Day One: Austin City Limits Music Festival @ Zilker Park - Austin, TX

Friday was a day that was full of popular artists from different genres such as Tame Impala, Guns N’ Roses, Lil Uzi Vert and many more. An array of EDM artists graced friday afternoon stages. In the early afternoon on the TMobile stage, the New York music producer best known for his songs “Starlight” and “India Summer” Jai Wolf set the stage on fire. His crowd was pretty big for that time slot and as promised in the beginning of his set people left that stage feeling the buzz from the energy emitted through the sound.

Other EDM artist that played the same stage were TroyBoi and RL Grime, the fans were enjoying the heavy bass and were head banging and shuffling through all 3 sets nonstop. You could see from a distance the floor moving from the vibration of the songs and the energy of the people.

RL Grime | photos by Roger Ho

The incredible thing about music festivals is that there is always something for someone… even the kids! Switching it up, the BMI stage housed some pretty amazing indie/ alternative artists. On Friday, they had three of our readers favorite musicians: Friday Pilots Club, The Score and Savannah Conley. We interviewed Friday Pilots Club and their passion for playing music definitely lived through their set. They set off their time at Austin City Limits Music Festival playing tunes like: “Gold and Bones,” “Would You Mind,” and “Glory.” When you see them they seem like grungy rock stars, but when they sing their music is so filled with soul lead singer Caleb sound live just like he does on the recording. Their performance blew the crowd at BMI away. How do we know? the beauty of being in the pretenses of good music… your body language gives the fact that you are enjoying it away!

BMI choose good this year! Not that they’ve ever missed but in one day they managed to tie in three different completely sounding artists that were just jaw dropping talented. Savannah Conley (check out our festival interview) and The Score were the icing on the cake. The Score had a huge crowd for that stage! Walking by the people waiting anxiously for the band to get on stage, I heard whispers of how the band had been feature in one of David Dobrik’s YouTube videos. After fact- checking that is very true! Regardless of their unintentional feature, they played awesome. Probably one of my favorite acts from Friday.

In between sets we traveled to American Express to check out the indie power group, The Aces. Playing shimmering indie pop with and electronic edge, The Aces are an all-female quartet hailing from Provo, Utah. The group consists of Cristal Ramirez, guitarist Katie Henderson, bassist McKenna Petty and drummer Alisa Ramirez (Cristal’s sister)! Their album When My Heart Felt Volcanic, which was released under Red Bull Records has taken them on the trip of their lives. They’ve toured with bands like COIN and 5 Seconds of Summer. Their set at Austin City Limits Music Festival was so personal and catered towards their fans that it felt like an intimate performance in a small New York City venue. They played some of their top songs such as, “Fake Nice,” “Just Like That” and “Holiday.”

The Aces | photos by Roger Ho & Charles Reagan Hackleman (last one) | C3

Other favorites from Friday that played our favorite stage at the fest, VRBO were The Band Camino, K. Flay, and Jenny Lewis. I have six words to describe K.Flay’s performance… FREAKING OUT OF THIS WORLD AMAZING! The Grammy Award winner did not fall short during her time at ACL. She was more energetic than the festival goers.

The Band Camino | photos by Katrina Barber | C3

K. Flay | photos by: Sydney Gawlik | C3

King Princess | photos by Charles Reagan Hackleman | C3

The headliners on Friday were completely different. Rock and roll royalty Guns N’ Roses played the American Express Stage. They are a headliner you pay over and over to see live. Although, the don’t have big hair and painted toe nails they still played like they did in the 80s. They played all of the hits, “Paradise City,” Sweet Child O’ Mine,” “Welcome to the Jungle,” “Knocking on Heavens Door,” and “November Rain.” Not a moment went by when the crowd did not sing along.

Guns N’ Roses | photos by Katarina Benzova & Charles Reagan (bottom three) | C3

The visuals during Tame Impala’s set at the Honda Stage left everyone in a trance with the amazing lasers, the tilting ring on stage and the visuals produced. They performed their last show of the year at ACL and sang their most popular songs which included “The less I know the Better”, “New Person, Same Old Mistakes”, “Borderline” and many more.