Fun Fun Fun Fest | 11.08 & 11.09 | Austin
By Team JamBase Nov 21, 2008 • 5:55 pm PST

Fun Fun Fun Festival :: 11.08.08 & 11.09.08 :: Waterloo Park :: Austin, TX
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Maybe it was the lineup, with a main stage revolving around all hardcore and punk acts – including some serious veterans you had to respect (Adolescents, D.O.A., a Cro-Mags incarnation, ALL, Killdozer not to mention headliners Dead Milkmen and Bad Brains) – and a center stage showcasing several indie up and comers and critical champions, along with a dance/hip-hop oriented stage and a wee stage in the back for comedy and acoustic acts (headlined by Neil Hamburger and the Tim and Eric Awesome Show). Maybe it was the relative intimacy of the fest itself, especially compared with the two other Austin behemoths, where you need a Christmas stocking full of trucker speed and a cloning device to see it all. Maybe it was the quirky local vendors, where you could get a coffee from Spider House Café or a brat from Best Wurst or even a slice of vegan pizza if so inclined. Whatever it was, this festival definitely felt a bit upstart. Only in its third year, it still had that air of youthful petulance and organizer hands-on attention. Sure, I could have done with longer sets for some acts, although the split set-up on the punk and indie stages meant one act could set up while another played, so the music moved nonstop (and for punk, short and powerful is often the way to go). For me, it was a chance to explore some unusual musical territory and reconnect with my inner punk rock girl. So, here’s a recap of my weekend at the black sheep of Austin’s festival family.
Saturday, 11.08.08
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We wandered over to Stage 2 to catch the last few songs of Grampall Jookabox, aka one-man mission David “Moose” Adamson. Although hardly the first artist ever to unpack a band out of instrumental loops, his grungy beats, punky basslines and falsetto soul wail had the tiny crowd rapt. Performing a song called “The Girl Ain’t Preggers” to close out his set, he danced his way across the front of the stage, dredging up the oddities and paranoias of his subconscious and funneling it through a sampler darkly. This was incredibly intriguing, rootsy, beat-driven music for the terminally weird. I definitely dug it.
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Stage 2 called us back for El Paso Hot Button. Another one-man creation, this didn’t grab me as much as Grampall did. Although imbibed with plenty of passion, with a voice that recalled Jack White at moments, I found the music to be a bit dirge-like and uninvolving. Plus, I could hear some screaming punk in the distance and found myself drawn back to Stage 3 and Austin’s Krum Bums. Not running on satire as much as guzzling pure, righteous anger, this was straight up brutal and just bloody exciting to watch. Lead singer Dave Tejas shot down beers like a shortage was imminent, scaling the stage scaffolding, up the side and then over the top, clutching the bars like he was in an army training exercise and screaming into the mic while hanging above the stage. The pogoing throng near the front threw themselves at the raw bile coming at them. The cathartic release of a hardcore punk show leaves you feeling both bruised and oddly cleansed, like a simultaneous baptism and punch in the stomach, and Krum Bums owned the stage in that respect.
Contrast this to Will Johnson‘s musings from Stage 1 during Centro-matic‘s set. “The last four days have felt positive,” he mused, one of many artists to make reference to the Presidential election. Austin is an island of blue in a red sea after all, and most in the city had been walking on air since Election Tuesday. Centro-matic stews in the best from alt-country and lo-fi, but it runs on the pulse of the prolific Johnson’s songwriting and the spring lock kinetic release of the surrounding band. I think a longer stage time would have benefited this set, which started off as a bit of a slow burner. “Flashes and Cables” got a robust crowd response, “Calling Thermatico” (from Fort Recovery) showed off drummer Matt Pence‘s skills and closer “Fidgeting Wildly” was one of those songs that gives you that roller coaster drop sensation in your stomach, like your heart’s been broken and exposed but this is the bandage. Half an hour was not long enough for this set, which felt like it was just taking off when their stage time was over.
