Hey it’s another month and it’s another music festival for me! This time around, we have a mash up of metal, rap, techno, spoken word, comedy, skateboarding, punk, and jalapeno milkshakes. Yeah, it’s everything I always wanted at a music festival that was not at the other bajillion music festivals I’ve been to. So what is it, pray you say? Well, it’s the Fun Fun Fun Festival! And I rocked it out at the Auditorium Shores last Sunday. I’ve recovered just enough to talk about.
Okay so first off, the setup was a little unexpected. Sure, there were beer tents, smoke tents, food tents, and merch tents but there were some wacky things there as well. What first struck my eye was the Anarchy Championship Wrestling ring setup in the middle of the field. That made the closet wrestling fan in me happy. Toward the back I got to chill in the El Camino Lounge. Yup, that’s right, an area full of beat up El Caminos to sit in. Right next to it was the skateboard ramp. Fun times indeed.
Now let’s talk about the shows:
- [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnjRkvldK08[/youtube]
First up were The Crooks. They are a local Austin country band but they seem to be a little bit more grungy and twangy. It was the only country act of the day and it felt right to kick it off with something not completely expected. - [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMXYscPKKRI[/youtube]
Asobi Seksu seemed to bring a J-Pop twist to some rock and roll. The lead pads were and sweeping beats made it its own. I also dug the Jesus and Mary Chain cover song. - [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E91hUzSSGb4[/youtube]
We Were Promised Jetpacks surprised me. I heard of them before but I didn’t really know their story. My best description of them are Scottish by epic music. The guitars rocked out but I would’ve like to have heard more solos. That said, I loved the driving sound they pounded out. - [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yI82p0qwbnE[/youtube]
There was a break in the action and I found myself drifting toward the Zero Boys set. Who says you are too old to punk out? The grey haired dudes in this band provided the first mosh pit of the day. Good job, punk geezers. - [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hxayy6pkag[/youtube]
Austra turned around as their spacey hippie rock mellowed things out. I didn’t know there were three female singers, so the harmonies make more sense now. Out of the lineup I saw, their music is still stuck in my head, even though they dressed like early 90’s hip hop artists. - [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9NxcObcKQE[/youtube]
Baths were next after I bailed from the Frank fail of lack of Slayer dogs. It’s just one dude doing some chill beats. Think of him as the white version of Com Truise. Yes, they both are groove grillers. - [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7hQi6cR1o0[/youtube]
Speaking of groove, Del The Funky Homosapien brought the house down with his unique lip smacking. He drew back on his career of guest spotting doing some Deltron 3030 and even the Gorillaz Clint Eastwood. His original stuff is just a bouncy. Great set indeed. - [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vkq9ZmXcQsc[/youtube]
Flying Lotus turned my head upside down. What went from the Adult Swim soundtrack is now Thom Yorke’s best buddy. His beats are not unlike Baths, but he pulls references from all over the place. He also buzzes and grinds more. The last song had the whole field bouncing. - [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVcTW0y_iRw[/youtube]
|I wanted to catch a little bit of Diplo and I’m glad I did. It seems Diplo cleans the buzzing from Flying Lotus and makes it more bloopy and bleepy. It was pure techno and he educated the crowd how they do it overseas. - [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu4hKUetxWU[/youtube]
Lastly, it was face melter time. That’s right, Slayer closed out the day and the festival. I was hoping they would play some songs that I was more familiar with, but I will take the pure genius of the rest of the music. To think that these guys were around in the 80s and still are one of the heaviest bands out there is a testament to their legendary status. If you need metal, you can’t go wrong with Fucking Slayer.