ACL Fest's first weekend was sweaty, packed and tinged with a bit of drama leading up to Chappell Roan's debut at the festival.
After several weeks of controversy over the pop star drawing boundaries with fans and declining to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris in the election, Roan canceled shows at another festival a week before ACL — leading fans to worry if she'd make it to Austin. This followed a surprise switch from the Saturday to Sunday ACL lineup earlier in August.
Roan did indeed turn out for ACL. Decked out in cowboy chaps and a belt-buckle top, the "femininomenon" performed hits like "HOT TO GO!" and "Pink Pony Club," as well as a cover of her "favorite song," "Barracuda" by Heart, and an unreleased track, "The Subway."
Two screens on either side of the stage showed drone video of the crowd going back as far as the eye could see. At one point, Roan asked concertgoers to wave anything pink in the air, and the crowd responded with a wave of hats, flags and banners.
Leon Bridges, Dua Lipa and Orville Peck — plus Austin-based acts like promqueen and Chief Cleopatra — also drew crowds over the weekend. Take a look at our photo recap, taken by KUT/X photographers Renee Dominguez, Patricia Lim and Deborah Cannon.
Many of these artists are also performing Weekend 2. If you've got tickets, here's our guide with tips for the festival and traffic, plus recs for which performances you should catch. If you're still looking for tickets — well, good luck, babe!
