Aly & AJ needed a bigger stage: Sisters pack in fans at ACL Fest

Aly & AJ, the sister duo who first made pop music waves in the 2000s, crammed in a large crowd of Gen Z-ers and late millennials hoping to get a hit of nostalgia on Saturday at the Austin City Limits Music Festival.

The artists, most famous for their track "Potential Breakup Song," played a variety of old hits and many from their latest album, "a touch of the beat gets you up on your feet gets you out and then into the sun," which released last year and was their first full-length album in 14 years.

Alyson (Aly) and Amanda Joy Michalka have been in the public eye for years, whether it was from their music or their time as Disney Channel stars. And seeing such a large crowd shows we're entering a new era of people clamoring for early 2000s nostalgia.

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The group was only slated to perform during the first weekend of the festival. Here's what we saw from their set on the BMI stage.

People were ready for 'Potential Breakup Song.'

Some dedicated fans camped out three hours ahead of the 5 p.m. show. Most were chomping at the bit to hear the pop duo's closing and most popular track, "Potential Breakup Song."

As soon as AJ said, "We got one more left," fans immediately threw their phones up in the air in anticipation of the 2007 Radio Disney hit "Potential Breakup Song" — that was later re-released in 2020 with some key expletives added.

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"I think you might know it," AJ said.

The song was already a popular bop for kids growing up on Disney Channel in the early 2000s, but it's also gained popularity as a TikTok track. Fans lit up Saturday, turning from a crowd that was half-paying attention and listening to a fully engaged audience, singing every word and jumping to the beat.

For anyone in attendance, it probably felt just like 2007 all over again.

Aly & AJ needed a bigger stage.

These sisters grew a crowd that far outsized the relatively small BMI stage. Fans faced west as they played, which was the perfect time for the sun to block out any chance of seeing anything unless you were on the left side of the stage, where a tree provided some much-needed shade. Plus, this stage didn't have a video screen, so unless you were one of the fans who camped out three hours early, you probably barely saw the sisters and had to deal with the music getting drowned out by other stages.

As one crowd member said, "They've been popular for 20 years; why are they on such a small stage?" Maybe because they're under the BMI label, but the fact still remains those women needed more room and bigger sound.

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Either way, they still got it.

It would have been nice to hear more from the sisters between songs. They weren't silent, but other than introducing another song or saying the crowd was "incredible," there wasn't a whole lot of audience interaction, which would have made the set more engaging.

Still: Aly & AJ know how to put on a fun show full of synthesizers and upbeat pop-rock songs. Whether the crowd were familiar with the tunes or not, they were still able to jam out.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Aly & AJ play 'Potential Breakup Song' and pack in fans at ACL Fest