Kacey Brought Out Beto, Pink Fell Down and There Was Much More You Missed At Austin City Limits

Weekend Two of Austin City Limits was a hot one, and we were back in the thick of it. This time, though, we were better prepared than the previous week, having learned a valuable lesson about bringing a mask to keep the dust at bay! Armed with our survival kits, we headed out to the Moody Theater to catch all the bands we missed last week, and to see a few repeats.

We started off our day seeing what Blondshell had to offer —and that would be a sound best described as "Garbage Lite." But Shirley Manson she was not. The solo artist born Sabrina Teitelbaum looked as if she'd just rolled out of bed and thrown on the nearest oversized T-shirt. This type of no-effort-whatsoever fashion was a recurring theme among some of the newer acts who've seen some social media success.
Over at the AMEX stage, Noah Cyrus serenaded the audience with a chill vibe, with vocals similar to her sister Miley's, yet without the raspiness or the stage presence. If the singer wants to get out of her sister's shadow, she’s got some work to do.
At 4 p.m., we headed back over to the AMEX stage to give Conan Gray another shot, and to see what he would be wearing. His outfit was similar to the previous week's, but red instead of black. The music was still fun and bouncy the second time around, though this time it became more clear just how rehearsed every minute of his show was, down to the banter between songs. The more you watched, the more disingenuous the performance felt.
Next up on the Miller stage was Arlo Parks, and the British songwriter did not disappoint. Her airy vocals were sublime and almost made us forget we were melting in 90-degree heat. Parks was an absolute joy to watch, running around all over the stage and jamming out with her band and the audience.
The 6 p.m. time slot on the Honda stage went to Phoenix, and wow, was that a nostalgia trip. The set list was packed with the group's hits and reminded us just how good the album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix was. The band ended the set with its biggest song, “1901,” with singer Thomas Mars climbing into the crowd for a little surf session. Next up was Omar Apollo, who is rightfully getting a lot of buzz. He put on one of the most varied sets at the festival and showed he was out to bend whatever genre people try to put him in, with a set of rock, Tejano and R&B. Headlining the Honda stage that night was R&B songstress SZA. Her set seemed solid, with an elaborate lighthouse, dock and backup dancers. We're just not sure what story she was trying to tell with all of it. On Saturday we hit the ground running with Tai Verdes, who was determined to get the crowd pumped up by running back and forth across the Honda stage. It was a tough feat, given that the tunes are more in line with a hang with friends at the beach.
We didn’t know exactly what to expect when we popped over to the T-Mobile stage to see Princess Nokia. but what we got was dancing and being sprayed down by a water gun. It was a wild performance, full of rap, moaning and the rapper yelling out, “Free abortions for everyone!”
We then headed to the Amex stage to check out the buzzed-about Wallows, whose music gave us a Rooney-type, Cali punk vibe. The band's following has grown quickly thanks to frontman Dylan Minnette of Netflix's 13 Reasons Why fame. At 5 p.m., we zipped over to the Miller stage to watch Sofi Tukker dance on the people. The duo had a whole tennis schtick for their performance, displaying true showmanship and total bangers definitely worth a listen. The AMEX stage housed Lil Nas X again in the 6 p.m time slot. Last week was so much fun that we had to go see him a second time. Lil Nas X delivered just as much of an iconic set on the second week, joking that his voice was a little harsh from his previous performance. If it was, we couldn’t tell the difference. After Lil Nas X, we headed over to catch the buzzy Tobe Nwigwe. The singer took us all to church, bringing a literal choir to the stage and an army of dancers, all surrounded by beautiful green lights. Nwigwe had some of the best rap music at the festival. We can get on board with anyone who writes props to the queen Erykah Badu in a song.
After the face-melting set from Nwigwe, we returned to the AMEX stage to see the one and only P!nk. Audiences have come to expect nothing less than a stellar performance from P!nk, and she didn’t disappoint. Bringing a toned-down version of her tour to ACL Fest, but still doing some wirework at the end of her set, the singer flew over the crowd, so close you could almost reach out and touch her. She sounded flawless as she soared.  Her status as a legend was secured when she fell down on stage, made a joke about how she ate it, and kept going like it was no big deal. Sunday was the final day. With the finish line in sight and a lighter day planned, we started the day at Yungblud's set, watching the British rocker jam out and run around like a lunatic, pouring water on himself and then throwing beer all over the crowd. After Yungblud we caught rapper BIA on the Miller stage. BIA had good energy, but her songs were all about two minutes long. It’s clear she’s influenced by Cardi B — not quite the "Wish version" of Cardi, but she is definitely toeing that line.
We then popped over to Oliver Tree’s set. His songs were fun and he had good energy, but his schtick ——telling the audience over and over that he had one more song — got old fast. At 5 P.M we had the option to go see Paramore again or watch James Blake a second time. If you read last week’s recap, you know what we chose. Paramore was a fantastic choice, as the band changed the set list from the previous week. Haley “Miss Williams if you’re nasty” (her quote not ours), sounded even better than Week 1, if possible. The group is hitting its stride with the current tour and gave a top-notch performance. Red Hot Chili Peppers were the AMEX stage headliners for Sunday. The seasoned veterans took to the stage and turned it into an hour-and-a-half jam session. Flea rocked out on his bass celebrating his 60th birthday. We just have one question, though: Is Anthony Kiedis saying actual words, or just making up sounds as he goes? Either way, it was a pretty solid performance from the band, full of the hits the ACL crowd was there to hear. Kacey Musgraves closed out the Honda stage across Zilker Park, so we stopped by after the Peppers to see if she had any surprises in store for Weekend 2. We were not disappointed. Right before she performed "Merry Go Round," Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke brought her a beer to quench her thirst, resulting in one of the loudest crowd reactions all day. Well played, Kacey, well played.