Sound on Sound Festival 2016, Day 2

If you've been following Austin music news over the past year, you probably heard about the messy breakup between the people behind local booking company Transmission Events and the real estate company that backed them, Stratus Properties. The short version is that almost all the main people of Transmission left and started a new company, Margin Walker, that is carrying on the best parts of Transmission's legacy. (The long version can be read here, here, and here.) Part of the fallout is that the delightful Fun Fun Fun Fest was also left with Stratus. As should be obvious by now, it didn't happen, and it doesn't look like it will in the future. However, Margin Walker acted fast and put together a new festival with a similar look and feel under the name Sound on Sound. They managed to hold it the same weekend that FFFFest usually took place, but due to a non-compete clause they had to find a new venue. They stepped up the challenge, thought creatively, and chose Sherwood Forest, the home of the (semi-)local Renaissance faire. What might seem like an unconventional pairing actually worked out rather well.

Event: Sound on Sound Festival, Day 2

Venue: Sherwood Forest

Location: McDade, Texas

Date: 5 November 2016

In past years of going to Austin Psych Fest/Levitation, I've had some trouble with the shuttle system, but still never gave up on it. (I vastly prefer biking and mass transit to driving!) With this being the first year of SoS, I was a bit concerned that it might be another rough experience. However, it seemed like they were trying to make the shuttles a compelling option by guaranteeing departure times and selling cheap passes in advance. Although I got drenched in a downpour while riding my bike to the shuttle pick-up at Mohawk, the bus was timely and comfortable, which made it well worth it.

Since I was only going for one day, I decided to go all out and get there early. I was on the second shuttle and arrived just in time to see Moving Panoramas at the Dragon's Lair stage. I've seen them twice before (last year at a Fun Fun Fun Fest late night show and again earlier this year) and they only keep getting better. In the meantime, it appears that Rozie Castoe has been replaced on bass by Jolie Cota Flink, and a keyboardist/percussionist/vocalist has just been added to the lineup. Drummer Karen Skloss may have made a few slip-ups, but Flink delivered an improved low end, and the new keyboardist was a very welcome addition. Their inviting, guitar-based, dream pop sound was stronger than ever. This was their best performance that I've seen yet.

[Moving Panoramas.]

I'd seen some of the members of Hard Proof play live with Gary Clark, Jr., but I somehow hadn't yet managed to see them in their own right. I finally got to change that, and I was immediately taken by their funky vibes and high energy. The ten-piece group played an instrumental take on Afrobeat with three percussionists, baritone sax, tenor sax, trumpet, bass, and three guitarists, one of whom also played keyboards. The music was instantly danceable and yet intricate enough to keep your attention. I'll admit it was just a bit surreal to see my former landlord grab a mic and hype the crowd when he wasn't playing the saxophone, but it worked. That's Austin for you, I suppose!

[Hard Proof.]

At that point I took a break to wander the grounds. Having gone to the Kansas City Renaissance Festival for years as a child, it brought back a wave of nostalgia to walk through the oddly familiar environment. Some parts were closed up or roped off, but many were open and in some cases even inhabited by what seemed like typical Ren faire vendors. There were plenty of food trucks from Austin, but there were also a handful of rides and events that intermingled the Fun Fun Fun Fest traditions with Ren faire themes.

I couldn't resist a Freeto Burrito from the Vegan Yacht, and I took the opportunity to sit and watch some of Orthy's set at the Forest Stage while I ate. Instead of the bland EDM that I had feared they might perform, they opted for a compromise between organic and electronic approaches. However, even the energy of a decent live band couldn't make the middling electronica seem particularly inspired.

I returned back to the Dragon's Lair stage to see Wild Nothing, an indie rock band with (again!) touches of dream pop and shoegaze. Their bassist was solid and played a thick and grounding groove. The two guitarists occasionally engaged in some great interplay, but too often remained content with keeping it simple. The keyboardist did a good job adding layers on top of the rest, and the combination of all the above was usually rewarding. The vocals and songwriting were decent without being outstanding, but they had a good balance between rock energy and pop catchiness. At times I was even reminded of The Chameleons. [Edit 2016.11.12: Their setlist can be found here.]

[Wild Nothing.]

While again wandering around the grounds with a friend, we ended up watching most of the set from Alex G. He and his band worked up a decent alt-rock vibe reminiscent of the 90s bedroom circuit. The sound was appealing and familiar in a weird way but upon closer inspection was fairly standard guitar stuff. A somewhat adolescent angle and occasional bursts of aimless, jarring aggression didn't help.

