Concert Review: Coca-Cola Sips & Sounds Music Festival 2025

The third-ever Sips & Sounds Music Festival featured a dynamic range of artists who performed memorable sets at the welcoming Auditorium Shores.

Written by Valeria Mota

Fresh to the Austin festival scene, the Coca-Cola Sips & Sounds Music Festival diversified beyond its country-oriented debut lineup to highlight more pop-focused sounds, bringing in big names and rising artists for two fun-filled March days. While every set had its distinct charm, here are the most outstanding performances from the festival.

FRIDAY

ASHe

Under the sweltering Texan sun, Ashe strutted out on stage donning a long, glittery pink dress, black sunglasses, and, as always, no shoes. After the crowd hollered to her, she said, “What’s up, Austin?” The Californian singer-songwriter kicked off her set with the bubbly “omw,” occasionally waving and spinning on the Coca-Cola Stage runway. She followed the song by asking the audience, “Is it me or is it hot?” before the flirty instrumentals for “Another Man’s Jeans” began. The set’s most passionate moment came with the third song, “Angry Woman,” where the singer defiantly stuck her middle finger in the air while singing that “[her] sound wasn’t pop enough,” finishing the song with impressive vocal runs. Ashe shimmied down the stage’s runway to “Emotional” and “Hope You’re Not Happy,” with her high, theatrical energy making these sadder tunes endlessly enjoyable for the audience.

Blasting off with infectious energy, Ashe let the audience join in on the fun. While performing a cover of Natasha Beginfield’s “Unwritten,” a fan shouted “[your] version is better than Natasha’s.” Ashe quickly transitioned to her next tracks, “Dear Stranger,” and “Pull The Plug,” where she radiated positive energy brighter than the increasing Texas heat. The singer flirted with the crowd by playing with the slit on her pink dress while singing “Til Forever Falls Apart.” Ashe then slowed it down to thank the crowd before diving into the vulnerable “Save Myself,” complete with her astounding sustained vocals. The mood quickly livened again with the catchy “Running Out of Time” and a cover of Taylor Swift’s “Love Story,” which had fans singing along passionately.

Wrapping up the 45-minute set, the singer stumbled over the lyrics of her biggest hit, “Moral of the Story,” but gracefully laughed it off and continued to deliver some of her most heartfelt vocals of the day. As the supporting drummer gave an unforgettable solo and the crowd sang the ballad at the top of their lungs, Ashe blew a kiss to her fans, leaving the audience in high spirits despite the high temperature.

Halsey

After visiting Austin months ago for an exclusive concert to celebrate the release of their latest album, The Great Impersonator, Halsey returned to the city to deliver an ambitious and carefully sequenced setlist to close out the first night of the festival. From start to finish, the indie-pop artist delivered a theatrical performance, kicking off with a booming voice that instructed the audience to “watch her close” before launching into “Bad At Love.” Sporting black cowboy boots and a short white dress — which they later commented was probably “a ten-year-old’s communion dress from three decades ago” — the alternative singer transitioned into a more recent cut, “Panic Attack.” Halsey then brought back 2010s tunes like “Roman Holiday” and “Graveyard,” exciting a rowdy crowd with frantic dancing and headbanging down the stage’s runway. After a soft rendition of “Hometown,” Halsey asked the crowd if they could “live this little dream” of theirs and line dance to the country-soaked “You should be sad,” complete with sparkling fireworks raining on the stage.

The singer continued to flaunt their raw and angsty vocals with the recent track “Ego.” Then, the band started playing a fuzzy, grunge beat which fans couldn’t easily identify. When Halsey began singing their verse from 2016’s “Closer,” the audience finally understood that the artist turned toward the Chainsmokers’ pop hit. Edgy vocals and an outstanding guitar solo defined the track’s energy. Halsey redacted a previous statement that they wouldn’t perform one of their biggest hits, promptly singing “Colors,” which the crowd sang at the top of their lungs. The singer soon shifted the set’s energy with darker tracks like “Lonely is the Muse” and “The Lighthouse,” highlighting Halsey’s vocal prowess and dramatic expressions. The songs were followed by a high-pitched, angrier version of “You asked for this” before playing her newest single, “safeword,” for the first time live. The energy only increased when the artist followed the pop-punk song with the moody “Gasoline.” Halsey continued to use the stage to the fullest as they ardently sang “Hurricane” and “I am not a woman, I’m a god,” with their band’s guitar and bass elevating their performance.

Halsey put their whole body into “Nightmare,” the second-to-last song of the set, and soon enough the whole crowd banged their heads along to the beat. To close the show, the singer earnestly gave a fan a chance to scream an angry “fuck you” to an ex-partner into her microphone — a perfect segue to the last song of the night, the anthemic “Without Me.” As they thanked the audience and left the stage, the crowd shouted for an encore despite Halsey performing the longest set of the day. With their expressive gestures and cathartic vocal performance, Halsey left their fans begging for more after a hit-packed show.

