Fun Fun Fun 2010

This was only my second year to attend Fun Fun Fun Fest, but it lived up to its name and then some. I was able to see performers I’d never heard of before, relax in the grass (and dust!) with friends, and wander around backstage as Andrew VanWyngarden from MGMT stalked me (I swear, every time I turned around – there he was!) Here’s a little recap for those of you who went to relive it, and those of you who missed it to join the action. Massive amounts of photos are forthcoming, so look back later for a gallery.

Friday, Nov. 5

The inaugural FFFriday kicked the weekend off with a laugh. I showed up a little late for the Austin-based Queen cover band Magnifico. This group was fun, but I was surprised at how toned down their costumes and presentation were. I was expecting theatrics, and although lead singer Zach Hall leaned into the songs and really soared on the high notes, I was a little disappointed at how tame everything was. By the end of their set, though, Hall won me over by leaping into the audience (and likely making people uncomfortable in his skin-tight purple spandex onesie).

Todd Barry was probably the only comedian whose name I recognized all weekend. His hilarious turn on Flight of the Conchords (“Bounce, bounce, do the doggy bounce!”) gave me high hopes for his performance, and he lived up to my expectations. Barry alternates between faux ego and self-deprecating humor, and works in his surroundings brilliantly. He poked fun at audience members, at the Apples in Stereo sound-checking next to him, at the festival itself – basically anything that entered his periphery. It was great, and Barry was my second favorite comedian I saw for the entire festival.

The Apples In Stereo seemed to be 60s pop-meets-70s rock spacemen from the future. I don’t entirely understand how they accomplished this, but they did. The bouncy, peppy show had me wiggling around, and I know I wasn’t the only one. This band would be a great fit at a Flaming Lips show, and they definitely felt appropriate in Friday’s lineup, too.

Chris Hardwick was the next comedian to take the stage. Quite a few folks in the audience seemed to know and love Hardwick; he’s a personality on the gaming network G4, hosts Web Soup, and is the brains behind the popular website, nerdist.com. He was definitely funny, although in a much more aggressive way than Todd Barry. Hardwick came out swinging, making fun of rednecks, hipsters, nerds and himself. He was funny, but not quite as funny as Barry (whose humor seemed much more effortless). Still, he was a great warm-up act to the main attraction. [Ed. note - just found out Hardwick was on MTV's Singled Out with Jenny McCarthy. Holy shit.]

If you’re a child of the ‘80s, Weird Al was most likely a big part of your life at one time or another. I have very vivid memories of tuning in to VH1 and MTV (you know, back when these stations played music videos. In full. Without commentary.) with my parents and younger brother, and watching all of the classics – “Beverly Hillbillies,” “I’m Fat,” “Amish Paradise,” “Smells Like Nirvana,” “Like a Surgeon” and “Bedrock Anthem.” Al’s ability to spoof songs seemed limitless, and as goofy little kids, my brother and I ate it up. So seeing the man perform in person was one of those coming-full-circle moments that was satisfying and unbelievable at the same time. Al didn’t skimp on the classics; he hit all of the songs I mentioned save for the Madonna spoof, plus crowd favorites “The Saga Continues” and “Yoda” for his encore. The man had enough costume changes to give Lady GaGa a run for her money, and he treated us with hilarious fake interview videos while he suited up. Even though one of his three projection screens was out for the whole show, it felt like Al was giving it his all for a very appreciative Austin crowd. He braved the audience during “Wanna B Ur Lovr,” and picked out a few lucky ladies to serenade (maybe some fellas, too – I was a little too far away to see all the action). I was probably the most excited about “Smells Like Nirvana,” and the inclusion of some tatted up cheerleaders made that the winning performance for me.

Saturday, Nov. 6

Saturday’s lineup included the most bands I was pumped to see, and it all started out early with the band I’m now helping manage, Royal Forest. These five Austin-based guys have been performing around town for over five years, and their Fun Fun Fun Fest debut rocked hard. Their setlist included a lot of their heavier rock songs, and they exploded out of the gate with “The Manual That You Wrote.” The highlight for me was their gorgeous, winding cover of Neil Young’s “Borrowed Tune.” It was probably the quietest song they played, and it felt nice in the warm afternoon. You can check out the band’s latest EP for free here.

I caught a little bit of Woven Bones next. I’m ashamed I hadn’t seen this Austin buzz band sooner. They were grungy and cool, and lead singer Andy Burr’s wavery vocals were far more enjoyable than their stage counterparts’ Wavves later on. Jeff the Brotherhood pushed the rock even further. This duo from Nashville had a raw sound a la the White Stripes; if they added a third member with stronger and more distinct vocals, I’d be sold. Their drummer was the star of this set, hitting hard, fast and crisply.

The Antlers were scheduled for an odd time of day; their quiet, beautiful music seems made for nighttime (which I seem to recall lead singer Peter Silberman remarking on at some point). Despite the sun and accompanying heat, Silberman’s angelic, tear-stained vocals (think the Deadly Syndrome) hit just the right note and put everyone in a cozy trance.

At this point, I decided it was time to take advantage of my media pass and grab some grub. As I wandered backstage and chatted on the phone to my pal Trip, I saw Andrew VanWyngarden walking my way. I got off of the phone right as he passed, so he looked at me, and, not really knowing what to do, I gave him the bro salute – a little chin tilt upward with a half-smile. He wasn’t sure what to do with that, so he just kind of kept looking at me, and then passed on by. My summary of this interaction:  he’s pretty short in person.