After another excursion for food and drinks, I settled back at the Dragon's Lair stage to wait for Deerhunter, who I'd actually seen before (albeit while distracted) at my first Fun Fun Fun Fest in 2013. Frontperson Bradford Cox seemed to be having trouble getting the monitor mix just right, but eventually gave up about fifteen minutes after their scheduled set time and finally started the show. The music was rock-oriented, mildly psychedelic, and hard to pin down. The band consistently put down a solid beat, and the musicianship was good, but I couldn't follow the arc of the songs. At one point, Cox claimed to live on the same street as Big Boi (who played next on the same stage), which for all I know could be true, as both live in Atlanta. He said he was recently hit by a car while walking to his house, which interrupted him while writing a song in his head. Shortly after starting the next song, something went wrong (or Cox intentionally sabotaged it) and he joked that it was just like getting hit by the car. I got a decidedly weird vibe from Cox, like he was being antagonistic. He mostly sang, but also played some guitar with enough skill to make me wonder why he didn't play more. Oddly, for their last song, the other guitarist sang the lead. Their setlist can be found here, although it is incomplete.

[Deerhunter.]

Night had fallen, and once more, my friend and I walked around the festival and enjoyed the atmosphere of stumbling through the woods in the dark. I think I'd originally intended on seeing Car Seat Headrest, but for some reason I forgot about that and didn't really watch anything for a spell. I ultimately returned once more to the Dragon's Lair stage to get a good spot for Beach House. They were half an hour late for unclear reasons. Their stage setup was very similar to when I saw them in April, but this time I couldn't get a good picture. I did get the setlist, though:

01. Wild
02. PPP
03. Silver Soul
04. Space Song
05. Elegy to the Void
06. Beyond Love
07. New Year
08. Master of None
09. Wishes
10. Take Care
11. Sparks

12. Myth

13. 10 Mile Stereo

Compared to their last Austin show, this performance felt rushed and truncated. They barely addressed the audience and hardly took a breath between most of the songs. I suppose they were trying to make the most of what time they had, but for the topmost-billed band of the festival, 70 minutes wasn't enough. They played a strong set, but I was a bit disappointed that nine of the thirteen songs were also played at the April show. I would have loved more variation. Nonetheless, "Master of None" was a delightful throwback, and the other unique songs of this set ("Wild", "New Year", and "Take Care") were all a pleasure to hear. Since they hardly have a weak song in their whole discography, I can't actually complain about anything they might choose to play, but for the last night of their Depression Cherry/Thank Your Lucky Stars tour, I was hoping for a special treat.

Beach House's sweeping, spatial, dreamy music suited the cool evening in a rural field with a bright crescent moon and clouded sky. It was as easy as ever to get lost in, which made the length of the set all the more conspicuous. They again built up the guitar-oriented "Elegy to the Void" into a thick crescendo, and for their finale, they worked up "10 Mile Stereo" into a noisy, blissful jam. It was a great show, but I was left wishing for more.

It was getting late, but I'd made up my mind to stay for at least part of Purity Ring's set. Of course, they were a full hour late, so I only stayed for half an hour before I had to get on a shuttle back to Austin. As soon as they got going, I was drawn in by their visual performance. They opted to appear as just their core duo, with Corin Roddick behind an interactive lightpost/synth tower and Megan James walking the stage under a huge LED fixture. It was easy to be transfixed by the lightshow. However, I found the actual music to be only slightly above average. Unless Roddick had more hands than I could see, most of the instrumentation was prerecorded, and even James' voice was vocoded/autotuned in parts without an apparent performer. The artifice was alienating even as the display was captivating. Their setlist can be found here.

[Purity Ring.]

Final Thoughts: After all the drama of the Transmission Events/Margin Walker divorce, I'm glad that the new festival started strong. It clearly carried on the tradition of Fun Fun Fun Fest without being a mere change in name. They made the most of their semi-exiled environment and had fun with it. The food and drink selections were good, and the lineup was a good mix. And thankfully, once I did finally pack it in, the shuttle line was short and there were multiple buses ready, so it wasn't even all that long of a trip back to town. Although weather may have caused a mess the following day, this was a promising start to a new festival tradition.

Scores:

Moving Panoramas: B+

Hard Proof: B+

Orthy: C

Wild Nothing: B

Alex G: C-

Deerhunter: B

Beach House: A-

Purity Ring: B-

P.S. Thanks to Mustafa!

