I promise you I did it all. From barricading for hours, visiting lounges for freebies and air-conditioned bathrooms to seeing so many artists in one day, they all blur together. Despite it being my first time going to ACL, I learned a lot about festival culture, and what I loved and hated about it.
- You don’t know the artist, who cares? dance anyway
-
Barricade warriors, I know you’re suffering. Waiting for one artist and acting like the fun doesn’t start until they come on. I don’t believe this is what ACL was meant for. You’re there to not only listen to your beloved artists but also discover new ones as well. Appreciate all the artists who walk onto your stage, and give them the energy they deserve! While barricading for Hozier, I got to listen and discover others like King Princess and even fall in love with new artists such as Role Model. Many of these artists have one famous song that everyone waits for, and up until that song is played, they stand in one place, bored. However, if you listen and engage with the audience around you, your barricade experience will be way more memorable. Personally, I discovered how much I liked Role Model’s energy and other songs from Kansas Anymore, that have since been on repeat: “Writing’s on the wall,” “Look at that woman,” “Scumbag”, and “Slipfast,” I don’t know why I’m listing; the whole album has been on repeat.
- Make friends with your fellow campers
-
I did this at every concert, and it came in handy later! When I first got to the line outside of the ACL entrance at 9 a.m., I was practically adopted by a group of lovely girls with whom my friend and I spent the whole day at the barricades. We kept an eye on one another and did a rotation, allowing us to go use the bathroom and get food. I felt supported and made the whole process a lot safer! I also became friends with a girl at the Hozier barricades that I ran into the next day at Djo, along with friends of a friend. Together, we went on a journey to get as close to Djo as possible, and according to my camera roll, it worked out pretty well. We also all rushed to Sabrina’s set afterward, holding each other’s hands in the crowd to eventually scream and dance to our favorite Sabrina songs together.
- take care of those around you
-
There’s a competitive nature at festivals. Everyone wants to get as close as possible at the expense of others. Knowing that once you leave your spot, you may not be able to get back, stops people from leaving to get water or food. This leads to a lot of people passing out, so I ask, take care of those around you. At the end of the day, y’all are all in one place for the love of an artist. Make sure you all make it to that moment when they come out feeling good and ready. Fan others, offer to save their spots while they go get stuff for themselves, and pass that whole box of water to the crowd of people behind you.
We all want to have a great time at ACL, and I wish certain things could change about its social environment. So please, dance to the artists you don’t know a single song from, speak to people around you instead of treating them as competitors, and last of all, take care of each other because at the end of the day, we all share the same appreciation for music, and that shared joy shouldn’t translate into something negative.