Well, folks, Austin’s Fun Fun Fun Fest has once again lived up to its name. With well over 100 musical acts, comedy, great food, local artists, and free concerts at night around town, the festival has become a weekend Austinites and out-of-towners alike have grown to look forward to. This year, the headliner was Run DMC, reuniting for the first time in ten years. The impressive lineup also included Santigold, Kreayshawn, The Head and The Heart, Real Estate, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, Girl Talk, and Wavves, as well as loads of our favorite up-and-coming bands. Overall, I was very happy with how everything unfolded, even though Ryan Gosling wasn’t able to grace us with his presence like he did last year (I know, guys. We all missed him).
Fun Fun Fun Fest is remarkably successful, particularly given that its beginnings date back to only 2006. The overall vibe, though, seems to be heading pretty consistently in the direction of friendly, relaxed, and creative. The city’s social atmosphere becomes magnified once you get through the gates — you talk to somebody for five minutes and, just like that, you’re friends. With a combination of the familial vibes and the focus on showcasing more underground talent, F3F ends up feeling, if at all possible for a music festival, particularly homey. For those reasons exactly, I would speculate that this is a great festival for any reader of The Wild Honey Pie.
Fun Fun Fun Fest is three days long and hosts four stages, dividing performers by genre. I can’t find an exact number of attendees anywhere, so I’m just going to go ahead and say this many:
FOOD: This is Austin — if you didn’t have tacos coming out of your ears by the end of the weekend, I’d be deeply disappointed in you. In all seriousness, though, there’s a huge variety of really good food available at the festival. You can get everything from a vegan thanksgiving dinner sandwich to a gluten-free pizza along with smoothies, Chinese food and verging-on-behemoth chicken legs. Oh, so you want really fresh coconut water? Here, take this whole coconut and this straw. It ain’t no thing.
VENDORS: F3F does an awesome job of welcoming small businesses to set up as vendors for the weekend. Graphic designers and print shops seem to dominate the market (no complaints here), but there are also handmade items, second-hand clothes, and hacky sacks galore. Time for a good deed? There are plenty of awesome charities to check out, as well.
VENUE: Fun Fun Fun is held at Auditorium Shores, just south of downtown on Lady Bird Lake. It’s a huge area, so while there are lots of people, it really doesn’t feel too crowded other than right around the stages. Autumn is gorgeous in Austin, so both years I’ve gone, the weather has been perfect. Hands down though, the best part about the festival’s location is that, just as each night’s energy starts picking up, the sun sets, creating a beautiful backdrop of the Austin skyline.
NOT YOUR FESTIVAL IF: You’re the least bit scroogey. As I said earlier, the residents of Austin are, as a whole, really friendly. If you’re not into talking to strangers, I recommend you bring sunglasses so you can pretend to be asleep, or perhaps a book to have open — conversations will happen otherwise. But hey, you may meet somebody really cool (shoutouts to Barbara and Jack)!
BEST SET: WHY? — As you know, I was really, really excited to see California’s awesomely weird quartet, WHY?. Their music meshes indie rock and alternative hip-hop, and the outcome is just plain brilliant. If there’s one complaint I have about Fun Fun Fun Fest, it’s that, as with any huge venue, the sound quality is oftentimes not consistent (more on that later), but this was not an issue with WHY?. A combination of the band’s already loud-ish sound as well as their extreme musicianship made for a really wonderful balance of bass, vocals, drums, and keys.
Lead singer Yoni Wolf was especially brilliant. With his enormous onstage persona, he was actually able to further infuse some really great meaning into the band’s already thoughtful songs. His facial expressions and gestures were evident whether you were in the front row or a few hundred feet back by the sound booth. Even the people in the far back of the crowd were really into the performance, which is something that can’t be said for every set!
The other three band members delivered stellar performances as well, with everyone’s instruments and voice holding up fantastically in the huge space. It’s really something to see hip hop artists perform extremely well without the (far overused) crutch of electronic editing. WHY? is a superb band through-and-through, and I’m beyond happy they were able to reflect that so well during Fun Fun Fun.
