This fall I had the pleasure of being sent to weekend two of ACL to cover the festival. This experience was truly so joyful. I was able to listen to incredible music and meet incredible people all over my incredible hometown: Austin, Texas. I felt so lucky to be able to cover this weekend, but before I share my experience, I would like to thank KANM Student Radio as well as Austin City Limits Music Festival for inviting us!

Friday:

Farmers Wife

Farmer’s Wife was the perfect way to kick off the weekend. I had previously known about Farmer’s Wife as they are a big, local Austin band. They had fantastic energy while performing and gave the crowd the experience of a lifetime. I also had the pleasure of meeting with them after their performance. We talked about their show, their new releases, and their overall band aesthetic. If you’d like to learn more about Farmer’s Wife, be on the lookout for a video of the interview coming soon to our YouTube channel! 

Girl Tones 

Girl Tones had another amazing performance early on in the weekend. The Kentucky sister duo brought incredible energy, and really got the crowd involved throughout the show with actions such as having them clap along to the beat. Girl Tones was another artist I was lucky enough to speak to later in the day. They are extremely nice and gave great responses about their work balance and other topics. Again, keep an eye on that YouTube channel for more on Girl Tones!

Photo by Roger Ho

MJ Lenderman

MJ Lenderman was a set I was extremely excited to see. I was introduced to MJ Lenderman by my partner with the song “She’s Leaving You.” After discovering this song, I quickly made my way through the rest of the discography as it really has a great soul. MJ Lenderman played some of my favorite songs such as “Wristwatch,” “Manning Fireworks,” and “Joker Lips.” Of course, MJ saved “She’s Leaving You” for the end, which was wonderful. My favorite part of the set is when they brought out a violin player for the song “Rip Torn.” I thought this was a great touch of having a live violin versus only backing tracks. Truly, just a beautiful set.

Photo by Ismael Quintanilla III

Empire of the Sun

This was easily my favorite set of the weekend. I was familiar with the Empire of the Sun before the weekend , but I did not realize how much of their discography I knew until watching them. The set was extremely entertaining, with a very theatrical performance and silly surprise guest monsters. The crowd was also enjoying it: I didn’t catch a single person who wasn’t dancing and singing along. Of course, Empire of the Sun played some of their most popular songs such as “The Spins” and “We are the People” while adding unique twists that made the songs even more awesome. I even managed to make friends with people all around me. Overall, it was one of the best sets I have ever seen! 

Photo by Andrea Escobar Garcia 

Silent Disco 

It is amazing that ACL offers more options for when you’re not feeling the headliners. Luke Combs and Hozier are typically not my vibe, so I chose to opt for the Silent Disco instead. I do not regret going at all. I had a wonderful time at the Silent Disco. There were three different stations offered and at one point one of the DJ’s brought out a live saxophone. 

Saturday:

Yoke Lore 

I got there late and was only able to hear the last song (which was “Beige”), but it was still beautiful. I have a special memory attached to this song as my friend did a solo to it back when I was on my high school’s dance team. I wish I had been able to see more of the set, as Yoke Lore has a majestic voice. 

Car Seat Headrest 

Unfortunately, Car Seat Headrest did not play any songs I personally recognized. Regardless, I still enjoyed the set! The band had great visuals following behind them that went along with their performance. I wish that the band had been a little more interactive to keep the crowd engaged, but still it was great. 

Magdalena Bay 

I saw only a few songs from Magdalena Bay’s set as I left early to catch an unobstructed view of Pierce the Veil. The band, like Empire of the Sun, was also very theatrical. The set matched the aesthetic of their album Imaginal Disk. Even though I didn’t get to see the full set, I luckily heard my favorite song “Tunnel Vision”. I saw Magdalena Bay a few years ago at ACL when they were performing at the smallest stage. It was amazing to see how much their fan base has grown since the release of Imaginal Disk, and I would love to see them again sometime.

Photo by Dusana Risovic

Pierce the Veil 

I was unbelievably lucky enough to meet the band before their set in the Press Lounge that day. Pierce the Veil were so sweet to talk to. As a huge fan, I am still in disbelief. As we said bye, they told us they hoped we would enjoy their set: safe to say I did. This was Pierce the Veil’s ACL Festival debut, and they absolutely killed it. The setlist was similar to when I saw them a few months before the "I Can’t Hear You" tour. However, they still changed it up a bit by playing “So Far So Fake” as well as shortening the set to match with festival timing. The set was a perfect mix between more energetic songs like “Bulls in the Bronx” and more sentimental songs like “Hold on Til May” and “Emergency Contact.”

