Austin, Texas is no stranger to live music. Head downtown for a show at The Moody Theater and then Stubb’s, or go south and rock out at The Continental Club. Of course there is the several block stretch of honky-tonk style music clubs on historic Sixth Street. With over 250 entertainment spots, the beat never stops at the “Live Music Capital of the World” and you can count on that when Austin City Limits Music Festival rolls into town. 

Over the past two decades, ACL Music Festival has brought together some of music’s biggest names and returned once again last October for back-to-back weekends at Zilker Park. Eight stages set the scene along the banks of the Colorado River, where 70 thousand fans took their pick each day on who to see from a lineup of 200-plus artists. The stage-hopping shuffle is often the name of the game for music festivals, but to fully enjoy everything ACL had to offer, photographer Steve Galli caught all six days of the fest. 

Friday of each weekend was led by The Chicks and SZA, both of whom headlined at dual ends of the park. SZA delivered a solid 20-song set, sung from atop a life-sized lighthouse, while The Chicks drew the day’s largest crowd. The country trio performed a hit-laden setlist that included their popular cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide.” And for lead singer Natalie Maines, the set felt much like a family show of sorts, as she was joined onstage by her steel guitarist father, Lloyd Maines and her rhythm guitarist son, Jackson.

Another Friday highlight came from Billy Strings. Though he won the 2021 Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album, the Michigan native laid out a set heavy with bluegrass, rock and country. Strings also performed two entirely unique setlists for weekend one and two. By tradition, Austin’s very own Asleep At the Wheel kicked off weekend one and delivered half-a-century’s worth of country glory.

Saturday closed out with another force of an artist – P!nk, who brought on a mix of hits, covers from Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” to 4 Non Blondes’ “What’s Up?” and her signature aerial acrobatics. On the final song, “So What,” P!nk catapulted above the crowd on a highwire, flying for four breathtaking minutes a la Cirque du Soleil. 

Lil Nas X also put on an epic performance, which consisted of a three-part act entitled “Rebirth,” “Transformation” and “Becoming”—complete with, of course, multiple costume changes. Bringing his “Long Live Montero” tour to ACL, he pumped up the crowd several times by utilizing the P!nk’s catwalk.

Boy George & Culture Club also took the stage Saturday and packed all the fan favorites into a one-hour time slot. “It’s A Miracle,” “I’ll Tumble 4 Ya,” “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me” and “Karma Chameleon” made the setlist. The group also covered Rolling Stones classic “Sympathy for the Devil,” Bread’s “Everything I Own” and T. Rex’s “Bang a Gong (Get It on).”

Sunday began in typical ACL fashion with 45 minutes of gospel inside the Tito’s Tent, and then ended with Red Hot Chili Peppers on the American Express stage. Red Hot Chili Peppers put on a blistering show to close out both weekends. For a band that could easily play 4 hours of crowd favorites, they tightly packed a nice 18-song set, which included a performance of “Eddie” in honor of the late Eddie Van Halen. The rest of the 18-song set included classics like “Dani California,” “Snow,” and “Scar Tissue,” as well as a Loggins & Messina cover that featured a gnarly solo from guitarist John Frusciante. During the weekend two performance of “Dani California,” frontman Anthony Kiedis sang a happy 60th birthday to the band’s jumping bassist, Flea.

Before RHCP took the stage, Paramore played one of the most anticipated sets of the day. It was only the Tennessee band’s third performance after a three-year hiatus, but everything happened just like clockwork. High energy was all around for feel-good cuts like “Hard Times” and headbangers like “That’s What You Get.” They even threw things back with Twilight cut “Decode” for weekend one. For weekend two, vocalist Hayley Williams brought out a guest to perform “Misery Business” with her—English singer-songwriter PinkPantheress. And though the group had opened with “This is Why” at previous dates, they closed with the newest cut for weekend two.

Along with its stellar headliners, what makes ACL so special every year is its diverse lineup across genres. Some of the largest crowds gathered for acts like Kacey Musgraves, Marcus Mumford, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Nightsweats, Carley Rae Jepsen, Zach Bryan, Death Cab For Cutie, SOFI TUKKER, Phoenix, Conan Gray, YUNGBLUD, Spoon, Flume, Arlo Parks, Big Boi, Big Gigantic, Japanese Breakfast and Diplo. 

Then there’s the BMI stage. Every year since day one, a special treat for ACL festival goers is the BMI stage. Since the late 1930’s, Broadcast Music Inc (BMI) has been helping guide songwriters, composers and publishers through the tricky music business. The BMI Stage showcases newer artists, many of which are ‘on the verge of breaking it big’. In past years, this stage has had Maren Morris, Gary Clark Jr, Jon Pardi and many more. This years lineup included Eric Tessmer, Aly & AJ, Jackson Dean, Sarah & the Sundays, The Brummies, Lily Rose, Isaac Dunbar, Charlotte Sands, Urban Heat, lilyisthatyou, Sloppy Jane, Dro Kenji, Elijah Wolf, Ben Reilly, Joshua Ray Walker, JESSIA, Darkbird, Katzu Oso, Early James, Chicocurlyhead, Siena Liggins, and Izzy Heltai.

Music also runs in the family for some of these rising stars, with many at the launch of their careers. This year, ACL saw performances from Noah Cyrus, daughter of Billy Ray & sister of Miley; indie-alt rocker Samia, daughter of actors Kathy Najimy and Dan Finnerty; indie-pop singer Maude Latour, daughter of Dow Jones & Co boss, Almar Latour; and garage-rock brother-duo, Taipei Houston, consisting of bassist Layne Ulrich and drummer Myles Ulrich, sons of Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich.

Finally, hitting close to home for our photographer Steve Galli was the notable Michigan connection. Although Austin was over a thousand miles from the Great Lake State, some local artists performed at this year’s fest. Driving the beat behind the Red Hot Chili Peppers was Bloomfield Hills native, Chad Smith. Bluegrass sensation Billy Strings hails from Lansing. And two of the four members of garage-rock band, Habibi, are originally from Dearborn.

The Austin City Limits Music Festival is the pride and joy of C3 Presents. One of the largest and hardest working event gurus on the planet, they have been promoting concerts and festivals globally for quite some time now. Being based in Austin, Texas, C3Presents goes the extra mile for ACL every year.

Austin City Limits Music Festival 2023 returns October 6-8 and October 13-15, 2023.

https://www.aclfestival.com/

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Click here to see the complete week one gallery.

Click here to see the complete week two gallery.