What to see Sunday at ACL Fest

MARS SALAZAR'S PICKS

1:30 p.m. West 22nd (Tito’s): Interested in hearing the new young sound coming out of UT Austin’s West Campus? Check out fledgling student band West-22nd, who are making waves among college kids with fresh-faced, boy band indie rock.

2:45 p.m. Flipturn (American Express): Flipturn sounds like the lovechild of The Lumineers’ soft-folk sensibilities and 2010’s indie rock melodies. Vocalist Dillon Basse is a powerhouse of emotional range throughout the band's three EPs which culminated in the powerful album “Shadowglow,” with an accompanying Audiotree Live session in 2022.

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4:25 p.m. Orville Peck (Honda): South African country musician Orville Peck plans to never show his face publicly, luchador style. Originally the drummer of Canadian punk band Nü Sensae, Peck recently released a cover of Ned Sublette’s “Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Other” with Willie Nelson. This marked the lead single of his 2024 third album “Stampede,” composed of duets from Elton John, Kylie Minogue, Teddy Swims (performing at ACL Fest on Saturday at the Honda stage), and Dripping Springs-formed Midland.

5:45 p.m. Kevin Abstract (IHG): Born in Corpus Christi, Clifford Ian Simpson a.k.a. Kevin Abstract is a rapper and founding member of the acclaimed San Marcos-founded rap collective BROCKHAMPTON, which disbanded in 2022. Since then, he was a consultant on Season 2 of HBO’s “Euphoria” and released his fourth studio album “Blanket” in 2023 through RCA Records.

6:45 p.m. Chappell Roan (American Express): Obviously. Chappell Roan has been cemented as the rising star of the moment. She's gone viral many times over. With the “HOT TO GO!” dance sweeping social media, she pulled the largest daytime crowd at Lollapalooza in early August. Hype surrounds what onstage outfit she will choose for her Lone Star State performance, with hopes that it’s western themed. Hype also surrounds the performance itself. My advice: get a spot early and plan to stay a while. That crowd will be as thick as a Dairy Queen blizzard and won’t budge for hours as Chappell preludes the headline rapper.

8:45 p.m. Tyler, the Creator (American Express): Tyler, the Creator is a bona fide entertainment mogul: the Cali-born rapper founded his own clothing brand (GOLF WANG) in 2011, starred in his own TV show (Loiter Squad) with his crew from 2012 to 2014 and created his own rap ensemble (Odd Future) in 2011, that morphed into a record label. He is about to make his silver screen debut in a Safdie-directed A24 film alongside Timothée Chalamet and Gwenyth Paltrow. Oh yeah—and he also makes music: six critically acclaimed studio albums, one EP, one mixtape, and 32 singles. At 33 years old, @feliciathegoat is a cultural phenomenon, shaping the style and sound of this generation. This is a coveted chance to catch Tyler, the Creator live, considering his performances at Chicago’s Lollapalooza and San Francisco’s Outside Lands were canceled due to a busy schedule.

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RAMON RAMIREZ'S PICKS

3:25 p.m. Vlad Holiday (BMI): The veteran New York songwriter and former singer of indie band Born Cages is thriving in solo mode. His new forlorn single “I Don’t Wanna Party Anymore” features former ACL headliner, Kacey Musgraves. He can croon over reverb better than most indie sleaze frontmen.

3:45 p.m. Bakar (T-Mobile): I read a blog in late 2023 about Bakar single “Right Here, For Now.” When I shared year-end lists with friends, this London singer was the only throughline. The short guitar pop song is snappy, romantic, fuzzy. The cymbals are perfectly recorded. The lyrics are playful but stoic. And you’re telling me he’s got other songs? Let’s go watch him respond to the buzz.

5:45 p.m. That Mexican OT (T-Mobile): Let’s hear it for 25-year-old rapper Virgil René Gazca, here for a victory lap. The double-timing Texas original from Bay City isn’t just a Chingo Bling-esque character here to be outlandish in a cowboy hat and grill. He’s a tongue-twisting rapper who can go bar-for-bar with most Houston legends. And has.

6:45 p.m. Chappell Roan (American Express): The pop megastar weaves rock elements from Fleetwood Mac, mid-2000s emo, Toni Basil’s “Mickey,” Jack Antonoff’s synth work on Taylor Swift’s “Midnights,” and a gushing, bratty heart. This has made the 26-year-old artist born Kayleigh Rose Amstutz bigger than ACL. They play “HOT TO GO” at Longhorn football games now. Its infectious choreography and undeniable pop alchemy jolt UT’s lifeless September blowouts into action. And as I write this, people on the internet are mad at her for not endorsing a presidential candidate. It’s her moment, we’re just lucky to have a wristband.

8:25 p.m. Sturgill Simpson (Honda): I love that the outlaw country singer is vocal and thorny. Like when he emailed a New York Times reporter to diss a more commercially successful colleague and didn’t realize that “off the record” wasn’t really a thing. Or the expansive, cross-genre albums served with an “It’s not that deep” wink. Like that his bluegrass album is called "Cuttin’ Grass." Or his song about astrology: “Mercury’s in retrograde again. But at least it’s not just hanging around, pretending to be my friend.” He’s a wordsmith with a beautiful voice who loves to tinker in the garage.

DEBORAH SENGUPTA STITH'S PICKS

1:15 p.m. Empress Of (American Express): On “For Your Consideration,” Honduran American singer-songwriter Lorely Rodriguez uses glitchy electronic grooves, ethereal vocals in English and Spanish and singalong hooks to build a poignant meditation on messy love.

2:45 p.m. Glass Beams (Tito’s): The mysterious trio plays a shimmery mesh of Eastern sounds and desert psychedelia, inspired, in part, by a DVD of the 2002 “Concert For George,” a posthumous tribute to the most transcendental Beatle, that Indian Australian multi-instrumentalist and producer Rajan Silva watched on a loop with his father as a child.

3:45 p.m. Myles Smith (IHG): It makes sense that the British pop breakout just landed a gig opening for Ed Sheeran. His hit single “Stargazing” has the same “about to be on all your friends’ wedding playlists” quality as Sheeran’s most heart-tugging ditties.

7:25 p.m. Kehlani (Miller Lite) Poor Kehlani. Somehow stranded on the wrong side of the field as an opener for (checks notes) Sturgill Simpson, while her natural fanbase gets “HOT TO GO” before Tyler’s set. If you prefer the heat of simmering soul pop, you will probably have plenty of room for an “After Hours” get down with your boo.

8:45 p.m. Tyler, the Creator (American Express): The rapper/singer/sonic wizard’s transformation from misogynist and homophobic teen provocateur to creator of complex and gorgeous love songs (and occasional kisser of boys) is one of the most fascinating stories in modern music history.