By Sunday, Austin City Limits had already weathered enough rain and mud to make Weekend 1 feel like something of an endurance test. And yet, as another round of showers greeted festivalgoers early on Day 3, there was little sense that anyone was ready to call it quits.
If anything, the final day at Zilker Park seemed determined to squeeze every last bit out of a weekend that had been messy, unpredictable and ultimately pretty special.
Sunday's early showers continued a weather storyline that had followed ACL throughout the weekend, from the rain and increasingly muddy grounds on Friday to Saturday's delayed opening and disrupted schedule. But the clouds eventually gave way, and for a fleeting moment during Audrey Hobert's set, even the sun became part of the show.
Hobert was absolutely delightful, delivering the kind of charming, personality-filled performance that made her one of Sunday's easy standouts. Then, between songs, something seemingly ordinary caught her attention.
"Wow, look at the sun!" she exclaimed.
After a weekend in which sunshine had been scarce, if not almost entirely absent, the reaction felt completely appropriate. The crowd seemed to appreciate it, too, a small shared victory after spending much of the previous three days navigating rain, mud and changing conditions.
Claire Rosinkranz was another bright spot earlier in the day, bringing an easy warmth to her set and taking time to shout out her father and collaborator from the stage. It was a sweet moment that added a personal touch to a performance already full of charm.
Lauren Sanderson, meanwhile, delivered what might have been one of the best sets we've ever seen on the BMI stage. Playing to a massive, tightly packed crowd, Sanderson was rowdy, uninhibited and clearly having the time of her life as the set seemed to grow more chaotic by the minute. At one point, she ripped off her shirt and thrashed around the stage in her bra, matching the abandon of a crowd that was giving every bit of that energy right back to her. For a stage that often serves as a showcase for artists on the rise, this felt like one of those ACL performances that might be remembered as something much bigger in hindsight.
Saint Motel, meanwhile, wasted absolutely no time getting the party started on the Miller stage.
In a somewhat surprising move, the band opened with "My Type," their biggest song and one they have typically reserved for the end of the set. But as an opener, it worked spectacularly. From the first seconds, the familiar horn line sent a bolt of electricity through the crowd, immediately turning the field into a celebration and setting the tone for everything that followed.
Cannons offered a different kind of energy, settling into their hazy, nocturnal groove even under the afternoon sky. The band's vibe translated beautifully to the festival setting, although some poor audio quality unfortunately undercut portions of what was otherwise an excellent performance.
There were no such problems containing the energy over at the American Express stage when Sofi Tukker took over.
The duo had the massive crowd dancing, delivering one of Sunday's most purely euphoric performances while also taking a moment to reflect on just how far they had come with ACL before they closed with their fan favorite "Purple Hat."
They recalled playing the festival years earlier in what is now the Tito's tent, with Tucker Halpern noting that their name had been printed in one of the smallest fonts near the bottom of that year's lineup poster. Now commanding one of the festival's biggest stages, the duo thanked fans for supporting them along the way.
It was the kind of full-circle moment festivals are uniquely equipped to provide. Artists who once arrive as tiny names on a poster can return years later to find thousands of people waiting for them.
Elsewhere, The War on Drugs offered something entirely different.
Opening with an extended "Harmonia's Dream," the band immediately established a sense of patience and grandeur that contrasted sharply with the party-heavy atmosphere found elsewhere throughout the day. Rather than demanding the crowd's attention with spectacle, the band slowly pulled listeners into its orbit.
There was weight to the performance, and at times something almost spiritual about it. Guitars stretched toward the horizon, songs unfolded without urgency and the set provided a welcome opportunity to simply get lost in the music. In a weekend packed with dancing, shouting, moshing and sensory overload, The War on Drugs created space for something more contemplative.
And that contrast was part of what made Sunday work so well.
The xx brought their own distinctive atmosphere to the final day, while twenty one pilots delivered one of Sunday's biggest spectacles.
Of course, theatricality is practically baked into a twenty one pilots performance, and their ACL set lived up to that reputation. Tyler Joseph repeatedly erased the boundary between stage and audience, most memorably when he ventured into the crowd and climbed atop what appeared to be a makeshift surfboard. Fans hoisted him above their heads as he literally surfed across the crowd, creating one of the most epic and visually striking moments of the entire weekend.
It was exactly the kind of larger-than-life performance suited for the closing hours of ACL, and after three days packed with memorable sets, twenty one pilots still managed to make the festival feel like it had one more trick up its sleeve.
By then, the mud hardly seemed worth mentioning anymore.
Over three days, the weather had altered schedules, delayed gates, shortened performances and turned large stretches of Zilker Park into a muddy mess. Friday introduced the rain and deteriorating conditions. Saturday brought perhaps the biggest logistical challenge, with the festival opening late and early sets being shortened, moved or canceled altogether. Then Sunday arrived with still more showers.
But the weather never became the whole story.
Instead, Weekend 1 was defined just as much by how quickly artists and fans adapted to it. Turnstile turned Friday's mud into an ideal setting for a chaotic, communal hardcore set. Bleachers transformed Saturday into a giant party despite everything the day had thrown at the festival. And on Sunday, artists including Saint Motel and Sofi Tukker kept that celebratory energy going while The War on Drugs offered a stirring counterweight.
There were smaller moments, too: Hobert marveling at the sudden appearance of the sun, Rosinkranz recognizing her father from the stage and Sofi Tukker looking back at the tiny spot they once occupied on an ACL poster while standing before one of the weekend's largest crowds.
Those are the moments that tend to stick around after the stages go dark.
Austin City Limits Weekend 1 certainly wasn't the pristine, sunny weekend anyone might have envisioned weeks ago. Shoes were ruined (or forever lost). Plans changed. The grounds took a beating.
But after three wet, muddy and frequently exhilarating days, ACL ultimately delivered something better than perfection: a weekend with a story.
And when the sun finally did make an appearance Sunday afternoon, even briefly, it felt like Zilker Park had earned it.
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See photos from day 3 of ACL below.
