All photos by Merrick Ales unless otherwise noted.
Under overcast skies the tenth anniversary of Fun Fun Fun Fest kicked off at Auditorium Shores in Austin on Friday. Luckily, the looming rain held off save for a bit of drizzle. Perhaps it was a blessing from the rock gods, as the first day of FFF Fest brought a shred-heavy roster of acts to the various stages sprawled across the park. With the exception of the reigning queen of sleaze Peaches – who easily won the day – the best sets of the day came from real rock bands playing real instruments, something that is increasingly rare at festivals these days. Glide Magazine’s Neil Ferguson and Danielle Houtkooper caught a sizable chunk of the lineup on day 1 and are here to present the awards for their favorite (and least favorite) performances.
Neil Ferguson
Best Sexual Maniac/Onstage Proposal
Peaches (Blue Stage)
In this writer’s opinion, and that of many other festival-goers who I spoke with, Peaches put on the best performance of the day. For starters, her appearance at FFF Fest’s 10th anniversary carried extra significance since she was a headliner at the first edition of the festival when it was still a small, one-day event (tickets were $20) at Waterloo Park. Peaches seemed aware of that as she took the stage in an elaborate costume fit for a psychedelic sex queen and proceeded to put on a hyper-sexualized stage show that included dancing vaginas, bondage scenes, a human centipede reenactment, and a giant crowd surfing penis that would make the Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne cringe with intimidation. If it were legal to have a live sex show onstage, Peaches would have cheerfully indulged. Gloriously filthy, Peaches mostly stuck to material off her recently released album Rub, which finds her veering into more kid-friendly dance music like trap and beats with a little more girth. She commanded the crowd with “Dicks In The Air” and the hip-hop beat of “How You Like My Cut”, among other new songs. The peak of the performance came when Peaches invited two gentlemen onstage, both wearing shirts bearing her new slogan ‘WHOSE JIZZ IS THIS’, and played host to a marriage proposal that had the crowd cheering with joy for the couple. Before leaving the stage Peaches congratulated the guys and thanked her audience by spraying champagne in money shot fashion while leading a sing-a-long of “Fuck The Pain Away”, and we all knew damn well whose jizz that was.
Best Grit n Groove
Benjamin Booker (Yellow Stage)
Photo by Arthur VanRooy.
New Orleans artist Benjamin Booker was one of the heavier acts to be stuck playing the Yellow Stage though he would have been more well suited for the Black or Orange Stages where his wailing guitar and gravelly vocals could travel into the ether. But the dank air inside the packed tent made it feel like a sweaty nightclub, a fitting environment for this young musician. Booker’s sound is straight blues-based rock and roll, yet he succeeds in the restraint he uses instead of hitting you in the face with a wallop of feedback and shredding on every song. He even relinquished his guitar for a few songs, clutching a cigarette and the mike together while crooning along to a fiddle sound that seemed to rise straight from the murky bayous of his hometown.
Best Fit For An NYC Dive Bar circa 1990
Parquet Courts (Black Stage)
Photo by Dave Mead courtesy of Fun Fun Fun Fest
These Brooklyn cats were an ideal act to take us from late afternoon to early evening, and for the duration of their brief set they made the Black Stage feel like a dingy NYC nightclub in the late 80s/early 90s. In this sense, Parquet Courts are not a band breaking new ground as they carry strong hints of grunge and punk with a lo-fi, shoegazing groove that brings to mind bands like Sonic Youth, Pavement, and even Yo La Tengo at times. But all those bands kick ass and so do Parquet Courts, and they have chosen their influences wisely.
Best Show The “Kiddies” What Real Rock And Roll Is
Cheap Trick (Orange Stage)
Cheap Trick may have been the oldest band on Friday’s lineup, but that hardly mattered given the legendary status of these aged rockers. The band packed 13 songs into their hour-long set, giving fans greatest hits like “Baby Loves To Rock”, “Taxman, Mr. Thief”, “I Want You To Want Me”, and “Surrender”. The band was in prime shape with Rick Nielsen delivering his trademark flashy guitar solos and Robin Zander’s vocals soaring well above most of the younger acts on the lineup. Cheap Trick have always struck the perfect balance of pop and testosterone-fueled rock and roll, and their set at FFF Fest showed us all why they are still one of the finest acts in the game.
