Austin City Limits Music Festival returned for another year at Zilker Park and it was an amazing way to spend the weekend, there’s always something to do at the festival. Whether it be photo opportunities at the iconic flags and ACL sign, trying new food, or catching one of the many acts throughout the festival, every attendee had the opportunity to do something different.
The first act of the day we caught was Noah Cyrus. Her voice was so calming and grabbed many people’s attention, she sang some of her songs which included “July”, “I Burned LA Down” and “Again”. She had multiple hardcore fans front row and they even made signs that said “Love You Noah”. The next act of the day was Conan Gray. The singer came out on stage rocking a cowboy-esque outfit and opened his set with “Disaster”, fans immediately started singing the lyrics and matched his energy, it was incredible. He took a brief moment and shared some of his background and explained how he grew up in the nearby city of Georgetown, he made several jokes about his upbringing and it made fans laugh, it shows how open he is with his fan base. He continued his set with songs like “Best Friend”, “Affluenza”, and “Family Line”. The set ended with his popular songs “Heather”, “Maniac” and “Memories”. He once again thanked fans for coming out to see his set and told everyone to have a great time.
As we walked to our next sets at the Miller stage you could see attendees enjoy different activities. A popular stop was ACL eats, it was filled with many different vendors from ice cream and popsicles to pizza and tacos, there was something for fans to enjoy as they went on in the festival. The iconic flags were on the way to the next stage as well, the line of people wanting to get “the shot” was incredible, you could see the excitement in their faces as soon as they got a photo they loved. We arrived at the Miller stage to see the British singer Arlo Parks perform and she was incredible. She performed some of her hit songs such as “Softly”, “Eugene” and “Cola”, fans were singing along to every word of the songs and enjoying every moment of it. Next was rising star Omar Apollo, he performed songs from his debut album “Ivory” as well as from his EP’s. Tik Tok made the songs “Evergreen”, and “Endlessly” particularly popular. You could see fans screaming their lungs out while crying and singing, he’s truly an incredible act.
The last act of the night we managed to watch was the one and only SZA. She had an amazing stage setup which included a lighthouse and a boating dock. She opened her set with “All The Stars” at the top of the lighthouse before coming down onto other parts of the stage and continuing the set with “Broken Clocks” and “Love Galore”. There was a small clothing malfunction, but she joked about it and continued the show like a professional. She continued the set with some of her popular collaborations such as “Kiss Me More” before finishing the set with “The Weekend”. SZA was a great way to finish the first day of the festival. Stay tuned for day 2!
SZA
OMAR APOLLO
ARLO PARKS
CONAN GRAY
NOAH CYRUS
VACATIONS
Photos & Review by Michael Perea | Exclusively for Music, Why Not!