10 Essential Acts to See at ACL Fest

Kendrick Lamar at ACL Fest in 2016 (Photo by David Brendan Hall)

Austin’s leading A-list outdoor festival returns October 6-8 and 13-15. Headliners Kendrick Lamar, Foo Fighters, Alanis Morissette, Mumford & Sons, the Lumineers, and ODESZA claim the big fonts, while Shania Twain (Weekend One only) and the 1975 (Weekend Two only) differentiate the Zilker Park takeovers. Find the full schedule at aclfestival.com. For those avoiding the park, try the separately ticketed night shows around town, including Yves Tumor and Tegan & Sara.

For some quick festive stats: The 22nd annual event hosts 8 stages, more than 125 performances, and 45% female acts. Sold-out three-day tickets, which launched at $285 in May, now hover on the resale sites around $350 and up. With the return of the Austin Kiddie Limits stage, ACL Fest will continue to allow free entry for children 8 and under.

Looking for more ACL Fest recommendations? Find our picks for Texas-affiliated acts playing Zilker Park here, as well as interviews with ACL 2023 artists Tanya Tucker, Brittney Spencer, and Bailen.

Lil Yachty

A torrential downpour led to the cancellation of the Atlanta artist's much-anticipated South by Southwest 2023 performance moments before he was set to offer one of the first live renditions of newest album Let's Start Here. "I'll be back soon Austin, I promise," he posted on Instagram. He kept his word: He taped an Austin City Limits episode back in July highlighting his surprising pivot to psychedelic rock. His Zilker debut may play out a little differently due to the 26-year-old's latest singles – namely synth-driven fan favorite "Strike (Holster)" – landing closer to his trademark melodic, Auto-Tuned rap sound.  – Derek Udensi

Little Simz (Photo by Karolina Weilocha)

Little Simz

"I'm ready to do the unthinkable/ Fuck rules and everything that's traditional," boasts a palpably unfettered Simbiatu "Simbi" Ajikawo, aka Little Simz, on No Thank You's opening track "Angel." She may be an introvert, she reminds us, but she's definitely far from timid. When the elusive British Nigerian rapper isn't flexing righteous bars beside Afrobeat-pop artist Obongjayar over flawlessly arranged stunners like "Point and Kill" or taking her well-deserved victory lap on the inimitably cool "Gorilla," she's nabbing the coveted Mercury Prize for Album of the Year and stealing the hearts of various heavy hitters in hip-hop such as Lauryn Hill and Kendrick Lamar.  – Nayeli Portillo

Kendrick Lamar

ACL Fest has hosted the Compton great during three important sectors of his career. He performed in 2013 as the event's lone MC just two months after his genre-rattling gauntlet issued on "Control." 2016 saw him return as a headliner after jazzy, sociopolitical masterpiece To Pimp a Butterfly sent ripples across the United States. He arrives in 2023 a year removed from dropping his most rugged work to date, Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers. His revelatory final Top Dawg Entertainment LP tackles generational trauma, cancel culture, and infidelity. Pulitzer Kenny ain't our savior, but he's inarguably one of the greatest to grip a mic.  – Derek Udensi

Rina Sawayama (Photo by Thurstan Redding)

Rina Sawayama

For a dose of politically charged dance-pop, don't miss Rina Sawayama, the Japan-born, London-based artist acclaimed by dance floor frequenters and highbrow critics alike. Breakout 2020 album SAWAYAMA shot the alt-pop singer to bona fide superstardom, with standout tracks "XS" and "Comme des Garçons (Like the Boys)" tackling societal sicknesses over opulent Y2K-inspired production. On 2022 hit "This Hell," Sawayama celebrates queer community-building amidst faith-based threats of eternal damnation and climate-induced anxieties: "This hell is better with you/ We're burning up together, baby, that makes two."  – Genevieve Wood

Shania Twain

"Let's go, girls." Those three words, mark me, will unleash the most feral of ACL crowd cries, serving as a call to arms for both casual and superfans of Shania Twain. The Canadian pop-country star's ACL appearance sits toward the end of her first tour in nearly five years – a massive 70-plus-date affair – and before she begins her third Vegas residency next May. Between a road-tested set and a residency that advertises "all the hits" from one of the original country-pop crossovers, Twain will be primed to pluck the best and brightest from her three-decade career.  – Abby Johnston

Kevin Kaarl (Photo by Ingenio Local)

Kevin Kaarl

With the release of 2022's Paris Texas, singer-songwriter Kevin Kaarl took his earthy folk ballads into sublime dream-pop territory. Think Ed Maverick's wistful melodies awash in Kurt Vile levels of cosmic and spacious haze. Inspired by the corridos of fellow Northern Mexico native Chalino Sánchez, Kaarl outfits traditional lovelorn ruminations and heart-churning confessionals with a more lo-fi, rock-influenced sound. On his most recent single, "Mis Compas Tan Aquí," the Chihuahua crooner ousts his all-consuming grief through late-night campfire hangs and dreamy road trips in a buoyant ode to friendship.  – Nayeli Portillo

Morgan Wade

With her new, sophomore LP, Psychopath, Morgan Wade drives a rock influence into her country-raised sound, as she and producer Sadler Vaden boil the guitars without evaporating the hook-heavy polish. If anything, the heavily tattooed 28-year-old songwriter from the Virginia mountains showcases the broad, tradition-breaking expectations of contemporary country – pulling threads from Nineties pioneers in both her home genre and alternative behind compellingly personal, earnest, and angst-carved ballads. Case in point: the new album's tribute to "Alanis," where Wade navigates her meteoric rise after 2021 debut Reckless. Fresh, smart, and uncompromising.  – Doug Freeman

Ivan Cornejo (Photo by John Esparza)

Ivan Cornejo

Armed with a raspy, brooding baritone and distinct introspectiveness that's way beyond his years, 19-year-old Riverside, California, native Ivan Cornejo first made waves with his breakout track "Está Dañada" in 2021. The sierreño singer-songwriter's torch song racked up 14 million views on YouTube and won over reggaeton megastar Jhayco, who promptly hopped on its remix. Although last year's Dañado only clocked in at 25 minutes, its seven tracks brimmed with melancholic requinto guitars and stirring tales of unrequited love, and went on to incite a major label bidding war.  – Nayeli Portillo

The Breeders (Photo by Kevin Westenberg)

The Breeders

Split signing to locally based management firms Ten Atoms and C3 hopefully means more frequent Breeders in Austin, starting with their first stop since 2018. Saluting and reissuing for 30 years of culty grunge-pop diamond Last Splash, the Dayton, Ohio, act brings their most famed lineup – twins Kim and Kelley Deal, drummer Jim Macpherson, and bassist Josephine Wiggs – to run through the 1993 record. Every track counts. Even newly unearthed "Go Man Go" hits their quintessential smooth-choppy structure and Kim's salty-sweet speak-singing, which should play over the loudspeaker at heaven's gates (cue flying nun scene from the "Divine Hammer" video).  – Rachel Rascoe

Death Grips

Face-slapping 2012 alt-rap opus The Money Store, infamous live cancellations including local Fun Fun Fun Fest 2013, and dick pic album art fueled Death Grips' harsh viral mystique over the last decade. Aged up with the digital fan base, the influentially antagonistic noise project was essentially the first act confirmed for the fest with two sold-out Emo's ACL Nights shows announced last December. Totaling four Austin performances, the trio's first tour since 2019 appears to maintain sinister red lighting and a relentless, catalog- expansive set list, all the way back to 2011's T-shirt-inspiring "Guillotine."
  – Rachel Rascoe