Live music review: Kendrick Lamar shocks ACL Festival with 65-minute delay, abbreviated 31-minute set
Compton’s Kendrick Lamar is billed as the headliner for each Friday of the 2023 Austin City Limits Music Festival (ACL Festival), a big draw for most attendees at Zilker Park on Friday night. Upon approaching the stage, fans were told on the American Express Stage’s screens that Lamar’s set would be delayed due to “Plane Issues.” Thirty minutes passed, 45 minutes passed without further comment. Finally, a message appeared that Kendrick fans would be seeing the rapper perform after all, with an abbreviated set at 9:45, 65 minutes past the California artist’s set time. To complicate matters, the noise curfew at Zilker Park in Austin is 10 pm every day of the week, festival time or not. Despite these setbacks, Kendrick Lamar delivered a banger-heavy set that did everything it could to placate fans despite the circumstances.
When Kendrick (AKA K Dot) finally took the stage, the Mr. Morale And The Big Steppers single “N95 ” kicked off the short set. The crowd was finally able to let out their rising tension, bringing about a festival singalong with the tens of thousands of fans in attendance. The ACL Fest crowd was even distracted by a drone light show above the stage prior to Lamar’s appearance on stage; whether it was good or not didn’t matter. Any diversion was welcome. The track in the second slot, “ELEMENT.” hyped up the crowd further, only stopping for the atmospheric “Swimming Pools (Drank),” which put the audience in a trance of one of Kendrick’s most popular yet bleak cuts. At some point, Lamar greeted the crowd and acknowledged the impending curfew, “They’re going to have to shut my mic off,” the Compton emcee said. The fines for breaking a curfew are steep, so while Kendrick was given some grace in this scenario, it likely wasn’t going to be enough for the diehards that made their way to see K Dot’s set.
The second half of his ACL set was locked and loaded with the bangers. “m A A d city,” “DNA.,” and “HUMBLE.” all made set list appearances with a big bang, allowing fans who came for the party to expel their pent-up energy for the rapper’s shortened, but still awesome set. The crowd more or less exploded when Lamar busted into tunes old and new, showing his unending trajectory of massive concepts that make every one of his releases a worthwhile Hip-Hop experience. The backing performers, dubbed “The Big Steppers,” added to the shortened spectacle, following Kendrick’s commanding stage demeanor with piles of energy.
The last full number from the performance was “Money Trees” of 2012 album good kid, m A A d city. This record, widely regarded as one of the best rap releases of the 2010s, showed passion from the rapper, who powered through every song like it was the last. The banked-on To Pimp A Butterfly closer “Alright,” started the beginning of the end. As the clock approached 10:15 pm, the sound started to fade fast, showing Lamar trucking on until the audio feed finally faded away. Waving to the fans as the set powered down, the enforced sound curfew proved that not even a Hip Hop figure of Kendrick’s stature could skirt massive fines from the City of Austin. Fans cheered and chanted some things insulting the festival, but it was what it was, and Kendrick gave us everything he could until the party was killed. After a few attempts of trying to bid the audience farewell, it became increasingly clear that the sound people weren’t turning his mic back on. That was it. An awkward finale and a short and sweet affair.
Better luck next time, Kendrick! Let’s try again next week. Hopefully, those who attend will get their full dose of the Grammy-winning star.
Featured photo captured from video by Kevin Curtin
