We say goodbye to Austin City Limits for this year. There is still a second round of the festival with the presence of most of the stars that we have enjoyed during its first week and interesting additions such as our own. Hinds. It will be held next weekend. We leave Austin with many experiences, warmth, good memories and eardrums loaded with good music.
The weekend started in a spectacular way due to a great storm that threatened the organization of the festival although the crazy Texas weather gave a truce after managing to postpone the concerts on Friday morning, some as interesting as the one in Asleep at the Wheel. The sanitary measures forced us to present the vaccination card at the entrance, but apart from this detail, the ACL it was celebrated with the same good vibes and the perfect organization as always. We tell you the highlights of these three days.
Billie Eilish: A controversial star
If any concert will go down in the posterity of this edition, that was the one of Billie Eilish. The Californian teenager was a trending topic on Twitter USA for her plea in favor of abortion, a thorny issue, and more in the south. His live shows clearly his status as number one that he holds.
Compared with the previous participation of Billie in the last Austin City Limits, what we saw this weekend is a qualitative leap. Not only in the number of LEDs and elevators in its staging, but also in the committed messages related to issues such as ecology or abortion with which it moved us. Musically she has also been seen to be more mature and giving away a frenetic concert where she has reviewed her most recognized hymns and put her new album to the test, Happier than ever, which leaves a handful of songs that work very well live. Without a doubt, the star of this ACL21.
Doja Cat: An unchained muse
The rapper of the moment gathered a crowd that piously endured the scandalous temperatures that were experienced in Zilker Park this weekend. The temperature even rose more than necessary with her presence on stage accompanied by some dancers wanting to catch up on the latest pranks of current urban dance. A staging pass, very floral and artisan but equally efficient.
Doja Cat surprise live. Put aside its more pop side to get into soul and less electronic R&B. All this wrapped in a bomb-proof charisma that makes the new Rap bomb into an aspiring headliner of the main festivals in the world.
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Erykah Badu: The power of good music
Austin he wanted to meet the enfant terrible of Neo-Soul. He came from Dallas wanting to connect his music with his audience and despite only having one hour of show, his songs flowed like silk accompanied by a spectacular outfit, a band and some superlative choristers.
Powerful tribal visuals boosted Erykah Badu like the legend that is about the average level of the festival performances. It was a shocking moment to discover how that body often contains such a powerful voice, capable of changing mentalities and uniting different races and genres around its music. Inspiring and unforgettable.
Channel Tres: The street dresses in silk
We were looking forward to seeing the rapper from Compton spend it. It did not disappoint far from it. His elegant style was known to us but what we saw on stage exceeded all our calculations. A show full of urban dance, style and a cheeky guy, with a lot of charisma, who flew over our minds in an environment loaded with grass.
If you want to see what is cooking in the American streets, do not lose sight of Channel Tres. It’s the coolest thing you’re going to find right now. He proved it in this incredible Austin City Limits.
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Band of Horses: Hymns to beat the heat
Rock with deep roots, abundant charisma and a handful of good songs that sound damn good live. What more could you want? Without a doubt, one of the most enjoyable live shows of the festival. All a review of a career that is already a banner of Seattle, that city where a band is born every day.
Hymn after hymn Band of Horses they were shoving a dedicated public in their pockets. The connection reached a paroxysm when they performed a theme from the great George Strait, the icon of the country and Texas that we enjoyed on Friday. A live show that left us really wanting to meet again with the guys from Seattle.
Future Islands: Sweat and a lot of style
The band of Samuel T Herring it has always sounded like English indie. Something that had many of the clueless Texans around me confused with the origin of the band. The pop gritty of the Baltimore boys falls in love. He’s electric, charismatic, has a punk edge, the perfect dose of sweat and synth, and a spectacular front-man.
All this measured to be served in cocktail glasses in a dirty but elegant direct that hooks from minute one even if you have no idea who is in front of you. Many boards, a lot of style … Not to fall asleep at the feet of Future Islands on stage. And if they sound great on top of that, then you come across a live show born to enhance any festival.
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Chet Faker: A dose of class
The Australian came with a mission to put the class in the Austin City Limits. He more than succeeded. Incredible style, aesthetic sobriety and displays of charisma in abundance. All this distributed from minute one when he crossed the park through his mythical Gold. A great song that was giving way to that sophisticated electronica that drinks from House, Trip Hop and Soul.
Meanwhile, he walked impassively across the stage with his overalls and paints of homelessness. Sometimes he would sit at the piano and then the magic would arise until finishing a memorable concert, at the Chet Faker: calm, seated and with an impassive gesture while making 24k music.
Megan Thee Stallion: The rap bomb
The ardent rapper from Houston gave a symposium on Twerk, Rap and all the virtues of these new rhythms that are renewing the urban scene in the United States.
Megan Thee Stallion came to Austin groundbreaking, without fear of being one of the icons of the new Rap. This was demonstrated in the company of his dancers with a spectacular show worthy of a shining star. The devoted public was not cut off when it came to moving their bodies with their already mythical themes in the USA, such as Body o B.I.T.C.H.
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Chris Lake: A rave in the park
At such an eclectic festival it is amazing to come across an impromptu rave. The techno of Chris Lake It brought together countless partiers who threw a big party in the middle of Sunday afternoon. The Aberdeen DJ is much more than a wild party, he has his own stamp that makes him sound good at 6 in the morning or at 3 in the afternoon.
His session combined many of the styles that have accompanied him all his life, from Progressive to Techno-House. Left with House of Pain at full speed and delaying the concert of Karol G, which performed on a nearby stage. No one recriminated it. We would have stayed several more hours drinking the musical manna that their dishes give off.
Tyler, The Creator: Llamas and yachts to say goodbye
The programmers of the Austin City Limits when choosing the perfect closure of the festival. After delighting with Erykah Badu, we went to see a while Duran Duran to go immediately to meet the other headliner in charge of leaving the taste of perfect to those attending the ACL21.
Tyler, The Creator it did not disappoint. A forceful staging with a yacht presiding over the scene and his cheap tourist looks in the middle of some powerful LEDs were not able to hide the good songs and the stories of the street that this artist who is in a moment is able to tell. meteoric of his career. A brilliant way to say goodbye with fire, lights and rap to an unforgettable edition of the Austin City Limits.
Bonus Track
We have not stopped these three days. We have gone from stage to stage to tell you everything that happened in Zilker Park. We give you a summary of the names that we have been left in the inkwell and that we have been able to enjoy in this Texan festival: Miley Cyrus, Duran Duran, Amber Mark, Karol G, AGClub, Gracie Abrams, George Strait, Yendry, Sofía Valdés.
See you in Austin City Limits 2022.
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