Rainbows All Night – ACL Weekend 2, Day Three Recap

As the final day had approached it was evident that heat was here, both in temperature and spice — peppery to be exact. Performers battled through the day’s scorching temperatures while putting on magical shows for the devout fans who made it to day three.

Starting with a stellar performance at the American Express stage from synth-pop darkwave group Glove. The band consists of its four members, drummer Brie Denicourt, guitarist Rod Woolf, keyboardist Michelle Primiani and bass guitarist Justin Burns. Each member plays their own role in being the band’s frontman vocalist as they alternate between singers all throughout their performance. This constant switch between instrumentation definitely highlights just how skilled the members are as they upkeep their elusive mystic sound with a wide range of vocal talent and instrumental talent. The group performed their hit single “Glass” as well as “Family Trip” which are both from their debut album Boom Nights released earlier this year. 

The band put on a killer performance of their collection of 80’s inspired synth-wave sound and later sat down with us to give an in-depth insight into their creative process along with much more so be sure to keep an eye out for an exclusive Coog Radio interview with Glove in the coming weeks.

Strutting across the Miller Lite Stage, BIA put on a performance of a lifetime for her ACL debut. Before BIA’s entrance the DJ warmed up the crowd with some of Hip-Hop’s recent hits including “Flip the Switch” by Quavo ft. Drake. BIA then busted out into the crowd and completely ignored the heat while dancing and singing some of her best singles. One lucky fan was given the opportunity to jump on stage and join BIA in her performance — the audience hyped her just like BIA herself.

In BIA’s recent career, she has made it known that she is a good friend of the Queen of Hip Hop, Nicki Minaj. Together they have released the two collaborations “Whole Lotta Money [REMIX]” and “Super Freaky Girl [Queens Mix]”. Both of the songs made an appearance on the set and the audience went insane. 45 minutes was simply not enough for this exhilarating performance, so much that the crowd begged “one more song” after BIA left the stage. BIA delivered by topping off the day with “Can’t Touch This” even after her set time. The crowd couldn’t get enough and proudly proclaimed the rapper’s tagline “BIA BIA!”

Meanwhile at the neighboring Barton Springs stage was an ongoing performance from indie-folk singer Faye Webster. The singer played some of her most popular hits like “Right Side of My Neck” from her 2019 studio album Atlanta Millionaires Club and the title song from her 2021 studio album I Know I’m Funny haha. The live performance of these songs solidified the reason why those songs in particular rose among the rest in popularity, Webster’s jazzy keys paired with the slow drums and velvety sound of her voice delivers just the right amount of lovesick longing the lyricism tries to convey. 

Another popular artist that was playing at the same time as BIA and Faye Webster was none other than bedroom-pop artist, PinkPantheress. The UK-based artist made her claim to fame with the elaborate marketing tactics of her songs on the popular platform TikTok. Now that she has made her rise to stardom with a number of viral hot songs and a huge social media following under her belt, she hits the stage along with a DJ to play live remixes of her most popular tracks such as “Pain”, “Just for me” and “Passion”.

What followed from a series of group dancing and sing-along belts coming from the crowd was PinkPantheress’ own acapella cover of “Misery Business”, an original song by fellow ACL performer participant Paramore. While PinkPantheress did not cover the song to its entirety, this was merely a taste of what was to come later.

Oliver Tree was definitely one of the most comedic performances of the festival – he played the festival in 2019 with a broken leg so it was great to see him take over the main stage. He started off singing songs from his debut album Ugly is Beautiful, which included “Alien Boy” and “Life Goes On.” He then transitioned to his iconic Cowboy Tears outfit, and continued to sing fan favorite songs like “Cowboys Don’t Cry,” “Cash Machine” and “Hurt.” His performance seemed to be a hit or miss with fans – either you loved his scooter tricks and repeated injuries on his “cumulonimbus,” or you absolutely hated his bogus claims that both Paramore and Red Hot Chili Peppers cancelled and his repeating “one last song” chant before every song.