FFF Fest 2015, Day 2: Late Night Show at the Sidewinder

Event: Fun Fun Fun Fest, Day 2, Late Night Show

Venue: The Sidewinder

Location: Austin, Texas

Date: 7 November 2015

Introduction: I still marvel at FFFFest for putting together all the late night shows in addition to the main festival at Auditorium Shores. It's hard to believe that they manage to get fairly big acts (relatively speaking) to play such small local venues, but it makes for an experience that is hard to match. The much-touted "intimacy" of smaller venues is a real thing, although I would argue it's only worth it if the sound system is up to par. Anyway, I left the main festival a bit early to make sure I could get in to my venue of choice. I did the same thing two years ago only to realize I was way too early, but I had the suspicion this time would be different, especially since my venue of choice was lined up to host three or four big names in indie rock. I did make it in, but I must have been one of the last ones to make it back to the outside stage before the venue had to restrict entry and enforce a one-out, one-in policy.

My reason for being outside was to see Moving Panoramas, a self-described "all-gal dream gaze trio from Austin". They certainly fit their own bill, and while there were no standout moments, they were consistently solid. The frontwoman stole the show, as her guitar and vocals were the dominant elements that made the music compelling. The drummer seemed to be struggling, but the bassist was decent if not exceptional. Their music had a tendency to fade into a hazy background, but it occupied a space that I find particularly enjoyable. They have some promise in them yet.

[Moving Panoramas.]

Unfortunately, I was a bit distracted during the set by the constant flow of people pushing hard against me in search of alcohol and toilets. I was already planning on moving inside at that point, but it was an easy choice to make in terms of personal space. Since I'd recently seen Alvvays and I only had a modest interest in Future Islands, hopefully someone who was more interested than me in those bands managed to get in.

I got inside in time to see the very end of Carl Sagan's Skate Shoes' set. It was hardcore thrasher stuff and it did nothing for me. The second band inside was Future Death. For some reason I had reasonably high hopes for them, but they delivered the same kind of hardcore punky stuff that had been failing me all day. I'd heard them described as "noise pop", but I sure didn't see any pop under all the noise. The drumming was great and the rhythms were wild, but I just couldn't get into the energy of it.

[Future Death.]

The last band inside was the band formerly known as Viet Cong. (They recently made the laudable decision to find a better name for themselves, and while they haven't announced a new name, they tellingly introduced themselves only with the band members' given names. [Edit 2017.03.21: They finally settled on Preoccupations last year.]) I missed my chance to see them at SXSW earlier this year, and I was looking forward to seeing them in such a small venue. During their soundcheck, I caught bits of Can's "Vitamin C" and Siouxsie & the Banshees' "Arabian Knights", so they had gotten me quite excited. However, when they finally started playing in earnest, I was a bit disappointed by their cacophonous sonic surge. Instead of a post-punk sense of space and exploration, it seemed like they were struggling with punk's raw energy. There were parts I could grab on to, like the solid drumming and the occasionally astral guitar work, but a lot of it was just a noisy mess. I think they and the preceding bands on the inside stage suffered from mediocre mixing, and thus while I was not particularly impressed by their set, I get the impression that they are capable of more.

[The band formerly known as Viet Cong.]

Scores:
Moving Panoramas: B

Future Death: C-

The band formerly known as Viet Cong: C+

Final Thoughts: I can't help but wonder what the rest of the evening sounded like on the outside stage – and the other late night venues around town. It would seem that Sidewinder's outside stage has superior sound to the inside, at least judging by this night, and I'm curious if Future Islands would have impressed me in the right environment. I may have gotten the intimate experience I wanted, but maybe it was a little too intimate. It seems like the late night shows are a bit of a crapshoot, and I might not have gotten the best experience, but I don't regret giving it a try.

Fun Fun Fun Fest 2015, Day 2

Event: Fun Fun Fun Fest, Day 2

Venue: Auditorium Shores

Location: Austin, Texas

Date: 7 November 2015

Introduction: I wasn't motivated to make it to Fun Fun Fun Fest last year, but I got excited again this year and picked the day that looked most promising to me. (I had previously attended one day and one night in 2013.) The weather was cold and windy, and due to storming, the festival was actually about an hour late in opening its doors. It would seem that the first scheduled acts were simply dropped, and the next round were about 15 minutes late.

I arrived just in time for the doors to open (so I had to walk to the end of the line and then walk all the way back to the entrance) and I got in just as Joanna Gruesome were starting. Although the band's name might be a gimmick (not that I particularly care for Joanna Newsom) and their original frontwoman recently left the band, they performed better than I would've expected. I liked the mix of punk energy and post-punk, My Bloody Valentine-style guitar work and melody. I'm led to believe that their words are worth hearing, but sadly, despite many audience requests to boost the vocal levels, I couldn't understand a word.

