Echoes of Austin City Limits begin to fill Austin with a unique vibe that is felt during that year that passes between the memories of the previous festival and the promises of the next. Another edition of warmth, good music, better food, good vibes, peace, love and hymns to tattoo on your skin.
During this ACL we will feel that unique sensation that nothing like good music is capable of transmitting: nostalgia. We will travel to the 90s, the 2000s and the early 2010s without disdaining the new faces that dominate the step prior to massive stardom. And all this wrapped in the natural and almost magical halo of Zilker Park. Are you going to miss it?
Join us for a colossal edition that we have summarized so you don’t miss the best of these six days of peace, love and good music in Austin. Remember to hydrate. You have hydration points distributed throughout the venue and they are free. And let yourself be carried away by the music and make many friends at this festival full of good vibes. And if you can’t attend, don’t miss the best songs that will be played there.
The big stars of Austin City Limits
Among the headliners, Kendrick Lamar stands out. The most talented rapper of his generation arrives in Austin with nothing to prove, after a career of great songs, committed lyrics that have reflected social inequalities and racism like few others do, and a truckload of awards that have done him more justice than the recognition that the mainstream seems to deny him. His latest album Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers is the perfect culmination to a career that we will enjoy in Austin.
Another of the great attractions of this Austin City Limits is seeing Foo Fighters live. Dave Grohl’s band is one of the most reliable and with one of the most worthy careers on the rock scene. Post-grunge would not have been the same without them. Their great career always helps to satisfy the rock craving that every good festival goer should have. Furthermore, being able to discover live their But Here We Are published this year is another incentive.
We close our eyes for a moment, go back, further back and we see those 90 innocents where anything was possible. We open our eyes and look at Alanis barefoot as everything makes sense again. This peak moment will find its nineties counterpart in the brilliant Shania Twain, who over the years has transcended from country icon to pop culture diva. Although, nostalgia doesn’t need to go that far. We can feel a lot if we look back in search of that revival culture that flooded the charts in the late 2000s and early 2010s. Straight from that time, coming out of the Delorean, Mumford & Sons, The Lumineers, Odesza and Hozier will appear in Austin. Although, who will play the most timeless anthems in this very special ACL will be The 1975, although in this case only for the lucky ones who attend the second weekend.
Nostalgia in Austin City Limits
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs also know a lot about that concept so present in the ACL. Karen O’s band introduced a very bad garage vibe to the indie scene back in the 2000s and although during the 2010s they seemed to have diluted themselves in personal projects, they have recently recovered the status of a cult band that they should never lose. The album they released last year has contributed to this, which has reunited us with those very cool noises of theirs.
Do you want a higher dose of nostalgia? Nothing better than the band whose songs and video clips seemed to come from an old tape recorded in Super 8. Meeting M83 is drinking a distillate of the best French electronics and enjoying in every sip a vignette of the most splendid yesterday. Now that time has passed we will see if that fake nostalgia becomes real.
More recent but no less evocative of a bygone era, no matter how hard it is for us to recognize it, is Portugal. The Man. The boys from Alaska are called one hit wonder without paying attention to a fascinating discography that has found in their latest album Chris Black Changed My Life the perfect fit for their characteristic sound with lo-fi overtones and captivating psychedelia. And in the middle of the park Tove Lo the girl with the great song, and better video, Habits, will appear.
The Swede reigned for a year in 2014 that she made her own, but although she never reached such high levels of success again, she has continued to release more than interesting songs like No One Dies From Love or 2 Die 4. Real nostalgia is as fascinating as fictional nostalgia. Suki Waterhouse, already famous for her personal life, knows a lot about that. To her calm and refined pop, the fake nostalgic dose of appearing in Daisy Jones & The Six has been added and that becomes another incentive to lose yourself in her calm but seductive rock.
In the precise moment
Austin City Limits usually draws from those artists who are at the perfect cooking point, right at that moment in which they are still moving in the creative freedom prior to their commercial explosion. A good example of this is Little Simz. Her unique style and her daring and original lyrics have made her a very prominent face of the new British urban scene. Like Little Simz, Gus Dapperton is in an experimental phase where he plays with the boundaries of pop and the limits of yesterday and tomorrow. His synth pop is so unique that he is heading towards pop stardom in leaps and bounds.
The one who seems to benefit from the shine of the spotlight is Charli XCX’s former friend, Rina Sawayama. We have recently seen her in the new movie of John Wick, and between fashion shows and red carpets, she has had time to sneak in among the aspiring future pop diva. It will be interesting to see her candidacy live from Zilker Park. Although, the most blatant example of artists on the boil is Cori Leray. Coi is a representative of that Jersey Club that has hit it big in the United States based on bases taken from old rap anthems and a lot of impudence in the lyrics.
What you can’t miss
But beyond the glittering headliners and budding stars, there are a number of iconic moments you shouldn’t miss at this ACL. One of them is a generational encounter with an artist at the peak of his career. Much more than the anthems of Euphoria, Labrinth demonstrates enormous talent and a unique sensitivity when approaching all types of stories. He comes to Austin as more than just a musician and that is something we hope to see on the spot.
30 Seconds to Mars is always a safe bet beyond meeting the charismatic Jared Leto. A band that sometimes suffers from the headlines, unlike Dope Lemon, who from the opposite perspective silently dedicates themselves to creating shocking pop songs. From Australia with a love for Indie, like Tash Sultana. The latest underground revolution, she arrives in Austin as an icon of an alternative scene that she has been revitalized as if it were the Selah Sue of the 2000s.
Two bands with a lot of road and high fashion pop are Mars Volta and Cigarretes After Sex. Both, who won’t have a very long trip to Austin. El Paso is a musical place as incredible as it is unexpected. And the last of the must-sees that we are eager to see is Sudan Archives. Britney Parks is probably the most fascinating face of the new and sophisticated R&B with Soul soul and electronic body. Irresistible.
ACL is eaten and tastes great
This year ACL Eats complicates our diet by adding sweet temptations such as Tiff’s Treats or Tiny Pies, two of the most iconic and delicious places in the city that will join a culinary proposal of desserts and sweets never seen before in a musical festival called ACL Sweets . But don’t worry, you won’t go hungry. Places as exquisite as Shawarma Point, Southside Flying Pizza, Shake Shack, Lambas Indian Kitchen, Four Brothers, Chi’lantro or Austin Pizza will demonstrate the high quality of local cuisine and its immense variety. Cuisines from India, the United States, Korea, Mexico, Venezuela or Lebanon will be present in a festival that sounds good and tastes better.
Welcome to Austin City Limits!
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