Flashback Friday: Austin City Limits Music Festival

The past few years, Austin City Limits has grown to become one of the most popular music festivals in the country, with some of the biggest musical names taking to the stages of Zilker Park every October. In fact, the festival has grown so big its had to expand to two three day weekends each fall instead of its original one! I was lucky enough to snag a ticket to weekend one of the festivities with a few of my closest pals. Let's take a quick blast to the past to revisit some of the awesome acts I got to see at ACL last year!​​

The first show I went to was Capital Cities, and what a way to open the weekend! This turned out to be one of my favorite acts of the weekend. Let me tell you, their saxophone player was feeling it. Most entertaining part of the day, hands down.

The band played some of my favorite jams, like Kangaroo Court and Farrah Fawcett Hair. You can check out some of their music in the link below!

Next my friend Lennie and I went to hit up Chvches. I wasn't super familiar with them, but Lennie was a fan, so I was down! It turned out to be a super fun show!

Filled with cool electronic vibes and tuns of super heavy bass, this show was sure one for the books. Not to mention how adorable the lead singer was - her makeup made her look like a little fairy! I loved it! You can listen to some of the groups music here:

Next was a quick stop at Sam Smith's performance. He started off his show with my #1 favorite song by him, Nirvana. Sam's soulful vocals completely filled the park; it was incredible. While my friends Leonor and Maria stayed and watched the rest of his set, Lennie and I headed over to Childish Gambino's stage to snag some front row spots before his show began. While waiting for Donald Glover to make his appearance, we could still hear the powerful pipes of Sam Smith from across the park.

That my friends, is some crazy talent. You can check out his tunes right here!

Next ladies and gents, was my beloved Childish Gambino. If you know me personally, you know I am OBSESSED with Gambino. From "Do Ya Like" to "Freaks and Geeks", "Bonfire" to "One Up", and "3005" to "Sober", Bino is a hit factory. His raps are just jam packed with witty references and clever humor. From acting on Community, to writing for 30 Rock, to hitting stages worldwide, Donald has done it all.

Seriously you guys, he is #1 celebrity crush material. My girl Lennie and I snagged front row spots to his show. To listen to some of Gambino's hits, check the link below!

To finish off day one, my friends and I headed to Outkast. A classic hip-hop duo, this show did not disappoint. As they were a headliner however, their stage was crowded to the MAX. Good tunes, bad view, but over all good time!

I'm sure you've all heard an Oukast jam or two by now, but if you wanna take a quick trip down memory lane, click the link below.

The next day we started off with some Mac DeMarco. Infamous goof and excellent performer, DeMarco's show was certainly memorable. From crowd surfing to cracking jokes, he sure knew how to entertain. I wasn't really familiar with his music before the show, but his fantastic humor made the set super fun!

Mac DeMarco's got sort of a cool indie vibe, very interesting! If you wanna see some of his music videos, check below!

Following Mac, my friend and I went to go see The Head and the Heart. Their folksy tunes were a nice change up to follow the large influx of more mainstream music I had been hearing that weekend. Very Austin-y, ya know? A real nice time! Not to mention, since they were on the same stage as Lana Del Ray, seeing The Head and the Heart helped us get some great spots to Lana right after!

The Head and the Heart fill each of their songs with poetic lyrics and moving emotion. To listen to some of their songs, listen to this YouTube playlist!

After The Head and the Heart, Queen Lana Del Rey took the stage to close out our day at ACL. Fan girl level - 5000. My friends and I got some crazy good spots yo, especially considering the amount of people that came out to her show! Her songs are always full of eerie, intoxicating vibes, and are truly striking. My friend Julia is a major fan, so it was awesome to see this set with her.

If you want to hear some of Lana's lulling lyrics in her artsy music videos, click the link below!

The next day with started off with Jhenè Aiko. Talk about a girl crush man. Jhenè is wicked talented and wicked pretty - double-edged sword. Since she's not as famous as many of the other performers we saw that weekend, we were able to get absolutely fantastic spots. For my frequent blog followers, you all already know that I did an entire article over this soulful goddess. If you wanna check out that post, scroll down on my home page and take a look!

All of her songs are filled to the brim with emotion and passion. To listen to Jhenè's soulful songs, check the playlist posted below.

Next we went to see Zedd! One of the most upbeat shows of the weekend, Zedd's set was a blast. He played all his hits, like Clarity and Stay the night, and even remixed some other top 40 songs for his show! All of his songs were filled with crowd-surfin', fist-pumping, mindless-dancing, awesomeness. Great friends and good vibes - this show was a blast!

Every song of his set would just make ya wanna dance! To hear some of Zedd's infectious beats, view the vids below!

And finally, to close out my ACL 2014 experience, my friend Julia and I went to see Pearl Jam. With such a timeless classic in the line up, how could I not swing by? I wasn't super familiar with the group's tunes, but my friend Julia is a big fan so it was super fun to see it with her.

What a great way to close out an incredible weekend! Here are some of the classic group's top hits.

Austin City Limits was certainly one of my top five weekends of all time. Good music, great friends - what more could a girl want?

Hopefully I'll be able so grab a ticket to next year's shows too! The line up is incredible, so hears hoping folks!

Thanks for checking out my blog again kiddos. Till next time!