Photo by Jaime Monzon

You’re waiting it out, you thought to yourself. The blogs, and newspapers, and bragging tweets from your friends who went up to Austin for the first weekend of the Austin City Limits Music Festival all reported on the very cool sets from the likes of the reunited OutKast, a rejuvenated Interpol, a revived Broken Bells, and totally not reinventing wheel Pearl Jam. If you’re still considering how many one-day wristbands to get for weekend two, this October 10-12 at Zilker Park, here’s a look at what went down last week to help you mull things over.

Friday, October 10

Photo by Jaime Monzon

OutKast

Some thought it would never happen. Who could convince Andre 3000 to chill on the movie rolls and sponsorships and intermittent guest verses to get back with Big Boi again? Well, for their 20th anniversary, the pair have reunited for a cross-country tour celebrating their body of work. It’s one of those moments of music history that’s just not worth missing.

Jon Batiste & Stay Human

Pianist/melodica player/all around bad dude Jon Batiste and his Stay Human band may possibly put on the best jazz show you’ve ever seen. If you’re not one for jazz, this may not say much and this spectacular set of old standards that get down and original tunes that get down even lower will blow your mind. If this genre is definitely to your liking, they’ll make you wonder why more jazz shows aren’t this fun, this involving, this engrossing.

 Childish Gambino

You may know Donald Glover from his work on NBC’s (and soon Yahoo’s) Community as Troy Barnes, the extremely imaginative, emotional young soul in a group of misfits. Yet lately, Glover has devoted much of his energy into his music as the rapper Childish Gambino. Like a fawn learning to walk, Gambino’s work has been shaky at the start some six years ago, but in his latest Glassnote label release, Because the Internet…, he has built up a group of songs that are true bangers and totally fun to watch him perform live. His work gives folks a lot to talk about. Break out your vape pens and think pieces.

[Related: Austin City Limits Music Festival, Weekend One, Friday]

Broken Bells perform at the first weekend of the Austin City Limits Music Festival. Photo by Jaime Monzon

Saturday, October 11

tUnE-yArDs

Merrill Garbus as her band tUnE-yArDs makes weird music that is still somehow infectious. Her latest album, Nikki-Nack, is just as fun as the album that plopped her work into the zeitgeist, 2011’s w h o k i l l. She’s even more fun and weird to watch live. She’s also just as fun to dance to live, as well.

Broken Bells

Maybe you caught The Shins’ James Mercer and Danger Mouse last week at the festival, or maybe you caught them earlier this week for their set at the Aztec. Well, they’re bringing the hits once again from their self-titled 2010 album and new, just as hip work from their latest album, After the Disco, this Saturday.

Eminem

It’s interesting thinking of Eminem as a legacy act, but think back

he’s been around the block for almost twenty years. There are songs in his catalog that can legitimately bring back flashbacks, though latest work has the just same strength and lyricism as what came before it.

[Related: Austin City Limits Festival, Weekend Two, Saturday]

Pearl Jam performs at the first weekend of the Austin City Limits Music Festival. Photo by Jaime Monzon

Sunday, October 12

Jhené Aiko

26-year-old Jhené Aiko does R&B right, and plenty of folks are taking notice. Her songs are about love, loss, and empowerment. She’s a pure force on stage.

 Real Estate

Ridgewood, New Jersey’s Real Estate make super chill music made for festivals. Their latest album, Atlas, is one of the best releases this year. They play Austin tons of times, but they’re always fun to catch; their playing ACL is no different.

Spoon

Austin’s own Spoon are consistently great. Since they’re the hometown heroes, one would think they might slack off for a gig at home, but these guys brought it for weekend one, and they’re just as likely to bring it again for on Sunday.

Pearl Jam

This is the set that folks will commute for. The Seattle rock band who have been going strong for almost twenty-five years with no signs of slowing down have hit a sweet spot where they never disappoint. Their closing Sunday night set is definitely indicative of that.

This article appears in Oct 8-14, 2014.