Each October, Austin locals and people from around the country gather in downtown Austin to attend the annual Austin City Limits music festival. With ACL being one of the most popular and longest-running music festivals in history, it came as no surprise that 450,000 people attended both weekends in total. The festival’s main headliners were Dua Lipa, Blink 182, Chappell Roan, Tyler, the Creator, Wave to Earth, Benson Boone, Reneé Rapp, Foster the People, and more. Among massive crowds, amazing food and drinks, and popular artists performing, it’s easy to figure out that this year was a hit.
For many concertgoers, Tyler the Creator was the highlight of the lineup, and the only reason they bought their ticket. With his time slot following Roan’s, Tyler drew in large crowds of fans eager to see him take the stage. After Roan’s set, many people left and there was lots of room to get closer to the front of the stage where Tyler would be performing.
The energy brought by Tyler was extremely hype, per usual, and the crowd was jumping and moshing the whole time. A standout moment in his performance was when he performed a mashup of many popular old songs of his such as She, Yonkers, Tamale, and more. While his album is incredible to listen to on Spotify, seeing Tyler live and hearing his music in-person was definitely an unforgettable experience for everyone.
Another big highlight of the festival was Roan’s set, which drew a crowd of almost 80,000 people. Fans were dressed in either all pink, wearing a cowboy hat and boots, or a mix of both, paying homage to Roan’s famous anthem Pink Pony Club. As she got on stage, Chappel brought the sass while performing hits like Femininominon, HOT TO GO, Casual, Good Luck Babe, Pink Pony Club, and many others. The performance itself was outstanding, but bittersweet since it would be the last time she’d be performing for the rest of this year.
Another big hit as a headliner at ACL was the Wave to Earth set. They are an indie rock band from Korea who could be classified as an underrated band, as many people at ACL don’t know much about their music. Most people in the crowd were expecting more mellow and chill music, but the trio played a multitude of great rock songs, which took many people in the audience aback. Even though many crowd members were expecting a more mellow sound, the intensity of the group’s music was a pleasant surprise.
With there being so many people attending, one would expect some sort of downfall to the festival. One major issue was the sheer volume of people in the crowds. So many people were trying to get to the front of Roan’s set that it caused a traffic-jam in the crowd, with people pushing and stepping on each other. There were also big groups of people just sitting on the ground making it hard for standing people to walk in the crowd, which created an aggravating situation. With temperatures hitting triple digits, many people were passing out and throwing up during Roan’s set. Everybody was just standing next to each other for over an hour, sweaty and lightheaded.
After Roan’s set finished there was a catastrophe caused by people trying to either exit or move closer to the front. Many found moving was extremely hard, with there being a crowd of 80,000 people. There was also an overbearing smell of marijuana, which even Tyler, the Creator complained about while giving his opening speech. In order to prevent things like this from happening in the future, ACL could expand the area where they have their main headliners performing, and provide amenities like at least one free water bottle per person. These measures would prevent people getting sick and ensure performers and festival-goers alike are staying safe.
Even with the downsides to the festival, it was a huge hit as usual, and by and large everybody had a seemingly amazing time. ACL offers lots beyond just live music, drawing in people of all walks of life.There were so many good options for foodies such as street tacos, Texas BBQ, and refreshing gelato. There were also had many perks, such as letting kids under 10 in free of charge, providing many other forms of entertainment such as drag shows, and medics which came on command for anybody who needed them, keeping the festival safe. ACL remains a cultural institution in Austin, and overall ACL is definitely worth purchasing tickets for.
