After a jam-packed and blazing first weekend at the 2025 Austin City Limits Festival, The Daily Texan rounded up a list of the top seven moments.
Hilary Duff as Role Model’s “Sally”
Role Model delighted the audience with a surprise appearance by Hilary Duff on Friday at the T-Mobile stage. Duff, best known for her role as Lizzie McGuire, danced onto the stage during the bridge of “Sally, When the Wine Runs Out,” a tradition from his tour where he features a guest on stage as his “Sally.” “This is what dreams are made of,” Role Model hollered as the two frolicked around and embraced.
Cage The Elephant guitar giveaway
After a charged set featuring upside-down mic stands and guitarist Bradley Shultz Jr. jumping the barricade into the crowd, the band closed out the set with a guitar giveaway. After an electric performance of the hit “Come a Little Closer,” Shultz Jr. ripped off his guitar strap and handed the instrument to 19-year-old Alexa Sanchez, who said she planned to keep the guitar in her room as decor.
Empire of the Sun beats the heat with nostalgia
Pink and orange hues cast a soft glow on the Miller Lite stage as the sun slipped into dusk on Friday. The colorful sunset, paired with the upbeat, nostalgic opening synths of “Walking On a Dream,” felt like a cooling douse of alkaline water amid the stifling heat, the strobe lights softened by white smoke and the indelible sway from a dancing crowd.
Hozier calls for compassion and equality
Near the end of a soulful folk-rock set on Friday night, Hozier delivered a five-minute speech in which he asked attendees to exercise all their rights when supporting peace, safety and security for everybody in the Middle East. He also called for a Palestine free from occupation and repeated genocide and a world free from hate against Muslims, Jewish people, immigrants and trans people.
Doechii rips a hole in her pants
Amid a high-energy set filled with explosive rap verses, a sharp stage presence and crowd-lighting twerking, Doechii delivered one of the weekend’s most electric performances Saturday evening. In the middle of her intense routine, the rapper’s energy peaked so high that she accidentally ripped her jeans, presumably in the middle of dropping into a split, eventually joking about it later in the show.
Sabrina Carpenter cuffs Djo
Just after wrapping up his Saturday evening performance at the Lady Bird stage, Djo headed straight to Sabrina Carpenter’s headlining set. Carpenter playfully “cuffed” the musician, marking one of the weekend’s most talked-about crossovers as the two artists shared a lighthearted yet flirtatious moment that delighted the crowd.
John Summit brings drums and bass to ACL
The explosive drums and bass remix of “Silence” sent shockwaves through the already electrified crowd. The pummeling and unforgiving sound converged with massive pyrotechnics and sparkling lightworks that tore through the Sunday night. Fans couldn’t resist the urge to thrash with the whomping subwoofers, causing a ripple effect hundreds of yards from the stage.