The next truly notable act of the day was comedian Moshe Kasher, who I think we all deemed the best comic of the weekend. Kasher is a Jewish metrosexual whose self-proclaimed “big reveal” is that he isn’t gay. He interacted with the audience, actually calling out a trio of guys who left his set early and paying lip service to the fan who sat closest to the stage. He also wasn’t afraid to go there with his jokes, talking about his Jewish grandparents’ “shallow, unmarked graves” (cue uncomfortable “ooooooh!”s from the audience), his Gitler haircut (“gay Hitler”) and everything in between. Any time Kasher comes to town, I will be sure to catch him; he had us doubled over.

Finally, it was time for my beloved Man Man. This was the most anticipated act for me all weekend, and I star-strickenly gazed at Honus Honus and Pow Pow as they wandered around backstage. The band wore their characteristic white face paint, played with their characteristic spastic energy, and performed new and old songs, to everyone’s delight. My favorite was a tune off of Six Demon Bag, “Van Helsing’s Boombox.” Though we didn’t get any crashing kitchen utensils during their set, Honus treated us to a bit of dress up when he came onstage in a sparkling black tunic. For me, this was the show of the weekend. I danced, I sang, I was thoroughly rocked and excited for Man Man’s new record.

Next up were the fabulous Dirty Projectors. Their set was very similar to their Phoenix opening gig, and they even managed to employ the same light show strategies at FFF that they did at MSG. I don’t know if this is a band I’d love as much, had I not seen them live. I totally recommend checking them out at a show if you have trouble getting into their recorded stuff; it really highlights the musical talent every member has. And the trio of female vocalists were the best singers of the weekend, by far.

I only caught the opening and closing of MGMT’s set. They played “Time to Pretend” within the first 3 songs, which I was grateful for and danced wildly to. However, when we wandered back to their stage with 10 minutes left in the night, they were finishing up “Brian Eno” (possibly my most hated song of theirs). They came offstage and walked right past us into their trailer, and we stood there, waiting for them to re-emerge for their big encore finale. The crowd was begging for it, we were expecting it … and it never came. They remained in that white trailer as the house lights came up and fans wandered, confused, out of Waterloo Park. It was a quiet end to a fantastic day; probably for the best, because we raged on Sunday.

Sunday, Nov. 7

I literally sat up in bed Sunday morning in excitement when I remembered that Margot and the Nuclear So & So’s were performing. I had never seen the band live, but loved their recorded tunes, so my hopes were high. Though they played most of my favorites off of Not Animal, I was a little disappointed by their set. The mix was a little off; lead singer Richard Edwards’ vocals were lost in a barrage of fuzzy guitars, so the lyrics were muddled. I think the lyrics are one of Margot’s strongest suits, so I was bummed about that. The between-song banter was a bit of an emo-fest, too, which brought the energy down. During their performance, though, Edwards kicked up the energy. “Claws Off” was probably the highlight of the set, as Edwards spit out, “If you wanna go/Get lost/If you wanna stay/Shut up.” Overall, not a bad set, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to see this band live.

A large chunk of my day was then spent lazing in the grass, letting the sounds of band after band on the orange stage wash over me as we celebrated Zack Teibloom’s birthday. Deakin from Animal Collective was a bit of a miss at first, but as his set progressed, the chill tunes interlaced with moaning vocals set the perfect lazy mood. Toro y Moi kept it chill, but in a sexier, synthier way. Kaki King and Cults weren’t bad, but both suffered from having to come after the previous night’s Dirty Projectors set.

Finally, after about three hours of hazy laziness, Best Coast came out and shook us up. Lead singer Bethany Cosentino was shown crowd adoration from the start, as one fan passed her a lighter and a joint, which she lit, and then promised to finish later. The band barreled through a ton of their surfy, throwback pop love songs as people swayed back and forth and cozied up to significant others. Despite her own hubby (Wavves’ Nathan Williams) performing the day before, I didn’t spot him at the Best Coast show. The trio sounded pristine, and were the highlight of the early evening.

After grabbing some pizza (first, a slice we paid for, then free from the delectable Homeslice), we wandered over to the yellow stage for the Alamo Drafthouse Air Sex Contest. It is what it sounds like, and it was pretty hilarious. The best acts included an intense whip-cream-covered near-boxing match, a self-proclaimed “duck fucker” (again, it is what it sounds like) and some embarrassingly accurate lip synching to the Backstreet Boys. I may or may not have left the stage with rosy red cheeks, but it was definitely a good time.

The final few acts of the evening ended up being my favorite surprise discoveries of the weekend, and a great way to shut it all down. First was French pixie powerhouse Yelle. This was the show at which I danced the hardest, even busting out the robotics with a random audience member (if you’re out there, let’s start a dance crew). Yelle reminded me of a happier, poppier M.I.A., and she commanded the stage with ease.

We then headed back to the orange to see what the fuss was all about with punk legends, the Descendents. There was ample crowd surfing, moshing and circle pitting – enough, in fact, that a giant cloud of dust could be seen rising above it all. My favorite moment was watching (from far, far away) as two crowd surfers battled each other from on top of what I imagine were very tired arms, trying to push one another away. The music was quick, fun and appropriately blaring.

We decided to end the night with another dance party, so we headed back to the blue stage for A-Trak. I was super impressed by this guy; definitely the best DJ of the weekend. He played tons of hits that even I recognized, including a little Jay-Z and the hit, “Barbara Streisand.” (If you haven’t seen the video for that song yet, watch it now!) He had this strange gimmick of giving out t-shirts in between songs; not sure why that was necessary, I was won over by the music alone. But it was nice of him to really reach out to the audience, and it was a fantastic cap to a fun fun fun weekend.

Since FFF prides itself on being different than ACL, I’d say all of the perks the fest claims to have – booking way more up-and-comers and “deep cut” established groups, being way more chill, and being far easier to navigate, giving you a chance to see more music – were met or, in many cases, exceeded. As we left Waterloo Park Sunday night, I was already giddily anticipating the next year – exactly what you want from a festival.