The Most Memorable Moments of Saturday’s ACL Fest Weekend Two

On the second Saturday anchored by an aerial P!nk and wing-wearing Lil Nas X, the Chronicle music writers picked a run of new Weekend Two arrivals as the day’s standout sets.

Princess Nokia’s Sensually Playful Splash

Like most rap shows, Princess Nokia’s began with a hype-up DJ set – until the emo-trap songstress ran out dousing crowds with a magic wand attached to a Kirby water gun backpack. In the refreshing shade of the T-Mobile stage, Destiny Nicole Ortiz primed the crowd for a hot and bothered time with sensually playful opener “Sugar Honey Iced Tea (S.H.I.T.).” With sickening body rolls and deafening moans, the Brooklyn native made her arrival known with a full-length recreation of the “Down In Mexico” lap dance scene from locally-shot Death Proof (sans any stuntman). During her 41 minutes onstage, Nokia also announced her: gratefulness for her creator (with a few verses of “​​Jesus Loves Me”), stance on abortion rights ("My body, my choice, free abortion for Texas!"), and “14-year-old boy”-level libido. Between sips of Liquid Death, the performance rose to a fever pitch with lesbian sleepover number “Slumber Party” and hustler banger “Gross.” The emcee took a turn for the spiritual with 1992 Deluxe’s “Brujas” before paying tribute to pop forebears on “Diva,” and ultimately serving another round of (water) shots, courtesy of Kirby. – Kriss Conklin

J Soulja Invites Friends for ACL Achievement

“Austin, y’all got a legend in y’all city right here,” Dallas rapper Ericthechosen said as he pointed at J Soulja after the two performed new single “Look Down Below.” The local 4Life4Ever Entertainment founder continued this year’s trend of quality hip-hop simmering on the festival’s undercard – supported by recent singles revealing he’s entering his best form yet. He rhymed as if a thousand people showed up to the tough Tito’s stage noon opener spot, and sang a cappella unexpectedly well. Austin R&B singer Nubia Emmon boosted proceedings on 2020 From the Soulopener “What It Is.” With his family in attendance and his longtime right-hand DJ Napalm behind him, the ACL Fest debutant only expressed a blip of discontent when he revealed plans to perform with a backing band fell by the wayside at the eleventh hour. Bars-heavy closer “Top Down” still serves as a proper mantra for all things J Soulja: “Way too stubborn with my goals/ Take me where the journey goes.” – Derek Udensi

Como Las Movies Crackle in Folkloric Lockstep

At 12:45pm on an ACL Fest Saturday, everyone’s still at home putting on their shoulder pads and cleats. And yet, there on the humongous Honda headliner stage, a half-dozen men of color dressed in authentic Americas garb fired up the fiesta. Guayaberas, embroidered shirts, ponytails, straw hats, and more matched Nelson Aguilar’s sunny afternoon Spanish. Leading a homegrown sextet in folkloric lockstep, the Texan touched off slinky rhythms, aria melodies, cowbell percussion, and electro bounce. Bulking up into a “I Want Candy”-esque bump and slither, Como Las Movies’ instrumental sazzle dazzle, as Jackie Wilson would have put it, crackled the spot consciousness. As keyboard washes cut through with guitar, the ACL debutees thumped-n-throbbed live-wire instrumentals riding riffs into neon nirvana. Cumbias grounded the 45-minute show, with current single “Café” capping the set behind guest vocalist Shiela Gonzalez and dancers – the whole production moving from popping and locking to banging and slamming. – Raoul Hernandez

Hazy Habibi Cements Support for Iranian Women

Those fighting the previous night’s hangover were gifted flirty garage rock and Scooby-Doo psychedelia at Habibi’s early afternoon American Express stage set. Though some teenagers simply stood as barricade placeholders (a disappointing fate oft reserved for acts opening stages later held by mainstream acts like Lil Nas X), the Brooklyn five-piece needn’t beg. Sonic escape of mod harmonies elicited hand claps and hip shakes regardless. A partial-Farsi cover of the Savage’s “The World Ain’t Round It’s Square” cemented the band’s statement on the ongoing feminist revolution in Iran. “That’s dedicated to women, life, and freedom,” lead vocalist and moonlighting tambourinist Rahill Jamalifard said, referring to the raised fist plastered on the screen behind before spinning around to reveal the Iranian flag stitched to her vest. A new, unreleased track found a funkier wavelength than some of the girl group’s more traditional Sixties beats, while concluding “Come My Habibi” personified desert haze through Lenaya “Lenny” Lynch’s dense guitar riffs and Lyla Vander’s cavernous drum punches. Habibi’s rebellious spirit fully unleashed in a final act of dissonant vocals, despite the unoccupied CamelBaks littering the crowd as space-savers. – Laiken Neumann

Miss Colombia Lido Pimienta Leads Crowd Catharsis

When Colombian-Canadian experimental artist Lido Pimienta released 2020’s genre-defying Miss Colombia, the record encompassed a collective tiredness – of the normalization of anti-Blackness, of misogyny, of institutional corruption – and rallied brown girls to the front. Clad in a colorful airbrushed T-shirt reading “Lido Pimienta Miss Colombia,” the singer harnessed that same palpable, cathartic frustration in her Barton Springs stage set, one of the final stops on a near two-year tour in support of the record. She criticized abortion bans across the U.S. before going into the blistering “Nada,” and twerked her way through the electro-tinted alchemy of “No Pude.” For “La Victoria,” she engaged in a call-and-response with the mesmerized crowd, adding a new refrain to mirror a feminist chant heard across Latin American: “A mi no me cuida la policía/ a mi me cuidan mis amigas.” (“The police don’t take care of me/ my girlfriends do.”) – Nayeli Portillo

Lil Nas X’s Becoming in Three Acts

If all the world’s a stage, then thousands were living in Lil Nas X’s extravagant stadium-scale production last night. Across 65 minutes, the country-trapper-turned-popstar dramatized and performed his past, present, and future in three-act structure – alongside a twirling entourage of chiseled back-up dancers. By the numbers, the elaborate orchestration cycled through nine outfits, numerous video interludes, and 15 songs. OG tracks “Panini,” “Old Town Road,” and “Rodeo” – along with songs from sophomore effort Montero – marked the portion of the evening titled “Rebirth.” There, Y2K-style choreography matched remixed bits of the singer’s catalog. Pivoting to a portion titled “Transformations,” Nas X & co. paid tribute to the Queen – Bey, not Elizabeth – with a vogueing number soundtracked by the former royal's “PURE/HONEY.” Backflips and a satirical satanic church skit transported the 23-year-old to the present and beyond during act three, “Becoming.” Saving the best for last, the star performed greatest hits (“Call Me By Your Name,” “Industry Baby”) and debuted two shiny new singles after sprouting sparkling wings. The only barrier left for this dazzling, butterfly entertainer? Flying. – Kriss Conklin