It's going be a busy week, so here's a quick recap of Saturday's Fun Fun Fun Fest action (see here for a review of Friday night's shows.)
The Joy Formidable, Orange Stage Full of joyous energy and some pretty serious guitar licks, this trio from Northern Wales is primed for breakout greatness, as marked by their opening slot on the Foo Fighters current tour. (They'll be at MSG this Sunday.) And, diminutive lead Ritzy Bryan is way more than just a cute blonde: she's an absolute firecracker on both guitar and vox. Best new band I saw all weekend.
tUnE-yArDs, Orange Stage I'll never get over some of the crazy shit people embrace in the context of a festival. I mean, have you heard Whokill yet? It's ridiculous: full of strange dissonances and off-kilter meters, courtesy of two saxophones, a bass guitar, and Merill's otherworldly shreik, occasionally accompanying herself with a single drum. Crazy? Brilliant.
Dan Deacon, Blue Stage He's somewhere in the middle of that teeming swarm near the front of the stage. Been there, done that.
Youth Brigade or Negative Approach, Black Stage I think this was Negative Approach – an old school hardcore band from Detroit – but not really sure. Shit all sounds the same to me.
Kool Keith, Blue Stage A last minute replacement for hip hop legend Rakim, Kool Keith did not disappoint, firing off lyrics like a machine-gun while impressing the ladies with one shiny head scarf. Dang.
Wham City Sketch Comedy, Yellow Stage As if Dan Deacon doesn't have enough going on, between playing the Blue Stage (see above), jamming with So Percussion, and writing a score for Francis Ford Fucking Coppola (that's his full name, btw), he's now out on tour with 15 of his seriously demented friends from Baltimore. As Dan put it in a recent interview: "The show is a mixture of standup, sketch comedy, videos, and weird theater. Some of it is traditional, some of it surreal and some of it makes me worried." Me too.
Girls, Orange Stage I only caught the end of their set, but this slightly-hazy San Francisco outfit still impressed with a massive stage presence, including everything from horns to three backup singers – one of whom came downstage at the end to duet with lead singer/guitarist Christopher Owens, nearly blowing the roof off. Wait, there was no roof…
Lykke Li, Orange Stage Oh boy, Ms. Li must think she's the next Lady Gaga with her massive goth-themed show, which had so much smoke blowing around you couldn't even see her half of the time. Not to mention she made everyone wait almost as long as fucking Danzig to come out. Lykke, I don't care if Bjorn is your producer: you're never going to make the Top 40 with a bunch of meandering songs that sound like mopier versions of ABBA.
Neon Indian, Blue Stage Alan Palomo's retro chillwave continues to generate massive buzz at festivals around the country, even if it doesn't engage you in any sort of exciting way. Clearly, he's gotten a haircut since the first time I first saw him (as VEGA) at the FFF Fest in 2009. Spoon, Orange Stage These guys are just a Great American Rock Band, cut from the same heavy cloth as Wilco or The Jayhawks. And, that's plenty good enough for me. Not to mention Britt and the band were clearly happy to be playing for their hometown, in what was apparently their only live gig this year. The only thing missing from their resume is that they need to get their butts up to NYC more often (and not to play shows at the Cake Shop for maybe 100 people.)
FFF Nites: Budos Band at Club Deville The Staten Islanders brought the soul-funk groove to the back patio of Deville, for all those too wired or stupid to go to bed. Bari sax player – and de facto frontman – Jared Tankel told the crowd they'd been boozing since they left LGA at 10:30 that morning, with a connection at O'Hare. "That's a lot of drinking, friends!" he scowled before proceeding to slam down another groove.
FFF Nites: Russian Circles at Red 7 These guys didn't go on until almost 1:30, but it was worth it to hear the instrumental Chicago trio that ebbs and flows like a fast-moving train. They were tight and hard, with intricate riffs laid over a minimalist frame. Just enough of a boost to wake me up for the ride home.
