An influential part of Austin culture is the famous music festival, Austin City Limits (ACL), which came to a close October 13, 2024. Thousands of people showed up to the park to kick off the festival on Friday, October 4. Over 450,000 tickets were sold to people from all over the region and even from other states. More than 93,000 people attended the festival on Weekend One alone. Thousands upon thousands of people flocked to headliners such as Tyler the Creator, Chappell Roan, Dua Lipa, Blink 182, and Chris Stapleton.
The first two headliners of the weekends were Blink-182 and Chris Stapleton. Blink-182 put on a thrilling and jaw dropping show, including fireworks and deafeningly loud music. They played some of their most popular songs like, “All the Small Things” and “What’s My Age Again?” The band ended their set with “Dammit,” and then came back for an encore of “One More Time.” In this song they played a heartfelt photo montage of the band throughout the years. Friday night’s other headliner was more mellow: country singer, Chris Stapleton. The crowd was very excited to see this national treasure live. He brought out his wife Morgane Stapleton to sing with him as well as an Austin favorite: Willie Nelson. Stapleton started the night off by opening with “White Horse” and closed his set with a fan favorite, “Tennessee Whiskey.” There were not many audience interactions, but both headliners put on a good show Friday night.
The excitement continued on Saturday where fan-favorite Dua Lipa performed all through the night. She was a major showstopper, and fans fell in love with her performance. While the first weekend she had sound system issues, the second weekend was significantly better. Some fans suggested she was lip syncing and others were unhappy with her performance, but most thought she put on an amazing show.
On the last days of the festival, two big names came to the American Express stage, the first being Chappell Roan. After many cancellations of other festivals and concerts, she came out to the stage and performed some of her most popular songs, including “Feminomenon” and “Pink Pony Club.” On the first weekend she covered “Barracuda” by Heart and played her unreleased song, “The Subway,” even adding a second verse. Crowds surpassed the Zilker Tree that stands in the middle of the park as a result of the Chappell Roan Effect. Next was Tyler the Creator, and his performance included some of his older songs as well as fan favorites. Both weekends, he ended with “See You Again,” which is one of his most popular. “Tyler had great energy and was providing deep cuts,” said freshman Palmer McNelis.
ACL was a big hit for the city of Austin this year. Even though many people were skeptical of this year’s lineup, it proved to be a good time, and the festival continues to be an event that Austinites hold close to their hearts.
