Thursday, October 1, 2026

ACL 2026: Weekend One: Sunday Schedule and Thoughts

Feels like if you are looking at the Sunday schedule then you really love to be knee deep in mud and jumping around to the sweet EDM of the Fest  Also, you should look up what goes into Dillo Dirt  I hope to actually be out there today, too!

I have tried to reduce some of the bloat in these schedule posts so that you can just get the goods. As usual, you can click the name link for each artist below to see my full post on them and find out more about each artist.



Here we go:

12:45 / 1:15
BMI (12:45)Rubio: Spanish language dark electronica
T-Mobile (1:15)Solya: Dreamy, torchy, Americana and indie tunes from Abilene, of all places
Tito's (12:45)The Moriah Sisters: Gospel action!
AmEx (1:15)Villanelle: The nostalgia rocks Gods have spoken and present to you - An Oasis in Nirvana!

VILLANELLE!!!  Go and do it.

2:00
Miller Lite (2:00)Jess Williamson: Nice Americana from a past Austinite
BMI (2:00)Aaron Rowe: I'm a sucker for an Irish singer/songwriter type...
Beatbox (2:00)Britton: Generic R&B-ish pop
Tito's (2:00)Paloma Morphy: Spanish language indie pop with some groove
Snapchat (2:00)Sunday (1994): Lovely and unremarkable dream pop

I guess I'd do Aaron Rowe here, but Jess is nice too.

2:45
T-Mobile (2:45)Stella Lefty: Unremarkable pop that borders into country
AmEx (2:45)Dexter and the Moonrocks: Sloppy, bashing, raucous rock and roll action

For me, easy decision to do Dexter, I really like them.  I know that the kiddies will want their Stella so they can sing along with the copycat Stick Season tune.

3:15 / 3:30
Miller Lite (3:30)Claire Rosinkranz: More bedroom pop with a big TikTok tune
BMI (3:30)Fancy Hagood: A pop & country mix that leans a little into Leon Bridges-style soul pop
Beatbox (3:30)Underscores: Just in case you wanted more weird EDM, you are in luck!
Tito's (3:15)Calder Allen: Poor man's Ryan Bingham with a good pedigree

I guess I'd go to the tent and see Calder.

4:30
T-Mobile (4:30)Audrey Hobert: Clever lyricist with a Swiftian vibe
Tito's (4:30)Rio Kosta: Smooth, funky grooves
AmEx (4:30)Max McNown: A measure of cheesy country and an equal measure of scrubbed-up folk

I think I'd go see Audrey.  I know her Tiny Desk got shredded, but I think her lyrics are clever and her offbeat vibe is a good thing.  But Rio Kosta is pretty cool too.

5:30
Miller Lite (5:30)Saint Motel: Sunny pop rock purveyors who created "My Type"
BMI (5:30)Lauren Sanderson: Generic pop now veering into Limp Bizkit
Beatbox (5:30)Noga Erez: Dime store Billie Eilish (except better)
Snapchat (5:30)Cannons: 80's tinged synth pop formed from Craiglist

I normally would have said Saint Motel in a landslide, but Noga actually intrigues me a little bit.  Her tunes keep popping up in my feed after doing this year's listening, and I dig it.

6:30
T-Mobile (6:30)Geese: Wild NYC art rock with a few too much dissonance for my taste
Tito's (6:30)Fcukers: Sexy electronic dance party
AmEx (6:30)Sofi Tukker: Electronic dance music for the dumbing down of America

Yuck.  I guess its Geese.

7:30
Miller Lite (7:30)Parcels: 70's indebted funky dance pop, but sounds like the live show may just be EDM
Beatbox (7:30)Blood Orange: Bummer R&B crooner over down-tempo synth beats
Snapchat (7:30)The War on Drugs: Top notch indie rock band with a heavy touch of melancholy and classic rock flourishes

War on Drugs!  They sounded fantastic last week at the Bourbon and Beyond festival!

HEADLINERS
Tito's (8:00)Silent Disco
T-Mobile (8:30)The xx: Lovely indie pop that switches between groove and sorrow
AmEx (8:30)Twenty One Pilots: Massive hits with a synth-heavy rap rock thing that seems to have gone out of style

I mean, this goes against so many things that I have written and much of my normal thoughts, but 21 Pilots put on a pretty great show from what I can tell.  I guess I'd go jam out with those weirdos.

ACL 2026: Weekend One: Saturday Schedule and Thoughts

Saturday!  The only announced morning games that day are lame - Navy/ Air Force, Syracuse/UConn - but who knows what you might get by then.  I will be either at the Arkansas/A&M game or at a tailgate nearby it, and dreaming of seeing some of these bands.

I have tried to reduce some of the bloat in these schedule posts so that you can just get the goods. As usual, you can click the name link for each artist below to see my full post on them and find out more about each artist.

