the dust bowl known as austin’s fun fun fun fest continued with it’s final day and biggest achievement to date, the reunion of the illustrious punk band, the descendents. stepping up when an injury sidelined planned headliners devo, the legendary west coast punk band set out for austin for their first live show in nearly a decade, causing a stir amongst festival goers. this once in a lifetime act would be joining the likes of best coast, deerhunter, p.o.s., mastadon, suicideal tendencies, yelle and more for the final day of fun fun fun fest.

– sunbear

photo credit: weworemasks

No one has such mastery over crowd participation quite like NYC MC Jean Grae. “If you in the front row and you ain’t gonna act like you in the front row, get the fuck out the front row,” she so eloquently dictated, compelling a stir in the Blue Stage crowd from the more die-hard hip-hop heads. Finger pistols pointed to the sky for the most part of “Stick Up Dance,” Grae was an esteemed, commanding female presence in the otherwise male-dominated hip-hop Fun Fun Fun Fest lineup.

photo credit: weworemasks

Back on the Orange Stage, interweb upstarts Cults were giving a performance worthy of their hype. The New York duo now fleshed out into a six-piece, which was surprising given how minimally bare bones their sound already is, were a delightful mid-day band for the fest. With a mere three songs to their name, Cults had something to prove playing a full set, and did they deliver. Not even a faulty guitar could slow down guitarist Brian Oblivion (that can’t be real) as BFF Bethany Cosentino of Best Coast fame came to the rescue with her spare Fender Mustang. She even stuck around to sing happy birthday to adorable Cults front woman Madeline Follin, who herself resembled a young Stevie Nicks, wafting about in her blousy black cloak. Affirming they’ve bigger things on the horizon that being a phantom internet sensation, Cults were a fine draw, and one of the biggest crowd pleasers of the day.

photo credit: weworemasks

Booking it back to the Blue Stage which was mid hip-hop hat trick, kicked off by Grae, Pharoahe Monch was decimating the rhymes he was known for with an aggressive energy that had the crowd bouncing to every beat. Paired with hype man Showtime, the two displayed a frenzied sense of stage presence, as they tackled staples “Clap” and the renowned “Simon Says,” possibly the greatest underground hip-hop party starter ever (if it’s not already Dead Prez’s “Hip Hop”).

photo credit: weworemasks

Best Coast followed Cults on the Orange Stage, a complimentary overlap of 60’s inspired pop from both bands. The pot-headed antics of BFF Wavves were left at bay, as Bethany Cosentino was a well-oiled Fender-wielding machine. Offering songs from her full length Crazy for You, including “Boyfriend” and “Summer Moon,” Cosentino’s tight knit band was only bested by her humorously campy stage banter. “I’m stoked on the Descendents … and this song is about my cat.” You couldn’t make this stuff up if you tried. Cosentino was the approximate image of the summery California life she sings about with her sea-foam green guitar with sunglasses to match, her wistful surf-songs bringing about a dreamy mellow to all watching. It was like getting a contact high from the tough, guitar-playing girl next door.

photo credit: weworemasks

Finishing out the 3-hour hip-hop fest the Blue stage was having was weworemasks favorite, Doomtree’s own P.O.S. The Jekyll/Hyde act that the Minnesotan rapper displayed was something fierce. The mild-mannered, bespectacled Stefon Alexander, his real name, quietly paced the stage during sound check muttering how he was ready to perform. Cut to the madman P.O.S. in the Danzig shirt, jumping recklessly into the crowd, clenching the mic as if his life depended on it, ferociously barking the angsty lyrics of Never Better track “graves.” Those in the first few rows were treated to an up close and personal aggressive attack by the volatile P.O.S. The man was straight up furious with the world, and he had the intensity to prove it. Leading a gang chants to songs like “Drumroll (We’re All Thirsty)” and “P.O.S. is Ruining My Life,” the clusterfuck of peoples in P.O.S.’s area were absolute anarchy, a hostile mosh of mob rule and riot rules. How P.O.S. was able to rejoin the Marijuana Death Squad back onstage for finale “Purexed” is still a mystery to me. By all accounts the atomic bomb of destruction his live show brought should have decimated us all.

