As festival season draws to an end across the Northern Hemisphere, one smaller festival in Austin has created a kind of bookend each year for festival-goers. Formerly called Fun Fun Fun Festival, this year marks the debut of the newly christened Sound on Sound (SOS) Festival created by the same promoters under a new moniker of Margin Walker Presents after splitting from Transmission Events earlier this year. The new festival will take place about forty minutes outside of Austin at the Sherwood Forest Faire and will have shuttles to get from Austin to the festival, and camping for those that prefer not to make the trek every day. Though the name and venue may be different this year, many of the same elements of FFF Fest still carry over to the new fest. A varied lineup that includes many bands that don’t often get billed at major festivals with genres spanning hip-hop, metal, punk, indie rock and hardcore is paired with side areas that showcase comedy, extreme sports and art. For their inaugural year the team at Margin Walker pull together an amazing lineup featuring bands like The Descendents, Courtney Barnett, Run The Jewels and Phantogram with an undercard lineup that is equally impressive. With so many great bands to see, here is our list of must see acts for the weekend.
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American Sharks (Saturday November 5 @ 4:00 The Keep)
Austin-based metal band American Sharks have toured with the likes of GWAR and The Sword and have played FFF Fest in previous years. Their brand of stoner metal consists of short songs with face melting riffs and they just keep on going song after song. Their energy onstage makes their live shows an unforgettable experience. With a new album on the horizon, their set is bound to be one of the top metal experiences of the festival.
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Death Grips (Friday November 4 @ 7:55 Dragon’s Lair)
The off-again-on-again experimental hip-hop group takes elements of punk, industrial, electronica and noise, and combines it all with hip-hop. Their appearance on the bill was a bit surprising as they cancelled on their last two appearances for FFF Fest. MC Ride’s intense stage energy often times borders on violence and some instruments are likely to be destroyed during their set. Given the group’s penchant for breaking up, any opportunity to catch them live shouldn’t be taken lightly.
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Courtney Barnett (Sunday November 6 @ 9:15 Dragon’s Lair)
After a successful SXSW in 2015, Melbourne native Courtney Barnett has been touring incessantly in support of her debut LP Sometimes I Sit and Think, Sometimes I Just Sit. With her witty lyrics, grungy guitar licks, and infectious stage energy, her shows are not to be missed. Most recently she contributed her version of “New Speedway Boogie” for The National’s curate Grateful Dead tribute album. Originally billed for the cancelled Levitation Festival earlier in the year, Barnett is giving Austinites another chance to catch her high energy performance.
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Dillinger Escape Plan (Saturday November 5 @ 11:40 The Keep)
For many fans of the Jersey-based progressive metal band, this show will be both full of joy and sorrow. Having been playing since 1997, the members of the Mathcore band have decided that two decades is the shelf life for their band. The sheer intensity of Dillinger’s live show is so over the top that it wouldn’t be feasible for them to be able to keep it at that level year after year. Every show sees some sort of combination of singer Greg Puciato jumping into the audience to sing with fans, throwing guitars and cymbals into the crowd, and stage diving. As they are on their final tour, with a new album under their belts, this set is bound to be one of their best.
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The Dead Milkmen (Saturday November 5 @ 6:25 Dragon’s Lair)
The punk rockers from Philadelphia, reunited this decade after a thirteen year hiatus, are no strangers to the festival either. After reuniting, their first show back was at FFF Fest. The band was mostly active from the mid 80’s to the mid 90’s and their song “Bitchin’ Camaro” is a punk rock classic. Mostly every song consists of some sort of humor and it’s hard not to smile when listening to their albums. Their brand of satirical punk-rock is bound to have both old and young fans laughing and moshing.
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Car Seat Headrest (Saturday November 5 @ 7:10 Forest Stage)
One of the most talked about band’s on the bill was originally just Will Toledo recording albums and putting them on Bandcamp. After signing to a major label last year, Car Seat Headrest has been garnering a huge amount of word of mouth lately. Though most of Toledo’s albums are self-produced and live solely on the internet, their new album Teens of Denial has made a splash on critic’s reviews and radio stations with its low-fi pop sound.
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Hinds (Friday November 4 @ 9:20 Forest Stage)
The lo-fi rock quartet from Spain released their debut album Leave Me Alone at the beginning of the year to positive reviews and have done extensive touring over the past couple years. The all-female group has made quite a name for themselves over the last year and their live shows always carries a feeling of rock n’ roll partying. Setlists are trashed in favor of playing what fans want and each show feels unique and ramshackle. Those festival-goers who are camping will have a chance to see a late night show that is sure to feel even more like an informal party.
Sound on Sound (SOS) Fest November 4-6 at Sherwood Forest in McDade, Texas. To check out the whole lineup and grab tickets, visit soundonsoundfest.com.
3 Responses
Nice list man, but Beach House is essential viewing for the Saturday crowd attending Sound on Sound. I know they are the headliner but damn they put on a magical show — which will be fitting given the location of the festival.
From Jane Young:
I heard Mac Demarco had to cancel his appearance at Sound on Soundfest. Is this true?
Yes. Sadly, Mac Demarco and Charles Bradley both had to cancel. They were replaced by Deerhunter and Big Freedia, respectively.