[Joanna Gruesome.]

Out of curiosity, I then went to the yellow tent stage to hear Dr. Scott Bolton, a NASA scientist often involved in education and outreach. Unsurprisingly, he was a bit out of place at the festival, but he maintained a consistent crowd (even if most were there to escape the drizzle or hear whoever came next) and he did manage to get a few laughs. His presentation was somewhat disorganized, as if he had a lot of ideas to share but hadn't apportioned his allotted time appropriately. His main focus was the necessity of interaction between the arts and sciences, in that such cross-field engagement is the root of innovation. (I certainly wouldn't disagree.) He encouraged us to make and maintain friendships with a variety of people with different interests and careers. He also talked some about the mission he primarily works on (the Juno spacecraft en route to Jupiter) and the physics of skateboarding.

I caught just the last couple songs of both Shamir and Speedy Ortiz but not really enough of either to get a good impression. Shamir seemed interesting, and I liked his keyboardist, even if the programmed parts were a little annoying. Speedy Ortiz struck me as decent indie guitar rock but that's about all I can say.

With some reservation, I trekked over to the black stage to see the Toronto hardcore band Fucked Up. I must be missing something, because for all the acclaim I hear about this band, I couldn't figure them out. There were three guitarists for apparently no reason. Supposedly their lyrics are good and politically progressive, but I wouldn't know, since every single word was screamed and indecipherable. This was accompanied by a lot of stage diving and the singer running through the crowd for most of the set. On the other hand, this was the first hardcore band I've seen live with a woman member. I eventually got bored and bailed to go catch the latter half of the Charlatans' set. Their rather generic Britpop sound wasn't much of an improvement, but at least it wasn't as abrasive and I was able to find a dry place to sit. I appreciated an occasional hint of funk and the final song's progressive edge.

I stuck around the orange stage for a while at this point. I had a passing interest in Fuzz, and they lived up to expectation as a riff-heavy rock band. They played wildly, a little unhinged, with non-stop energy. They clearly have a lot of fun while maintaining good vibes, even if there isn't much depth to it and the lyrics are throwaway. As expected, the guitar and bass were very fuzzy, but contrary to expectation, the vast majority of the crowd surfing was by women. I don't know if I can take Ty Segall and his gang seriously, but at least they did their best to be entertaining.

[Fuzz.]

Immediately after Fuzz's set, I witnessed something that perhaps has to be seen to be believed. I'd heard of the taco cannon, but did not realize it was a real thing. Sure enough, the festival organizers have some sort of propulsive mechanism for rapid-firing (sealed) tacos into the audience. They didn't shoot any into the area I was standing in, but I'm betting they weren't vegan, anyway.

[The taco cannon in action.]

Next up was American Football, one of those 90s Midwestern indie guitar rock bands that disappeared before anyone hardly knew they existed, yet managed to capture a fair bit of adoration in the meantime. They played several songs from their lone, self-titled album from 1999 (setlist borrowed from here):

1. Stay Home
2. Honestly?
3. For Sure
4. I'll See You When We're Both Not So Emotional
5. The Summer Ends
6. Never Meant
7. The 7's

Their music was very chill and low-key, but yet consistently fascinating. The guitar parts were great; they were constantly weaving around each other and finding new spaces to grow. The parts were extremely well written and carefully performed, such that you wouldn't even notice the morass of unusual time signatures if you weren't looking for them. The drummer was on point, too, and in several songs he picked up a trumpet for an instrumental section. The only weak part of the performance was the vocals: I guess I just find Mike Kinsella's style to be a bit off-key or in need of some tunefulness. Excepting that, I thought they did an excellent job, and I was fondly reminded of Hum and Falsetto Boy.

[American Football.]

The following act was the real reason I was there: Ride. While I haven't been a fan for long, their first two albums and early EPs have become some of my recent favorites, and I was thrilled at the notion of seeing their reformed live show. Perhaps fully aware of the relative mediocrity of their latter two albums, their set focused almost entirely on the beloved earlier material:

01. Leave Them All Behind

02. Like a Daydream
03. Polar Bear
04. Seagull
05. Kaleidoscope
06. Cool Your Boots
07. Dreams Burn Down
08. Black Nite Crash
09. Taste
10. Vapour Trail
11. Drive Blind

I was thoroughly impressed with their ability to bring the songs alive on stage. The signature two-part vocals harmonies were spot-on throughout the set, and the amazing guitar parts were there in full. I also noticed far more of Steve Queralt's bass and Laurence Colbert's drumming than I ever had from their recordings. Put all together, it was an intense performance and I was easily lost in the beautiful noise they created. I could fault them for predictability or for not introducing many variations in the material they recorded over twenty years ago, but it was of such high quality that even those criticisms seem unwarranted. The one dramatic departure was a long, noisy, experimental jam between the second and third verses of "Drive Blind". I was reminded of the extended "holocaust" section found in My Bloody Valentine's live performances of "You Made Me Realise". As far as I can tell, they've been doing this since their early days, but I was unaware until now.

