Concert Review: Finn Wolfhard at ACL Weekend 1
“Stranger Things” actor Finn Wolfhard escapes his child-star reputation by slinging guitars to a muddy ACL crowd.
Written by Caroline McConnico
Photos by Makenna Morgan
For a crowd of semi-soaked and mud-crusted festival-goers, the American Express stage offered a temporary escape from the mess of Austin City Limits Music Festival’s wet Saturday. Despite the festival’s delayed gate entry time, Finn Wolfhard emerged for a 45-minute set of fuzzy guitars, twangy vocals, and plenty of nervous charm.
Wolfhard appeared onstage around 3:15 p.m., donning a Kermit The Frog t-shirt and Canada cap. He opened his set with “I’ll Let You Finish,” drawing out witty lines in the song’s outro. The lyrics reference the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards when Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech for Best Female Video. “Yo, Taylor, I'm really happy for you, I'll let you finish / But Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time / One of the best videos of all time, time.”
“Common Side Effects,” “Crater,” and “Oscilloscope” followed, with Wolfhard moving between guitars as he settled into the performance. The production was stripped down. There were no elaborate visuals or major staging tricks, just Wolfhard, his band, and a handful of guitars. The simplicity worked but also highlighted his boyish stage presence, causing him to appear awkward on the big stage.
Wolfhard's sound moved between the guitar-heavy crunch of Weezer and the loose angst of MJ Lenderman, with moments that recalled the understated Americana of Wilco. “Lights Go Down” acted as one of the set’s quieter turns, trading the guitar-fuzz for a more spacious and dreamy sound. This vulnerable quality crept into his vocals on “Follow,” particularly when he leaned into his clever lyricism, bringing a Sufjan Stevens-esque quality. Rather than settling into one sound, Wolfhard seemed comfortable pulling from the indie-rock playbook while still making his own moves.
When Wolfhard reached “Maggie,” the set had settled into a melancholic groove. The song’s performance was warm and understated, giving the audience something to sway and hug their neighbors to. The intimate delivery made the track feel up-close and personal, offering a closeness that can easily get lost on a festival stage into the arms of the audience.
Snapping out of the previous numbers’ wistfulness, Wolfhard strapped on his harmonica rack, and deadpanned to the crowd, declaring “we’re getting real country today.” The opening reedy sounds of Tom Petty’s “You Don’t Know How It Feels” started seconds after, jolting the crowd into a foot-stomping frenzy. The cover carried through Zilker Park as people sang along with a teenage determination, making the song one of the set’s best.
Wolfhard closed with “Good Morning,” where he finally let some of the set’s playfulness take over. During the song, he announced that a children’s choir would be joining him, only to reveal that the choir was, in fact, just him singing in pitchy falsetto. The goofy moment was fitting for a performance that never took itself too seriously, and it gave the set a final burst of personality.
By the end, Wolfhard’s initial nerves began to fade. Though his name is still closely tied to his acting career, his ACL debut didn’t feel like a celebrity side project. It felt like a young musician testing the edges of his sound in front of a festival crowd, desperately searching for an indie rock prayer amidst all the EDM noise. Rather than setting out with something to prove, Wolfhard went out on the stage with a love for the music and willingness to get his feet wet.