After a brutal two years, Austin City Limits Music Festival finally made it back this year—not without a few hiccups along the way. But as of Sunday night, weekend one of two is a wrap.
The atmosphere at Zilker Park on Sunday was so laidback. After the delayed start on Friday and the hype of Saturday, the Sunday lineup was recognizably more chill.
Early in the day, KennyHoopla lit up the T-Mobile stage with an electric performance of hip-hop meets pop-punk, which instantly got the crowd raging. It was a unique energy, as KennyHoopla bounced seamlessly between blistering rap verses, pulsating punk-rock and emotional ballads, the kind which literally brought him to his knees as he belted out vulnerable lyrics.
The emotion and passion continued over at the Miller Lite stage as Joshua Karpeh (aka Cautious Clay) gave a heartfelt performance highlighted by singles such as his breakout "Cold War" and recent single "Roots." He closed the powerful set with an instrumental offering, capped by his own solo on the saxophone. It was purely magical.
Later in the afternoon, Polo G arrived on the Honda stage. Although the crowd went wild as he took the stage, the Chicago rapper wasn't immediately satisfied with their engagement, petitioning the audience to put their full "heart" into it. The crowd responded to his pleas with big applause and they sang along with him as he launched into his No. 1 hit "Rapstar."
Next up on the Honda stage was Karol G, the Columbian singer and reggaeton artist, whose presence at the fest was significantly underrated. Like fellow performers Skip Marley and girl in red, she was added to the lineup after the initial announcement and ultimately proved to be one of the weekend's highlights.
