One of the greatest things about FunFunFun Fest, other than the line-up, is all of the interactivity. This isn't just a music festival it's an experience and you can be a part of both the experience and the music festival and all it will cost you is your time and energy. Each year the folks at FunFunFun Fest have organized a scavenger hunt in Austin for a chance to win tickets to the event, well this year they've stepped it up a notch. If you're reading this from Austin, there will OF COURSE be a scavenger hunt here but this year the hunt isn't restricted to Austin!
If you're in Houston, San Antonio or Dallas you too can win tickets with a scavenger hunt in your city. Not only that, but there are FFF scavenger hunts on college campuses this year as well. So, if you're reading this from New Mexico State University, Texas A&M, Kansas State University, or Texas State University then you could win ticket right on campus! Most or all of these scavenger hunts will happen simultaneously on October 1st. Those of you outside of Austin have better odds of winning, as it seems (via F*c*book even RSVPs) you will have fewer participants. Austin, I've got your complete details below the break, those of you outside of Austin, click your link above.
Alright Austin, get your team assembled, make sure (at least) one of you has a smartphone with Gowalla and register online for the hunt now! You should plan a costume for your team and don't do anything lame, this is Austin be creative with your costume. You and your team (up to 5 people) need to be at Red 7 by 3:45pm on Saturday October 1st. If you didn't register online make sure to be at Red 7 by 3:00pm. The lists will be passed out at 4:00pm sharp and all teams must be back by 7:00pm. It would be smart to make sure you have some way to record photo and/or video evidence of your tasks and be prepared to get a tattoo. In fact, you should probably make an appointment with a downtown tattoo artist now!
Here's what's up for grabs for the winners:
1st Place: PIP Tickets to FFF6
2nd Place: Weekend Passes to FFF6
3rd Place: Single Day Passes to FFF6
All participants will get free food at the finish line and of course all of the FunFunFun you can handle. So, start thinking strategically. Reserve a cab, pedi-cab, tattoo artist. Make sure your phone(s) are fully-charged and start thinking about a bad-ass costume. It all goes down October 1st, so you've got less than 2 weeks to get this all done.
Some of you may know that lead Neon Indian, Alan Palomo, once called Texas home. As far as I know the band is now based in Brooklyn but I'm calling Friday's show at the Mohawk a homecoming show. In addition to being a "homecoming" show, it's an album-release party! Neon Indian second LP, Era Extraña was released Tues. the 13th and is already a contender for album of the year lists. It expounds upon the textured, vintage keyboard-driven sounds of Psychic Chasms without simply retreading the same territory. This Friday's show was originally planned for the Mohawk's intimate, inside stage but was moved to the outside stage when the show sold-out in milliseconds. Unfortunately for those of you who didn't get tickets, the outside show is also, now, sold-out. On the bright side, you can still have an intimate performance experience late Friday night as those lil rascals over at Transmission Entertainment have rented out the Blazer Tag in South Austin for a neon-infused afterparty!
It only costs $10 for a ticket to the Blazer Tag aftershow, which will feature DJ sets by Alan Palomo as well as, local bad-asses, Learning Secrets. If you ARE interested in the afterparty you better snag a ticket NOW because Blazer Tag isn't a very big space and this is a very cool event. So cool in fact, if you're laser tag skills are on point you MIGHT win yourself passes to this year's FunFunFun Fest. That's right, not only is this a bad-ass show, it's a contest opportunity!
The doors for the afterparty open at 11:45am and they're kicking you out by 4am. There is lots of parking so you should be good on that front but if you're not driving I recommend you order a cab when you buy your tickets. If you're going to both events, you can bus from the Mohawk to Blazer Tag with very little walking. Just hop on the last number 10 bus heading southbound, get out near the 7-11 at Ben White and walk west toward Blazer Tag. It should also be noted that there's a 24 hour Taco Cabana right down the street from Blazer Tag, if you're hungry at 4am.
I haven't loved everything The Horrors have released but I do believe that their latest LP, Skying COULD make my best albums of 2011 list. I can also tell you that they put on one of the most unpredictable live shows in indie-rock. Tomorrow night they return to The Parish, where they, somewhat famously, dumped a trashcan on the stage mid-performance during SXSW a few years ago. If you want to be a part of the, potential, madness tomorrow night, there are still tickets available. I'm not too sure how well the show is selling, I feel like The Horrors don't have the buzz they deserve at the moment but hopefully their current tour will change all of that.
I'm always excited when a band I like decides to play The Parish. I feel like, at this point, whenever you see a good booking there, it's because the band specified they wanted to play that room. Like I mentioned above, I know that The Horrors played there during a SXSW appearance. Also, this summer The Rosebuds played their Austin show at The Parish and they have, also, showcased there during SXSW. I'm in love with the sound in The Parish and I feel like there really isn't a bad angle in the room, even if you stand back by the merch table you can still see and hear just fine. The biggest down-side to the venue is its 6th street location. It's tough to park near the venue and when you're entering and exiting you're smack-dab in the middle of bro-town with all the drunken tourists and college kids. Get off my lawn you damn kids!!!
I had a brief chat with the gentlemen from, Detroit band, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. the day before their Austin City Limits Festival appearance. The audio on this one isn't ideal but you can still hear the questions and answers. It gets tricky in the media area, since you aren't very far from two of the festival's bigger stages, to conduct video interviews but I did my best. As you probably guessed from the band's name they are quite clever and funny and I had a good time chatting with them.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. - ACL Festival Interview video via YouTube
The official ACL Fest YouTube chanel has lots of performances, interviews and performance clips from this year's festival, including this one from Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.'s Sunday performance:
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. - Nothing But Our Love (Live at ACL Festival 2011) video via YouTube
This past weekend at Austin City Limits Festival, I was lucky enough to interview, Los Angeles band, The Belle Brigade. They played a great, high-energy set early on Saturday that, most certainly, won them lots of new fans. They'll be on tour this fall with Dawes and Blitzen Trapper.
I like to keep my interviews brief and whimsical because I'm sure your attention span is as short as mine and if I were a band I wouldn't want to yammer on about myself with a complete strange for a really long time. Here's how it turned out:
The Belle Brigade - ACL Fest Interview video via YouTube
You can pick-up The Belle Brigade's eponymous debut now.
Another year, another ACL Festival has passed. It was three days of heat, a bit of rain, lots of music and some sore, tired feet. Weather-wise, I can't complain too much about this year's festival. I was worried since the festival was moved from October in 2010 back to September in 2011 that it was going to be unbearably hot and it certainly had its moments. For the most part, we saw overcast days, brief periods of rain and highs in the mid-90's. There were extra misting fans this year and a few extra areas with shade, although those were, generally, jam-packed with people. I brought a chair this year, which made for a more pleasant experience. I felt like an old-man at times but sometimes it's just nice to have a chair and for those times when I didn't want it, it was easy to drop off at the chair-check.
As far as music goes, the 10 year anniversary had a great line-up, there was a little of something for everyone and I didn't hear too many complaints. Sure there are artists, who performed that didn't interest me in the least but for those times, I just went over to the food concessions. My favorite set of the weekend was Kanye West's Friday night headlining set. I was kind of bummed to miss Coldplay but Kanye brought great production elements, and a string of hits that lasted beyond his 90 minute allotted time. He played a song (maybe two) from Watch the Throne and the set-list was definitely heavy with tunes from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy but he also played every top 10 hit he's ever had, of which there are many. I have seen both Coldplay and Kanye in the past and I knew that Kanye's performance would be less predictable, which isn't a slam on Coldplay it's more of a compliment to West.
The most disappointing set of the weekend was Stevie Wonder's Saturday headlining set. I was ridiculously excited to experience a living legend and was deeply saddened by the extraordinarily low sound-levels from his stage. I don't know if it was due to the wind, the slope of the park, or simply technical issues but I was about mid-back from the stage, beyond the second set of speaker towers and his performance was barely audible whatsoever. Meanwhile, I could hear My Morning Jacket from the opposite side of the park clear as a bell. The section of crowd where I was situated with thick with people before Stevie Wonder took to the stage (15 minutes late) but by the time the third song had begun there was hardly anyone around me. There were similarly low sound-levels from that stage earlier in the day when I tried to see Alison Krauss and Union Station but I presumed the volume was low because of her day-time slot and assumed it would be much louder for Stevie Wonder's headlining slot, which was not the case.
The sets that warmed my heart the most all come from artists whom I had seen perform before this weekend. Firstly, Cults played a fantastic set, which brought people to Zilker Park early on Friday. There were hundreds of people there to see them play at 11:45am on day 1 of ACL Festival. I was very pleasantly surprised to see such a big turn-out for a, relatively, unknown band. I was, also, extraordinarily happy to see tens of thousands of people gather to see, Australian band, Cut Copy perform on Saturday. I last saw them play the outside stage at Emo's so to witness a sea of people in every direction singing, dancing, clapping and losing their minds brought tears to my eyes. To me the greatest thing about a massive festival is the large-scale enjoyment of music. I wanted more moments like that but I was glad to have that one with Cut Copy. The final big heart moment for me was seeing Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.. Not only did they have a great turn-out, they won over lots of new fans. There were people set-up who were there to see bands playing after Dale Jr. Jr. who were won over by their great tunes. Also, they did the most genius thing of the weekend, which was to throw popsicles into the crowd during one of the hottest moments of the weekend.
There were lots of acts I wish I had seen but didn't as well including We Are Augustines and Death From Above 1979. However, having lived in Austin for 5 years now I can tell you, there is always something your missing. I try to focus on the stuff that I DID get to see and not get caught up in the hype of, "Oh my God, I can't believe you didn't see _______!" I'm too old for that crap. My greatest discovery of the weekend was Charles Bradley, I had seen the name, I had heard the hype but to see him perform in person was a religious experience. He is the type of performer who reaches into his chest pulls his heart out and lets you watch it beat in his hand. He told the audience he loved us at least a dozen times and I think we all believed it more each time we heard it.
Charles Bradley - The World (Is Going Up In Flames) video via YouTube
Overall, I would say the things I didn't like about the festival have more to do with me than the festival itself and it's things that bother me every time I see a show. I will NEVER understand people who pay money for a concert and spend the entire time talking. I will NEVER understand the people who spend hundreds of dollars to get black-out drunk in public. I LOVE music, I go to musical performances to experience the performance and when I can hear 2 bros bro-ing out easier than I can hear Arcade Fire then we all have a problem. In other words, I might be getting too old for this stuff but I haven't given up on it. I still love love music, I just wish everyone showed their love in the same ways and made an effort to be respectful of their fellow music-patrons. To me there is nothing valuable about saying I was at a show if I wasn't listening to the performance. Maybe next year I'll get black-out drunk and then I won't mind all of the talking, then again maybe I'll get black-out drunk and assault some shirtless bro in mandles, with the most horrifying tattoos who won't SHUT THE FUCK UP! Only time will tell.
Seems like all the cool kids were at Tuesday's Bon Iver show at the Long Center. Well, this cool kid couldn't make it but luckily I had a photographer friend with a photo pass who captured some shots for you and me. All of these photos are the property of Emily Blincoe, she even posts cool instagram photos on her Twitter feed. Please don't repost these without giving her due credit.
Once again, all of these photos were shot by Emily Blincoe, if you decide to use or post them make sure you attach her name (at least).
This is the part in my pre-fest coverage that is the most fun for me, it's where I look at the Austin City Limits Festival official schedule and I highlight the points in the festival when it will be hardest to choose one stage versus another. Last year was my first year attending ACL Festival and I learned a great lesson, which is don't needlessly move from stage to stage. So, for me personally, my decisions will be based on proximity as well as desire to see a specific set. Last year I did a lot of moving from one side of Zilker to the other and I can tell you, it's a task. Factor in that it's going to be hot as the surface of the sun this year and it makes the likelihood of me traversing the festival grounds even slimmer. I'm not here to tell you which artist to choose either, I'm just going to point out some decisions that you'll have to make throughout the weekend. Some may be no-brainers for you, some may be harder than algebra. Let's start chronologically shall we?
My first major conflict happens at 2:30pm on Friday when Fool's Gold takes to the Austin Ventures stage and Delta Spirit play the Bud Light stage. In this case, you CAN see Delta Spirit at Emo's tonight OR since it's early in the day you can catch half of each set. The Austin Ventures stage is located in a pretty central area so it shouldn't be too tough to move between these two stages at around 3:00pm on the opening day of the fest.
The next major conflict, happens during the next time-slot. James Blake starts at 3:10 on the Honda stage, that's on the complete opposite side of the park from the Bud Light stage where Delta Spirit will still be performing. Blake's set goes until 4:10p Friday. Meanwhile, back toward the Bud Light stage, Smith Westerns take to the Google + stage at 3:30pm. I have seen both Smith Westerns and James Blake and they're both great performers but due to trekking reasons, and the fact that James Blake's music is very intimate, I'm probably going to choose Smith Westerns. There music is just more festival appropriate and it will require less moving on my part. Did I mention I'm bringing a chair this year?
The rest of Friday I won't feel too conflicted. I know a lot of people are going to have a tough time choosing between Foster the People and Cold War Kids but I'm probably going to go with choice C) food. The final conflict for Friday is the headliners. It's a battle between Coldplay and Kanye West. Two very different performances in two very different genres. The worst kept secret of the festival this year is that Jay-Z, will join Kanye to perform some of the songs from Watch the Throne. Also, Jay-Z's wife is from Houston so it's possible that she will appear as well. I've seen both Coldplay and Kanye in the past and both performances will be very high energy with lots of spectacle. Kanye will have more cameos and auto-tune, he'll have a cooler stage setup and a LOT more bass. Coldplay will have more balloons, more positivity and a LOT more yoga poses. This is going to be a tough call for me and seeing parts of both sets will require some serious walking and chair carrying. My verdict is still out but I'm kind of leaning toward Kanye, I feel like his set will have more surprises than Coldplay's.
The conflicts start shortly after noon on Saturday as I choose between The Antlers on the AMD stage and Aloe Blacc on the Bud Light stage. The Antlers newest album is one of the best of 2011 and when I caught them at Emo's earlier in the year they sounded at their best. They've added a touring member who really fleshes out the guitar sound and the rhythm section deserves a drumming Emmy. Aloe Blacc is an artist I have never seen before, who sounds fantastic on recordings. Can he deliver in the hot Texas sun? This conflict is early enough in the day that I could probably catch pieces of each set but the jury is still out on which one I'll start with, or if I'll actually end up splitting my time at all.
Aloe Blacc - Loving You Is Killing Me video via YouTube
The next conflict is between The Belle Brigade and Twin Shadow. I have seen Twin Shadow three times in the past but I love them soooo much, I would LOVE to see them play before a festival crowd. On the other hand The Belle Brigade shows a lot of promise and an up-and-coming act that we will be hearing a lot more from in the future. I featured them already as a group who you must see at the festival. Would it be hypocritical of me to not watch their entire set? You'll have to keep an eye on my Twitter feed to see, which band I choose on Saturday.
The next Saturday conflict is at 4:00pm Saturday, between Iron & Wine or Alison Krauss & Union Station. Both acts feature amazing songwriting, with deep, personal, heartfelt vocal performances. Both artists are known for their breathtaking live performances and both are legendary in their respective genres. Also, I have never seen either act perform live, this might be the toughest conflict to date. I'm leaning towards Alison Krauss even though I'm less familiar with her songs, simply because I feel like I will have many more chances to see Iron & Wine perform.
Alison Krauss & Union Station - Paper Airplane video via YouTube
The conflicts between 5:30pm and 7:00pm are numerous. Specifically, between 6:30pm and 7:00 pm, I want to see Cut Copy, Wanda Jackson AND Gillian Welch. Of those three Wanda Jackson is the artist whom I have never seen before, I saw Gillian Welch quite recently and Cut Copy live on another continent. So, even though I ADORE Gillian Welch, she is, pretty much, out of the running. She is based in Nashville and will be back in Austin soon. Wanda Jackson is a legend so I MUST catch her set and when she is done, I'll have time to catch the climactic final 30 minutes of Cut Copy.
Wanda Jackson - Thunder On The Mountain video via YouTube
The headlining conflict for Saturday is going to be a difficult choice for lots of people. My Morning Jacket is largely considered to be the best American touring band of this generation and Stevie Wonder has written about two dozen of the greatest songs in American music. I have seen a lot of conversation about his on twitter and I know a lot of people will be splitting their time. For me, it's a pretty obvious choice. I am definitely a fan of My Morning Jacket but they will be back in Austin a lot in the next few years. Stevie Wonder will not
Stevie Wonder - Living For the City video via YouTube
Sunday
On the final day of ACL two bands that I've featured both go on at 1:30pm. Do I see the quirky Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr? Or do I go for the The Head and The Heart. I love both of their albums and I think that both acts deserve my attention. However, I have seen Dale Jr Jr on Emo's inside stage and I have never seen The Head and The Heart. The fortunate thing is, no matter who I choose chances are both artists will be back through Austin again within the next year. I love you Austin!
The Head and The Heart - Lost In My Mind video via YouTube
Later in the day both Death From Above 1979 and Elbow go on at 5:30pm on opposite sides of the park. Their sounds are very different but they are similar in the sense that whichever stage I choose I'll be bummed I missed the performance at the other stage. Neither Elbow nor Death From Above play very often, although DFA did perform at SXSW this year. Personally, I'm a brit-pop addict so I'm going to choose Elbow although, the hipster side of me really thinks I should go with Death from Above.
So, those are the areas in which I feel most conflicted this year. Who know maybe I'll just be passed-out in a folding chair from too much beer and sun and I won't feel conflicted about any of this. As I mentioned, I feel like a lot of these decisions will come down to how far will I have to move my chair, if at all. Congratulations and thank you to those of you who managed to read this far down in the post. I truly appreciate you, I love writing this post every year but it takes forever to put all the links in here. Feel free to tweet at me where you feel conflicted or post it in the comments if you wish.
Alright kiddos it's the eve of ACL Fest and it's your final night of, "see a show every night leading up to ACL Fest." For tonight, it's a 2 for 1 kind of deal, I'm sending you to our beloved Emo's to see Delta Spirit. See, it's a 2 for 1 because it's an OFFICAL ACL aftershow, even though it's actually a pre-show. You can still get tickets and they're less than $20. As I mentioned yesterday, Delta Spirit are playing the same time as Fool's Gold at the fest, so this will be a great opportunity for you to see both bands perform full sets.
Of course, given that tonight is the unofficial kick-off to ACL weekend, there are lots and lots of shows for you to check out. Some of these shows you can just pay at the door, some require purchasing tickets in advance and some are crazy exclusive. One of my favorite hip-hop producer/DJ's is in town tonight at Red 7, you might know him as the DJ for North Carolina's Little Brother, that's right I'm talking about 9th Wonder. Tickets are only $10 and anyone who is a fan of hip-hop will be highly entertained. Perhaps you're familiar with his work already and didn't realize it. Here's one of my favorite of 9th Wonder's productions.
Just a door or two away from the 9th Wonder show, over at Beauty Bar you can catch all sorts of great Austin bands at the Art Disaster party. All sorts of genres will be represented with both DJ's and bands spinning, performing and generally destroying any and all types of music. Click the link for the full rundown on who is playing when, and on which stage. You can also download a free mixtape from the site and RSVP for entry.
Now, is the part where I mention the more exclusive shows. No offense, but if you didn't already know about these ones your chances are getting in are quite marginal. There is a mini-British-invasion at Austin's W Hotel tonight, with performances by both Coldplay and Katy B. Coldplay are taping an episode of Austin City Limits in the Moody Theater, which promises to be their most intimate performance in years. However, word on the tweet is they are bringing their full-arena show into the much smaller space. I'm talking balloons, confetti, balloons filled with confetti and Chris Martin running his tiny-ass off. Katy B is bringing her U.K. dancefloor bangers to the Great Room in the W as part of their Symmetry Live series. It will be one of Katy's first shows in the U.S. and I, for one, am very excite to see her perform.
I fell in love with Fool's Gold at SXSW 2010 . In fact, I loved their live show so much that in a week when the city is flooded with thousands of bands, I actually (intentionally) watched them twice. The band is based in L.A. but, definitely, has a world sound. They recently released their second full-length LP via IAMSOUND Records and you can stream the whole thing on the KCRW site. If I had to pin down their sound, I would say it's kind of like jam music with African rhythms but now that I read that, it sounds like the most terrible thing ever. Trust me, the music is NOT terrible and it will have you dancing.
Fool's Gold play ACL Festival at 2:30pm on Friday, you'll find them at the Austin Ventures stage, across from all of the food. They do play at the same time as Delta Spirit whom I ALSO love but it shouldn't be too tough to catch songs from both acts at that time of day.
I've been listening to the new LP from Fool's Gold while I write and you can tell they have been influenced by their life performances. The songs are so much catchier, dancier and generally more accessible than the first album. I liked the first record a lot but that enjoyment was largely based on having seen them perform live. This new record does a much better job of capturing the live energy of the band. I'm looking forward to their set on Friday even more now that I've heard this new material. See you at the Austin Ventures stage at 2:30pm!
In the meantime, here's a song from the first LP to tide you over:
