show recap: fun fun fun fest [austin, texas] (november 7-9, 2014)

photo credit: weworemasks

Another year, yet another Fun Fun Fun Fest in lovely Austin, Texas for the bears. This year’s lineup boasted one of the best festival lineups (according to our taste) that I had seen. We had a great time, as expected. Below the jump, you’ll find the best of the best, our favorite moments and a full festival recap, complete with photos.

Until next year!

-grizzly and sunbear

photo credit: weworemasks (Run the Jewels)

Amon Amarth closed out a turbocharged, viking-prasing set — a soundtrack necessary for the fed-up will-call standees in the adjacent lot, whose more than 3-hour wait for entry brewed more turmoil and aggression than the Tolkien-citing Swedish death metal kings themselves. We did make it inside the Auditorium Shores park for Run the Jewels, El-P and Killer Mike’s much-hyped (deservingly so) collaborative project. These two commanded the Blue Stage with the finesse only two veterans possess. The duo had much praise for the crowd, who embraced the pair and threw up the RTJ “gang sign” between every song as they rapped along to the new found greatness of “Oh My Darling Don’t Cry” and “Close Your Eyes (and Count to Fuck).” Even better? They led a crowd-wide “suck my dick Sun Kil Moon!” chant, acknowledging SKM’s set across the park.

photo credit: weworemasks (The Blood Brothers)

The Blood Brothers took the Black Stage, and as if not missing a single beat during their seven year absence, launched into a frenzied, sassy set that spanned a surprising number of fan favorites from their decade-long career. Folded seamlessly into their volatile back-catalogue were the synth-heavy songs that splintered the band’s musical direction on their final LP. The Blood Brothers most certainly missed their time in the spotlight as well as their time making music together, as they were one well-oiled relentless machine.

The smoothed-out folk leanings of Dallas Green and City & Colour proved to be a little too…pretty for Fun Fun Fun Fest. The layout of the fest didn’t do them any favors, as the band’s sound thinned out the further you stepped from the stage. The yellow neoprene sweater-wearing Yelle wrapped a glossy, dance-dance fueled set that stood in stark contrast to the dissonant gurgle of Dinosaur Jr. whose wall of distortion drowned out J Mascis, putting him exactly in the pocket of music comfort he so thrives in.

photo credit: weworemasks (Death From Above 1979)

Death from Above 1979 was our first festival headliner. After catching a screening of Life and Death from Above 1979 in Houston on Wednesday night (followed by a friendly Q&A with the band themselves), a more appreciative approach was taken going into this set. These two aren’t supposed to be together anymore, but by the grace of the music gods, Austin was getting a night-time set with Toronto’s beloved punks, right off the heels of a new album (The Physical World) release. Backed by an illuminated logo, DFA1979 blistered through a good mix of their two LPs, putting attendees in a frenzied dance pit.

photo credit: weworemasks

Our only conundrum of the day came when 2 Chainz played a set at the same time as Alt-J. I know what you’re thinking but bare with us: we originally planned to watch half of both sets, immersing ourselves in a little Alt-J before sending Day One off on a high note. Alt-J’s set fell a little flat with us, so we managed to cut our time short and caught a bit more 2 Chainz, who did a hell of a job running through his deep catalog of features and showstoppers for the Austin crowd. Not only that, but this year, we managed to catch every single contribution to “Fuckin’ Problems.”

Of the very few bands who delivered an encore, Judas Priest returned to the stage not once, but twice to feed the frenzy of attendees, thirsty for songs like “Hell Bent for Leather” and “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’.” Rob Halford looked less the part of a festival headliner, but rather more the effigy of a metal god, in his aviator sunglasses and miles of leather jacket, striding about the stage with the swagger of a Turbo Lover. A moment of irony was had when Halford wailed out “Victim of Changes,” a song about the danger of alcoholism, to a sea of Fun Fun Funners drowning in Shiner Cheer, but hey, metal isn’t without its little ironies.

photo credit: weworemasks (GlassJAw)

GlassJAw jumpstarted our day two, as Daryl Palumbo, Justin Beck and company were in high spirits when the sun was at its highest. It was a great change of pace from the last few times we’ve seen the almighty JAw, where we found ourselves a little too excited and intoxicated from getting to see another club set from the band. They ran through bits and pieces of their entire discography, with fan favorites lying within the confines of “Pink Roses” and the set-closing “Babe.”

photo credit: weworemasks (Iceage)

The Black Stage’s energy matched the speedy aggression of METZ then tapped the brakes as the half-time intensity of Danish punk band Iceage, whose seriously drop dead handsome frontman was a passionate ball of emotions, leading his band’s newer and more mature material as if he were Nick Cave and they were the Bad Seeds – No less brutal but definitely more refined.

