With ace sets from Chappell Roan, Dua Lipa, Reneé Rapp, the ACL pop girlie takeover is on

It’s hard to believe, in this year of our Lord 2024, as pop girlies dominate mainstream radio, the entire damn country is “HOT TO GO” and Dua Lipa levitated through a spectacular headline set on Saturday night of the Austin City Limits Music Festiva l, that less than a decade ago (male) people actually claimed that it was unwise to put female artists at the top of festival lineups because they couldn’t move enough tickets. Young readers, they said these things with straight faces. They were not embarrassed. Even though then, as now, women constitute half the population on the planet.

Well, consider that glass ceiling cracked open. The biggest obstacle the massive crowd of people making their way across the field at Zilker Park faced as they rushed to stake out a spot for the Albanian-British sensation’s set on the skyline stage on Saturday was the massive crowd of people at the T-Mobile stage watching pop breakout Reneé Rapp .

On Sunday, the Pink Pony Club showed up for Chappell Roan's set in such massive numbers that rap/R&B dude mike., played to the smallest crowd we've ever seen (even at gate time) on the opposite side of the park . After the Midwestern Princess played, fans streamed out on both sides of the park, leaving the field half full for headline sets by Tyler, the Creator and Sturgill Simpson . This is not your grandma's pop music. Today's synth queens are using pop to explore complex relationship dynamics, to claim their sexuality and to put you in your feelings on the dance floor.

Here are some of the pop girlies who ruled the field at ACL Fest, plus a crew of women who rock thrown in for good measure.

Chappell Roan

White and red rhinestone chaps. Like Westward Expansion, half of Austin came out to see Chappell Roan in a great migration saddled up on pink ponies instead of mustangs . Pink cowboy hats galore, too. She teased a new song, everyone did the “HOT TO GO!” dance, and the set was a definite “femininomenon.” — Mars Salazar

Dua Lipa

The Albanian British, pop sensation dropped a staggering hit parade — “One Kiss” into “Illusion” into “Break My Heart” into “Levitating.” The crowd screamed the “Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeahs” on the latter song as a spiraling galaxy of lights played across the screen behind her and the night's first round of fireworks lit up the sky.

“There’s not a song that’s not a (expletive) banger,” the guy standing next to me remarked.

He was not wrong.

Beyond the songs themselves, the level of production was outstanding. Every track was executed with the kind of advanced choreography you’d expect from an awards show performance or a Vegas residency. Of course she ended the set on “Houdini” and it was a fitting conclusion. Magic was certainly made. — Deborah Sengupta Stith

Reneé Rapp

Walking out in a white collared shirt that read "BLEACH BLONDE BAD BUILT BUTCH" behind a skinny black tie, lesbian pop icon Reneé Rapp commanded the stage from the very start.

Despite the drama and emotion her songs inspire, Rapp's 40-minute set had an undeniable undercurrent of fun. Rapp engaged the audience from the start, opening with "Talk Too Much," a glorious, self-deprecating single about an overthinking spiral in an otherwise wonderful relationship (told in painfully relatable detail) off her first album. She gestured for them to sing along with her — something she did in almost every song. And they did, jumping and dancing as she twirled across the stage to their delight. She and her band experimented with new sounds and new keys. Rapp’s vocals, as always, did not disappoint. This is a truly incredible act, not one to miss. — Lily Kepner

Empress Of

“I see we got the Pink Pony Club here,” Honduran-American singer Lorely Rodriguez observed, christening Sunday’s American Express stage action.

She meant there were about three dozen pink hats camped early for Chappell Roan.

Rodriguez goes by Empress Of and is a longtime electro pop blog favorite who has sang on all sorts of cool songs by producers like Dom Dolla and Jungle.

“I want a Latine person to cook for me and take me to the movies,” she sang on “Femenine.” It’s a celebration of desires—and gender neutrality.

So fit right in, singing thumping club bangers and owning the catwalk.

“You guys are so cute. I need a pink hat,” she said. “I feel very warm and accepted.”

Consider the Chappell stans won over. — Ramon Ramirez

Kehlani

Real talk: I was a little worried about Kehlani. She was programmed on the opposite side of the field from both festival supernova Chappell Roan and the artist whose fan base was in most natural alignment with her own, Tyler, the Creator. An hour before go time, only a sparse scattering of fans gathered around her stage. But halfway through Chappell's set, a steady stream of melanated fest-goers abandoned the Pink Pony Club in search of steamy R&B.

How steamy was it? When Kehlani's dance team wasn't bringing the stage to life with acrobatic flair, they wound their bodies suggestively. On the track "8," which is about neither mathematics or culinary delights, the simulated seduction was so graphic your correspondent (who has seen some things) blushed.

But the set wasn't just about nasty dancing. Kehlani's live band rocked much harder than you'd expect an R&B/pop act to. On the bridge of "Distraction" she arched her back, leaning on her guitarist as he screeched under her crushed velvet vocal temptation. Friends, there was a guitar vs. keytar duel. Kehlani reminded us that the last time she played the fest was an early afternoon set in 2016. She's clearly matured into a late night act. — Deborah Sengupta Stith

The Beaches

The Beaches, four besties (and two sisters) from Toronto with designer sunglasses and killer style, electrified the Saturday afternoon set at Austin City Limits Music Festival.

Never, ever have I seen a band that is just so cool. The indie rock group has carved out a niche of unapologetic confidence and edge embodied by their on-stage swagger, expert playing and smart lyrics. They lean into the vulnerability and angst of being young queer women in a way that’s far more sexy than sad.

"Whenever you're creating art, you're usually making it for yourself. You're making it because ... you have something to say," Miller told the Statesman before the band's set. "As a group of strong young women, we definitely wish and hope that our songs and our message resonate with other young people and other queer people."

This was one of the best sets I saw ACL. They have the sass of Chappell Roan and the cutting rock and edge of the Rolling Stones (who they opened for, by the way). They replace glossy pop with punchy poignant lyrics. They are, I would bet, the next big thing. — Lily Kepner

Say She She

This year’s mid-afternoon disco break comes courtesy of this transatlantic trio. On wax, their tightly woven harmonies seem almost a little too polished, but live, they play with joyous exuberance. We messed up weekend one and didn't make it to their stage until their were closing with a shimmery update of the Jackson Sisters’ 1976 classic “I Believe in Miracles.” We won't make the same mistake on weekend two. — Deborah Sengupta Stith

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: With ace sets from Chappell Roan, Dua Lipa, Reneé Rapp, the ACL pop girlie takeover is on