FunFunFun Festival
Auditorium Shores
Austin, Texas

FunFunFun Fest prides itself on including a large variety of genres of music, with diverse music enthusiasts in attendance. For six years the festival has been held in Austin Texas. This year many were excited to get to see trash-metal band, Slayer, and indie-pop princess, Lykke Li, during the same weekend. Acts such as Odd Future or Passion Pit were expected to be crowd favorites this year, but there were a few acts that surprised some with their large and ecstatic crowds earlier in the day. Two of these were tUnE-yArDs and Childish Gambino.

tUnE-yArDs was one of the most well-received acts at the festival. From the very beginning, it was easy to tell that this band was very different. The stage was set up with two ‘pods’ of instruments including bass, ukulele, and many percussive instruments including drums and soda bottles. There were also two saxophones that added melodic ornamentation. Merrill Garbus, the lead singer, began each song by recording loops of drums, ukulele, and vocals with a foot pedal that she utilized throughout the song. The tracks were sometimes dissonant, often nonsensical, but they came across as catchy and fun. Garbus’ powerful voice soared over the set, and her disjunct melodies were strong. She hit many impressive high notes, and one in particular got the whole audience to respond enthusiastically. Not only was the audience applauding, but during tUnE-yArDs’ single, “Bizness,” everyone was dancing and singing along. Before the end of the performance, Garbus stated that Austin was one of her favorite cities in the country. The crowd seemed to feel similarly about the band.

Many waited at the Blue Stage for hours just to snag a good spot for Childish Gambino. A multi-talented artist, Childish Gambino is the stage name of Donald Glover who has worked as a writer for the show 30 Rock and as an actor on the show Community. Gambino’s song, “Freaks and Geeks,” seemed to be his most famous. There was a sea of crowd surfers, and those in the audience not singing along were a rarity. Another highlight of the performance was his freestyle when there were technical difficulties with performing the previously planned song. He ‘flowed’ about his performance, making references to M83 (a popular indie band that had just finished their set on another stage), Breaking Bad (a television show), and FunFunFun Fest. “My Shine” and “Hero” also were crowd pleasers. Gambino’s genius lies in his extremely intelligent lyrics, including many pop culture references and hilarious metaphors. Including more than two dozen shows, FunFunFun Fest was, for many, a power example of what makes the music in the live music capital of Texas strong and well, fun.

by Hunter Tolbert