Corina’s FunFunFun Fest Chronicles: Day One

Many a trial and tribulation tried to hold me back from getting to Austin. However, I was able to conquer said trials and at 4 PM finally hit the road, saying farewell to Houston for the weekend. Much to my distress nasty traffic was caught and I didn’t get to Auditorium Shores until 7:40. I am still terribly bummed that I missed Death From Above 1979, but I checked out their live performance. It was phenomenal. They are definitely a band I must see live. Thankfully parking was a cinch and much cheaper than expected. The weather was a crisp 63 degrees upon my arrival, dropping slightly as the night continued. The location of  the festival was a very similar set up to Houston’s Free Press Summer Fest, with the festival right in downtown. There is a certain magic that comes with listening to live music with an urban landscape in the background. One disastrous aspect of the festival was the check in process. A large percentage of festival goers had their tickets at will call in the box office. All day long the wait in the line was hours. There was much outrage and demands of refunds since many missed seeing there favorite band perform.  When I arrived, close to eight, the line was ridiculous. I was a happy camper, since I was privileged enough to pick up my band in the media line.

The first act I caught was the legendary Judas Priest performing on the Black Stage. I am probably going to have to under-go major cosmetic surgery since my face melted off tonight. It had been 26 years since Judas Priest had paid Austin a visit. And a visit they did pay. They were dressed in the finest leather and studs money can buy. The set was full of energy, lead singer Rob Halford kept getting the crowd hyped by making them sing a line over and over. For a song, a big Harley was brought on stage and the revving of that bike drove everyone crazy. He also underwent many costume changes, which amused me. Songs played included mega hit, Breaking The Law and Turbo Lover.

I then ran to check out alt-J. I was able to get a small insight into the fest. The name is well suited to the atmosphere. It is in fact fun fun fun. Fun times three, fun cubed, fun to the third power…I really could go on. Shiner, is a huge sponsor this year so there are customized beer cans, a sitting area with Shiner umbrellas on the tables and several rows of bean bag tosses (which I walked through interrupting many games several times).

Yes, there is a game of Jenga going on. More details to come.

I made it through some mud and wind to the Orange Stage just in time to hear my favorite song of theirs, Fitzpleasure. Their live performance was impressive.  It was very chill and you just wanted to sway the night away, which is what most of the crowd was doing. Lead singer Gus Unger-Hamilton was sweet. His accent was mimicked in the best kind of way after a set when he said, “Cheers” to the festival. As expected, the night was ended with Breezeblocks. On a production note, the lights for alt-J were so good. The emphasizes and attention to detail was just spectacular. For one song, who’s name escapes me, whenever there was a mini drum solo, which rhythmically occurred every 5-10 seconds, the blue lights faded and had only a white light on the drummer and fog surrounding him creating a dreamlike silhouette.

Way in the back.

alt-J wrapping up the night.

I cannot wait to explore more tomorrow. I am going to flip when I check out the Volcom set-up in action, as well as when I witness the taco gun. Also, I’ll be using a Go-Pro of sorts. Bad news, I do not have the long stick I was hoping for. Instead I just have a headband that the camera attaches to. Not sure if I can muster up the guts to rock that look.

Until then.

By Corina Carrizales