Concert Review: Coca-Cola Sips & Sounds Music Festival 2026
The Coca-Cola Sips & Sounds Music Festival stormed Austin’s Auditorium Shores once again for a weekend of lively performances, cementing itself as a new addition to the city’s festival scene.
Written by Valeria Mota
Photo courtesy of Andrea Escobar García
After a successful 2025 edition, the Coca-Cola Sips & Sounds Music Festival returned to the live music capital of the world with a poppy lineup packed with legacy acts and up-and-coming artists. While each of the 16 performers gave their all on the stage, here are some of the most dynamic performances from the fourth installment of Sips & Sounds.
Friday
The Two Lips
Photo by Mckenna Sefcik
Mexican American-Filippino dream pop duo The Two Lips promptly skipped onto the SXSW stage at 4:00 p.m., more than ready to deliver their bubbly tunes with sassy lyrics. Donning Sailor Moon-inspired outfits, best friends Andrea and Jewlz charmed the afternoon crowd with their high-pitched voices for “blossom,” “play,” and the game-board inspired “clue,” to which fans sang word for word. Despite their cutesy personas, the pair showed their spunk too, sticking their middle fingers up to close out “enemy” and connecting with Adventure Time fans for the omnicord-powered “happy for me,” which features the show’s animator Rebecca Sugar. Andrea took a moment to share the duo’s start on TikTok, enlivening the crowd with their cover of No Doubt’s “Don’t Speak” and immediately contrasting it with their tune, “talk.” Besides performing an unreleased track from their anticipated album, The Two Lips smoothly engaged with the crowd while dancing, with Jewlz earnestly asking the attendees to “hit [their] blunts for [them].” After Andrea cleverly asked Jewlz for her favorite fruit, the duo closed out their set with their hit “favorite apple,” with fans shouting the lyrics to the chorus. The Two Lips easily charmed audiences with their adorable voices and feisty lyrics, making their performance memorable long after they pranced off the stage.
Ravyn Lenae
Photo by Mckenna Sefcik
Still riding off the success of her hit single “Love Me Not,” R&B singer Ravyn Lenae strutted onto the Coca-Cola stage at 4:45 p.m. for a sensual afternoon set. Wearing a long satin dress and black kitten heels, Lenae commanded the crowd with her hypnotizing presence during the Steve Lacy produced track “Sticky,” with unceasing energy while performing “Xtasy” and “Bad Idea.” Lenae’s touring guitarist, Garrett Jones, enlivened each of her performances, elevating tunes like “1 of 1” with a staggering guitar solo. Lenae often engaged with the crowd by making direct eye contact with the barricaders and the video camera, making the performance feel intimate for each attendee despite being in a crowd of hundreds. The Chicago native kept her sultry energy throughout her set, hypnotizing festival attendees with her voice during “Goodbye 2 You,” “Venom,” and “The Night Song.” She took a moment to ask the crowd if she could perform “her favorite song,” “Days,” and then transported the crowd to the Caribbean with the reggae-infused “Candy.” The vocalist also sang “Free Room,” sharing that a fan messaged her that it would be homophobic of her not to perform it, and her palpable enjoyment of the track only made the audience enjoy it more. The packed 20-song set ended with some of Lenae’s more popular tracks and the vulnerable cut, “One Wish,” a song about her estranged relationship with her father. But as the sun set for her performance of “Love Me Not” and the singer effortlessly directed the crowd to clap along to the song’s infectious chorus, Ravyn Lenae cemented herself as a seasoned performer, dominating the Coca-Cola stage and surely more in the near future.
Saturday
Jade LeMac
Photo by Mckenna Sefcik
Known largely for her introspective love songs, Canadian singer Jade LeMac stunned the crowd with her graceful vocals at 4:00 p.m. on the SXSW stage. Despite the blazing Texas heat, LeMac wore a long-sleeved button-up shirt and joyfully danced while performing “For Heaven’s Sake,” “Intertwined,” and “Same Place.” She continued to belt out the sultry “Grapevines” after sharing that this is her first time in Texas, which prompted the audience to give her welcoming cheers. As the set went on, LeMac’s sheer energy deservedly attracted more attention from festival-goers, with the small early bird audience steadily growing into a bigger, bonafide festival crowd. LeMac’s set ranged from sadder acoustic songs like “Sweet Dreams,” power ballads like “Pink Balloon,” and seductive tunes like “Aimed to Kill.” The genre-blending musician encouraged fans to sing her biggest hit, “Constellations,” alongside her, and closed the night with “Running Home,” complete with her ecstatic dancing and a banging solo from drummer Brenon Parry. In a short, 45-minute set, the Vancouver native expertly showcased her potential in her first visit to the Lone Star State, making the Sips & Sounds crowd forget about their sweaty shirts and incoming sunburns.
Foster the People
Photo by Mckenna Sefcik
If there’s one thing to take away from Foster the People’s 6:30 p.m. set at the Coca-Cola stage, it’s that they are just as grateful to perform for a crowd as they were at the start of their career. After making festival-goers dance with hits like “Helena Beat,” “Don’t Stop,” and “Houdini,” lead singer Mark Foster took a moment to talk about the band’s beginnings at SXSW in 2010 as well as the emotional lessons they’ve learned along the way. “One of the shows [at SXSW] was at 9:30 in the morning, and I think there was, like, seven people out there,” Foster shared. “That was 16 years ago … Out of all the shows I’ve played since then, I’ll never forget that one.” He encouraged the creative people in the crowd to cherish tough moments to stay grounded for when they eventually persevere, and such a sentiment was present throughout the entire set. Foster blazed through galactic synth tracks like “Lost in Space” and “Coming of Age” with an effortless passion, often turning to face his band with his hands held up to fully soak in each extensive instrumental outro. Foster’s evident satisfaction at the end of each song’s performance only exemplified his decade-long passion for performing, and as he engrossed himself in the closing hits “Sit Next to Me” and “Pumped Up Kicks,” the crowd too immersed themselves alongside him, just as grateful to be there as Foster was.