Austin City Limits Brings the Heat for Another Year

Image via Instagram

Austin City Limits came back for another electric year. Over two weekends and more than 120 artists, Austinites, as well as many fans from out of town showed up for a well-loved festival. The lineup this year was a can't miss event, and thousands of people poured in to watch their favorite artists. ACL has steadily built up its reputation as a big name music festival, and this year it continues to prove that. Slight mishaps aside, with Doja Cat pulling out at the last minute, The Killers went on to headline both weekends on Sunday. The dust was flying by Weekend Two, and the heat was unforgiving, but ACL 2025 was one to remember.

Friday

Zilker Park opened at noon for the festival, but Friday I came in later and caught the end of the King Princess’ set. The crowd chanted her hit song, “1950”, back at her and she followed up with “Talia”. King Princess delivered a solid performance, but ROLE MODEL was the set I was looking forward to. He drew in a wild crowd that loved his energetic set that was full of good vibes fueled by his intermittent jokes in between songs. ROLE MODEL is known to bring out a “Sally” during his song “Sally When the Wine Runs Out", which started out as bringing fans up on stage to dance, but soon escalated to celebrities. Singer Lizzy Macalpine was brought out, much to the crowds thrill. Even though I only know a few ROLE MODEL songs, his charisma when singing is captivating and makes you not want to look away.

Cage the Elephant won my Friday. I have been a longtime fan, and I was having a blast, and so was the band. I always feel the crowd is way more energetic when they can tell the band is genuinely happy to be there, which rang true for Cage the Elephant. Their set was definitely festival-catered with them playing all of their hits and zero songs from their 2024 release, Neon Pill. “No Rest For the Wicked” and “Come a Little Closer” live with a crowd was definitely an experience to remember and Cage the Elephant rocked out with their set.

Hozier closed out my Friday night and he was incredible. He headlined ACL in 2023 and he rightfully came back for another year. His voice is powerful and resonating, shining through in songs “Like Real People Do” and “Jackie and Wilson”. Political tones were prominent during “Eat Your Young” while the screen behind him lit up with statistics like the surging price of Lockheed Martin and the number of unhoused people in Ireland. Overall, Hozier had an incredible headlining set that was unforgettable.

ROLE MODEL and Lizzy McAlpine, Image via Instagram

Saturday

Saturday was by far the busiest, hottest, and best day at Zilker Park. Fans were lining up at 8am for a chance to be at the Sabrina Carpenter barricade. Saturday was personally the best lineup of artists and the crowds on Saturday were wild. My first and favorite performance of the day was Magdalena Bay. Magdalena Bay performs; they don't just sing. The stage was filled with funky, extraterrestrial stage decor and I knew this was my favorite set when lead singer Mica brought out a keytar. The crowd was at its peak during “Death & Romance” and “Thats My Floor”, two dance synth-pop songs. They played nearly all of their latest release, Imaginal Disk, and shockingly didn't play the song most people might know them for, “Killshot”. All in all, Magdalena Bay put on a true show that stunned, start to finish.    

Doechii was next on my roster, back-to- back with Djo. Doechii excels in crowd work. “Alter Ego” was a highlight of her set with the crowd shouting her lyrics. Doechii is a performer full of vibrancy and life. Djo followed Doechii, and I thought his set was fine. He drew in a large, but tired crowd. His two standout songs, “Gloom”, which, contrary to the name, is an energetic pop-rock song, and his blow up hit “End of Beginning". Overall, I felt his set was overshadowed by the soon-to- perform main headliners, The Strokes and Sabrina Carpenter.

The Strokes were my next stop. I was excited to watch as much of their set as I could before heading over to watch Sabrina Carpenter. As little as they tour, I knew I had to catch them. I had heard negative things about their Weekend One performance, but they stepped up for Weekend Two and put some pep in their set. “The Adults are Talking” was so much fun to sing along to and dance with a huge crowd, and the guitar in “Under the Cover of Darkness” was vibrant and twangy in the best way. The lead singer, Julian Casablancas, threw me off with his multiple attempts to yell at Sabrina Carpenter from across the park and mentioning her set a few times throughout his performance.   

Sabrina Carpenter was the star of Austin City Limits. She brings it all: outfit changes, dance breaks, and interacting with the crowd. Sabrina Carpenter is a performer at heart, which adds to the appeal of already catchy pop songs. During her song “Juno”, she arrested Olivia Dean for being too cute, which was a fun moment. Even more so, she brought out the Chicks to sing their song, “Wide Open Spaces” and Sabrina’s song, “Please Please Please”. Her set was all sparkles (literally) and ended with “Espresso” and fireworks soaring above the Austin skyline.

Magdalena Bay, Image via Instagram

Sunday

The dust was becoming an issue by Sunday, and my bandana was covering my face nearly all day in an attempt to combat the dust. In my opinion, Sunday brought the weakest lineup, and I saw the least amount of artists, but by then, nothing could top the amount of fun I had on Saturday.

The Dare was the first set I saw on Sunday. I didn't know too much about him but was quickly impressed with his ability to get a tired crowd to continuously dance and jump at three in the afternoon. A lot of performers were energetic this weekend, but The Dare won it. He was wild in his classic suit and sunglasses look and for sure deserved a later time spot instead of 3:15. Some of his lyrics were super funny, intentional or not, and my favorite song of the set was “Cheeky” with its clever rhyming and catchy lines. His most popular song, “Girls”, created a hyped-up crowd and was a perfect way to start the last day of ACL. 

I made my way over to Wet Leg, a band I have seen twice before. Their performances are always dependable and easy to sing along and watch. Their lead singer, Rhian Teasdale, came out on stage flexing her arms in the classic two-arms-up pose, showing off her incredible arm muscles. A crowd always loves a screaming moment, and “Ur Mum” delivered with the band and festival goers giving their best yells mid-song. 

I caught a few songs from the T-Pain set, and bided my time until The Killers went on. During Weekend One, they got cut off in the middle of “Mr Brightside” due to Austin's noise curfew. Learning from their mistake, The Killers opened with Mr Brightside, which no one in the crowd was expecting. Phones whipped out to record and many were dancing and screaming. Lead singer, Brandon Flowers, had a huge smile on his face the whole performance, clearly very happy to be with the crowd at ACL. “Somebody Told Me” was another crowd pleaser that got everyone moving. The Killers was a fantastic way to end Austin City Limits, going out with a bang.

Austin City Limits has something for everyone. All kinds of music genres and artists perform there, drawing in a variety of people. The 2025 lineup was insane and extremely enjoyable, heat and dust aside. I found myself running from set to set trying to see as many artists as possible. You can tell all the people attending there are having a great time, influencing the mood of everyone around them. Austin City Limits is a fantastic festival, and I cannot wait to see what they bring for 2026.

The Dare, Image via Instagram