Conan Gray at ACL Fest: 5 things we learned

Peter Blackstock, Austin American-Statesman
·2 min read
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Did you catch Conan Gray at Austin City Limits Music Festival? Here are five things we learned at the show.

1. His fans love him.

Throngs of mostly teenagers filled out the field in front of the Honda stage for his 4:15 p.m. set, many of them singing along to almost every song in his nearly hourlong set.

2. He's quite the fashion icon.

Gray took the stage decked out in ultra-glam, with a red cowboy hat, an embroidered red vest with fringe beads, long red pants and gold platform shoes..

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3. He's got local love.

We knew he went to high school in Georgetown before moving to Los Angeles to launch his music career, but we didn't know how much he still associates himself with Austin. He joked early on about how it's OK to be from suburbia and claim the big town nearby as your own, and at the end of the set, he thanked the audience for "such a beautiful welcome in my hometown."

4. And he has local inspirations.

Some of his songs were inspired by people he went to high school with in Georgetown. Introducing his hit "Heather," he wondered aloud to the crowd that she "may or may not be out there in this crowd, who knows. If you're out there, Heather, I'm sorry."

More:Photos from Conan Gray's March 22 appearance at Austin's ACL Live

5. The music is tight.

Gray's band is quite good. A smart stage setup allowed him to stand atop a staircase flanked by his bassist and drummer at stage left, with a guitarist and keyboardist at stage right. Their well-mixed, clean arrangements kept the focus on the catchy pop melodies that have made Gray a fast-rising pop sensation who might well be following in the footsteps of his idol, Taylor Swift.

Whether his star will go supernova like Swift's did remains to be seen, but at the moment, he's a big draw for younger listeners. He'll return to ACL Fest for Weekend 2, but on a different day, time and stage. Catch Gray at 4 p.m. Friday on the American Express stage.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Conan Gray returns home to Austin area for ACL Fest debut