Live: Thee Oh Sees/Ty Segall/Flesh Lights/Gal Pals @ La Zona Rosa9/15/12

I thought I had a proper idea of the chaos that would ensue when I entered this show. Hell, I had even seen Thee Oh Sees and Ty Segall at fests and other clubs before. However, under the darkened lights of La Zona Rosa something happened that morphed this from just a standard garage/punk show to something more. At its core it was the degree of insanity and intensity that was shared between the bands and the crowd as one played while the other went wild. More so though, the thing that made said insanity and intensity so constant through out the night was the fact that every band that touched the stage played like they were on fire. It was a manic, hot, and seemingly crazy night, but also one of the best shows I have seen all year.

Gal Pals

Unfortunately, one band has the duty to start everything off and that night it fell upon Gal Pals. A local band that I hadn't heard of until that night, they weren't bad in any sense. In fact they performed quite simple but catchy distorted pop-garage; a little Super Wild Horses with some Vivian Girls in their as well. The set though was just so minimal that it just didn't grab you, no matter how hard they tried. Still, it wasn't a half bad intro for the night, even though the cat calls and douchebagish taunts in between songs didn't help.

Flesh Lights

When the Flesh Lights took the stage is when the show truly started. Shedding any of the power-pop hooks that balance out their jagged punk sound on record, the Flesh Lights played a set of hyper-gruff, solo filled, modern punk that immediately ignited a mosh pit in the crowd that would last for the rest of the night. The Flesh Lights soundtracked it perfectly, being everything a local punk band should be. They went crazy with their guitarist flailing, their bassist jumping from his own amp, and their stone-faced drummer both bashed away at her kit and kept the band steady as well. As a perfect finale, they invited a friend to play drums while the Flesh Lights own drummer grabbed the microphone. The band then launched into a stupendous cover of Suicidal Tendencies' "Institutionalized" that confirmed the Flesh Lights are one of the best bands in Austin.

Ty Segall

At some point Ty Segall will stop being good. His songs won't be as great as they are now, and he won't be able to rock out with his band like he does now. That time is nowhere close to coming. Easily the best Ty Segall show I have ever seen, it worked because, contradictory, of the constraint. This is not to say Segall and his cohorts did not go crazy. They went beyond crazy, shoving so much energy and noise into their songs that it was a miracle that the show didn't deform or start blurring together. But because Segall eventually would have to get off stage for Thee Oh Sees, the sprawl that sometimes emerges from his sets didn't occur here, leading to much more focused set instead. Like I said earlier, not to say their was any lack of energy from the band at all. They were beyond full force here, just laying waste to every song they played. It was summed up perfectly as Segall pulled off a rock star move, trying to have the crowd carry him and his mic while he played "Caesar". It seemed like he was actually pulling it off before he was quickly dropped. That didn't matter though as Segall quickly jumped back on stage and bashed through the rest of the song as members of the crowd sang the song through the discard microphone. It was rock star glory and sloppy, garage abandonment all rolled into one, and the perfect embodiment of the show (and band) itself.

Thee Oh Sees

Jesus Christ. Let it be know that every story you have ever heard of how incredible Thee Oh Sees are live is absolutely true. After the glory that was Ty Segall and co.'s set, one would think that anyone that stepped on stage and tried to match it that would be setting themselves up for an impossible goal. Thee Oh Sees pulled it off without a slightest bit of effort on their part. As drained as the crowd was from Segall set, as soon as the band launched into "The Dream" a second wind enveloped everyone, the wonderfully spastic and weird energy from the band being absorbed by everyone as they played. While there was no shortage of stage diving with Ty Segall's set, with Thee Oh Sees it was just kicked into overdrive, with people practically diving to every song, especially when the realization hit that not only was the back area not guarded (thus allowing for prime stage access), but that security was not going to do anything to stop the stage divers either. It was that constant danger/excitement, along with the wild pit, all soundtracked to Thee Oh Sees' psychotic garage psych that made the set so incredible. Their was never one point during their show where one of your senses was not hit was some sense of craziness. But Thee Oh Sees found the good kind of crazy, and brought that sense to everyone at La Zona Rosa.