BEST WIN OVER: DUM DUM GIRLS — I never liked L.A.’s Dum Dum Girls. I didn’t particularly dislike them — they just used to play incessantly over the radio at my work, and I developed a mild distaste for them without actually ever hearing their music well. I had heard a lot of people say good things about them, though, so I decided to drop in for their set at Fun Fun Fun. It turns out they’re pretty rad after all. The all-girl quartet channel a definite grungy beach vibe in their otherwise bubbly(ish) music. I never noticed this until I saw them live — I was always hearing the fluff sans the awesome rough edges. Once I heard what they were actually up to, I liked it, and ended up buying one of their albums to listen to on my trip home. So hey, Dum Dum Girls: I’m sorry about before. You’ve officially won me over.
BIGGEST BADASS: KREAYSHAWN — “Gucci Gucci” is one of those songs for which I feel like I have to reconcile my deep love. I’ve gotta be honest, though — I’ve rocked out too emphatically too many times to feel sorry about it. I was pretty amped to catch Kreayshawn’s set at F3F (no double diphthong there — if you didn’t say “KRAY-shawn,” try again [source: my super hip friend Tess]). It’s not because she’s a stellar live rapper, or that her music is top notch. In fact, musically-speaking, I’d say her set was at best mediocre. But the delivery. Oh my. The 23 year old rocked the blue stage so hard through weird banter (she renamed Texas “Flexas”), huge attitude, and, get this, tacos. Throughout her entire set, she was reaching into a large cardboard box she had brought onstage and tossing tacos into the crowd. People were dancing harder at her set than any other I saw (what can I say? People like tacos!). There’s one thing that’s for certain: Kreayshawn is a character and a half.
BIGGEST “FINALLY!”: SHARON VAN ETTEN — Sharon Van Etten is, to me at least, one of those musicians whose work was immediately timeless. From her very first album, her songs have been delicately-constructed and gorgeous without ever being sappy. I consider her one of the best musicians and songwriters I listen to. I’ve been scouring her tour schedules for an opportunity to catch her live for what seems like forever, so I was so happy when I heard she’d be at Fun Fun Fun. Of course, she delivered amazingly and then some. Her recorded stuff is calm for the most part, but live she’s definitely got a little edge to her. She rocked pretty darn hard during her set, and it was so awesome to experience her massive musical presence in person.
BIGGEST LETDOWN: STARFUCKER — I’m a new fan to Portland’s Starfucker, but my really hip friend Tess told me I had to catch them live, and I heeded her advice. As I said before, sound quality can be a tricky thing in outdoor venues when the bands are rotating in and out every 30-50 minutes. I honestly think that 100% of the issue I had with Starfucker’s set (I could barely hear vocals!) was a technical problem, and not a reflection on the band themselves. Nevertheless, I do have to call this one as the biggest letdown of the weekend. I know for a fact that these guys are incredibly talented, but the quality of their music was sold short, which is really, really disappointing.
To help cover a little more ground, I asked two of my lovely Austin friends, Claire and Kristen, if they’d like to contribute a couple awards to the mix. Here’s what they had to say.
BEST LOCAL LULLABY: BALMORHEA — Balmorhea is steadily solidifying its reputation as a group of influential instrumental music masters. This year’s performance on Sunday at Fun Fun Fun Fest was no exception. The six-piece ensemble delivered one of the most emotionally rich sets of the festival, as the Austin band weaved extraordinary stories of swelling sound that involved everything from classical strings, to xylophones, to vocal croons. While highlighting songs from their most recent album, Strangers, there were new and noticeable currents of electronica layered into the deep timbre of their musical tales. Their performance was somehow, at once, a heartbreaking lullaby — one that I can only say is best experienced in their poignant and profound presence. -Claire Cella
MOST CATHARTIC: THE HEAD AND THE HEART — The Head and the Heart’s smooth and expansive harmonies drew out in my mind like a road home. The music entered through my gut rather than my ears, effortlessly evoking the euphoria of a new beginning. Their piano solos, drum beats, and bass lines had me stomping and clapping, mimicking the way my fingers would feel on the steering wheel. Before last weekend, I wondered whether a band that had “hoo-hooed” their way into my heart during a transition in my life would pack the same punch now that I’m settled. Watching The Head & The Heart perform made me realize how silly that was — I’ll never be settled, not really, and neither should you. -Kristen Simcoe
YELLOW OSTRICH
DUM DUM GIRLS
SHARON VAN ETTEN
SANTIGOLD
TWIN SISTER
WHY?
KREAYSHAWN
REAL ESTATE
THE HEAD AND THE HEART
FESTIVITIES