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Trekking across the park for Killdozer, I realized I just really love saying their name in an exaggerated evil voice and shaking my fist in the air. The grind core pioneers (circa 1983) have just recently gotten back together. So heavy they will snap your arms and lumbering like a semi trying to bust its way up Pike’s Peak, they loosely wrap creeping guitar drones over huge, loose basslines and the snarling vocals of frontman Michael Gerald. I dug it, especially Gerald’s misanthropic stage banter, which he delivered in a voice one shade less melodious than his singing voice. “My mom’s not really dead, but she almost is – she lives in Arizona,” he growled at one point. Later he cried, “Thank you, Oklahoma!” If you know even the slightest thing about college football that’s a big no no in Austin. Judging by the mischievous look on Gerald’s face, he could give a fuck. And guitarist Bill Hobson puts most young bucks to shame with his antics.
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Dusk and dust settled into darkness and it was time for Brownout. This is a slightly pared down version of Grupo Fantasma bushwhacked through its psychedelic side, getting lost after a few left turns and running out screaming and naked under trailing desert stars. This was where the jam was hiding all weekend – nasty space funk with lots of sexy, wah-wah guitars, courtesy of Adrian Quesada and Beto Martinez, the latter giving us a tune entitled “The Sexican.” If Santana and Galactic ate insanity peppers together at a chili cook-off it might sound something like this. When an enthusiastic individual hollered wild in the front, Quesada said, “We got that feeling, too, bro, but we don’t need to smash guitars.” They let the sonic exploring do their shit kicking. Rounded out by a tight rhythm section and killer horns, I felt it for sure.
Critical darlings Deerhoof balanced a sense of performance with serious instrumentation, and unlike some other bands that get slapped with the vague “experimental” label, they do it all with a massive sense of fun. It was a blast to watch. Frontwoman Satomi Matsuzaki sported a massive tiger mask, which she would turn around so she could face out and sing, and then turn back to groove in as a tiger lady while the rest of the band leapt and threw their heads around. Combusting moments of indie arts and crafts with sonic garage aggression that reminded me of The Woods-era Sleater-Kinney at times, they set it alight with strange time signature shifts that almost veered into free jazz. I would have stayed for longer, but a trusted buddy recommend that I check out Dan Deacon so I migrated back to Stage 4.
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On the way to ALL, I paused for a moment to watch Atmosphere. I didn’t find their stage presence to be particularly dynamic, although I did enjoy basking in Slugs‘ “Sunshine,” where he captures hangovers and the weather-induced mood boost nice and simply. It’s a sweet sentiment that left me rolling on to Stage 3. They were tearing through a high-energy show, and it’s only a shame there wasn’t light on the half pipe for the skaters. With plenty of sing-a-long breaks for the audience and stage diving galore – kudos to security on that stage for letting it all go down – they provided pop-punk salvation a-plenty. Just hearing this music provoked strong memories of being thirteen, holding an ex’s hand, frayed Independent Truck Co. hoodie shoved over our entangled fingers and walking towards the park at night. I told my mom I was sleeping over at Laura’s but me and my boyfriend went to smoke Rhode Island shwagg at the park and look at the lights of Warwick across the bay.
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My husband stayed for some of the comedy stylings of Neil Hamburger, and I would have too if he hadn’t been clashing with the riot on Stage 3, although I did hear “Three Piece Chicken Dinner” from Neil Hamburger Sings Country Winners fading with each step I took closer to Dead Milkmen. The undisputed kings of the weekend provoked hilarious madness, and you couldn’t escape the infectious joy in the audience, with a guy even jumping onstage at one point to hug Rodney Anonymous and bouncing back down to the crowd just as quick. It was one of those sets where every song elicited cheers and you could scream the fantastically goofy lyrics with your neighbors. That’s what so bitingly brilliant about the Milkmen – if only most of us could just learn to swallow reality, or just plain absurdity, with such fearless humor. We got the songs we wanted to hear – “If You Love Someone Set Them on Fire,” opener “Punk Rock Girl,” “Beach Party Vietnam,” “If I Had a Gun,” their cover of Daniel Johnston’s “Rocketship” and plenty of hyper enthused commentary from Anonymous, who kept the hour set moving at a breakneck speed. The crowd in front was surfing and jumping nonstop, even in between songs, prompting Anonymous to say, “Don’t tell the deaf kids there’s no music.” The election results had him obviously elated, although he took a shot at Sarah Palin, saying she “blew all the roadies from Van Halen” during “Right Wing Pigeons.” Over the walking bass intro to “Bitchin’ Camaro,” where he celebrated Obama’s victory and reminded us we have work to do, he proclaimed, “Obama owes me.”
