Grading Austin City Limits Best Performances, From Jay-Z to Chance the Rapper

Last weekend, I headed to Austin, TX with RedBullTV to attend the first round of Austin City Limits. Rather than boring you with a straightforward account of the festival and what Austin is like (it’s a vibe), how many flower crowns I saw (not as many as Coachella, tbh), or how many wasted people I witnessed attempting to rap along with Jay-Z and completely blowing it, I’ll give you what you want—footage of performances. But, there’s a twist: I’ll also be “grading” them based on three different factors:

1. The artist's stage presence.
2. The crowd's level of turntness.
3. Audience size.

Solange

Queen Solo performed tracks from last year's A Seat at the Table as well as 2012's True and, let’s be honest, artists with more stage presence than Solange are few and far between. GODDESS VIBES.

1. Artist's stage presence: 5/5
2. Crowd's level of turntness: 4/5
3. Audience size: 4/5

Jay-Z

Hov gave the people of ACL what they wanted: The classics. Whether it was “H to the Izzo," “Empire State of Mind," or “U Don’t Know,” the crowd was LOVING it. The only time he lost them? When he switched to less popular tracks like “Beach is Better” or “The Story of O.J.”— are we really that surprised though?

1. Artist's stage presence: 5/5
2. Crowd's level of turntness: 3/5 (5/5 when classics were played.)
3. Audience size: 5/5

Russ

I was really excited to see Russ and so was ALL OF ACL, apparently. Jesus, dude brings out a crowd. My sister, who doesn’t know a thing about music, is now a Russ fan and texted me the next day to ask, “What’s that guy’s name that was singing ‘you got me going psycho.’”

1. Artist's stage presence: 3/5
2. Crowd's level of turntness: 4/5
3. Audience size: 7/5 (IT WAS SO PACKKKKED—DUDE NEEDS A BIGGER STAGE NEXT YEAR.)

Ice Cube

There’s an authenticity to Cube that I’ve literally never seen before (and I’ve been to a lot of shows). He exudes confidence and control— he commands the stage— the entire audience can tell he’s 100% in his element. Bonus points for him performing “You Can Do It.”

1. Artist's stage presence: 6/5
2. Crowd's level of turntness: 5/5
3. Audience size: 4/5

A$AP Ferg

No one quite turns up a crowd like the Hood Pope—people go soooo hard for him (including myself.) Bonus points for literally stopping the show for a RedBull athlete to flip over him.

1. Artist's stage presence: 5/5
2. Crowd's level of turntness: 6/5
3. Audience size: 4/5

Chance the Rapper

ACL LOVES Chance—he was, by far, the artist people were most excited to see on Saturday. The highlight of his set? A mini tribute to Kanye. He performed “Waves”, “Father Stretch My Hands”, and “Ultralight Beam” — the crowd (including me) lost it (and loved it.)

1. Artist's stage presence: 5/5
2. Crowd's level of turntness: 5/5
3. Audience size: 6/5 (Main stage next year, ACL?)

Run the Jewels

This was my first RTJ concert—and three minutes into their set I text a co-worker saying, “Damn, RTJ is lit.” They were fun, commanded the stage, and people were really fucking with them. Hi, new fan here.

1. Artist's stage presence: 5/5
2. Crowd's level of turntness: 4/5
3. Audience size: 5/5

The Killers

The first thing I did when I was invited to ACL was Google the lineup—the minute I saw The Killers were headlining I was in (I stan them) but was a litttttle nervous they would only perform their new album. Let’s be honest, when you go to a Killers show, what do you want to hear? THE HITS, DUH. They delivered. Thank you Brandon, ILYSM.

1. Artist's stage presence: 5/5
2. Crowd's level of turntness: 5/5 (10/5 during “All These Things That I’ve Done” and “Mr. Brightside”)
3. Audience size: 6/5

Music festivals are funny— you never know what you’re going to get. Artists are artists and performances are performances, but the crowds and vibes are always very different depending on where it's happening. ACL’s very chill — less of a production than, say, Coachella. Additionally, performances are over by 10:00 PM, a.k.a. you have the entire night to go out in Austin and that in itself is worth a trip to ATX. Recommend, 10/10.