Live music review: The best shows we saw at ACL Festival on Weekend One

Austin City Limits Music Festival (ACL Festival) took place October 4-6 and again this weekend at Zilker Park in Austin for the 24th year. As always, with over 80 acts performing there are good performances to see and new acts to discover. Much like the festival preview The Cosmic Clash published in advance of the festival, below we’ll recap two bands per day that stood out over the first 72-hours of ACL Fest. Chappell Roan played a fun set with a sea of Pink Pony Club members amid the largest crowd seen at the AMEX Stage on Sunday. Other standout performances were turned in by Mannequin Pussy and The Marias on Friday. Saturday’s best sets could be sister acts in BALTHVS and Khraungbin as both were three-piece bands with similar musical approaches. Sunday offered more instrumental jams by Glass Beams in addition to the widely anticipated Chappell Roan performance.

Friday, October 4 

Mannequin Pussy

On a sunny and unseasonably warm afternoon at ACL Fest, Philadelphia, hardcore punk band, Mannequin Pussy delivered a knockout performance at the Miller Lite Stage. TCC last covered the group on April 20 at a sold-out Mohawk show. The quintet gamely played in monsoon-like rain. In contrast, vocalist and guitarist, “Missy” Dabice was animated and entertaining in the sweltering heat, quickly swapping her stylish, heavy long dress for a t-shirt and mini-skirt before she melted away in the sun. She proceeded to bounce around the stage with more energy than one would expect in those conditions while bandmates, Kaleen Reading (drums), Colins “Bear” Regisford (bass, vocals) and Maxine Steen (guitar) tore it up. On tour, the group includes multi-instrumentalist Carolyn Haynes. Mannequin Pussy are primarily badass women who rock the fuck out. The band played seven songs (out of a 16 song set) from their March 2024 record, I Got Heaven including the title track. The group wrapped up the performance with a frantic rendition of another song from their latest, “OK! OK! OK! OK!” leaving all in attendance as breathless as Dabice.

The Marias

Los Angeles artists, The Marias returned to ACL Festival after playing the 2022 edition. Fans might wonder why the festival booked them again so soon, but if you were there last Friday then you know the indie-rockers dropped another stellar performance, this time on the T-Mobile Stage with a much larger audience than saw the group two years ago. Their set time was near sundown, which was perfect to highlight band namesake and lead vocalist, Maria Zendaya’s sultry voice. The setlist included a well-received cover of The Cardigans’ “Love Me, Love Me,” perhaps sharing a musical influence with fans in the process. The group also played “Otro Atardecer” the track they recorded with Bad Bunny for their album, Un Verano Sin Ti, joining fans at the photo pit barricade for the song. The gorgeous set pieces and live horns added to the velvety vibes The Marias shared with ACL Fest fans.

Saturday, October 5

Khraungbin

Thai-tinged psychedelic funk and soul trio Khruangbin from Houston returned to ACL Fest after playing the BMI Stage in 2016 with only one studio recording out, The Universe Smiles Upon You. From those humble beginnings, the Texas trio of Laura Lee Ochoa (bass) and DJ Johnson (drums) along with guitarist, Mark Speer have recorded four more albums plus five EPs including Texas Sun (2020 and Texas Moon (2022) with fellow Texan, Leon Bridges who joined the band on the giant AMEX stage for songs, “Mariella” and “Texas Sun” to complete a sublime, 11-song set that featured long-form jams that showcased the group’s musical abilities. A drug-addled crowd enjoyed one of the better shows over the 3-day event.

Pretty Lights

DJ sets are hard to pull off well at large format festivals, but DJ collective, Pretty Lights had no trouble executing an engaging, visually stunning performance at ACL Festival Saturday evening. Their lighting design, is well, pretty. Combined with lasers and a sound-lab like set-up that recalled great DJ collectives such as Jurassic Five. Pretty Lights are really Derek Vincent Smith and a rotating group of collaborators. Combine those visuals with innovative tracks and you get something better than your average festival electronica. Smith hails from Fort Collins, Colorado and has been called by legendary producer, Rick Rubin, “the face and voice of the new American electronic music scene.” Indeed, one can see how the project which launched in 2004 spawned a generation of electronic music acts.

Sunday, October 6

Glass Beams

Australians Glass Beams played the Tito’s Stage Sunday afternoon. The Melbourne-based synth trio plays similar music to Khraugnbin and Cosmic Clash favorites, BALTHVS in that the group combines elements of Eastern music with contemporary Western music. Led my Rajan Silva who formed the project during 2020 as teh world-wide pandemic was taking hold, the group has garnered a sizable fan following drawing nearly 800K listeners on Spotify and millions of plays.  The group wears beaded masks, lending an air of mystery to the group.  A pair of anonymous players (drums and bass) joins Silva on stage for ear-candy tunes made by music nerds for music nerds. We’re fans. If you’re looking for something different to listen to, Glass Beams might just be what you’re looking for.

Chappell Roan

To be frank, we were skeptical that the exploding popularity of Chappell Roan promised much at the AMEX stage beyond pomp, circumstance and the hordes of Pink Pony Club (what CR fans call themselves). We reluctantly had to admit Roan’s vocal talents are better than anticipated and the young LBGTQA champion is more than a pretty face with some dance moves and an impressive, drag-influenced wardrobe. Roan is a powerhouse singer whose nearly ten years of experience are reflected in her polished performance that was highlighted by a cover of Heart’s biggest hit, “Barracuda.” Roan’s guitarist, Devon Eisenberger (Katy Perry) played an impressive solo that came mid-set in a move that was clearly calculated to change it up amid Roan’s own pop-diva compositions. Roan’s breakout hit, “Good Luck, Babe” came near the end of the almost hour-long performance. The show concluded with what’s become a homage to her massive fanbase, “Pink Pony Club.”

Featured photo by Chad Wadsworth for ACL Festival