Besides celebrating the second day of Austin City Limits Weekend Two, festival goers also celebrated the total solar eclipse that occurred in the early afternoon.
At 2PM at the American Express stage, Declan McKenna took the stage for an energetic set, starting off with “Why Do You Feel So Down” and “Listen to Your Friends” from his debut album, What Do You Think About The Car. McKenna sported solar eclipse glasses throughout his whole set, stating that “it was only right.” He mentioned the upcoming release of his third studio album What Happened to the Beach? and performed new singles “Sympathy” and “Nothing Works.” He ended the set with his hit track “Brazil,” followed by the politically loaded “British Bombs.”
The band Snooper delivered an electrifying performance at the BMI stage. Each member of the band put their all into their coordinated high kicks, fast-paced bouncing, and a takeover of every crevice of the stage. They completed the punk rock experience with a captivating atmosphere that included props like giant 8 ball, a sizable brick telephone and a hefty paper mache’d 30-pound weighted bar. In between songs, Snooper took moments to catch their breaths, playing mixed media snippets as they absorbed stamina for the next song. They steadily increased the energy and even joined the crowd for some one-on-one connection sparking a mosh pit and elevating thrills.
Rina Sawayama slayed the house down at the Honda stage, creating a theatrical performance with enticing choreography, exciting costume changes, and great interactions with the crowd. The Japanese-British singer started her performance with “Hold the Girl,” followed by “Catch Me in the Air” and “Hurricanes.” She performed more songs from her debut album SAWAYAMA, such as “Dynasty” and “Comme des garçons (Like the Boys).” For the final two songs, she wore a red lingerie suit to counter the messages in her tracks like “XS” and “This Hell.”
The festival also had multiple photo opportunities across the festival grounds, especially with the cool weather. Fest goers posed in front of the flags, waited in line to take a pic in front of the iconic ACL frame, and so much more. One of the best photo ops was the Wrangler “Howdy” sign located near the Barton Springs Beer Hall, which shined extra bright at sunset. A few memorable food vendors at the fest included the delicious MMMPanadas, Shwarma Point and Amy’s Ice Cream – all Austin local entities.
Day two was one for the books, especially with such fun acts and cool weather.