“What does he owe you?” guitarist Joe Jack Talcum asked.
“A car!”
“What kind of car?”
“A bitchin’ Camaro!”
Okay, we saw it coming for miles but everyone still went wild. Anonymous tried to crowd surf with his keyboard during one of the encores. End result: someone in Austin probably has a new keyboard, although what shape it’s in after an audience beating is anyone’s guess. If you didn’t have fun at this set, I would have taken your pulse. Leaving Waterloo Park, I was high on my own giddiness.
Continue reading for Sunday’s coverage…
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Austin punk rockers Camp X-Ray meanwhile sounded thunderously loud from Stage 1, with their distorted din and open wound vocals, but we hung backstage, re-beered and sort of absorbed the sound from a slight distance. But after this weekend, I am definitely intrigued to check out more of Austin’s punk scene. Feeling “up and at them” again, we went to boogie with Black Joe Lewis and the Honey Bears. He seems to be evolving into a fixture in Austin and I could see why. An enthusiastic bandleader with a driving, jangly guitar that makes you shake that ass and a voice that recalls a gruffer James Brown, this set should have been later in the day over at the dance stage. But Lewis still played a breezy, funky show tighter than a pair of spandex bike shorts, with some songs building to fast breaking points and others wading through crystal clear soul. He and the Honey Bears kicked us to our feet to face the rest of Sunday in the park.
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If you wanted that “fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me” thrust, you certainly had it with Leftover Crack. I have to say, these cats put on a helluva show, and Stage 3 was buzzing with a rabid crowd. I saw more Leftover Crack t-shirts during the course of the weekend than any other band, at least at the Stage 3 set. “It’s hard getting drunk at three in the afternoon,” hoarse-throated frontman Stza (Scott Sturgeon) proclaimed, over the pit churning beneath him. He didn’t seem to be having that much trouble, though. LC plays dense, aggressive ska-punk, and like a lot of punk bands, they wear their politics on their sleeve – anarchist, atheist, anti-cop. Even if you can’t jibe with their views (which are too far out even for me, although I sympathize with some of it), you have to dig their rousing hard ska sound. They even respectfully called H.R. from Bad Brains out on his alleged homophobia, when no other bands who gave props to Bad Brains mentioned it all weekend. It’s a controversial piece of punk history involving Bad Brains and Austin hardcore punk pioneers Big Boys and MDC. [Writer’s note: Daryl Jenifer did come out and give his side of it in a Pitchfork interview from 2007, and here’s another article that explains the controversy and history of Bad Brains.]
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One of the absolute highlights of the weekend for me was finally getting to see another local band, Black Angels, live. As dusk settled in around us, opener “The Mission District” stuck us to the ground with long, cascading shimmers of noise. As the sky gradually darkened, and the impressive light show could now fully be appreciated, we spiraled further into mental shadows. “You on the Run” was particularly haunting, as lead vocalist Alex Maas sang a line that could be ripped from Jim Morrison’s diaries: “Get on your knees you freak/ And please please me.” Black Angels embrace the retro sound with conviction on record, but live it’s jaw-droppingly immense. They pull tension to a fine point, then slice down right to the spine. Lulling you into temporary suspension with a murky, spiraling bassline featuring a chucka-chucka laid over the top, the bottom will suddenly drop out and Maas will scream through a wall of deafening distortion, the rapt hypnosis broken by a singeing jolt. Dust whipping in my face, I stood rapt. They ended it all as unassumingly as they’d arrived, on a simple, “Goodnight.”
