10 Ways ACL Weekend Two Was Different

Historically, the second weekend of a music festival double-header is always better for myriad reasons. Weekend One fest-goers will probably be quick to disagree, but my observation is grounded in experience – I’ve attended every double weekend of Coachella and Austin City Limits since their expansions (in 2012 and 2013, respectively). 

Each year, a similar narrative plays out: celebrities and looky-loos flood the first weekend hoping to stake an “I saw it first” claim. They believe their weekend is where the party’s at, though most of them -- especially at Coachella -- lounge around at some offsite house party for most of each day, then mosey in for a couple headliners, imposing a suddenly claustrophobic air on those who’ve stuck it out all day. After all, if you’re wealthy, what does it matter how much you dropped on premium entry just to see two or three bands? The artists know this (if they’re smart), and often turn in somewhat duller sets for those more ambivalent patrons. 

Then Weekend Two rolls around and the vibe shifts dramatically: the “scene” crowd largely thins, the bands become more comfortable (they’ve already had a dress rehearsal to boot), and what culminates is a festival full of real music fans -- people who went broke buying passes, who will put up with the elements all day sans complaints, who will wait countless hours in the sun at a barricade to see their favorite acts and leave with the unassailably euphoric feeling that the whole three-day endeavor was curated just for them. That experience has been periodically magnified when an artist takes advantage of their encore appearance by making drastic changes (for example: the Weeknd bringing out Kanye Westfor a surprise mini-set during Coachella’s second go-round earlier this year), but most shows are perfectly mirrored.