[Ride.]

As Ride walked off stage, I rushed to the blue stage to see as much of Grimes' set as possible. However, the crowd was dense and mostly engaging in spaced-out dancing, talking, or lighting up various substances, so I was unable to get anywhere near the stage and my ability to pay close attention was substantially impeded. From what I could see, she just danced around stage while occasionally pausing to interact with various electronics. All I could hear were diffuse drum beats, scattered synth parts, and Grimes' passable vocals. My impressions of Grimes has always been very good in the past, but this live performance made me feel like I was missing something. I could hardly tell what the audience was holding on to. It was a strange experience; it was as if everyone else was hearing or seeing something I couldn't.

When it came time to pick a headliner to see, I wasn't feeling particularly enthused about any of my choices, but I ended up sticking around the orange stage for Jane's Addiction. They commenced playing their Ritual de lo habitual album in full, and during the first song, three scantily-clad women came out and began suggestively dancing. I was surprised at such a tasteless affair, and I left in search of tofu tacos. When I returned, the dancers were gone. In fact, I was lucky to return when I did, as I came back just in time for them to start playing a very distinctive riff that I immediately recognized as "Burning from the Inside" by Bauhaus. Instead of the normal lyrics, it appeared that Perry Farrell was singing parts of Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone". Truly, this was something bizarre and fascinating. It still hardly makes sense to me, since it certainly never appeared on Ritual de lo habitual, which they were still in the middle of, but apparently they used to play this weird medley back in the day. It was even given a special name: "Bobhaus".

[Jane's Addiction.]

That odd diversion was probably the highlight for me, as soon afterwards the dancers returned to remind us that the five men musicians on stage apparently only have use of women as visual props. At least the band didn't solely rely on their sexist display to entertain their audience; musically, I thought they had some great performances. Certainly some songs were standard macho rock, but many others had a great sense of atmosphere and texture. At the least, Dave Navarro proved himself as an extremely proficient guitarist. The setlist can be found here.

I left early in order to get to the late night show at The Sidewinder, which I will review in my next post.

Scores:

Joanna Gruesome: B+

Fucked Up: D

The Charlatans (UK): C

Fuzz: B

American Football: A-

Ride: A+

Grimes: C

Jane's Addiction: B-

Final Thoughts: I didn't catch enough attention of Shamir or Speedy Ortiz to be able to score them effectively. Similarly, Dr. Scott Bolton was far enough outside the usual spectrum that I don't think it would be fair for me to try to score him. Of the acts I did score, it seemed like there was a sharp divide between the acts that I simply couldn't make sense of and those that fell into some sort of rock spectrum that I could appreciate. I fear that my biases are showing through here, but I did my best to try to branch out a bit, and it is entirely plausible that I chose the wrong moments for doing so.

I had also originally intended to see Desaparecidos, but they unfortunately recently canceled their tour under vague health concerns. I was also very curious about Gogol Bordello, but their time slot competed with Ride and I knew what I had to do. I do wonder if I should have given the blue and black stages more attention, though.

One last sidenote: I think I will perhaps always have an unfair resentment of The Charlatans for forever getting my hopes up when searching for Chameleons records. Their bins were always next to each other, both are usually marketed in the USA with an appended "UK" tag, and both have lead singers with the surname Burgess. Naturally, The Chameleons are far superior, but most record stores seemed to have more used Charlatans albums in their stock.

FFF Fest 2013, Day 2: Late Night Show at the North Door

After spending all day at the main festival at Auditorium Shores (see my earlier post), I got on my bike and headed to the North Door for one of the festival's free after-party shows. It ended up being quite a late night.

Event: Fun Fun Fun Fest, Day 2, Late Night Show

Venue: The North Door

Location: Austin, Texas

Date: 9 November 2013

Introduction: Somehow FFF is able to sponsor free shows all over downtown after the main festival wraps up. There were fourteen options on Saturday. I still can hardly believe it. Not knowing exactly how it worked, I wanted to make sure my venue of choice didn't fill up before I got there, and I decided against hopping from venue to venue. It turns out I was one of the first people to arrive and the show started even later than planned, so I had nothing to fear. In the future, I would consider not just sticking to one place, but that might take more planning than I had done.