A former member of Polyphonic Spree and Sufjan Stevens‘ touring band, St. Vincent aka Annie Clark was a new discovery for me. She mixed it up onstage, playing both bandleader and solo artist, even busting out a stellar cover of The Beatle’s “Dig a Pony.” She’s a captivating guitar player to observe, joyously strangling her instrument and playing off beat notes, with her band teasing out weird psychedelic-tinged carnival music and dishing shadowy blows. “Thanks for being part of the jam,” she said at one point (probably one of the few acts that would use that word here), and jam she did. Daniel Hart on violin was a standout, and closing song “Lips Are So Red” built to a massive crash before dialing down to tinny bow draws over slow falling piano tinkle while Clark softly sang, “Your skin is so fair, it’s not fair.” The market is crowded with singer-songwriters, but she’s made of some unique matter. Plus, she called her album Marry Me, which is an “Arrested Development” reference (as she explains in this interview), so she automatically scores some major points with me.
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Another band who I keep hearing oodles about is Minus the Bear, and since I missed them at Bonnaroo (read the review here), I left part of Grupo’s set to check them out. But, I ended up running back for more Grupo after just a handful of songs. Although they sounded fierce coming up to the stage, the minute I got close, Dave Knudson and Jake Snider pulled out acoustic guitars, which would never put me off on principle, except they proceeded to play a couple really dull, cookie-cutter sounding songs. When the fuller sound came back, it was considerably more textured, so I will ultimately chalk it up to bad timing on my part because they had blown whatever intrigue they may have held for me with the de-clawed acoustic songs. So, I ended up back at Stage 4 to dance myself into the final acts of Fun Fun Fun with some punchy horns, Sweet Lou‘s congas and “Jungle Strut.”
People were crammed between every bit of scaffolding they could find on the side of the stage, craning over each other’s heads, practically piled in a heap stage side, to see Bad Brains. There were some mixed feelings about this set, but overall I think if you were expecting H.R. to jump around like he did back in the day or for them to play an all-out hardcore set you haven’t paid attention to much of the band’s history. Bad Brains played a lot of their straight out reggae, which is straight dub, not some breakneck, bounce up and down hybrid style. You can’t help but be moved by a great weight during numbers like “I And I Survive,” but I also thought it was off putting how H.R. seemed to pull the setlist out between every song and take his time reading it, which sort of conveyed an air of, “I don’t really give a shit,” whether he meant to or not. However, then he would grin and say, “Now this is one of your favorite songs,” before kicking into a brawny “Banned in D.C.” and all was forgiven.
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Back to the Stage 3 throng. H.R.’s voice has that mantle rattling quality, breathing ancient salvation and anguish, and the high priest he’s mellowed into has his own unique gravitas and presence. The rest of the band propped him up with pure muscle – Jenifer‘s chunky basslines, Dr. Know‘s razor precise guitar and Earl Hudson‘s scattershot drums. Closing one-two punch of “Pay to Cum” and encore “I Against I” were my final notes of the weekend. No matter what controversy may have surrounded their Austin appearance, the incendiary nature of their groundbreaking music isn’t up for debate.
I moved to Austin in January, and it’s slowly coming to feel like home. One thing that I love about this town is the diversity and a sense of “live and let live” that Texas as a state isn’t generally known for. That was certainly on display all weekend. In true Austin fashion, skinny jeans, neon, leather jackets, Mohawks, DIY, obligatory cowboy boots and sundresses mixed and mingled. I even saw the odd hippie, kicking around to represent that barefoot Barton Springs contingent. It made me reflect on our way back to the car on Sunday night that scenes and definitions don’t matter so much. In the end, we all drive on unleaded in this Camaro, and if you open yourself up you just might be surprised at how bitchin’ that can be.
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