Chaos in Tejas Part 1: Friday

Chaos in Tejas is nontraditional in a lot of ways. Instead of concentrating a bunch of bands to one area, instead several bands are booked across different venues across Austin, with each line-up usually showcasing a different variety of punk rock. Needless to say, the four day fest is fucking fun, if only mared by being one of the most heat intensive musical experiences of the year. Personal matters blocked me from experiencing the first day, but I jumped into the other three days, each being very different from the last.

Gun Outfit

I got to the brand new, two story Beauty Ballroom just in time to catch Gun Outfit's set. Can something be great and awkward at the same time? It felt that way watching Gun Outfit create very gloomy and moody post-punk, something akin to Lower Dens circa their first album trying to be Flipper. And the venue, with the excellent lighting and awesome sound system, helped to convey all that live. The guitars were loud and distorted without over ridding the vocals, and the bass didn't envelope everything. However, this was clearly a punk rock crowd sitting through a band they did not want to see, and the openness of the venue just emphasised this. The band debuting slower and more shoegaze-esque songs didn't help either. If the venue had been half the size, the power that Gun Outfit brings life wouldn't have been lost. Instead a great set was lost on a crowd that couldn't appreciate it. 

The Young

The Young are an Austin staple, a band that opens for all those cool touring bands and probably is playing in town in any given week. As such, I thought it would be OK to sit out their set and just watch from the second floor. Looking back that was a massive mistake on my part. The Young have really evolved in their live set, in a mirror reflection of how their sound has developed. From a band that once was a basic punk band, one listen to their debut album Voyagers of Legend and its mixture of stoner rock, Fugazi angularism, and mild psychedelia, shows you a how far they've come. So to have their live show. For a band that plays decently drug influenced music, the four people on stage were tight as hell. They bobbed and weaved between each respective band members instruments, each member bringing something to their instrument without over shadowing the over members. Hanz Zimmerman is a good front man, proven here with the band playing brand new material from their upcoming Dub Egg and Zimmerman still managing to make every lyric and guitar lick seem as important as the last. If any Austin band deserves the national spotlight, The Young proved here that they do.

Ceremony

Ceremony had the best set of the night. Yes, in part it was because it was the band the entire audience had waited all night to see. Yes, this meant it was the band everyone went crazy for, so much so that the Beauty Ballroom shut down the second floor in fear of people jumping off it (a good call). More importantly though, Ceremony are just great live. Five years together they have everything down to a T. Despite all the chaos happening around them, the moshing, stage diving, almost fights almost happening, the band stayed a hurricane of a force through out their 30 minute set. Guitarists Ryan Mattos and Anthony Anzaldo played as if nothing could get in their way, playing more intensity then any band I've seen in a while. But truly, what made the show was front man Ross Farrar. The man is a caged animal released on stage, with a look so demented it looks like it was superimposed on. He stomped and stalked on stage, more manic than anything I've seen in a while. The intensity of that half-hour can not be understand. The dam broke down as seventy five punk rock fans went crazy, with Ceremony sound tracking the whole thing.

No Age

No Age's set was a painful thing to endure. In the literal sense in that the band's legacy for loudness is completely founded, and let my ears ringing well into the next day. But also in the sense that by the end the set the band was playing to a near empty venue. Whether this was due to the crowd just not liking No Age or the noise driving everyone out is hard to tell, but it still felt unfortunate that such an excellent band was being treated like they were just starting out. Whatever the case, it didn't seem to faze the duo, who happily blasted through a sizable chunk of their discography over their hour long set. Unfortunately, due in half to the sound system and half to the band themselves, the set list started to blur together over distortion and cymbal crashes. Still the greatness of the music itself made the set enjoyable enough, even if "Glitter" was blurred enough to sound like "Sleeper Hold".

Fun Fun Fun Fest '10: Day 3 (Part 2)

Polvo



For music festivals like this, there is a small fenced off area where all the press people get to go and take pictures of the bands, and inside said pit are people the festivals that are there to make sure no one charges at the stage or the press people linger too long and block the view for everyone else. And said security, while thankfully this time not from an official company and in turn much nicer and not complete dicks, tend to grow very bored due to being forced to listen a bunch of bands they don't like and deal wither said band's fans as well. Well during my time at Fun Fun Fun Fest there were two bands that not only brought a smile to the security's face, but got them excited as well; the almighty Descendents and the criminally unattended Polvo. And when Polvo can make the jaded security people excited, you know they are putting on a good show, reunion band or not. Not to mention they were the only non-headliner band to get to play an encore. 'Nuff said.









Deerhunter



OK, I'm going with Deerhunter as the band that put out the best performance I saw at this year's Fest. Was it the smoke machine that for once actually helped create the atmosphere the band was aiming for? Was it the lights the band put on stage that matched the same lights every other person doing drugs at this show was seeing in their head? Was it the fact that band was so incredibly tight, that every ounce of acclaim heaped on them (and in turn the backlash to that, and the backlash to the backlash) became justified about three songs in? Was it knowing how incredibly fucking cool "Helicopter" is as a set closer? All I know is everything I said about Atlas Sound last year was nothing compared to this set.










(First two pictures taken by Jacob Biggie)

The Hold Steady



The Hold Steady's set was a bit of a mixed bag. On one end, they only wound up only playing 40 minutes, and for big bands like this that seemed for what ever strange reason like a rip off. But to be completely fair to the band, for those 40 minutes they were on stage, they were on fire. For a bunch of almost forty year olds, they played with more vigour than people half their age. "Stuck Between Stations" and "Hurricane J" have so much more to them when their being sung together with a couple thousand other people with the same joy and beer in hand. And while probably not the best set of the night, I'll take seeing the best bar band in the United States anytime I can.







Descendents



I'm so glad Devo had to cancel. Sorry, but that was what everyone was thinking as they saw the Descendents live. Well probably, if they had a chance to think. See, seeing the Descendents live was, how to put it, a bit bat shit insane. The crowd at the Orange Stage was probably the biggest it had been at the whole festival, it at least seemed like half of the attendance was at this stage. Add to the fact that the fact a good 25 percent of the crowd lost all sense of being a hipster and started moshing more violently than most of the sets at the Black Stage. Oh and the ground was pure dust by this time and the in between cheers also were in between hacks and coughs. Was it work it. YES! For as much shit as punk bands get for reuniting and being old, the Descendents were so good that Sunday night I could not think of a better band to end the three massive days of music and madness. Sing it with me: "ALL!"

Fun Fun Fun Fest '10: Day 3 (Part 1)

Magic Kids

My, how the kids have grown. Hard to believe this was the same band I saw just 7 months ago. Magic Kids have grown by leaps and bounds and have become a tightly wound pop group if I've ever seen it. Their nostalgia and Beach Boys infused pop songs were truly brought in full form when they performed on that sunny Sunday morning. How could I have wanted my day to start then singing along to "Hey Boy", with the other 50 people that were standing idly by watching with vague disinterest. For those who loved the band though, it was pure joy.









Deacon

Future reference point; never be front row at the next Deacon show. Any thing Deacon is trying to convey musically gets lost in amp circuitry and winds up being lost in a big static and annoying mess. I think Deacon had the same problem that Panda Bear has seemed to have in the live setting i.e. just standing there and doing nothing. The whole set had highs and lows, and there without a doubt some bright spots, but as a whole it kind of felt like Deacon was recreating music loops live, just strumming and moaning out the songs.

