Fun Fun Fun Fest once again descended upon Austin, Texas for its 2010 edition, corralling the best of crust-punk, pretentious indie, left field hip-hop, stoner-metal, and whatever else kind of music would draw the mases to the ten acre Waterloo Park for a three-day marathon of live-music, mosh-pitting, and binge drinking. this year, the festival featured it’s widest array of artists than any previous, from weird al to gwar, there was something for everyone. weworemasks’ sunbear was on hand to partake of said festivities, and the following is his recollection, as best he remembers it, of Austin’s 5th annual Fun Fun Fun Fest.

editor’s note: sorry about the extreme late pass here people, i could tell you that i’ve been busy with other things, but truthfully i was recovering from the two day ordeal that was the fest.

– sunbear

photo credit: weworemasks

Arriving at the Austin’s Waterloo Park at just around 3:30 I could hear the sounds of Chapel Hill, North Carolina’s (or is it Venus, still?) Valient Thorr closing out their set with “The Sleeper Awakes.” Though I might have been on the other side of a banner-draped chain-link fence, I could still feel their otherworldly rock reverberating thorough the park. Finally having picked up all the essential press materials and stocking up on drink tickets and Kleenex packets (so thoughtful!) I settled into the press pit to the sounds of The Antlers’ set on the indie-centric Orange Stage. Lo-fi folk rock they may be on record, the expanded Antlers trio were a fuller sounding band live, singer Peter Silverman’s voice coming through resonantly over the sound of the band’s moogs and guitars. Their set consisted solely of material from their critically acclaimed Hospice, with songs like “Sylvia” and “Two” really stirring up the Austin crowd.

The weather on this particular day was very pleasant with a crisp air and a bright sun; a dramatic 180 from last year’s bogged down gray air and inches of pulpy mud. No, the festival gods had blessed us with the fine gift of a picturesque climate, and it wasn’t going to waste with the festival goers as they moved in for Wavves set.

photo credit: sonic itch music

If The Antlers were accomplished in transforming their lo-fi sound into a richer, festival-friendly one, Nathan Williams’ Wavves were doing the exact opposite. The skuzzy garage rock band sounded as bratty and belligerent as Williams’ persona let on. “Can I get some fuckin’ beers over here?” the front man would demand before kicking into an out of tune version of “No Hope Kids.” It was rockin’, for sure, but elegant and coordinated, it wasn’t.

photo credit: weworemasks

The Orange Stage was then set up with an inordinate amount of mic stands and amplifiers, signaling the onset of the festival’s third lo-fi band in a row, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti. Sure enough, out strolled singer Ariel Pink, bleached hair all a-frazzle, donned in a flowery lady tunic. He was surprisingly charismatic, thrusting his mike down the bell of a saxophone, or sidling up next to his bassist for vocal harmonies. The band itself was a circus of polished musicians, creating more robust versions of songs from Pink album’s Before Today and The Doldrums. The unorthodox DIY tape-recorded methods of Pink were rendered asunder, as the lusher sounding songs were brought to light. Definitely a surprising highlight of the festival.

photo credit: weworemasks

If anyone is ever looking for Monotonix, they should have no problem finding singer Ami Shalev swimming, literally swimming on the heads of their fans who themselves circle around the band as their mobile set-up allows them to move freely across the area in front of the yellow stage. Monotonix’s show heavily emphasis the impromptu/daredevil aspect of the show rather than any actual musicianship; I’m sure there was even a point when Shalev stuck the mic up his ass. Odd bits of sodomy aside, Shelev spends more time being held up high above the festival goers then on the actual ground, at one point even climbing a 12 foot rock column, claiming “There’s a fifty/fifty chance I may die…” before taking the plunge. He’s not dead by the way, and Monotonix will live to play another ludicrously dangerous set.

photo credit: weworemasks

I passed by Os Mutantes set, where I heard copious amounts of rain stick, Jethro Tull flute, and what I’m pretty sure were samples of tropical birds chirping. Then again it was a beautiful day in Austin, and certainly more walks of life than the Austin Hippie made its way into the park. Over on the small Blue Stage, New Orleans’ Big Freedia was leading a sea of booty shakin’ to the sounds of her patented “Sissy Bounce,” and when I say “booty shakin’” I mean it in the lewdest sense. Freedia’s dance crew spent the entirety of the set bent over, ass out, bouncing fso fiercely and depravedly, I swear if you caught them at just the right angle, you could get a straight shot to their ovaries. And it wasn’t just the dancers either, as Freedia called upon Ausin to create a booty showdown on stage. Austin were much obliged.

photo credit: rogerho

Cap’n Jazz were the same spastic ball of screamo that they’ve always been. Tim Kinsella enchanged between belting out crazy French horn solos to just plain belting it out vocally, straining his throat within an inch of its life. Closing their set with a cover of Aha’s “Take on Me,” Kinsella launched himself into the crowd, into the adoring fans who have waited fifteen years for this performance. Back on the Blue Stage, Barcelona, Spain’s Delorean were playing their dreamy brand of electro pop, made all the better by their light show, just as the sun was going down. The cascading synths and summery feel of their songs off of their full length Subiza, gave the Blue Stage a warm, hypnotic aura that attracted Ausin’s chillwave fans.

photo credit: brooklynvegan

I just missed The Vandals’ set all the way across the park on the Black Stage, where I would find out that Alkaline Trio’s Derek Grant sat in for drummer Josh Freese. Fuck me, right? Fortunately I had a prime seat for Gwar’s set. Easily the most packed stage of the night, there was barely an inch to spare as the crowd pushed their way towards the stage, hoping to get spewed on with Gwar’s legendary bloodbath show. Part horror show, part comedy routine, and all thrash metal, Gwar turned out what was easily the most impressive set of the night. Opening the set with “Horror of Yig,” two beheaded zombies came out and sprayed gallons of blood from their neck stumps: the blood bath was on. Culling from a multitude of props and characters, including a disemboweled Sarah Palin, a shit-spewing toilet, and a giant robot, Gwar battled in out onstage with many characters, playing songs like “Vlad the Impaler” and “Sick of You,” all the while drenching the audience with blood as far as 30 rows back. Singer Oderus Urungus was a consummate comedian declaring “I could out-fart anyone here!” and “That’s my best Shakira impression” after shaking his bare ass at us for a whole song. All in all, Gwar was as Gwar does, and Austin ate up every macabre moment.

photo credit: sonic itch music

The obvious decline in interest for MGMT was apparent as soon as I made my way to the Orange Stage. The crowd was listless, bereft of enthusiasm for the band as they played songs off their poorly received album Congratulations. By the time they had decided to throw in Oracular Spectacular songs into their set, it was far to little, far too late. It was obvious that Andrew VanWyngarden didn’t relish playing older material, wincing his way through “Time to Pretend” and “Electric Feel” not did it help that the band had a blasé attitude about playing anything at all, old or new. Losing interest fast, I finished my night over at the Black Stage once more, where Bad Religion had overcome sound difficulties and were in full punk rock stride, a testament to the 30 years the band have been together. Celebrating said 30 year anniversary, the band, minus Brett Gurewitz unfortunately, elected to play an even amount of songs from their entire back catalogue, despite having just released a new album , The Dissent of Man. Having carefully cherry-picked older material, fan favorites “Infected, “American Jesus,” and set-closer “Fuck Armageddon … This is Hell” drove the BR die-hards into a mosh frenzy. The band’s energy was boundless and proof positive as to why this band has outlasted its many contemporaries to become punk rock legend.