ACL Festival 2018 Saturday pics (Metallica, St. Vincent, Deftones, more)
After kicking off on Friday, weekend one of Austin, TX’s ACL Festival continued on Saturday (10/6) in Zilker Park. An approaching storm delayed the festival’s gates opening until 11:45 AM, but the schedule was largely unaffected, aside from a fifteen minute shorter set for first act of the day The Bells of Joy.
Metallica headlined day two of ACL Festival with a hit-filled set we posted about HERE. Saturday also included sets from St. Vincent, Deftones, Justice, Sharon Van Etten, Japanese Breakfast, The Breeders, Brandi Carlile, Nelly, Curtis Harding, Molly Burch, CHVRCHES, and more. As Billboard reports, many artists were moved to address Brett Kavanaugh, who was voted in as the 114th Supreme Court Justice that afternoon:
Singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile — returning to Zilker Park in support of sixth studio album By the Way, I Forgive You — was one of the first to address it with notable frankness during her set on the Honda stage.
“Today I learned that progress is not a one-way street,” she said. “[Because of] what we’ve done today to the Supreme Court … we shouldn’t think what we’ve done is final.”
As a preface to “The Mother,” Carlile — who is gay, married and the mother of two children — then divulged that she’d been forced to sign in the “father category” when filling out her daughter Evangeline’s birth certificate, adding that she hoped the “somber song” would help people “get together the third of November and vote to change our country for the better.”
On the same stage, Chvrches frontwoman Lauren Mayberry offered a solution (“in honor of Metallica”) to possible feelings of discontent by suggesting “a moment of f–k … to suppress the rage” rather than a moment of silence before launching into “Miracle,” one of five tracks from recently released third full-length Love is Dead featured during the Scottish trio’s 13-song setlist. The scenario played out as one might expect: with tens of thousands simultaneously dropping the F-bomb at aggressive volume.
“I feel better,” she chirped afterward, revealing that “that’s why we make dance music,” so fans can “cry or dance, or do both at the same time as I do.”
Two more of the day’s powerhouse performers — the inimitable Annie Clark, a.k.a. St. Vincent, and Sabrina Ellis, frontwoman of Austin power pop-rock outfit Sweet Spirit, who made their incontrovertibly commanding ACL Fest debut on the BMI stage — likewise spoke out in distinct ways.
The former came candid yet non-specific. Clark greeted the crowd by inviting them to “fight the power” before fifth album title track “Masseduction,” while Sweet Spirit artfully called out the patriarchy’s sexual transgression’s via the lyrics of new single “Touch”: “You’re the president, I’m the broken heart / God knows every story needs a start / I’m the modern queen, you’re the president / God knows every story needs an end / Whip out your genius if you love it so much / Whip it out, let’s have a touch.”
They were accompanied by an ensemble of backup dancers wearing POTUS masks, including Trump, Nixon and Clinton.
Check out pictures from Saturday at ACL Festival in the gallery above, and stay tuned for our Sunday coverage. Catch up on Friday HERE.
Weekend one is over, but ACL Festival returns for a second weekend October 12-14. See the set times HERE.