Photo by Faye Merritt

The Strokes 

Another dazzling set from The Strokes. I had the privilege to see all my favorite songs from them live like “The Adults are Talking” and “Last Nite.” However, I think more could have been done on the festival’s part to make the experience more immersive to The Strokes. Anytime the band stopped playing, you could hear Sabrina Carpenter's set. The crowd for her show also went so far back it ended where The Strokes crowd started. The lead singer of The Strokes, Julien Casablanca, even seemed upset about this, as he playfully jabbed at how he hated that the festival made the audience choose between the two of them. Throughout the set, he kept saying hello to Sabrina and her crowd, which was funny at times.

Photo by Ismael Quintanilla III

Sunday:

Julie 

Julie is a band I found through a lot of my peers within KANM, so I was looking forward to seeing them. Unfortunately, Julie ended their set 30 minutes early, so they only played for half their time slot. It was a terrific show beyond that though, and they ended it with their biggest song “Flutter.” 

Photo by Greg Noire 

The Dare 

Again, I only watched a bit of The Dare, but still managed to have a fun time. Dare was a charismatic performer and funny. He talked about how he was compared to U2 once and had never felt more misunderstood. His set was remarkably high spirited, especially when he played “Girls.” Sadly, his set also ended a bit early due to the heat we were experiencing that day.

Photo by Chad Wadsworth

Disco Lines

I was not originally familiar with Disco Lines but again I realized I already knew a few songs like “No Broke Boys.” The crowd was not very enjoyable as there was a lot of pushing and aggressive moshing, but once that settled down, the vibes were perfect. It was fun to dance along, and he had mesmerizing visuals to match his music. 

Passion Pit 

I am not sure if I can even say I really did see Passion Pit. The festival messed up giving him the smallest stage. I still enjoyed what I could see, but due to the angle of the tent, unless you were inside of it, you could not see the stage. Passion Pit started his show off with his biggest hit "Sleepyhead". I believe this was done to lose some of the crowd, as that is what most people were there to see. I also decided to leave after a few songs, given I couldn’t even hear the music well. I would love to see Passion Pit again, hopefully in a better scenario. 

Mk.Gee 

This set was an absolute dream. Mk.Gee had a very intense fog machine running the whole time which almost made him appear as more of an illusion. This really added to the feeling of it being a dream. His music also appealed to the dreamlike quality, as it was extremely soothing and almost put me to sleep with how sensual it was. Truly a mystical performance.

Photo by Greg Noire

John Summit 

It was impossible not to dance at John Summit’s show. I had the time of my life watching and dancing along to his set. Like Disco Lines, he had many songs I recognized that I did not realize were his songs, such as "Where You Are" and "Shiver", both of which feature Hayla who came out during the set to perform with him. The set also had a lot of pyro and lasers, which added to the experience and just made it so unbelievable. If Empire of the Sun was my favorite set of the weekend, John Summit’s set was my second favorite.

Photo by Roger Ho

ACL EATS 

It is hard to experience ACL without stopping for food. ACL is proud to highlight local cuisine through having many Austin based restaurants as vendors. On Friday, I got an Avocado Cone from The Mighty Cone. The sauce they used on the cone was delicious and I wish I could go back and relive this meal again. On Saturday, I was so happy to get a Brussel Sprout Salad from East Side King. East Side King was one of my favorite restaurants to eat at in Austin, but they unfortunately closed their physical location over the summer. I was excited to see they were one of the vendors at ACL, and this was my favorite meal of the weekend. Sunday, I got a Falafel Bowl from Kababeque which was delectable. This meal was extremely filling, and the falafel might have been one of the best I have ever had. I am always more than happy to experience food at ACL, as it is truly always amazing. 

I hope that reading this article made you feel like you went to the ACL Music Festival too. I had such a magnificent time covering the weekend and listening to music. Going into the festival, I was extremely nervous, as I have never done press coverage before. It was daunting to go blind and alone, but to my surprise it was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. I felt extremely welcome and safe at the festival and was able to make friends with a lot of new people. All the press-related jobs also came to me naturally, and I am happy to use this experience in the future. I have always been a big live music fan, and this weekend gave me a

terrific opportunity to enjoy so much of it in just one weekend. I would like to thank the artists Farmer’s Wife and Girl Tones as well as their management teams for blessing me with the opportunity to interview them. I would also like to thank Pierce the Veil for being so sweet! Lastly, I would like to thank KANM and ACL again for allowing me to gain experience through covering this event. KANM is already looking forward to next year! Stay tuned for more interview content to come out via our Instagram and YouTube channel.