Over at the Yellow Stage (which for the second time this year, was bewilderingly packed and hard to find a good view at) Jello Biafra, formerly of Dead Kennedys, got under the skin of nearly everyone in sight, as you would hear “I can’t believe he’s still fuckin’ going!” and “Oh my god, he’s been like this the entire time” from your neighbors. Memorably, if not anything else. Following him up was Fred Armisen, who also disappointed with a full band set of arbitrary skit-songs that Tenacious D fans clamor for.

photo credit: weworemasks (The New Pornographers)

Shedding the keyboards for a more straight-ahead rocking festival experience, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart turned it up to 11 for a more old-school approach to their set just ahead of power poppers The New Pornographers. Standing as a strong convoy of vocalists at the head of the stage, A.C. Newman, Neko Case, and Dan Bejar each passed the torch as the express lead singers took the reins on their respective tunes, with Case delivering an extremely powerful version of “Champions of Red Wine” from the band’s latest album Bill Bruisers. Wafting easily from zippier songs like “War on the East Coast” to emotional powerhouses like “The Bleeding Heart Show,” the band displayed a finesse of a band that, more than a homing beacon for its respective artists, merged together like a powerhouse enterprise.

photo credit: weworemasks

Nas was celebrating the XX’th anniversary of the pivotal Illmatic, the album that should be everyone’s favorite hip-hop album of all time. And while a festival crowd where maybe 15% of your audience knows the album in question may not be an ideal showcasing, those there for the nostalgia (yours truly) appreciated how far Nasir has come since, maintaining a relevance and even putting out great albums in the twenty years since. A greatest hits set followed, and most in attendance were appreciative of the fact “Made You Look” and “One Mic” had possibly the loudest rap-a-longs of the entire weekend.

Nothing for the remainder of Fun Fun Fun Fest, or even anything leading up to the moment, could match the awe of the theatrical and brain-melting performance of King Diamond. Importing his stage from his closing North American tour, the former Mercyful Fate frontman performed before a rising pentagram, a pair of inverted crosses and even behind the Gates of Hell for the first portion of his act. King Diamond’s trademark siren pierced through the sky as crystal as it does in record, as did the dueling guitar solos of Andy Laroque and Mike Wead. Bringing out the writhing cadaver he introduced as his “grandma,” King Diamond cured the hag of her cripple and wheelchair, only to eventually cremate her onstage for an encore as his band performed, what else, “Cremation.” It’s been a good long while since King Diamond brought his spectacle around, but for the end of his national tour closing at Fun Fun Fun Fest he brought with him the whole of Halloween.

photo credit: weworemasks (Deafheaven)

For the second day in a row, we were kicking the day off with a heavy band, which is hardly the optimal fest-behavior. But that didn’t stop a huge late afternoon crowd from enjoying a gritty set from Deafheaven, everyone’s savior of metal from 2013. A band like this thrives in small, tight spaces, but their expansive sound soared and won everyone over, even treating us to a performance of their newest track, “From the Kettle Onto the Coil.”

Freddie Gibbs and Madlib had an eager audience awaiting the duo, whose LP, Piñata, is turning hip-hop heads onto the Gary, Indiana native moreso than ever. Self-admittedly, Gibbs was heavily intoxicated (“I’ll be honest, I’m drunk as fuck. I’m high as fuck. And I hate police!”), but none of this seemed to matter to fans or hinder his performance in the slightest.

photo credit: weworemasks (Freddie Gibbs and Madlib)

Foxygen crafted a career-defining LP right from their debut get-go, a near impossible feat for a band so young, but with the swagger of Mick Jagger and a three-team doo-wop style addition of back up vocalists, Sam France and Jonathan Rado commanded the Orange Stage like a band with a thirty year history behind them. The band with an actual thirty year history behind them, Yo La Tengo, came to jam, as their hour-long set could only contain seven of their songs, ending with a masturbatory 20-minute guitar solo jam from Ira Kaplan. Ain’t that just about the most Yo La Tengo thing ever?

Flying Lotus released a damn-near masterpiece of an album in You’re Dead! only a month ago. Now, the Austin crowd had the opportunity to immerse themselves in a multi-sensory experience known as a FlyLo show. Showcasing his entire discography but with a heavy lean towards the new material, FlyLo positioned himself between two giant projection screens, putting forth a 3D light and visualization that would’ve made WinAmp kill themselves – and thus putting together one of the best sets of the entire weekend.

photo credit: weworemasks

Wiz Khalifa went and got himself a band. Good thing too, as his shows couldn’t have been that fun prior to doing so. Wiz also was coming off of a new album release as well (Blacc Hollywood), but stuck to many of the hits his fanbase and casual listeners have known for years to close out one side of the festival.

Eschewing any stage lighting, theatrics, and possibly even any venue sound, Neutral Milk Hotel broke out the singing saws and acoustic guitars to perform their last scheduled show since their reformation last year. Jeff Mangum, hidden beneath a wreath of beard, laid out songs like “The King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 1” and “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea” joined sometimes by the circus cacophony of his six member band. All of Austin ate up every last word of NHM’s set we all knew we may not see the band again. Lighters went up for “”Two Headed Boy Part 2” and there was a steady sway to the crowd as “Engine” closed out the set. Neutral Milk Hotel were a small blip on the musical timeline, but here in Austin, they were the gypsy Kings of the Festival.

photo credit: weworemasks

Notes:

The Bad:

– After a recent redesign of the Auditorium Shores, the typically organized and problem-less Fun Fun Fun Fest ran into some logistic issues. Hopefully the kinks get worked out and it remains the best fest Texas has to offer.
– It seemed like the sound was different at every stage. A more cohesive setup is hopefully in the books, because there were a few acts that had the sound work against them (Alt-J, City and Colour, Modest Mouse) and some that were defined by how great the sound was (King Diamond, Flying Lotus)

The Good:

– What a lineup. There wasn’t a single hour of dead time for me (personally) this entire weekend.
– The weather. How ideal is a 70 degree fall day for a festival, you ask? Very ideal.
– The logistical issues were fixed by Day 2. While this is bad news for the 1-Day fest goers, the rest of us benefitted from smooth sailing.
– You know all those stereotypes of “basic people who attend festivals”? They’ve yet to infiltrate FFFFest.

photo credit: weworemasks