Why did ACL cut Phoebe Bridgers?

Austin City Limits has apologised to Phoebe Bridgers for cutting her sound off before the end of her festival set last weekend.

Bridgers’ sound was cut in the lead-up to the climax of her ‘Punisher’ closing track ‘I Know The End’. Footage shows Bridgers continuing to play to the end of the track despite the interruption. Shortly after her set ended, she tweeted “lol fuck acl”.

THE AUDACITY TO CUT IT OUT AT THE BEST PART pic.twitter.com/cmJ1gIHjYa

— anroo || Red TV out 11/12 (@fearlesslyandy) October 10, 2021

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In a statement to the Austin American-Statesman, a festival spokesperson attributed the premature end of Bridgers’ set to a “miscommunication on stage by ACL Festival personnel”. The festival also donated to Texas Abortion Funds, which Bridgers recently supported through a cover of Bo Burnham’s ‘That Funny Feeling’.

• READ MORE: Phoebe Bridgers: “I definitely feel a lot less apologetic than I did before”

“We wish this had not happened and extend our apologies to Phoebe. After positive conversations between festival organizers and the artist about the situation, ACL Fest has made a donation to Texas Abortion Funds to show our support for Phoebe and an organisation close to her heart,” the statement read.

Bridgers recently contributed vocals to a track by US singer-songwriter Noah Gundersen, ‘Atlantis’, which was released last week as part of Gundersen’s debut album ‘A Pillar of Salt’.

Update, 4:35 p.m. Oct. 11: On Monday, Austin City Limits Music Festival organizers released a statement addressing Saturday's Phoebe Bridgers set, where the band's sound was cut off.

The statement reads: "Unfortunately, due to a miscommunication on stage by ACL Festival personnel, the sound on the final song of (the) Phoebe Bridgers set was cut off during her ACL Fest weekend two performance. We wish this had not happened and extend our apologies to Phoebe. After positive conversations between festival organizers and the artist about the situation, ACL Fest has made a donation to Texas Abortion Funds to show our support for Phoebe and an organization close to her heart."

Earlier: Phoebe Bridgers had some strong language to use about her experience during the second weekend of Austin City Limits Music Festival.

On Saturday afternoon, the "Kyoto" singer-songwriter tweeted an expletive directed at the festival. (Along with a "lol," so, perhaps it's not that serious.)

The tweet was sent at 5:37 p.m.; her ACL Fest set was scheduled to end at 5:20 p.m. Bridgers did not elaborate beyond her three-word tweet, but people in the replies pointed out that her ire could have been due to her performance's sound being cut off before the end of the final number.

Another Twitter user posted a video of the end of Bridgers' performance, where the audio for set-closer "I Know the End" can be heard dying out. The audience reacts at first with jeers and then with cheers, presumably for Bridgers.

It does not always happen, but it's not uncommon for the festival to cut the sound when performers go over their allotted set time. Performances on adjacent stages are often timed to start right when another one ends. Singer-songwriter Frances Forever also had their sound cut on Saturday morning on the Honda Stage when they went over.

The American-Statesman has reached out to ACL Fest to confirm if Bridgers' sound was cut due to running over the scheduled time. 

People on Twitter were sympathetic to Bridgers, including other singers. "Make your own festival it’s more fun," tweeted Americana singer Jason Isbell, and country singer Margo Price also replied, "holy (expletive), they cut your mic?! I would have taken a piss on the stage."

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