AUSTIN — The first weekend of the 2018 Austin City Limits Music Festival is over and done.
Thousands flocked to Zilker Park for the three-day music festival during the first weekend of October. Some people arrived as early as 11 a.m. on all of the days to catch the early shows and stayed until at least 10 p.m. to catch the last few songs of the headliners.
As in past years, the festival delivered some memorable moments, that will definitely go down in the ACL record books.
1. "Star Wars" sprint
As the tradition goes, the theme song to "Star Wars" signified the opening of the festival. And keeping with the custom, many people ran into the park as soon as they were finished with their security check before sprinting to the stages for the first scheduled performances.
2. Music icon Paul McCartney pulls out what he thinks is the Texas flag, but...Chile
Rock & Roll legend Paul McCartney performed for the first time ever at the ACL Festival Friday, Oct. 8, and many couldn't contain their excitement about the 76-year-old's ability to put on a stellar show, singing hit after hit for more than two hours. It was the sing-along that everybody needed to end out the first day of the 2018 festival, and a few tears weren't out of the question for longtime fans.
So, when the former Beatles and Wings singer, ran across the American Express stage, waving what looked like a Texas flag, many Texans in the audience couldn't help but beam with pride.
And this would have been one of the sweetest moments recorded in ACL history if it weren't tainted by the fact that the flag wasn't the Texas flag. Sorry, Paul.
Actually, you were holding up the Chilean flag, according to multiple reports.
The two flags are annoyingly similar, but Texas differs with its blue bar on the righthand side that extends to the bottom of the flag.
It's okay, Paul. You're forgiven, and you have a week to get the correct one!
3. ACL festival-goers celebrate the fact that OU still sucks
It's not unusual to find music lovers huddled in the Beer Hall at one point or another, watching their favorite sporting events at ACL Festival. And this year, the first weekend of the festival matched up directly with the University of Texas Longhorn's anticipated rivalry game against the University of Oklahoma Sooners.
Thankfully, the Longhorns kept their winning streak going and beat the Sooners at the Cotton Bowl: 48-45.
Cheers of "Texas Fight" and "OU sucks" roared through the beer hall after the nail-biting win.
And if you were caught wearing the enemy jersey, you quickly learned that outfit choice probably wasn't the best idea.
4. Apparently, it was hard to hear the Deftones
ACL Festival-goers blasted social media after a disappointing start to the Deftones show on Saturday, when fans said there were clear audio problems. Some said it was hard to hear the lead guitarist's rifts.
Some fans yelled at the stage, "fix the sound!"
Others commended the band for continuing to rock out, even with the sound issues.
5. If you didn't know, Nelly's ACL Festival performance was a homecoming
While it's a known fact that Nelly has strong connections to St. Louis, Missouri, it may be surprising to learn that the Midwestern city isn't actually his birth city. Did you know that Nelly is actually a native Texan and was born in Austin in 1974?
The "Hot in Herrre" rapper put his Texas connection on full display during his set Saturday on the HomeAway stage, sporting a burnt orange Longhorn jersey the same day UT defeated OU. The Texas Football Twitter page showed the Austinite some love, tweeting that the colors looked good on him.
It was incredible, and many were also happy about the "Country Grammar" artist not shying away from his classics and giving the crowd what they wanted: throwbacks!
6. Metalheads and first-timers swarm to see Metallica
Whether you're a regular headbanger or an occasional horn raiser, the Metallica show had a little something for everyone whose experienced dark times and who is in need of a dire pick-me-up that involves a little bit of yelling.
The band started early Saturday night with heavy guitar melodies filling the air and toppling over the last few songs from Rapper Nelly.
James Hetfield, the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist, made his guitar sing with an impressive arrangement.
Many were in metal heaven -- or hell?
7. Janelle Monae loves all of y'all!
It doesn't matter who you are or who you love, the rapper, actress, singer and model wants you to know, you're always welcome at her shows.
The "Pynk" and "Tightrope" singer's performance was filled with lyrics about women empowerment and support for the LGBTQ community.
Many people felt like the musician was shortchanged and probably should have headlined the festival.
8. Prince, is that you?
While Prince's former band, The Revolution, might have played the American Express stage or the Honda stage while their founder was still alive, the funk-soul band had no problem packing out the Tito's Vodka tent Sunday evening, with the crowd spilling out into the Austin Eats area.
Their performance was filled with classic Prince throwbacks, and a good portion of the crowd was able to sing and dance along to a majority of the setlist.
The band's vocals were smooth.
If you didn't know better, you would have thought Prince was performing in Austin, Texas.
9. Uh oh, Camilla Cabello thought the festival was the Dallas City Limits
Camilla Cabello's ACL Festival experience was supposed to be smooth sailing as the second to last act on the American Express stage on the third day of the ACL Festival.
But -- that didn't happen.
The former Fifth Harmony singer struggled to remember which Texas city she was performing in, and mistakenly thanked Dallas, Texas -- not Austin, Texas -- a few times for being a great crowd, according to Twitter users.
Some people were clearly more upset about it than others because a fair share of Twitter users said they couldn't stay mad at Cabello because of how "cute" she is.
10. Travis Scott pulls fan into "Astroworld"
Travis Scott has come along way in his music career, and the Astroworld rapper knows it firsthand.
At his headlining set on Sunday, Scott said, "I've been waiting a long time to do this show."
And as a first-time performer at the ACL Festival, the rapper was gracious, even inviting a super fan on stage to rap the lyrics to his trap hit "Goosebumps."
It was epic.
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