Austin City Limits Music Festival Recap: Day 1

Coverage by: Rupal Mehta, Waylon O’Day, and Tiffany Valdez

Albert Hammond Jr.
We started off my day at ACL with the electricity and ecstasy of Albert Hammond Jr.’s set. Clad in a bright red jumpsuit, dark shades and sporting his signature crazy curls he graced the HomeAway stage at promptly three o’clock. The Strokes’ guitarist played a few favorites such as “St. Justice” and “In Transit” as well as featured songs off his new albums such as “Losing Touch and “Born Slippy.” The crowd was very laid back and relaxed, simply bobbing their heads to the melodious syncopations of guitars and Hammond’s energetic vocals. The atmosphere reflected the style of music quite perfectly and frankly, we couldn’t have asked for a better first concert to kick off my weekend.

Photo by Tiffany Valdez

Future
With a large crowd at the Honda stage in Zilker Park, Atlanta rapper Future was ready to hit the ground running following a successful year of great music. Performing songs from his mixtape 56 Nights to his newest collaborative album What A Time To Be Alive, Future did not disappoint. However, the crowd definitely did. The lack of energy among the audience was slightly disheartening but that did not stop us from having a good time with the dirty Sprite connoisseur.

Photo by Rupal Mehta

Tame Impala
The Australian rock band opened with “Let it Happen,” and played hit songs like “The Less I Know the Better,” “The Moment,” “‘Cause I’m a Man,” and “Endors Toi.” It was an awesome set with perfect energy level for their style of music. The band is super accommodating and involved with the audience, along with cool visuals. The only letdown was not hearing a couple of personal favorites, but you can’t expect any artist to perform every song off a three full length release discography.

Billy Idol
Better with age is the perfect way to describe Billy Idol. Dressed in tight leather pants, a spiked collar and excessive eyeliner, the musical legend wowed his fans with his very much still present musical talent at the Samsung stage. The pop singer went on to feature a few songs from his new album as well some of his classic hits such as “Dancing With Myself” and “Eyes Without A Face.” The crowd was diverse but the majority of fans were clearly older fans of Idol, who appeared to have been transported into the past through his amazing performance featuring his ridiculously skilled and flamboyantly dressed backup band.

Photo by Rupal Mehta

Flosstradamus
The Chicago based DJ duo hit the stage with hard-hitting bass and beats for a full hour set. Dropping remixes of songs by Kendrick Lamar to Lana Del Rey, the duo kept the crowd super pumped throughout. We were burnt out halfway through, but knew Flosstradamus wouldn’t stop for anyone. Check out the video below to get a little sneak peek at their amazing set!

https://instagram.com/p/8pFahKBQq4/

Disclosure
At 8 p.m., the English electronic music duo was ready grace the stage with performances of some of the old and new hits, keeping the every type of fan equally involved. LION BABE, who was featured on Disclosure’s latest album Caracal made a quick guest appearance on stage for their song “Hourglass.” However, everyone in the crowd was waiting for the duo to perform “Latch,” one of 2014’s biggest hit songs. The energy in the audience, along with the amazing visual show, made for an amazing way to close out Day 1 of Austin City Limits Weekend Two.

Check out the video below for Austin City Limit’s quick highlight video of Weekend 2, Day 1: