Monday, November 10, 2008


- Fun Fun Fun Fest - Day 2 - Waterloo Park - Austin, TX -





Til We're Blue Or Destroy

The last time I saw Til We're Blue Of Destroy was seemingly forever ago, but I do remember that they really impressed.  This time, in the hot sun and at a 1pm, I thought that they were only OK.  Although, I will say that the huge wall of noise that the small army of them created and/or that awful Faint-inspired robot dance tune they played may not have been what I needed to kick start my day.

Perhaps a better fit for some afternoon rocking was Black Joe Lewis.  For over a year I've been trying to happen upon one of his much hyped live shows, so it was nice to finally do that and even nicer to be given in return a much needed dash of funk and excitability that I thought helped everyone get loose in the overly dusty Waterloo Park.  I'll have to catch another performance soon.

Black Joe Lewis
 

Frightened Rabbit

Despite the fact that I absolutely love Frightened Rabbit's Midnight Organ Fight and had heard plenty of good things about their live shows, I was still a bit hesitant about how their set would go.  I mean, let's face it - they're one of those acts that sound like they should be heard late a night after a few beers.  Well, that probably is true, but the guys were as loud and raucous as I had hoped they would be, so I thought their all too brief performance ended up being spectacular.  They better return to Austin soon.

For my money, the Spinto Band were the surprise act of the day.  Sure, I've posted on them before and have always enjoyed their records, but I'd never heard anything about the live show, which turned out to be so full of energy and passion that I wanted to climb onstage and at least rock an air guitar.  No kidding when I say it was one of the best pop performances I've seen since Los Campesinos at SXSW earlier this year.

The Spinto Band





Annuals

I've been trying my hardest to fall in love with Annuals' latest release, Such Fun, but it just hasn't been entirely working for me.  Unfortunately, the majority of the tunes from that record don't really seem to work in a live setting either.  For example, where the Be He Me material is raw and energetic, the new stuff feels almost bland or, if you will, too slick for its own good.  In any case, the lot of them did bring the passion that I expected they would, so it was a quality set.

I've only ever been a casual follower of Islands, so I was pretty much expecting something solid.  For the most part that's what I got, but I will say that they're a spunky bunch that do well in making all of their recorded material, which I think can sometimes sound like plain indie rock, come alive.  Good stuff.

Islands







The Black Angels

In the numerous times I've seen the Black Angels I've really wanted them to get loud and sloppy so that they can avoid their tendency to drone on and on to the point where I get sleepy.  Well, with a couple of tech problems and a disorganized feel for at least the first half of the set, I finally got what I wanted.  And you know what?  It was pretty damn awesome.

This may not be right in any way, but I hope that every time I see them they're riddled with issues so that I can get more of what they pushed out at FFF Fest.
 

St. Vincent

My favorite set of the day (and possibly the whole festival) was easily St. Vincent's. 

Annie Clark is such an interesting performer to watch.  She has almost tranquil moments when she's singing, but when she steps back to wail on the guitar it's almost like a completely different person takes over.  It's sort of crazy, I suppose, but with so many great songs and a fantastic sound it adds that small bit of theatricality that sets her apart from everyone else.

On another note, she played a couple of songs that I wasn't familiar with.  My guess is that they were new, but I can't say for sure.  I only know that I thought they were very good.

Minus The Bear

What can I really say about Minus The Bear?  They, as always, were the consummate professionals who put on a good show that featured all the fan favorites.  That's it.

- John Laird -



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