“Austin, how the fuck we feeling, baby?”
Unlike the viral meme of John Summit uttering a tired version of the phrase to a crowd in Miami, the former accountant turned DJ brought a vigorous, bass-whomping set to close out Austin City Limits Festival Weekend One. With massive plumes of fire, strobing white lights, frenetic blue lasers and flashing trippy visuals, attendees saw Summit turn the T-Mobile stage into his own action movie.
The Chicago-born DJ’s Sunday night set included a version of Kesha’s “Die Young,” with a sped-up Kesha repeating, “let’s make the most of the night like we’re going to die young.” Later came his famous remixed track, “Sweet Disposition” by The Temper Trap.
“Victory Lap” by Fred again.., Skepta, and PlaqueBoyMax became a popular choice for DJ sets at ACL. The repetitive “I need that, I need that, I need that” rapped by Doechii mixed with a hypnotizing thrumming bass proved an instant dance classic.
Right when there was a lull during “Silence,” he gave the crowd whiplash by pulling out drum and bass — the stage exploding in fizzy sparks as volcanic fire lights strobed in every direction.
Summit’s backup dancers paraded behind him, effortlessly catching the rhythm with light choreography. He toed the line between grimy dark techno and dubstep remixes, playing an unreleased anthem.
“She stopped drinking diet coke, she on that coke diet,” played the track, a line sampled from the 2008 track “Everyone Nose” by N.E.R.D.
The DJ brought out singer HAYLA for “Where You Are” and “Shiver,” the futuristic tracks igniting dancing across the sprawling crowd. Summit flashed a wild grin as he complimented Austin’s energy.
He synced his music with visuals of himself walking in and out of a white clay house in the desert, falling through black space, and appearing in a glitchy video of him standing in front of black graffiti. Summit then ripped off his black wife-beater and climbed atop his DJ set with arms outstretched toward the night before launching into a deep, gritty, hard-hitting “Go Back (feat. Julia Church).”
Closing out with the same song he opened with, he paired “crystallized (ft. Inéz)” with matching pyrotechnics and strobing lights as the crowd united and danced in pure bliss and harmony.
