Pop rocker Alanis Morissette scored some of the 90s’ biggest hits. Niall Horan, once of One Direction fame, grew up in the 90s. But both artists hit ACL’s American Express stage this weekend, and The Daily Texan thinks “You Oughta Know” about their performances.
Alanis Morissette
As golden hour arrived Saturday, Alanis Morissette transported a packed crowd back to the 90s and the height of her alternative pop rock career. The Jagged Little Pill hitmaker darted across the stage, harmonica in hand, throughout her hour-long set, proving there’s nothing ‘Ironic’ about Morissette’s lasting influence three decades after her Grammy-winning album’s release.
The Canadian singer made a grand entrance after a five-minute retrospective montage featuring lighthearted moments such as carpool karaoke appearances, covers of her hit songs and even the voices of skeptics from the start of her career. At 21, Morissette made waves as the then-youngest artist to win Album of the Year in 1996.
Morissette pleased the audience filled with older festival goers, 90s kids and young fans alike, with tracks including “Head Over Feet” and the hard-rocking “You Oughta Know.”
In a flowy white button-up top, black leather pants and casual Adidas sneakers, Alanis dressed ready for a rapid-fire performance, which exercised every part of the 49-year-old’s impressively intact vocal range.
While in Austin, she also filmed her first-ever ACL TV appearance, which will air as part of the show’s 49th season.
Niall Horan
Many fans likely left Niall Horan’s late Sunday afternoon show with a headache — not because he didn’t deliver an incredible performance but because of die-hard fans’ piercing screams. The 30-year-old’s ACL appearance solidified Horan as an act of his own, escaping the shadow of the viral boy band which first earned him fame.
“I’m glad you guys took the time to come and watch me out of all the artists on this property,” Horan said. “It’s the last day of Austin City Limits. … I’m gonna need your loudest singing, all your energy. … Give me everything you’ve got.”
Horan’s upbeat 14-song set included tracks from his most recent album, The Show, along with his first two solo records, and even 1D’s “Story of My Life,” plus a spot-on cover of “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears. Teasing the crowd before starting to play the One Direction hit, he told the audience he wrote the upcoming song last week, before the melody began and the crowd quickly realized the song proved to be the oldest in Horan’s song vault. Throughout the show, fans responded to Horan with the same barking noises typical of former bandmate Harry Styles’ shows.
Dressed in a gray ensemble with “The Show” sewn on the back of his top, the Irish singer joked of Austin’s weather.
“I realized last week that it was so hot — today’s hot again — but apparently it’s nowhere near as hot as what it’s usually like here,” he said.
The “Slow Hands” hitmaker gave Texas a “yee-haw,” sharing his love for the Lone Star State, with one band member even flashing a “hook ‘em.” Horan branded Sunday an “Irish takeover” at ACL, as Hozier would follow Horan on the American Express stage. Fans even spotted the artists together at a local pub Saturday watching Ireland’s rugby match.
With his microphone wrapped around his neck and his “sun cream” wiping off, Horan ended his set by inviting the crowd to buy tickets for his Moody Center show next August. With not a cloud in the sky, Horan’s set felt like a beach party that no one, including Horan himself, wanted to end.