First up were Saint Rich, an indie rock duo augmented by three extra musicians on stage. At first I thought they seemed very young, and I favorably compared them to Echo & the Bunnymen in 1980: not really because of sound or style, but rather because of their confidence and composure in the face of unknowing, unwitting listeners. They seemed like they knew what they were doing, like they were older than their years. And it turns out that this kind of makes sense. Although this band is quite new and they just released their first album a month ago, both primary members are also veterans of Delicate Steve, whom I know best as the band described by the most hilarious press release ever. (Seriously, read it. It is glorious. NPR did a great write-up of it.)

Unlike Delicate Steve, Saint Rich are not an instrumental band. In fact, Saint Rich don't sound all that similar to Delicate Steve at all. I can't decide which I like better. Delicate Steve have the wider, richer sound palette, and the allure of almost breaking uncovered ground, but Saint Rich are catchier, and for what it's worth the music industry seems to prefer vocals. Thankfully, Saint Rich have both good lyrics and a good singer, so it wouldn't surprise me if they actually end up going farther in the end. It helps that the musicianship is solid, too. I bought their CD and talked to the singer after the show.

Hunters: I can't find any information about this band. I'm not sure if their name has a definite article. They aren't even the only punk band with that name. The band I saw featured a flailing, very high-energy frontwoman and a male guitarist with great (i.e. big and wild) hair. He sang a few lines, too. I appreciated their intensity, but I couldn't understand a word of the lead singer's lyrics, and their thrashing about got a bit monotonous.

Bleached: Yes, I saw them twice in the same day. They played a similar set to their afternoon performance, but perhaps somewhat shorter. They mentioned playing two covers, but I only recognized the same Damned cover as before. They also had some mic problems; they kept asking the soundperson to raise their vocals and it seemed like they never got what they wanted. I had a hard time hearing their vocals, and it didn't help that they had some feedback problems as well. They still played just as well as before and somehow they still had a lot of energy. This time around, though, I felt like they were leaning far closer to punk rock than the more conventional rock I remembered from the afternoon. I don't know if it was just the environment, or maybe the preceding and succeeding bands, but something made me feel like they were punkier than before.

I was going to leave at that point due to exhaustion, but I started talking to another audience member, and then The Men were soundchecking, so I stayed for most of their set. Honestly, I probably should have just left when I meant to – I wouldn't have missed anything. Despite that they feature two guitarists, a bassist, and a pedal steel player, I could hardly distinguish anything except for the snare drum and some shouted yelps. There was no texture, no nuance, just a wall of distortion. How boring! I must have missed something, because this is apparently a popular band. Maybe they're better on record, but their live performance offered nothing to me. (Of course, their astoundingly creative name makes searching for their music online a breeze. And it's not like anyone else thought of that name first.) How any reviewer could call them "post-punk" is beyond me.

Scores:
Saint Rich: A

Hunters: C

Bleached: B-

The Men: D

Overall: B-

Final Thoughts: I probably should have just left after Saint Rich and found a different venue.

Fun Fun Fun Fest 2013, Day 2

Another fall music festival in Austin? I couldn't resist. However, I only attended the one day that seemed the most up my alley.

Event: Fun Fun Fun Fest, Day 2

Venue: Auditorium Shores

Location: Austin, Texas

Date: 9 November 2013

Introduction: FFF is a strange festival. It features three stages of music arranged loosely by genre (roughly alternative/indie rock, punk, and electronic/hip-hop), one stage/tent of comedy (which also featured some music acts), and a skate park. And apparently a wrestling ring. I mostly kept to the Orange Stage, ostensibly the alt rock stage, yet headlined by M.I.A. Anyway, the weather was nice, and I still can't believe how warm it is around this time of year in Austin. I learned my lesson from ACL a month ago and I showed up much earlier in the day, for which I was well rewarded. I saw six acts in full and four in part before heading to one of FFF's late-night after-shows, which I will cover in a separate post.

Bleached are a somewhat traditional rock band hailing from LA, but unlike most of the acts at the festival, the band is fronted by two guitar-slinging women. One was the definitive lead singer and the other the definitive lead guitarist. They were augmented by a woman bassist and a male drummer. Both the lead guitarist and bassist also provided backing vocals, and even though they were mixed rather low, the combined vocals of the three women are certainly the band's strongest suit. The music is perhaps a bit basic, but their energy and attitude made it work. Similarly, the lyrics weren't always the cleverest, but the delivery and the strength of the shared vocals made it sound great. The band has a rather lighthearted and sunny feel about them, which almost makes it feel like they are consciously playing up their Southern California roots. However, they aren't quite so simply boxed in, evidenced by offering a Damned cover in the middle of their set.

