The first weekend of the 2024 Austin City Limits Music Festival was full of energy — but a few performances stood out among the rest.

Us weekly were out in (cowboy) boots at Zilker Park in Austin, Texas from Friday, October 4th to Sunday, October 6th to sing and dance with some of the festival’s biggest names – and even with to speak to them. Yes, Chappell Roan returned to the stage after dropping out of the All Things Go festival weeks earlier, drawing probably the weekend’s biggest daytime crowd, but many more artists won Us also over.

Orville PeckFor one, he returned to the ACL stage for the first time since 2019. The country crooner, known for his deep voice and trademark masks, stole the show on Sunday for both longtime fans and newcomers to his music.

“I love playing at a festival because my favorite thing is winning people over. People who may have the wrong idea about country music,” Peck, 36, said Us before going on stage. “People who might have the wrong idea about my mask and the way I present myself, or just people who don’t know who I am at all. That’s my favorite thing – having people at the end. This is the best.”

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All eyes will be on Austin City Limits as the festival kicks off its two-week run – but who are the biggest names performing? The 2024 lineup includes a diverse mix of artists, from pop superstars to indie darlings. Months before the festival, Chappell Roan caused a stir by moving their performances from Saturday to (…).

He wasn’t the only ACL artist keeping festival-goers on their toes. Keep scrolling for a breakdown of Weekend 1’s standouts:

Hudson Westbrook

The aspiring country artist drew Us with his early afternoon appearance at the Honda stage on Friday. Though he’s only released a handful of songs — his most recent single, “Dopamine,” came out in September — Westbrook’s feel-good vibe and cover quickly won over audiences Taylor Swiftis the classic “You Belong With Me”. With his final song, “5 to 9,” Westbrook got everyone ready to make two stops for the rest of the festival.

Promote people

The indie-pop icons served up a healthy dose of their biggest hits – from “Sit Next to Me” to “Houdini” – mixed with a few standout tracks from their latest record, Paradise state of mind, which fell this summer. The band’s performance ended with the song that started it all: “Pumped Up Kicks.” Frontman Mark Foster had the whole of Zilker Park jumping and singing along, giving the excitement of the Glastonbury Festival a fighting chance.

Fletcher

The women took charge of the ACL all weekend, but Fletcher started strong on Friday. She opened her performance on the IHG Hotels & Resorts stage with “Sting” and rocked out throughout her performance, playing all the hits. Of course, “All Love” and “Becky’s So Hot” were also included.

Fletcher took the stage in a leather jacket over denim shorts and a sheer bodysuit, but as the Texas heat got to her, the singer shed the coat so she could hop on stage more comfortably. It was clear that Fletcher was having as much fun on stage with her band as the audience watching them.

Something corporate

They’re back and better than ever. After which singer Andrew McMahon called a “20-year” break, the five-member group – with William Tell, Kevin “Clutch” page, Josh Partington And Brian Ireland – brought a setlist to the Honda stage on Saturday that made the OG fans very happy. McMahon even found a way to record the nearly ten-minute 2000 song “Konstantine,” which was a given for the band. (“It’s a requirement,” Tell joked Us after Something Corporate’s performance.)

While some of their favorite songs have changed over the years, one thing is certain: these five belong on the same stage together.

Benson Boone

Boone drew one of the largest crowds of the weekend on Saturday when he took the Honda stage in a striking red jumpsuit made especially for the occasion. Boone represented Austin on his back, embodying the spirit of the late rocker Freddie Mercurywho captivates the audience with his ambitious acrobatics and his soulful lyrics. Finally, he tried to beat the heat by going shirtless – “I’m not taking my pants off either, I’m just loosening my belt,” he teased after cutting off his top – and rocketed through the highest notes of his breakthrough hit , “Beautiful Things.”

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Renee Rapp

Rapp knows how to work an audience (and a camera), but when the singer took the T-Mobile stage Saturday night, there was a different kind of excitement in the air. When it comes to creating a setlist, no one does it as well as Rapp. She played upbeat tracks like “Pretty Girls” alongside downtempo tracks like “In the Kitchen,” which left concertgoers “depressed as hell” — her words, not ours.

Rapp ended her set with a breathtaking rendition of “Snow Angel” and signed off with her signature taunt. “Be sweet, be safe, do bad things,” she advised.

Dua Lipa

Although it’s no surprise Us The British pop star went above and beyond when the ACL headliners conquered the stage when she rocked the American Express stage at the end of the celebrations on Saturday evening.

With one performance after another, Lipa proved that the training season is indeed over. She warmed up the weekend’s sweatiest crowd with standout songs from her discography, from “One Kiss” and “Levitating” to “Cold Heart” and “Physical.” And yes, the “Houdini” dance break was included.

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Medium build

Sunday afternoon started with a high Us on the Miller Lite stage when Medium Build walked out wearing a cowboy hat and was greeted by an enthusiastic group of fans dressed as bananas. Singer Nick Carpenter exuded charisma as he ran through his powerful setlist, including “Crying Over U,” “Never Learned to Dance,” and new single “Triple Marathon.” He even brought the audience to a cathartic scream and shouted a sweet greeting to a puppy in need of a forever home – that’s star power.

Orville Peck

The mysterious masked cowboy was red hot on the Honda stage, bringing an electrifying energy to the end of the first weekend. From die-hard fans to new converts, the entire audience was mesmerized by Peck’s deep, drawling voice, which he showcased on “Big Sky,” “No Glory in the West” and the emotional “Hexie Mountains.” He sat down at the piano to play a love song for truckers (“Drive Me, Crazy”), hinting at his ties to the Texas legend Willie Nelson before we get into “Cowboys often and secretly love each other.” (Nelson was not present at Peck’s ACL performance, but appears on his album Stampede.) Most importantly, Peck remembered Us his one essential rule: It’s okay to cry.