Lola Young strutted, skipped, and even squatted during her SXSW performance at Rolling Stone‘s Future of Music showcase, running through a set that demonstrated both her onstage stamina, vocal strength and undeniable showmanship. A month after winning her first Grammy for Best Pop Solo Performance, the British singer proved why the honor was deserved.
Wearing a bright pink two-piece track suit and a bra over her tank top, Young took the stage — her first U.S. performance since September, when she collapsed during the All Things Go festival — to enthusiastic applause from Austin fans, some who had lined up hours earlier for a spot up front at the Moody Theater at ACL Live. She kicked off her 14-song set with “Dealer,” setting a soulful tempo for the autobiographical tune, a signature of the artist’s songwriting that carried through the night.
Since emerging on the scene in 2023, Young has positioned herself as a truly unique voice in music, melding brutally honest lyrics with pop stylings that run the gamut from stream-of-consciousness offload to deep, thoughtful introspection. Young’s set was a shining example of her versatility, weaving through some of the strongest tracks on her latest release I’m Only F**king Myself, including “Sad Sob Story! :),” “Post Sex Clarity,” “Walk All Over You,” “Not Like That Anymore,” “Why Do I Feel Better When I Hurt You?,” and “Spiders.”
But it was her earlier work that hit the hardest. “Big Brown Eyes,” “Walk On By,” “You Noticed,” “Conceited” and, of course, “Messy” (all from 2024’s excellent This Wasn’t Meant for You Anyway), were an invitation into Young’s head and heart. During “One Thing,” the audience joined in with a sea of phone flashlights. For “Walk On By,” Young’s belting elicited deafening cheers of support.
Young singing to the euphoric crowd at ACL Live at the Moody Theater.
Salihah Saadiq for Rolling Stone
About halfway through the show, Young stopped to read a poem she wrote. “There is a lot of shit happening … in this world, that right now I’m scared to call ours,” she messaged. “We walk around on this land, our feet are sore and achy. I don’t want to try and walk a day in their shoes because it’s already painful enough in mine. So I write about it in songs using words I found scratched onto the back of old magazines and newspapers, trying my best to ignore whatever the fuck I just read, because it makes my skin crawl, to be honest.
“I am scared for my friends, especially the ones I never met. Scared for their safety. Scared for my own. But art is rebellion and the fruits I grow I will share to give someone out there a barrier of hope. We must not let the powers that be censor who we are. We must continue to stand in togetherness, hold hands, and take a deep breath … The disgustingly stinky shit they dish out, we must shit on them back.”
Clearly adept at reading her audience, they responded to Young’s words in kind, an energy that sustained for the rest of her set, which ended, appropriately, with the smash hit, “Messy.”
“I don’t want to be able to hear myself [singing],” Young instructed the crowd as she launched into her final song. They understood the assignment, taking the lead on the song’s tongue-twisters and declaratory, “I want to be me, is that not allowed?”
Young with her Rolling Stone Future of Music cover.
Salihah Saadiq
In her Rolling Stone cover story, Young opens up about her recent struggles, telling Deputy Music Editor Julyssa Lopez, “I’ve taken some time out, and this is a beautiful comeback. It feels like a moment I’ll remember, and maybe other people will remember, hopefully. It feels like the right thing to come back to.” Truer words were never spoken.
Rolling Stone’s Future of Music showcase comes on the heels of the Future 25 feature in the April issue, highlighting the most promising new acts of 2026. Among them: openers Sofia and the Antoinettes, whose singer channeled the look of Hedwig with a band that also felt spiritually connected to the Angry Inch; Saint Harrison, who brought his effervescent brand of British pop-soul to the stage; and local Austin singer Susanna Joffe, whose movements conjured images of Stevie Nicks, Lana Del Rey, and Chappell Roan. The future looks bright, indeed.