Merchandise, from Tampa, tours as a five-piece although I think there are only two or three core members. The band apparently arose from a thriving local punk scene, yet reveal much deeper shades of post-punk and psychedelic rock. With three guitarists (two electric, one acoustic), they generate quite an abundance of sound, but they focus on letting it all blend together in a rather spacey mix. The most obvious touchstone I could think of was the Chameleons, which is perhaps why I enjoyed them so much. I almost get the impression that they haven't heard of most of the 80s ethereal post-punk bands that they sound like. Their approach is a bit more progressive and less pop-oriented, even if both ideas came out of trying to stretch outside of the limitations of punk rock. The vocals were indeterminate but the music was incredible. I'm looking to buy one of their records as soon as possible.

Chelsea Light Moving are known best as the new band of Thurston Moore, once the guitarist/vocalist of Sonic Youth. I was surprised to see the man himself come out early to help set up and then soundcheck; he apparently still stays true to some of his DIY/punk roots. Anyway, after soundchecking and almost leaving the stage, Thurston was told he had a minute before they were on, and true to his style, he just bluntly asked the sound person if they could start early. Good thing they did, because Thurston broke a string in the first song and again later in their set, necessitating a few minutes' break both times to remedy the situation.

Unsurprisingly, this band sounds very similar to Moore's old band: they both play a sort of noisy, alternative, seemingly careless but clearly cleverly crafted avant-punk music. Unlike Sonic Youth, where the guitarists used different guitars for almost every song, each one tuned differently, this band's two guitarists held on to the same instruments the whole time. To be fair, I don't think they were tuned traditionally, but it did make the music seem less dynamic. As far as the actual performance went, some jams were better than others. I can't say I saw anything truly unexpected and thus I wasn't particularly impressed. Thurston still plays a mean guitar, but his guitarist accomplice, Keith Wood, mostly copied Thurston or played simpler, rhythmic parts under Thurston's guitar. The bassist, Samara Lubelski, was something of an enigma, revealing little of her history as a guest violinist on many renowned indie records. I had high hopes for this band but I was admittedly somewhat let down. I know Thurston has more in him than this. It just didn't sound like anything new.

Geographer performed as a three piece: a singer/guitarist/keyboardist, an electric cellist/keyboardist, and a drummer/keyboardist. I couldn't hear a note of the cello and I could barely discern the singer's instrumentation. The mix was mostly just electronic samples, drums, and vocals. Since most of the music at the festival was mixed superbly, this must have been intentional, but it sure was an odd choice. I would have loved to have heard more of that cello, and even the singer's guitar/keyboard parts might have made the sonic palette a little more diverse. The singing was really good, but the music was a bit too simple and clichéd; there just weren't any surprises to be found. Nonetheless, the band clearly has a following.

Television were the reason I was there. Their setlist was as follows:

1. Venus

2. 1880 or So

3. Little Johnny Jewel

4. Prove It
5. Elevation
6. Marquee Moon

Television has an odd history; after reforming in 1992 and releasing a new album, they've continued to tour as they see fit but release no new music. In 2007, they suffered their first lineup change since 1975 when guitarist Richard Lloyd departed amicably, replaced quite suitably by Jimmy Rip. Recently, word has gotten out that this lineup has recorded a new album, but they haven't played it live nor announced plans to release it.

The band certainly stuck with the tried and true. They played their debut single, four songs from their debut album, and one from their 1992 album. Songs from their second album, Adventure, were absent, as were their traditional set of covers and any new material. Nevertheless, it was a supreme pleasure to see them play some of their best material and make it feel like it was still 1977. Lloyd was hardly missed, as Rip played incredible parts and fit right in sync with Tom Verlaine. Tom's voice was a little thinner and weaker than in his youth, and he let Rip play more than his fair share of lead guitar parts, but when he did play a solo, he tore it up. He doesn't even have to try; he just spits out beautifully melodic and clever parts like they came to him in a dream. I could have watched them for hours, but sadly I barely got 45 minutes.

Deerhunter: I have to admit I only saw part of their set and I wasn't paying the best attention. (I was distracted by an amazing vegan Frito chili pie burrito.) I remembered them as being more electronic, but maybe I was thinking of Deerhoof. At any rate, they played a somewhat spacey or psychedelic noisy rock blend. It was good but fairly nondescript. Unfortunately, it didn't stand out enough that I think I can truly provide a full review and a fair score.

