Sixty bands gathered Saturday and Sunday at Waterloo Park in Austin for the third annual Fun Fun Fun Fest, which was home to sets from bands, musicians and comedians from all genres.
Day one of the festival had a relatively weak lineup, but the acts delivered nonetheless. Hometown heroes…And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead put on an energetic afternoon set. Members played songs off their recently released Festival Thyme and ended with a relentless drum solo, as drummers Jason Reece and Aaron Ford pounded away on two drum sets.
Rival Schools was next, and is on a string of reunion shows after breaking up in 2003. Singer Walter Schreifels said the group is hard at work on a coming album, planned for release in early 2009. Deerhoof, donning lion and tiger masks, played its goofy and entertaining signature brand of math-rock. The quirks of lead singer Satomi Matsuzaki added an extra element, and allowed their set to be a smidge more memorable.
Atmosphere’s hour-long set of lyrical hip-hop controlled the crowd. Although Slug and company weren’t festival headliners, they played the most impressive set of the night. The group, recently having beefed up its live show with instrumentation, played songs off of old and new albums alike. The group blazed through "Should’ve Known" and "Yesterday" off of 2008’s When Life Gives You Lemons, along with old crowd favorites like "Godlovesugly" and "Trying to Find a Balance."
Austin’s Recover played a special after-party show as part of its recent run with reunion shows at local venue Red 7 after the Fun Fun Fun festivities. Despite not being a part of the official lineup, it was easily one of the best acts of the day.
Day two had entertaining sets from Annuals, Islands and St. Vincent, among others. Chuck Ragan of Hot Water Music fame brought The Revival Tour with him, joined by Ben Nichols of Lucero, Tom Gabel of Against Me! and Tim Barry of Avail. The commanding presences of four of punk rock’s finest frontmen turned guitar-toting troubadours was a huge hit among festival goers.
The Toxic Avenger and Franki Chan of iheartcomix fame shared a two-hour DJ set. Minus the Bear got the crowd dancing as well, showcasing songs off of its 2007 album, Planet of Ice, with perfectly executed versions of "Dr. L’ling" and "Knights." Also in the set was a revamped acoustic version of "Pachuca Sunrise," which was definitely a fan favorite.
Once again, hip-hop was definitely in the building as Virginia’s frontrunners Clipse brought the crowd to its feet and closed out the festival. The group is definitely top-tier and had the crowd singing and moving along to hits like "Wamp Wamp," "Mama I’m Sorry" and "We Got It For Cheap." Brothers Pusha T and Malice promised another classic hip-hop release with Til The Casket Drops, scheduled to drop in the first quarter of 2009, but wanted to let it be known that they will be dropping a mixtape, Play Clothes, in November.
Overall, Fun Fun Fun Fest was completely successful and will be another addition to the list of huge festivals that Austin has to offer the world.
