Music | Austin City Limits Music Festival | Saturday (Day Two) | Review and Photos

The sun setting on a wonderful day two of the festival. (Photo Credit: Robert Castro)

Day two of the festival had us up early to catch some amazing sets, one thing that sets this festival apart from others is the fact that we get to hear bands play earlier sets that then end up becoming household names in a couple years. First on the agenda was the smooth, romantic sounds of Father John Misty who as always put it all on display. With heartfelt lyrics and emotional and sometimes sexually driven gyrating it had everybody in the crowd hot (and not from the sun). He took his antics to the crowd as they only fed his energy for the rest of his set.

Mandy Lee of Misterwives.(Photo Credit: Robert Castro)

Mandy Lee of Misterwives.(Photo Credit: Robert Castro)

We love music al acts that feed off the energy of the crowd, one particular band we have been following for some time now is Misterwives (in fact we will be seeing them in Denver this coming Friday). Mandy Lee lead singer controls the stage from the opening numbers prancing and dancing non stop through the whole set. The infectious pop lyrics resonated with the younger crowd as a few radio favorite hits could be heard sung in unison through their set. A fun energetic band, we are always a sucker for their bubble gum laced songs that bring us nothing but joy.

Josh Dun of twenty one pilots (Photo Credit: Robert Castro)

Tyler Joseph of twenty one pilots (Photo Credit: Robert Castro)

One of the most talked about buzz bands of this year would certainly be twenty one pilots. In fact we got a chance to see them recently during their epic performance at Red Rocks just a few short weeks ago. Talk about all out energy. the duo of Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun play a unique combination of an indie-spoken word hybrid that channels early Beastie Boys mixed in with a little Eminem all while slaying drums and even a mandolin make an appearance. The duo had the most crowded stage for all of the early sets, and while temperatures reached the upper 90's the band played an almost flawless set while the crowd ate it all up.. Truly a performance that will be talked about in the future from this up and coming duo.

A$AP Rocky has been on our radar for a long time now and for many he can beat a hit or miss act. We've been following A$AP since his early days during his small SXSW sets in the past. An artist who has truly grown from the perspective of not only a well versed rapper, but also an overall performer. A$AP weekend two performance was absolutely brilliant. Performing in what seemed a throwback 50's diner setup he blasted through many of his well known hits that have put him at the top of hip hop's elite classification. Riding the tails of his new album it gave the audience a chance to listen to one of the best albums this year live and a performance that truly resonated and got the crowd hyped for the rest of the night. The night ended with memorable sets from Drake and deadmau5 who played opposite ends of each others headlining stages. 

Music | Austin City Limits: Bands To See and More | October 9-11 | Austin, Texas

Here we are about to embark on our fifth Austin City Limits Music Festival, this weekend in our favorite sister city Austin, Texas. This makes for one of our favorite trips of our festival coverage every year and it's also a homecoming for me, as I get to go back to my home state and enjoy a weekend full of seeing old friends, listening to great music, eating delicious food and more. As the lineup was announced earlier this year we were pretty ecstatic to see some of our favorite acts all playing under the beautiful setting of Zilker Park. With notable headliners like Foo Fighters, Drake, and Florence and The Machine as well as other recent acts to leave a great impression on Denver like alt-j, Twenty One Pilots, and Leon Bridges, we decide to take time and make a note off some of the bands we are most excited to catch.

No words (Photo Credit: Andrew Rios)

Another main stay of this years festival is the abundance of different kinds of food being served during the festival, ACL Eats always manages to outdo itself every year with great dishes by some of the areas finest establishments. With dishes like the "can't miss" Chi'lantro french fries, to the poultry filled cones of awesomeness from The Mighty Cone, ACL will surely provide for your appetite no matter what your poison is. Check out all of the participating restaurants menus here. Be sure to pace yourself, you have there days to try everything. We will be instagramming all this for you so don't worry.

 

Bands to see Friday include early sets from Meg Myers, Nate Reuss and Royal Blood. Late afternoon sets by Albert Hammond Jr, Leon Bridges and Billy Idol set yup for a great evening with Run The Jewels, Gary Clark Jr., Tame Impala, Disclosure, and Foo Fighters. Not a bad way to kick off the first night of festivities.

Foo Fighters headline the first night of the the two weekend festival. (Photo Credit: Castro)

Day two of the festival is also full of amazing acts including early sets by Echosmith and Milo Greene (one of our favorite UMS acts this year). Ryn Weaver, Father John Misty and Glass Animals provide for some mid-day fun. The early evening provides for hometown favorite Shakey Graves as well as tween favorites WALK THE MOON (still don't understand the all caps), a little bit of hip hop from G- Eazy and A$AP Rocky gets the party started while Modest Mouse and Bassnectar provide headline support for the evenings best in deadmau5 and Drake. 

The last day of any festival feels like you've been cast as an extra zombie in The Walking Dead, yet it becomes a cry for rally time for us. While most of Austin will be curing hangovers with mimosas and breakfast tacos, we will be hitting the grounds hard catching early sets from Jidenna and Lion Babe. Sunday's early afternoon vibe seems to favor more of a chill vibe as Daughter, BØRNS, and Lord Huron take the stage. Things get interesting as our first scheduling conflict of the day has us deciding between Sylvan Esso and Halsey. As the sun begins to set a perfectly paired The Decemberist and Ben Howard go against each other. Early evening sets by Vance Joy, alt-j and Hozier make way for the festivals final acts in The Weeknd and Florence and The Machine closing out the three day festival of awesomeness. Be sure to follow us all weekend on Twitter and Instagram for live coverage and some amazing photos.