Crowds only increased at Zilker Park on Sunday for the last day of the Austin City Limits Music Festival. Headliners Mumford & Sons and ODESZA closed out the second weekend, giving audiences a show to remember.
The day began with artists such as Leon III, Ralph’s World, The Moriah Sisters and more opening up their respective stages. Madison Cunningham, who has been opening for Hozier’s tour, welcomed everyone at the American Express Stage.
Dope Lemon and Quin NFN warmed up the crowd with energetic sets. Dope Lemon stunned the crowd at the Honda Stage with their hit “How Many Times.”
Over at the T-Mobile Stage, Del Water Gap had the crowd dancing and singing along to songs from his newly released album ‘I Miss You Already + I Haven’t Left Yet’ and older tracks. He played hits like “Perfume,” “All We Ever Do Is Talk” and “Gemini.”
The artist discussed thinking about quitting music during the COVID-19 pandemic but continuing and going on a three-year tour afterward. He closed out the show with his arguably most popular song “Ode to a Conversation Stuck in Your Throat” and climbed one of the towers on stage to keep the audience’s energy up.
From the start of the day, many festival-goers crowded around the American Express Stage to get a good view of Niall Horan. Horan made a point to be very conversational throughout the set, playing songs from his first solo album ‘Flicker’ and his recently released work ‘The Show.’
Horan stunned the crowd with upbeat hits like “If You Leave Me,” “Save My Life” and “Meltdown.” Fans of his previous band One Direction were surprised to see him pull out “Story of My Life” after he prefaced the song saying it was “new.”
The Irish singer had everyone singing along to his cover of “Everybody Wants to Rule The World” originally by Tears for Fears. He closed out the set with one of the first songs he released as a solo artist, “Slow Hands.”
Following Niall Horan on the American Express Stage, Hozier put on a show right as Golden Hour was setting over the festival grounds. Both Hozier and Horan joked about the “Irish takeover” on the stage that day.
Opening the set with “De Selby (Part 2),” Hozier immediately had the crowd dancing and singing along. Typically, the musician opens his tour with “De Selby (Part 1)” and leads into the second part, but as that track is slower it was left out.
There were some tracks like “To Be Alone” and “Would That I” where it was encouraged for the crowd to sing along at certain points. But, with songs like “Cherry Wine,” “Work Song” and “Almost (Sweet Music),” the crowd harmonized all on their own accord, knowing every word.
Hozier enlisted the help of one of his backing vocalists to duet “Damage Gets Done” with him in place of the original co-writer, Brandi Carlisle. Many of the songs featured in the set were from his recently released album ‘Unreal, Unearth.‘
Closing out his performance as the sun set with one of his biggest hits, “Take Me To Church,” the crowd pulled out phone flashlights, lighters and even a few matches lit as hands swayed in the air to the vocalizing Hozier was doing.
The light show truly began when Labrinth took the T-Mobile Stage. As the main artist on the Euphoria Original Score, many songs throughout the set were recognizable by fans of the show, including “Nate Growing Up,” “Still Don’t Know My Name” and “Formula.”
Some hits that the audience knew but forgot were originally by Labrinth may have included “Genius,” “Never Felt So Alone” and “Beneath Your Beautiful.” Labrinth even mentioned before “Beneath Your Beautiful” that the song was released before he was well-known and the audience wouldn’t know it’s him.
Closing out the festival were headliners ODESZA and Mumford & Sons. ODESZA’s set came first, including bass bumping throughout Zilker Park from the Honda Stage and strobe lights illuminating the grounds.
Mumford & Sons put on quite the show with fireworks, dazzling lights and intense guitar solos that made the crowd dance whether they knew the song or not. The band opened with hits like “Babel” and “Little Lion Man.”
The performers focused on the musical breakdowns in each song, letting the vocals start slower before the beat dropped letting the musical aspect of each song shine.
Later into the performance, the band brought out Celisse on guitar for a few songs, then Trombone Shorty for their cover of “House Of The Rising Sun” originally by The Animals. This cover felt like a religious experience with Marcus Mumford’s vocals, the intense light show and the trombone solos.
When the band moved to the B Stage and pulled Hozier up to sing, the lights were beaming up and the vocals carried. Hozier stayed for a performance on the main stage of “Awake My Soul” that included Celisse and the Huston-Tillotson University Concert Choir.
This was the third year Mumford & Sons headlined ACL Music Fest, and they closed out the weekend with one of their best-known songs “I Will Wait.”
After a full weekend of music, food and activities, stay tuned for some post-coverage on our website!
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