SATURDAY

Paul russell

While most of the audience might have attended this first set of the day to listen to the viral hit “Lil Boo Thang,” rapper Paul Russell had delightful surprises in store for the festival goers. Despite having to pause the show halfway for a fan’s medical emergency, Russell’s confident energy remained infectious, keeping the entire crowd swaying and nodding to his songs. After an introduction from DJ Horton, Russell swaggered onto the Coca-Cola Stage in a black shirt and camo pants. He immediately had the whole crowd smiling with the catchy “Say Cheese,” audibly wowing fans with his quick flow and ending the song by taking a selfie with the audience.

The rapper continued the set with the unreleased cut “She’s a Keeper” and asked the crowd for places to visit in Austin before cleverly transitioning to the lighthearted “Touristy Places.” Russell briefly switched gears with a cover of The Temptations’ “My Girl,” with DJ Horton playing around with his turntable’s siren sounds. Russell then jumped into the groovy “facetime,” encouraging everyone to share the set with a loved one on FaceTime during the song’s finale. Even though he already had the audience dancing alongside him, Russell only made the set more fun with the Meghan Trainor-assisted “Slippin’.” When the song got to Trainor’s verse, Russell explained that “[Meghan] didn’t wanna come, so [he] got the next best thing”: cue DJ Horton lip-synching to Trainor’s vocals. This was met with laughs from the audience, who only sang along to the catchy chorus even louder. The rapper then showed off his vocal range with the emotional “be that too” before hyping up the crowd with covers of Rascal Flatts’ “Life is a Highway” and Nicki Minaj’s “Starships,” setting the stage for an energetic, unreleased song.

The 45-minute set concluded with “the song that changed [Russell’s] life,” the viral “Lil Boo Thang.” While Russell sang the vibrant chorus, the audience matched his energy word for word, making for a memorable first set of the day. With easy-to-learn lyrics, catchy melodies, and a breezy spirit, Russell effortlessly kicked off the last day of the festival with a splash of innocent fun.

AJR

As the sun began to set on a windy Austin evening, AJR delivered an explosively enjoyable set to an audience of all ages. The hour-long performance began with a booming voice telling the crowd to “watch closely as [their] drums become [their] melody” — the opening of “OK Overture” — before shocking the festival with an astounding solo from trumpeter Arnetta Johnson. Lead singer Jack Met danced onto the stage with a simple white t-shirt, jeans, and his signature trapper hat as he performed the hyper “Bummerland.” Both Met and his brother, the band’s pianist Ryan Met, further pumped up the energy by calling Austin “one of the best cities in the world” before the singer picked up his acoustic guitar to play “Sober Up,” with the crowd eagerly singing along. The brothers’ enthusiasm only increased with “Way Less Sad” and “Steve’s Going to London” as the screen displayed colorful suburban imagery and Jack Met jumped across the runway.

After getting a rubber duck top hat from a fan at the barricade for Ryan Met to wear, the screen displayed a silent-film title card introducing the set’s next song, “Yes I’m a Mess.” Both brothers’ smiles grew wider as the song went on, encapsulating the set’s upbeat energy. The band even had the crowd point up towards the sky for footage for their upcoming tour, signaling AJR’s masterful crowd control. The brothers took it back to their street-performing roots with an acoustic performance of Smash Mouth’s “All Star,” prompting a heartfelt singalong from the whole crowd. AJR immediately transitioned into the next songs, “100 Bad Days” and “World’s Smallest Violin,” with Ryan Met swaying back and forth with his quaint ukulele. During the synth-heavy “Burn the House Down,” the lead singer threw two stuffed animals into the crowd, feverishly explaining that they “won [them] at the carnival yesterday.” The singer’s palpable energy only grew during “The Good Part,” as his spinning and headbanging only became more frenetic. After Jack Met shredded an electric guitar for the lively “Karma,” his brother guided the audience through the duo’s production process for their hit “Bang!” as the whole crowd excitedly shouted the song’s opening, “Here we go!”

The dynamic band closed the set with its most popular song, “Weak,” with the crowd’s loud vocals only fuelling the band’s energy further as the brothers danced along the runway with a bass drum and tambourine. As AJR thanked the audience, Johnson ended the vibrant performance with a killer trumpet solo, leaving the crowd with wide grins on their faces. Appealing to attendees young and old, AJR’s contagious zeal made for one of the most fun and unforgettable sets of the festival.

Concert CoverageAfterglow ATXMarch 14, 2025valeria mota