Live Review + Photos: Auckland City Limits 2016

The build up to Auckland City Limits came with a dose of apprehension following the cancellation of a number of festivals over the last six months. Soulfest, Echo Fest and Westfest, all had to pull the plug due to low ticket sales. And tickets to ACL didn’t come cheap. However, with seasoned promoters CRS at the helm, the inaugural City Limits ran like a well-oiled machine.

Despite a somewhat uninspired line-up, Western Springs really is a great venue for a music festival, and any teething issues CRS may have had during the Big Day Out 2014 had been smoothed out and ACL seemed a lot more like an international festival than its predecessor. It was easier to navigate, there were less queues, and adults could freely drink around the grounds rather than being relegated to caged sections. And small touches like the recyclable glasses and bike parking made a big difference. Not to mention the inclusive move of allowing children to the festival. With that in mind, the R18 space curated by local tavern The Golden Dawn was also an awesome choice, creating a spacious and well-coordinated area that allowed people to relax and drink some full strength brew.

While there were some awesome highlights to the festival (Kendrick Lamar, anyone!?!) we reckon a stronger line-up will help cement ACL’s identity and make it a successful family-friendly festival for many years to come. We sent out a team of writers to cover some of the musical highlights from the inaugural event and here’s what they had to say….

Click here to read the full review, and check out some photos courtesy of Michael Pharaoh below...