Austin City Limits Weekend two exclusives The Tiarras, Movements, Emei, and Remi Wolf arrive in Austin for a mix of rock and pop.
ACL always has a great mix of genres, but the artists covered today are really great for pop fans. From up-and-comers Lola Young and Emei to Dua Lipa, the genre had a strong showing on the second day of the weekend.
The Tiarras
Austin-based, funk and rock-infused Latin band The Tiarras played the Tito’s stage in matching all-red outfits. The three sisters rocked out together to much acclaim from the audience, including a dance line forming in the crowd and cheers for an encore at the end of the show.
Movements
Still early in the day, Orange County band Movements played the Honda stage to the entering crowd. The band asked the crowd how many people had heard of them before, and a surprising number hadn’t but were still there to listen. Over the course of their set, more and more fans joined as the band won over the audience.
Lola Young
Over on the American Express stage, English pop singer Lola Young took the stage. She sang about complicated love and relationships on songs such as “Messy” and “Wish You Were Dead.”
Emei
For her first-ever festival performance, Emei promised the crowd that they would sweat, lose their voice, and need shin splints. The alt-pop singer had incredible energy through her entire set and knew how to get the crowd involved. She taught the crowd call-and-response songs and even launched a t-shirt using a big slingshot. She played a couple of unreleased tracks as well as older songs and a cover of “Call Me Maybe.”
Remi Wolf
Remi Wolf is a professional. She had the crowd doing warm-up stretches and vocal exercises, then showed off her high-powered voice for the rest of the set. She also hopped on the drums for a solo during “Kangaroo,” and improvised a new song based on the suggestion “gymnastics” from the crowd (which she turned into “gym-nasty” for the chorus). A car revving sound introduced her cover of “Life is a Highway,” which she played because it’s featured in her favorite movie (Cars).
Renee Rapp
One year ago, pop singer Renee Rapp started her “Snow Hard Feelings” Tour in Houston. Now, this weekend two performance is her send-off show. She played a mix of new and older songs, and made sure to sing directly into the camera so that fans in the back could see her face on Austin City Limits’ giant screens. The set started off with lots of energy, but ended with Rapp’s sentimental tracks that had fans in tears.
Dua Lipa
Dua has made the most of her time in Austin with stops at Broken Spoke and Barton Springs. She told the crowd she head about a football game Austin won, then revealed a custom Texas football “Lipa” jersey that she put on. As for the music, Dua Lipa played hit after hit, dancing along with her team. One interesting choice was her remix of Barbie’s “Dance the Night” featuring stop motion visual of a Barbie doll. She ended the night with fireworks over the Austin skyline.
ACL Fest Overall
With two days down and one to go, the Austin City Limits festival is unfortunately almost over. The star-studded lineup has been amazing so far, but the biggest artists are yet to come.
I am an Austin, TX based filmmaker and photographer. I moved from Houston to attend the University of Texas at Austin, where I graduated in 2022. I'm a lifelong music lover and spend most of my weekends attending shows. Some recent favorites are K. Flay, Devon Again, and Farmer's Wife. Other than that, I enjoy reading, writing, playing volleyball, yoga, and gaming.