Sparks: I knew little about them in advance other than their amazing song "This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us" and that one of my old friends is a fan. I knew that they were somewhat absurd and theatrical, and that the band has a knack for changing styles and only maintaining a core lineup of two brothers, one on keyboards and one on vocals. But that was about it. Sure enough, performing on the smaller Yellow Stage reserved mostly for comedy acts, the band came out as just the Mael brothers. However, they came out fifteen agonizing minutes late, while I had to sit through horribly un-funny recorded sketches by Sarah Silverman and Norm McDonald.

They are a terrifically strange band. Older brother Ron sat at his keyboard with a perma-scowl, looking straight forward and hardly moving. Younger brother Russell was far more lively and flamboyant and naturally did the vast majority of the talking. However, Ron did take the mic for a spoken part in a segment of their opera The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman. Although I only recognized their performance of their biggest hit, I appreciated their wit and non-standard approach to musical performance. Unsurprisingly, the tent was mostly empty by the end of the set, but that could also be due their lateness causing overlap with the start of the headlining shows.

Their set could have been dangerously monotonous due to their limited instrumentation, but the novelty and the quality of the singing and songwriting prevented it from growing dull. While not great, they were rather fascinating and at least reasonably entertaining. I enjoyed it. The best part was their announcement that their Bergman opera is being adapted for a film to be directed by Guy Maddin, an old favorite of mine that I trust can do it justice.

They ended with an extended monologue of appreciation from Russell and a short dance and even a few words from Ron.

After Sparks, I wasn't sure where to turn. None of the headliners interested me all that greatly, so I figured I'd wander between each of them. First I saw a few minutes of M.I.A., but the music seemed rather confused and cacophonous at the time, so I figured I'd come back later.

I wandered over to the Blue Stage to see Ice-T, where I caught a guest performer doing a great a capella rap against economic oppression. However, this was followed by Ice T asking some girls in the front row how old they were, and then proceeding to explain his desire to engage in sexual intercourse with these 16 year olds, or in fact "anything that moves". I left the area immediately.

I then went to the Black Stage to see the Descendants. They played a clever anti-conformity song about refusing to be a statistic, but then followed that up with several minutes of uninspired pseudo-punk thrashing. The audience members took the opportunity to repeatedly climb onstage and immediately jump back into the crowd to attempt to crowdsurf. My enthusiasm waned and so I headed back to the start.

On my second go, M.I.A. appeared in better form. I'm still not sure what anyone else on stage was doing; there were about five people who came and went at random and performed ambiguous tasks. One appeared to play keyboards, but maybe not, and another was drumming, but I think most of the music was more samples than not. At any rate, M.I.A. herself was in good form and she was singing well. I happened to catch "Paper Planes", most notable for someone like me due to the sampling of the Clash's "Straight to Hell", but a great song in general for the depth of the lyrics. I do wonder, though, how many of the audience members miming gunshots along with the sound effects bother to read into the lyrics. It made for quite a surreal crowd phenomenon.

I left just a bit early to try to make it to one of the late night events, which I will cover in my next post.

Scores:

Bleached: B

Merchandise: A

Chelsea Light Moving: C

Geographer: C

Television: A-

Sparks: B

Overall: B+

Final Thoughts: I didn't pay enough attention to Deerhunter to feel comfortable scoring them. Similarly, I didn't see enough of any of the headliners to have a substantial enough impression. I can say that Ice-T did not impress me, the Descendents seemed rather predictable, and I should probably pay a little more attention to M.I.A. even if not everything she does interests me. At any rate, I'm glad I went early and saw some of the lower-profile bands, and my longtime favorites Television did not disappoint me, so I had a pretty good experience all around.

[Edit 2013.11.13] P.S. The setlists for Chelsea Light Moving and Sparks have been posted online. Here is Chelsea Light Moving's (source):

1. Burroughs
2. Sleeping Where I Fall
3. Groovy & Linda
4. [Unknown]
5. Empires of Time
6. Alighted

And here is the setlist from Sparks (source):

01. Your Call's Very Important to Us. Please Hold.
02. How Do I Get to Carnegie Hall?
03. B.C.
04. Here in Heaven
05. Academy Award Performance
06. Those Mysteries
07. Good Morning
08. Falling in Love With Myself Again
09. I Am Ingmar Bergman
10. The Studio Commissary
11. Limo Driver (Welcome to Hollywood)
12. Oh My God
13. Nicotina
14. Popularity
15. This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us
16. Suburban Homeboy
17. Tryouts for the Human Race
18. The Number One Song in Heaven