Cults

It was a bit weird catching the Cults set. How was band that had only put out one official single, just signed to a major label, and barely toured manage to put on a good show? Well they did, and it's a simple as that. The five piece that took the stage was a fully formed band that performed a blissed out set of the supremely wonderful indie-pop that took the Internet by storm just a few months ago. And while the set was plagued with glockenspiel based problems during the set, Cults still manged to performe a spot on set for a band so young. Now if only the put out some more music.

Best Coast

And now we are back just where we started. It is slowing on dawning on me how much of the last day of FFF Fest's last day was built on pop bands. Look no further then the current reigning queen of indie-pop Bethany Cosentino and her band Best Coast taking the stage this year. Talking about this band gets harder and harder, due to the various adjectives I have used up already to describe the. This time though, I can say Best Coast set was made up of them reconstructing their songs as closely note for note as they do on record, and for once this was good thing. No feedback, no scared voices, no problems arose that ruined the set in any shape. It was just 45 minutes of indie-pop live, played by three people who do it perfectly, with cigarette and pot smoke filling the air after every song.

Fun Fun Fun Fest '10: Day 2 (Part 2)

The Gories



Truth be told, I think The Gories' set was probably the I was most excited about for the entire Fun Fun Fun Fest. I have a serious soft spot for garage, and who more so then anyone else managed to craft some of the best garage records around then The Gories? It was truth from the moment the band set foot on the stage and the band launched into their anthem "Hey Hey, We're The Gories". For the misinformed it looked as if this band had been doing this for years, never losing a step and playing so in time and so well it was like watching a well oiled machine. Yes, all the band members have been performing in other bands for years, but this was something to be seen. The way Mick Collins and Dan Kroha played off of each other, you wounder why they ever broke up in the first place. They were alive in their performance, more so then any other band. Long live The Gories!









Cap'n Jazz



This year's FFF Fest will probably be looked back on the "reunion one". Sleep, The Gories, The Descendants, all wound up playing on these various stages. However, I can say the one reunion set the most people were excited for was Cap'n Jazz. Never mind the legion of crappy bands and scenes that were produced due to everyone trying to copy their sound and in turn bastardized it. Cap'n Jazz were everything honest and showcased on their album. I know everything has been made of front man Tim Kinsella's performance, but it was something to be seen. Kids half his age don't performance as well as he did. Screaming and conveying every single piece of emotion from "Little League" to stand out "Oh Messy Life", diving into the crowd, playing a heart breaking french horn to add to atmosphere, and packing so much into everything they he did it was incredible. Summed up by the man who screamed he had been waiting 15 years for this show, it was everything reunion set should be.







Dirty Projectors



Dirty Projectors are infinitely better live then on record. There, I said it. I was never able to get into Bitte Orca last year, no matter how hard I tried or how much of a Talking Heads fan I am. But are seeing them live, I am easily prepared to buy every single one of their album and give them a spin. That's because instantly everything artistic the band tries to convey on record came alive on their show. The disjointed and wild guitar riffs; the quirky singing styles of every band member; the completely left-of-center song arrangements all came together in this show. Not to mention the vocal back flips the sirens that pretended to be female singers were pulling off was slightly mind blowing. Not to mention hearing "Knotty Pine" performed live by the band was nothing but completely sublime.











Bad Religion



Due to the massive crowds that surrounded the orange stage to try to capture a glimpse of MGMT's set, I decided to for go the obvious and see Bad Religion. Things did not get off to a good start as the band wound up taking something close to 30 minutes to do a sound check for a punk band. Thankfully, when all that was done the band stormed on stage and performed a hard, heavy, and furious one hour set. While every band member unfortunately looked their age, they sure as hell didn't show it. Playing at a break neck pace that never did let up, the band blasted through the their repertoire, while concentration on their newish material, did not hesitate to dive deep into their catalog. The crowd was just happy the band was playing at all, screaming, singing a long, and just going insane to the entire set. When "Infected" came barreling out, everyone who was crowd surfing or moshing was singing a long to the song, just like it was 1982.