energetic diva with a torrent of youthful energy that never stops bouncing or spitting out her brave truths with tirades that appear tattooed on skins, flags, t-shirts and bandanas. Her synthesizers and vibe bring us back to the 80s of Lucky Star's Madonna or Cindy Lauper with certain irresistible rock and bad vibes. Her proclamations about mental health, personal acceptance or sexual freedom are a sample of the concerns and maxims of generation Z and the 2020s, who have finally found their queen. The crowning without a crown took place an October afternoon in Austin before thousands of passionate subjects who have known how to anticipate the new wave that is coming to sweep everything away.

Contrary to the radiant current events of Chappell's stories, Chris Stapleton talks about timeless themes. He delves into victories and failures that jan big scars cauterized with Tennessee whiskey. On Friday night, our friend Chris exuded charisma and acted like a father advising his children about the mistakes they repeat while sharing the same concerns. That peculiar tenderness can hardly overshadow the outlaw vibe of hits like Outlaw State of Mind and that condition of being someone who tells stories in a masterful way. His closing with Tennessee Whiskey is undoubtedly one of the highlights of the festival.

Maria Zaragallo is pure fire, a whirlwind of sensuality live that sweeps away any sensitive heart that is within its radius of action. It is not something that surprises us. If you are among the regular followers of The Marias you are already used to seeing your skin crawl with their characteristic swaying and whispering. Live, sensuality rises above the unsuspected and that is when Maria transforms into a force of nature that radiates sophistication and femininity. Low lights, trumpet sounds, light and shadow games, everything is designed to make you dream, catch you and seduce you to let you go with the best of aromas. And it works absolutely. Because between the satin of songs like Only in My Dreams, Care for You or their sweet version of Lovefool we find stridency like that of Hush that serves to raise the temperature and make clear the different nuances of a band that understands pop as a constant seduction.

And as the evening fell in an Austin park we said goodbye to the setting sun with Texas Sun performed live by Khruangbin and Leon Bridges. The rest doesn't matter, it's unimportant. That is the moment that this festival will never forget and that will not manage to overshadow everything that happened up to that moment. The trio from Houston gave us a shocking sample of their unique frontier sound, which has led them to be a Texas icon. And while we wait for the moment to say goodbye to the Texas sun, we fall even more in love with this band that so well represents the races and feelings of Texas.

The fact of returning is not a tango or a verb, it is an impulse that becomes a reality through sounds like those of Foster The People. The Californian band transported us to 2010 with Don't Stop, Call It What you Want and above all with Pumped Up Kicks. The trip to that era of Super 8 videos, lost innocence and low fi sounds did us all good. In between there was time to enter the fascinating new world of Lost in Space represented by a renewed Foster The People and to lose ourselves in a somewhat erratic live performance that, however, left us with a memorable aroma of 2010.

In the middle of the park a powerful voice rose, sweet but firm, calling us like a siren song to its presence. It was Norah Jones on the piano. The vocal beauty of her R&B is overwhelming live. There is no doubt that we are facing one of the chosen ones and therefore it is worth reserving an hour of your festival to find a magnificent career summed up in great songs such as Don't Know Why, What I am To You, or Shoot The Moon.

Punk must annoy, it must distort and disturb. That is what Mannequin Pussy is. The Philly band honours the classic garage that reverberated in forgotten clubs where teenage rage became uncontrolled decibels. In their live performance there is everything, from political slogans, Palestinian flags to a lot of feminism. Their strident and melodic sound at the same time invites us to bounce without stopping and to think for ourselves. Although their latest album I Got Heaven is a place that seems easy to inhabit, it is a fascinating challenge that once you are inside you will not want to leave anywhere. Without a doubt, the rebel queens of the festival.

Glass Beams landed from Australia in the middle of a dream. Their calm presence emphasized the mystical exoticism conferred by their masks and those sounds full of arabesques, jazz and rock. Live, they move in a tense calm that takes you to contrasting moods, from extreme tranquility to maximum unbridledness. A whole mental journey wrapped in a dense musical atmosphere that traps you without remedy and helps you enter their inhospitable territory, the one where they feel powerful and unique, the one that only a few have accessed yet as a vanguard of what promises a splendorous future for the most promising band on the world underground scene.

We never imagined that cowboy stories would have a twist like the one given to them by the brilliant Orville Peck. The South African artist has revamped the most masculinized genre and varnished it with a 21st century coat, a new and fascinating aesthetic and different, human stories far removed from the old testosterone of the cowboy. His tales of gay love Impossible sounds are mixed with a recognizable sound performed by an incredible band and a privileged voice that never ceases to excite with every beat. A revolutionary delight. It's not every day that you witness the rebirth of a musical genre transformed into the opposite of what it has been.

Every year, Asleep At The Wheel opens the festival and each edition is a special moment to meet these authentic icons of the Austin scene. If anyone dignifies and exemplifies those bands that swarm around the city and make it a benchmark for live music worldwide, it's them. Their fun folk sounds fresh despite their 50 years on the road. It's like an old barn party, a timeless cultural treasure that you should value and appreciate for what it is, something unique and special. For many more years to come!