ACL Fest Weekend 1 Friday pics: Jay-Z, The xx, Ryan Adams & more
Aside from a barely visible band and a massive 40-foot metallic dog balloon sculpture by artist Jeff Koons, the MC stalked the otherwise bare stage alone. There were no special guests (#Beyoncewatch continues next week!), unless you count the Houston Rockets back court combo of James Harden and Chris Paul lurking stageside. Jay-Z’s made a career out of making hustling look easy, and that’s just what he did.
“Bounce, bounce,” he commanded before launching into Kanye West collabos “Run This Town” and “No Church in the Wild.”
From Nina Simone to Bobby “Blue” Bland, his music deftly leans on samples for hits, and the DJ let Max Romeo’s reggae classic “Chase the Devil” run long before morphing into 1977’s “Lucifer.”
“There’s a lot going on in the world, a lot of evil,” Jay-Z noted before the track. “But love will always conquer hate.” – [Austin Chronicle]
Weekend 1 of the 2017 Austin City Limits Festival kicked off Friday (10/6) with sets from Jay-Z, The xx, Ryan Adams, Bonobo, Lucas Nelson, The Lemon Twigs, Valerie June and many more. Pictures from those artists and more are in the gallery above. Other Friday sets included Solange, La Femme and more.
The tragedy in Las Vegas last weekend is very still fresh on everyone’s minds, and security at ACL was heightened:
Attendee Anna Severene said she thought about security concerns but decided to head out to Zilker Park anyway.
“It is something that is on my mind but it can’t take over,” she said. “Life goes on and you just have to keep it going.”
Festival organizers tightened bag restrictions this year, and patted down guests before entry. Austin police announced an increased presence, joining DPS troopers in south Austin.-[KXAN]
We’ll have lots more coverage of ACL 2017 Weekend 1 — which wraps up Sunday (10/8) with Gorillaz, The Killers, Run the Jewels and more — on the way. If you’re not in Austin’s Zilker Park you can watch many ACL performances via their livestream.
UPDATE: Check out Weekend 2 pics HERE.
