Hundreds gathered at ACL to watch alt-pop princess Suki Waterhouse take the Miller Lite stage on Sunday, enjoying a set filled with dreamy tracks from the charismatic singer. However, even more watched Waterhouse’s ACL set from home — thanks to TouringSuki, an Instagram account dedicated to all things Waterhouse live.
With concert tickets becoming harder and harder to get in the age of scalpers and bots, many online fandoms started getting creative in keeping up with their favorite artists’ tours. Over the last year, TouringSuki became more than an update account, fostering community between fans of Waterhouse and the artist herself, bringing people together through live music.
“I was on Twitter and I noticed that a lot of the same people that I was interacting with were Suki fans,” said Amanda Federico, founder of the account. “(I thought I should) create one main thing where we can all go and find information about Suki.”
Federico, based out of Houston, said she aims to cover each of Waterhouse’s live shows on the account; followers volunteer to “take over” the account for shows they plan on attending. This entails showing up early for better views, updating setlists and answering questions sent in from other followers. Abbey Sobelman, who attends many concerts in her free time, said she offered to cover ACL for TouringSuki as a veteran festival goer.
“Some people have questions, people who might not be at festivals very often or who haven’t seen Suki before and want to know what’s going on,” Sobelman said. “(The takeovers are for) answering questions for people, keeping people updated for fun and sharing Suki with the world.”
Arriving at Zilker Park five hours before Waterhouse’s set to secure a spot at the front, running the ACL takeover made the camping experience especially fun, Sobelman said.
“My favorite thing (about concerts) is always to meet new people and get to know people that have similar interests as me,” Sobelman said. “Getting to do the takeover and getting to talk to people is so much fun for me.”
Waterhouse and members of her band follow the account, frequently reposting and sharing content made by Federico and the several volunteers who host takeovers. Miki Keeran, who designs the graphics for the account, said Waterhouse’s support of her work on the account empowers her.
“It’s surreal. (Suki is) one of the first artists who recognized my work and recognized the effort and the talent and whatnot that went into creating it,” Keeran said. “It really affirms what I’m doing and that I’m going in the right path if someone that I look up to is also looking at my work and saying it’s good.”
Since starting the account, Federico has met Waterhouse several times, even receiving song dedications from the artist at various shows. Waterhouse’s embracement of the account and the fans who work on it facilitates a unique connection, Federico said.
“Suki has greeted me with the same amount of energy, the same amount of love each time,” Federico said. “I knew that other people don’t have that opportunity and I just wanted more people to have this clear connection to Suki.”