Danielle Houtkooper
Makin’ the “Best” of Things
Viet Cong (Orange Stage)
Canadian post-punk rockers Viet Cong had a rough day. After the airport “misplaced” most of their gear, the band was unable to board their next plane to Austin. Rather than lay victim to the Fest gods’ wrath, the band opted to take a $400 Uber ride into town and managed to make it on stage when they were needed. It wasn’t the “typical” Viet Cong show due to the lack of equipment that normally provides a gargantuan live set, however the stripped down sound gave it an intimate feel (of course Viet Cong stripped down is just the band at their primal best). The step away from the wall of sound was something of a privilege. No, faces weren’t completely melted off, but there was a rare opportunity to take in the band as individuals outside their larger sound. The moment wasn’t lost on the fest crowd who managed to keep completely silent in moments where it counted, only to burst into cheers moments later in genuine harmony with the band.
Best Comeback
Mikal Cronin (Orange Stage)
Photo by Chad Wadsworth courtesy of Fun Fun Fun Fest
Cronin’s list of achievements should be longer than he gets credit for. Aside from his epic playing with garage/stoner rocker Ty Segall, Cronin has released several albums both through his self-titled solo project and with different side bands. His first release was merely steps away from brilliance, and its flaws drove it towards perfection, creating a new narrative bridging the gap between the rock-pop world and psych music. However, his follow up MCII was lacking a certain depth, and once its sequel was released there was a dark cloud hanging over the Cronin camp. His latest album MCIII wasn’t quite the hit both critics and audiences were craving; rather than stepping away from what hadn’t been working he instinctively clung on to it, coddling the sound like his first born. The question quickly became, “Is this it?” These doubts were decidedly squashed both during the fest itself, and later on again during the ‘Nites’ show. Both the band and the man himself delivered on Cronin’s earlier promises, playing a healthy mix of both the new and old catalog with a determination and intricacy that one can only find during live performances. Cronin’s brilliance lies in between the lines, and as it turns out all it takes is a willing crowd to get the magic going.
Best in Show/Best Theatrics
King Khan and the BBQ Show (Yellow Stage)
Photo by Arthur VanRooy.
Late Friday night, the crowd at the Yellow stage was privy to a spiritual retreat, heading to church with King Khan and the BBQ show. Aside from the perfect costumes (capes, blinged out s&m wear, leather, masks, and the perfect amount of nudity), the duo put on a show that out beat a majority of the acts that played earlier at the fest. The BBQ vocals are insanely spot on, relying on his basic kickdrum beat to keep each song flowing. Their local “punk” history keeps them down to earth, yet brightly aware of their role, leading to these live shows that are uniquely King Khan and the BBQ show. The love of their craft permeates from them, creating this sphere of inclusiveness and wholeness. The duo quickly took on the role of corporal fest gods in the tent as their costumes eventually aligned with the colorful graphics being projected onto the inside of the tent. Even well after they had left the stage, the mood continued to fill the air, reaching out to unsuspecting fest-goers who had no clue what they’d just missed.
Fest Loser
Antemasque (Orange Stage)
Photo by Greg Giannukos courtesy of Fun Fun Fun Fest
Pulling former members of The Mars Volta, Sparta, and At the Drive In seemed like a good idea to stoner/pop-metal adoring, 14 year old you…for a little while anyway. However, rather than create a new sound, Antemasque banks on an audience dripping in nostalgia and days far gone. The result is the band feeling like a Warped Tour opener, unpolished and uncaring of the bountiful invitation laid out by this festival. What was most upsetting about the set was how quickly everything went wrong. The distinctive sounds of Mars Volta’s Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala get lost in the noise, banking on names like drummer Travis Barker for an audience without putting forth the effort to earn their trust in the first place. Antemasque’s set felt like an extended rehearsal in a buddy’s garage, and other than a jogged memory of music fest passed featuring the former bands these players all hail from, it was mostly a wasted slot.