Afterwards was a performance lead by widely-adored vocalist Michelle Zauner from indie-pop alternative group Japanese Breakfast. The band opened with “Paprika” which is also the first track from their Grammy-nominated album Jubilee. Other songs performed from their latest album were “Be Sweet”, “Savage Good Boy”, “Slide Tackle” and my personal favorite “Kokomo, IN”. These songs embody the new upbeat pop sound the latest Japanese Breakfast album has now embarked on.

However, Japanese Breakfast did not leave long-time fans hungry for a taste of their usual slow and yearning sound found in the rest of their discography with the inclusion of live performances of “Road Head”, “Boyish” as well as ending their set with “Diving Woman” which are all from their 2017 studio album Soft Sounds from Another Planet. It was incredible being able to witness Zauner’s soprano abilities mixed with a wide range of sounds from string and electric instruments with such grace and will definitely take on the next opportunity to do so all over again in the near future.

Paramore took the American Express stage soon after Japanese Breakfast finished their performance, and the band took fans by surprise by switching the setlist from the previous weekend. Starting off the set with “Hard Times” from their latest album After Laughter, as well as “Brick by Boring Brick” from their third album Brand New Eyes. In a shocking twist, Paramore played “I Caught Myself” instead of “Decode” from the Twilight Soundtrack, which seemed to cause a divide between hardcore fans. For Weekend Two, fans didn’t get “Ignorance,” “Caught in the Middle” or “Misguided Ghosts,” but they did get “Told You So,” “Still Into You” and “Pool.”

They also played the infamous “Misery Business,” where she brought out super fan PinkPanthress to sing the bridge in full Paramore tradition. Before playing their last song of the night, lead singer Hayley Williams told the crowd that it was Flea’s (from RHCP) birthday, and powerfully sang “Happy Birthday” to the bassist with her extraordinary vocals. They ended their set with their latest single from their upcoming album called “This Is Why.“

Off to a rough start, one of the headliner’s of the night, Red Hot Chili Peppers, experienced major audio issues causing over half the crowd to miss out on the opening performances. However, with a quick chant from the audience, the audio was resolved and we rocked on. The band, who has had few headlines since their prime in the 90’s, reminded everyone in the audience how much of a performance they can put on. Fans traveled from all over the country to hear the band perform some of the biggest rock hits in history, most notably “Under the Bridge” and “Give it Away.” It was hard to say goodbye to ACL but much harder to watch legends leave the stage. 

Bringing a close to the weekend , country music star Kacey Musgraves relaxed us for her hour long performance. She started off the set with the title track from her latest album Star-Crossed, as well as other songs like “Good Wife,” “Simple Times” and “Keep Lookin’ Up.” She also had a block in her setlist dedicated to her previous album Golden Hour, which included songs like “Butterflies,” “High Horse” and “Space Cowboy.” Fans gathered hands to sing and sway to her classic country comfort with a twist of alternative.

Surely one of the most notable moments didn’t include Musgraves, but actually a Texas politician. In a moment of rest Musgraves asks the crew backstage to bring her a beer to cleanse her mouth. Shocking the crowd, gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke delivers the beer to Musgraves and a smirk to the crowd. After hearing the beautiful sounds from one of Musgraves’ biggest hits “Rainbow,” everyone could tell that ACL was nearing its end and it was time to go home.

ACL Weekend 2 was quite the success regardless of temperature, late arrivals and audio malfunctions. Fans left Austin and returned home to a different person experiencing a memory that would live on eternally. Whether you spent the weekend swaying to an alternative artist, head bumping to The Red Hot Chili Peppers, or crying your heart out from a recent breakup to Conan Gray’s comforting catalog, ACL Weekend 2 of 2022 was a moment for the history books. We here at Coog Radio cannot wait to return for coverage in 2023!