KING PRINCESS AND DAYGLOW PLAY STUBBS AT AUSTIN CITY LIMITS

Kicking off Austin City Limits Weekend Two was a great double at Stubb’s BBQ’s Outdoor Stage. The weather was still hot and humid from last weekend’s festivities and the music from the stage matched the temperature. The show not only was an official ACL Late Night Show, but also a benefit for the Waterloo Greenway here in Austin.

The night kicked off with local rock band Dayglow. The five piece played a no frills half hour set, at times mixing some Talking Heads vibes with Future Islands guitar riffs and beats. The crowd thrust a lot of cheers and dance moves towards the band. They couldn’t have been happier to be on the bill, thanking King Princess a few times. They played a fitting cover of “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” in the back half of their set, making it sound like the song was truly theirs as it really fit in with everything else they had played.

Dayglow

Following their set as King Princess’s stage was being set up, all of a sudden a member of her team came on and said they had a special surprise for the crowd. With that Mars the Drag Queen, a local Austin talent, took to the stage and proceeded to do a two song drag show, getting the crowd to shower her with love. Mars also thanked King Princess, but it wasn’t only for having her out, but for championing the LGBTQ+ community endlessly.

Mars the Drag Queen

The lights went out a few minutes later and King Princess’s band took the stage and the crowd waited in eager anticipation for their queen to come out. She soon did, dancing around the stage before settling to her piano and seriously belting out her song. Having never seen King Princess before it truly is remarkable how great her voice is. I was even more taken aback once she told the crowd how she was under the weather. If this was her not at full strength I cannot even imagine how impressive she is as a performer when she is at 100 percent.

King Princess

Throughout the evening she switched from the piano to the guitar to pure front woman. Even when she was sitting down with the piano she could barely stop moving. It was almost as if she stopped at any moment she would explode. While she may not have exploded, some of her songs certainly did. During “Talia” the crowd sang back the song so loud it was as if we were in a stadium with the swelling of noise.

King Princess

King Princess is definitely a rising star and to catch her at a fairly intimate show seems special. You can always tell when an artist is about to take that next step and I think this album cycle is going to be the one for her. The evening ended with a flurry of noise as her band let it all hang out and finally King Princess tossing her guitar through the drum kit and a final thank you to the crowd. If you can make this upcoming tour of hers, don’t sleep on it as it’s only going up from here.