This year’s Austin City Limits Festival proved more than ever that audiences and those running festivals win when diverse acts perform.
Story by Gabrielle Sanchez
Photos courtesy of Austin City Limits, Charles Reagan
Since Childish Gambino’s breakthrough into the rock-centric fest in 2012, followed by Kendrick Lamar in 2013, rappers of all types have brought their special energy to Zilker Park. Throughout the weekend, rap artists across the board generated more excitement than their music counterparts. 2019 has been a special year for rap, as more women find popularity and respect in the genre, which culminated in Lizzo’s record shattering Sunday night performance, bringing one of the biggest crowds ever seen for one act, especially a non-headliner.
Although Philadelphia native Symere Woods, otherwise known as Lil Uzi Vert, skipped out on weekend one of ACL in a last minute cancellation, he delivered one of the more exciting sets of Friday. He made it clear that he does “literally what he wants” after starting the set late, before going into his popular songs “Sanguine Paradise,” “Money Longer” and “XO Tour Lif3” (the latter with a whopping one billion listens on Spotify). The labeled “emo rap” artist smiled and jumped across the stage with the charm he’s become famous for. Mosh pits filled with teens appeared and dissipated throughout the set with Lil Uzi’s encouragement as he watched them with a devilish grin.
Saturday started off with a disappointment from Houston’s own Megan Thee Stallion (last name Pete), the sex-positive rapper who coined the phrase “hot girl summer” which dominated pop culture over the last few months. With a much larger crowd than typically expected for a 1:15 p.m. slot, announcers told fans 20 minutes in, Pete was not yet on site. Moments later, groans erupted from the crowd as her cancellation was set in stone.
Experimental rapper Tierra Whack made all of that disappointment disappear with her electric set at the T-Mobile stage Saturday afternoon. The second Philly rapper from the weekend, Whack did not perform unless she felt like her energy was reciprocated in the crowd, stomping off stage when they returned with weak call backs. She performed mainly from her 2018 album Whack World, the fifteen track game-changer with playful songs that all round off at one minute long. Denim-clad Whack rewarded proper participation, giving out merch and even a VIP wristband to one lucky fan who got on stage and sang along with her during “Pet Cemetery.” With a deep tone and steady pace, you better keep up and learn the rules quickly or you’ll find yourself left behind at her fast-moving set. Unlike a lot of other rock and pop sets at festivals, direct audience participation is vital, which was also seen in Maryland born trap rapper IDK’s (birth name Jason Mills) set when he pulled a fan on stage to freestyle rap during one of his songs at his Sunday set at the BMI stage.
Regret set in when I caught the last fifteen minutes of Floridian Denzel Curry’s set at two on Saturday.
Booming bass reached adjacent stages, and by the end Curry had attracted many onlookers. Authoritative, the rapper barked orders over and over again until the crowd complied, calling out those who did follow his commands to open the biggest mosh pit possible. He directed the larger Honda stage in ways that some headliners couldn’t, setting an example of how to run a show no matter what time of day. He threw his entire body into his performance as he yelled till he was out of breath to “Psycho,” and “Ultimate.” Like Lil Uzi Vert, Curry infuses elements of hard rock into his music that simply gets audiences amped.
Childish Gambino returned to ACL this last Saturday as, potentially, Donald Glover’s last show as his music name. The audience gave it all they had at the end of a long second day, and the Georgia native said it’s the craziest he’s ever seen, rating them “31 out of 10”. The 90 minute set had all the drama and importance of a headlining show and showcased his ability to lead the people in his own church service. Channeling James Brown, Glover grooved, howled and crawled his way to salvation. This was ever present in tracks from 2016’s Awaken, My Love! that build into a riotous glory, which translated in his performance along with the funk and psychedelic elements. Later in the set, he dug into older songs like “IV. Sweatpants” and “3005” which brought out the mosh pits present at other shows throughout the weekend. The famous actor knew how to get the people moving, and if this was his last show as Gambino, he did it right every step of the way. It was packed with surprises and, like his first show at the festival 7 years prior, is a testament to what black artists, especially rappers, continue to bring to the city year after year.