photo credit: mary rehak

The manic activities of the Blue Stage would finally be reduced and simmered by the chillwave tactics of Ernest Greene’s Washed Out who were, unfortunate to the highly regarded buzz his live show brought during sxsw, a mere fizzle in the Fun Fun Fun Fest lineup. Running late with technical difficulties, Washed Out, now a full band, jumped straight into the music, Greene mastering an assortment of guitars, synths and electronic manipulations. Lacking any of the dreamy sensuality of their Eps, songs like “Feel it All Around” and “New Theory” sounded dismal and artificial, perhaps because the band was playing to a backing track. There were a few interesting moments in their set, but nothing really seemed to stick.

Cutting Washed Out’s disappointing set short I headed to the Black Stage where stoner metal act High On Fire were pulverizing the eardrums of anyone in a 10 mile radius. The blistering double-bass attack of “Snakes for the Divine” greeted me as I approached, as did Matt Pike’s guttural roar. This was apocalyptical battle metal if I’ve ever heard it, my only regret being that I didn’t have someone nearby to headbutt into oblivion.

photo credit: weworemasks

If there’s anyone in the entire festival that is in higher spirits than the Hold Steady front man Craig Finn, I haven’t met him. From the moment he excitedly paced on stage with the rest of his band, Finn was a boundless ball of hopped-up energy, exercising every spare second he was away from the mic to gesture wildly or yell god knows what at the assemblage in front of him. Opening with “Constructive Summer” the band was all rock star bravado as guitarist Tad Kubler effortlessly glided between guitar solos. Finn himself was like a manic street preacher, the way he barked and pantomimed his sprawling narrative lyrics about wayward youth and hedonistic lifestyles. Hold Steady classics were visited like “The Swish” and “Your Little Hoodrat Friend,” the latter of which Finn took a moment during, to tell a story about how in Minnesota, in 1987, he and a friend went to see the Descendents for what he thought was the last time, and the countless times he listened to Livage!, the super-fan he was of the legendary punk rock outfit. It definitely seemed that Finn was as excited as any festivalgoer to be watching the Descendents after their own set. Heavy on material from their latest album Heaven is Whenever, as well as their breakthrough Boys and Girls in America, there wasn’t a moment when Finn wasn’t directing a wall of sound in the form of rousing responsorial choruses from the audience. Wrapping things up with “Stay Positive,” the band threw their guitars off and rushed off-stage to grab a prime location to watch the Descendents from.

photo credit: red river noise

Punk rock legends, once in a lifetime act, or Fun Fun Fun Fest saviors; any of these monikers could have, and did, apply to the Descendents this evening. Decades removed from the irreverent, snot-nosed delinquents that they once were, and a full decade since their last live performance, the deafening roar of cheers from Austin’s Waterloo Park as the band took the Orange Stage as the final night’s act washed away any hint of doubt that the Descendents were lacking in youthful exuberance. Decades of familiarity and routine set in as, with a mere “we’re the Descendents” from Milo Auckerman, the band bursted out of the gates with a bombastic rendition of the self-referential “Descendents.” The band were firing on all cylinders, as raucous and provocative as they ever were. The only indication that the band had ever changed from its irreverent 80’s incarnation was the fact that Milo had grayed a bit, and had a paunch to match, but all was forgiven when Descendents staples “Myage” and “Rotting Out” were played, with Auckerman, the freewheeling spirit he always was. The entire performance had a loose jaunty feel, almost like the Descendents had never left and were just doing another weekend show, rather than revitalizing the band’s name after more than a Decade away. More than two dozen songs were rolled out in less than 50 minutes, heavy on the Milo Goes to College and I Don’t Want to Grow Up, giving long time fans something to write home about, as if the band themselves weren’t enough (yeah right). With a single night’s performance, the Descendents retroactively set the tone for the entire festival bringing the best of decade’s past into the present for all music fans to appreciate.