Tuesday, November 6, 2007


- Battles - Fun Fun Fun Fest - Austin, TX -

Before I get to the rest of my Fun Fun Fun Fest review I want to let you guys know that over at the Austin Sound we are planning to have a lot of commentary from the local artists that attended the event.  I highly recommend that you check it out once we get it up later this week.

Anyhow, here is my rundown of Sunday's happenings.  Enjoy.

   
 - Attack Formation (Top Left) - Rae Davis (Top Right) - Moth Fight! (Bottom Center) -

Attack Formation was a solid way to get Sunday rolling.  They were loose and cracking jokes about how they love to visit Austin even though they're local, and their experimental pop sound made for an interesting listen.  I even got a free shirt thrown to me.

I didn't know anything about Rae Davis prior to checking him out, but I'm glad that I took a chance since I ended up being treated to some nifty electronic-heavy tunes.  I might have more once he manages to put together an album.

I only got to see Moth Fight! do two of their experimental pop songs, but based solely on what I saw I thought that they were on their way to putting on a great show.  They're definitely another local band that I need to check out more of.
 

 
 - The Cave Singers -

This was one of the sets that I enjoyed the most all weekend.  The weather was really beautiful, the crowd at the time was still slightly small and the band seemed to glide effortlessly from song to song.  It really made me wonder why folk pop is done in clubs.  That stuff should be done at three in the afternoon in the middle of a field on a sunny day.

  
- Celebration -

The first time that I saw Celebration was a couple of years ago, and I honestly could not wait for them to get off the stage.  This time around though I couldn't seem to get enough of Katrina Ford's amazing voice and the band's off kilter arrangements.  I really hope that they return to Austin soon.
 

 
- Headlights -

I had a nice time during Headlights' set for the simple fact that after each song I would remember more and more why I use to listen to them a lot.  Though, it also made me wonder why I had stopped in the first place.  I have no actual answer for that, but I can say that they are one of the better indie pop groups around.  It was a real pleasure to finally see them perform.

  
 - Clap! Clap (Left) - Car Stereo (Wars) (Right) -

Clap! Clap! is as good as everyone I know has hyped them to be, and I think their show on Sunday may have started what will inevitably become a life long obsession to see every one of their performances.  Good is an understatement.

Car Stereo (Wars) was highly entertaining.  He even brought a bunch of pirate-themed dancers on stage to make sure that everyone felt that it was alright to lay down their best moves.  I didn't.  But I saw a lot of other people who couldn't help but let loose because of the thumping mix that was pumping over the speakers.

- Ted Leo And The Pharmacists -

If on Friday someone had asked me to guess an act that I thought would for sure put on a show worth remembering I would have said Ted Leo And The Pharmacists, and I had never even seen them prior to Sunday.  But, that's not really too surprising of an answer.  Ted and Co. have been around for awhile, they have great songs and they know how to put on a show.  Everyone needs to see them once, and their passionate performance at Fun Fun Fun was a testament of that.

- Battles -

Holy Shit!  Why have I not been adoring this band?  I must of thought that they were someone else because the electronic-enthused instrumental show that they put on knocked the wind out of me and was highly unexpected.  I'll definitely have to do some more research on the group so that I can see exactly what I've been missing out on.

- Cat Power -

Chan Marshall is still bat-shit crazy.  I don't care about her sobriety or any of the other things that have supposedly helped cure the stage fright/general paranoia/bizzaro-depression moments of her past.

I watched her pace relentlessly on stage rambling incoherently about random bits of nothing and complaining about the sound, which couldn't have been any better.  She literally made me leave the crowd and stand in the back because of how uncomfortable she was causing me to feel.  I mean, for the sake of whoever just dim the lights, stand in one spot and sing.  It's pretty easy.  Why is performing so hard for someone who claims to be a performer?

You couldn't pay me to see that jumbled mess again.

- John Laird -



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