Last years somewhat impromptu inaugural Fun Fun Fun Fest was a success despite the December cold, and this years upped the ante with a bigger lineup, better organization, and, thankfully, a beautiful early November weekend. Expanding to 2 days and serving now as the premier event for the recently formed Transmission Entertainment, FFFFest captures everything that is great about Austin music, from the laid back atmosphere, local vendors, and, best of all, a cross-section of indie, punk, hardcore, hip-hop, and djs that highlights the diversity of the scene. Though headliners like The New Pornographers, Girl Talk, and the re-united Murder City Devils offered spectacular sets as expected, the local acts once again proved to be the backbone of the fest. And while the dual stage setup on the indie and hardcore stages provided fast set ups that kept the music flowing, it also meant less opportunity, or at least tougher decisions, in exploring the full lineup. The weekend was about as packed with non-stop music as it could it have been, and the easy going atmosphere of the fest extended to the crowd as well.
Saturday started off promising on all fronts. On the indie stage, a trio of Austin acts set the pace in the form of The Lemurs dance rock, The Zykos‘ scorching, emotionally driven tunes, and Brothers and Sisters smooth, afternoon warming melodies. The Zykos continue to get better and better, proven by the new songs from their Keep It Light EP, and the amazing Autographin Bibles. Brothers and Sisters unloaded a new batch of songs from their upcoming sophomore release as well, dropping more psychedelic vibes across the steel guitar of Lomitas Ray Jackson through fresh offerings like the country Mason City and poppier Wash Away. Meanwhile, DJs Manny and Bigface rode their chariot of beats through the crowd in the unveiling their Mobile DJ Unit to get Stage 3 moving early, and the hardcore stage took a while to heat up until Down To Nothing finally inspired the mosh pit with their punk fury and Saviours laid down a brutal metal onslaught.
Former Delgados founder Emma Pollock proved just as mesmerizing on her own, but the small stage 3 stole the afternoon. Torontos Small Sins laced their exuberant, quivering pop with an electro buzz, MGMT provided a disco-glam backdrop, and Prince Klassen got the crowd moving with one of the best local dj sets of the fest. White Denim once again exploded with their live show and seemed to have the most fun of any band during the weekend. The trios unruly ruckus was capped by a dizzying Darksided Computer Mouth, the sudden stops ripped by shrill harmonies and then abandoned once more to the sound and the fury.
Final Fantasy, on the other hand, captured the audience with a beautiful subtlety of looped violin and piano, all slowly building to provide an appropriate backdrop as the huge red balloons began to bounce through the crowd. Covering Destroyers An Actors Revenge prompted Cadence Weapon to run backstage and find Dan Bejar, who promptly showed up and joined in for another go at the song. Okkervil River kicked off with The Presidents Dead for a set of old (It Ends With a Fall; Westfall; The Latest Toughs) and new (A Girl in Port; Plus Ones; A Hand to Take Hold of the Scene). Best was the brilliant Unless Its Kicks, which circumvented the somewhat ramshackled sound of the set by playing into a flood of feedback with Will Sheff unloading everything he had.
Of Montreal brought their dirty, schizo pop to bear at dusk, including Esquisite Confessions which Kevin Barnes introduced as a song for a porno film on Cinemax (the latest trend in indie rock) before soulfully moaning lines like Im so sick of sucking dick in this cruel city. After some encore confusion, the band re-emerged with Barnes sporting fishnets for an un-ironic cover of Purple Rain. The New Pornographers had their full recording lineup in tow for the Fest, which came together fantastically for the Belle and Sebastian-tinged My Rights Versus Yours and beautiful, Neko Case led Go Places from Challengers, perhaps the days greatest contrast to the other stages with the Swords heavy, droning fury, and Busdrivers blitzkrieg of lyrics. As Girl Talks closing set exploded into a dance party onstage, complete with Final Fantasys Owen Pallett climbing the rigging and police finally having to clear the back half, Saturday finished with seeming perfect notes across the board a soundscape that melded Explosions in the Skys soaring instrumentalism with Neurosis ungodly sturm und drang.
On Sunday the local acts once again started the afternoon with the best performances, from Attack Formation on the indie stage, Mothfight! on the by-now-indescribable stage 3, and Complete Control on the hardcore stage. Mothfight! took home top honors, however, offering a mind-blowing set that balanced Animal Collective with Arcade Fire, and even foreshadowed Battles insane electronics. They also brought a banjo player into the mix, which literally had the sound guy throwing his hands up in defeat.
Seattles Cave Singers were entrancing behind Pete Quirks nasally, high-pitched voice that quaked through a folk set from their debut Invitation Songs, while The Saints plied on odd pop-punk and even blues vibe on the hardcore stage, which was quickly outdone by Youth Brigades incendiary performance. The droning textures of I Love You But Ive Chosen Darkness contributed to Sundays more subdued feel. Though the band would have better fit a later time slot, especially given the ineffectual light show, they proved to be at the top of their game despite their recent hibernation.
Ocote Soul Sounds delivered an incredibly tight latin-funk groove on stage 3, followed by Clap! Clap!s incomparable maelstrom. Mates of State fought some scratchy sound, with the duos beautifully minimal pop male-female vocals sounding oddly similar and Kori Gardner exceedingly pregnant. Poison Idea agitated the punk stage hurling insults and beer cans into the crowd (enthusiastically returned), but once again The Riverboat Gamblers topped the local acts as Mike Wiebe slung himself around the stage, up the rigging, and out into the crowd in his characteristic no holds barred manner. Car Stereo (Wars) pulled off a localized Girl Talk by packing the stage with dancers and a slew of solid mash ups, followed by MC Chris rather ridiculous whining, nerd-rap.
Against Me!s packed crowd was a proper set up for The Murder City Devils, while at the indie stage, Ted Leo riffed through his own political punk anthems and closed with a tribute to the recently deceased Lance Hahn. Despite having only recently risen to notoriety with Mirrored, Battles earned their penultimate time slot and might have even served well as headliners given Cat Powers uncomfortable antics. Though she didnt completely lose it amid a flurry of apologies, excuses and anxietized pacing, the band seemed the only thing keeping her in check. Still, Chan Marshalls voice, when she was able to make it through a song without interrupting herself, was ripe with a raspy Janis Joplin soul that was astounding on covers of Billie Hollidays Dont Explain and Otis Reddings Ive Been Loving You Too Long. But if she cant even handle the pressure of such an amazingly laid back show as the Fun Fun Fun Fest, theres not much hope for her.