Here we go:

12:45 / 1:00 / 1:15
BMI (12:45)FIGHTMASTER: Cool, chill indie rock vibes from an ex-Gray's Anatomy (minor) actor
Tito's (12:45)Left Lucid: More EDM stuff! Woohoo!
T-Mobile (1:00)Night Tapes: Whispery and Falsetto dream pop that is making me insane
AmEx (1:15)Annie DiRusso: The sweet swagger of catchy rock and roll

Straight up, I like Fightmaster a lot.  Their tunes have popped back up in my algorithm since I listened for this project, and they sound really good.  But, also, Annie DiRusso jams.  If I were in the house that early on Sat., then either of those would be really good.  I think DiRusso will be heavier, but both are good.

1:45 / 2:00
Miller Lite (1:45)Temper City: One generic indie pop song, and yet on the 12th line.
BMI (1:45)Emma Ogier: Really nice Americana-ish tunes
Beatbox (2:00)Cure for Paranoia: Up and coming rapper who won the Tiny Desk contest this year
Tito's (2:00)DJ Cassandra: Remixes of other people's music
Snapchat (2:00)Rochelle Jordan: Another R&B singer lady

I would have said Emma Ogier after listening to her, but I have heard that Cure for Paranoia track a few more times on the radio since writing about it, and that dude is catchy as hell.  Either one will be good, if you came to the fest for rap, then you got screwed.

2:30 / 2:45
T-Mobile (2:30)Balu Brigada: Kiwi rockers with a little pop swagger
AmEx (2:45)Finn Wolfhard: Another Stranger Things alum coming to the Fest

Balu is the right choice here.  Finn is fine, but if he wasn't already famous I wouldn't have noticed him.

3:15 / 3:30
Miller Lite (3:15)Arcy Drive: Attic Rock is just another name for garage rock
BMI (3:30)Coleman Jennings: Old school classic country by a young UT student
Beatbox (3:30)Ryan Beatty: A BROCKHAMPTON collaborator making truly pretty indie folk and pop
Tito's (3:15)Don West: Throwback soul from another Aussie
Snapchat (3:30)Skye Newman: Brit R&B Belter following the Winehouse model

Arcy Drive is the buzzy one in this group, that is what I would go see.

4:15 / 4:30
T-Mobile (4:15)Suki Waterhouse: Model and actress who went from forgettable bedroom pop to kinda funky indie pop
Tito's (4:30)Rodrigo y Gabriela: Kings of the flamenco guitar do excellent instrumentals and covers
AmEx (4:30)Young Miko: Puerto Rican reggaeton lady with lots of famous collabs

I think that Suki will draw the bigger crowd, but I think RyG in the Tito's tent sounds like a magical experience.

5:15 / 5:30
Miller Lite (5:15)Snow Strippers: More regular ass EDM
BMI (5:15)Fai Laci: Solid Boston rock band now working with Dan Auerbach
Beatbox (5:30)Palace: Pretty chilled out alt rock that works
Snapchat (5:30)It's Murph: Just in case you wanted more generic EDM, you are in luck!

They have so much EDM that they have to pit them against each other!  Palace is probably the more popular of these two rock bands, but I really liked the Fai Laci sound and would go to hear them do the "Elephant" song.

6:15 / 6:30
T-Mobile (6:15)Bleachers: Pop mastermind churning out eighties inspired pop bangers and some filler
Beatbox (6:30)YØU$UK€ YUK1MAT$U: As far as I can tell, just a mixtape of other people's tunes
AmEx (6:30)Lola Young: Strong voiced Brit singing hard-edged and confessional pop

This is a rude conflict.  Move Bleachers to the next hour so that everyone can see both Lola Young and Bleachers!  That is how this should work.  Because the next hour is a wasteland.  Forced to choose, I'm going Bleachers, but I think Young is going to be a great show.

7:15 / 7:30
Miller Lite (7:15)Levity: More dubstep EDM smush
Beatbox (7:30)fakemink: Very bad rap over EDM-ish beats
Snapchat (7:30)Lykke Li: An under-the-radar-feeling pop artist with some downbeat tunes

[shudders] uh, yeah, ummmmm, I guess I'd go to Levity and drop a bunch of acid and tear my Achilles by jumping over people and ruining everyone else's time by yelling about them being industry plants?  I sure sound like fun, don't I?

HEADLINERS
Tito's (8:00)Silent Disco
T-Mobile (8:15)Lorde: "Royals" and all downhill from there...
AmEx (8:30)RÜFÜS DU SOL: Good dance house tunes from Sydney

Yeah, it's Rufus for me, but that is like if you asked me whether I would like to break my thumb or my nose.  But at least I could stay way in the back of Rufus and chat with friends while we vaguely bob our heads to the sweet beats.