Concert Review: rusowsky at ACL Weekend 2
The Spanish genre-bender delivered a laissez-faire set infused with bone-shaking bass and brainrot montages.
Written by Valeria Mota
Photos by Mckenna Sefcik
After opening his set with the glittery track “Johnny Glamour,” Spanish artist rusowsky confessed something that would be noticeable throughout most of his Weekend 2 set at Austin City Limits: “Oh my god, I’m super sick today, I hope I don’t die.” While his candor garnered sympathy from the crowd, the indietronica musician continued to deliver a relatively energetic performance, mostly relying on his frenetic supporting band and chronically online visuals.
Born as Ruslán Mediavilla, rusowsky has seamlessly blended every genre imaginable, from techno to jazz to reggaeton, since combining his nickname, Rus, with “Wazowski,” the name of the green protagonist from “Monsters, Inc.,” to create a memorable stage name. Mediavilla, part of the Spanish collective Rusia-IDK, is now slowly taking over the world after the release of his debut album, DAISY, making a name for himself as an avant-garde producer while racking up collaborations with Jean Dawson, Ravyn Lenae, and even the Spanish legacy pop phenomenon Las Ketchup. Though he’s clearly a new force in alternative Latin music, Mediavilla doesn’t seem to take himself too seriously; in fact, just the opposite. Imbuing his performance with wry visuals and cheeky AI-generated images, rusowsky’s irony not only makes for a fun time, but also a weirdly refreshing take on the current generation’s incessant social media use.
Coming out at 5:30 on the dot to the Beatbox stage, Mediavilla and his band walk out with simple black T-shirts and spunky wigs, with the supporting musicians wearing black-haired wigs and the frontman wearing fake brunette bangs. “Johnny Glamour” and “ALTAGAMA” provided a lighthearted start to the hour-long set, with fellow Rusia-IDK collaborator drummie accentuating the tracks with a lively flute as Mediavilla’s voice dripped from heavy autotune. The acoustic versions of otherwise exuberant cuts, “4 Daisy” and “SOPHIA,” reduced the set’s energy to a twinkly, lullaby-like atmosphere, with Mediavilla’s monotone singing strangely working for the rendition’s bare-bones guitar and vulnerable lyrics.
Mediavilla did pick up his energy for the sassy “pink + pink.” As flamenco castanets and Ravyn Lenae’s flirty recording kicked in, the wigged artist gave his best high-knee jogs as the song’s deep bass reverberated through the crowd. The bass lines only grew deeper for the escalating “99%,” with Mediavilla’s theatrical marching mimicking the bass's heaviness. As the singer reinvigorated, so did his humor — the performers exited the stage for a couple of minutes as AI-generated pictures of gorillas flashed by, closed out by DAISY’s bright yellow cover.
The brief break clearly helped the singer recuperate from his illness, as the rambunctious “KINKI FÍGARO” led to Mediavilla’s most dynamic performance so far. His supporting band members evidently fueled Mediavilla further, with their own energy often overshadowing the frontman himself. The singer’s vigor continued during the funky guitar of “Liit,” but his energy dwindled for the abrasive “sukkKK!!”, which was especially noticeable throughout the track’s aggressive reggaeton production.
“Voy a morir” (“I’m going to die”), the singer exclaimed. Yet, Mediavilla soldiered on with the twinkly “BBY ROMEO” and the Ralphie Choo-assisted “GATA,” which both stood as stark contrasts to the forceful instrumentals of “sukkKK!!” Though these cuts were undeniably love songs, Mediavilla announced that the following song, “mwah :3” would be the set’s “romantic moment.” The producer impressively conveyed sincere emotion through the ghastly amount of autotune, while his passionate piano playing compensated for his previous lack of energy. Mediavilla’s supporting band eventually joined in for a sped-up finale, all while the now-signature brainrot visuals and seismic bass continued.
Though rusowsky’s sickly state might have prevented him from giving his best performance, he definitely expended the last of his energy with his biggest hit, “malibU.” As Mediavilla skipped around the stage, guitarist Omar Alcaide and drummer Xoan Dominguez elevated the song’s already infectious rhythm with impeccable gusto, and the crowd’s faithful singing only added to the enjoyable moment. The set edged towards its conclusion with another Ralphie Choo-assisted track, “Dolores,” in which each supporting band member gave a small but mighty solo on their corresponding instruments, confirming that rusowsky’s performance would not have been nearly as lively without them.
The singer claimed “Dolores” was the last song of the set and walked off the stage, but he quickly reentered to definitively conclude his performance with the fervent “VALENTINO.” Fans who were tricked by his previous announcement rushed back to the Beatbox stage while his supporting band came out to dance alongside him. Though he was notably less energetic than his band members, Mediavilla still called the crowd to jump alongside them: “Are you sleepy or what?” Mediavilla let out a hearty scream into his mic before the song’s thumping 808s kicked in and the trippy visuals grew more agitated. The track was certainly heart–racing, but Mediavilla walked off to The Strokes’ slow “Call It Fate, Call It Karma,” which not only juxtaposed the closing song but also evoked the contradictory musical nature of rusowsky himself.
Yes, rusowsky’s untimely illness might have stopped him from fully delivering a passionate performance, but with his band’s keen musical presence and the set’s evocative visuals, the Spanish multi-instrumentalist still managed to make his 57-minute set a memorable one. Although the most remarkable thing might have been the earth-shattering bass lines or the quirky brainrot imagery, rusowsky left fans with the impression that if he hadn’t been sick, he would have given it his all.