A November To Remember: Fun Fun Fun Fest—Austin, TX

Alright, we know this Fun Fun Fun Fest post is mega-late. True enough, the fest happened three weeks ago already. Sorry! However, we’ve got a great reason for the lag. On the day after the fest, Transmission Entertainment’s Brendan Hannah went to India for three weeks for some much needed rest and relaxation. In the process, he completely dropped the ball on sending us his report from the field. Until now, that is. Brendan, take it away!

The first ever three-day edition of Fun Fun Fun Fest appropriately ended up being the most successful installment of this burgeoning annual gathering of music, comedy, arts (and everything in between) in Austin, Texas. The legendary “Weird Al” Yankovic kicked things off on Friday evening with an amazing two-hour set, complete with set changes, costumes, and of course, little blasts of “Al TV”.

On Saturday, indie-darlings MGMT had to play second fiddle to a fast and furious set by the ever-formidable Californian punk band Bad Religion as well as the visual and aural extravaganza that is GWAR.

All in all, however, patrons couldn’t have asked for a better sampling of the wide variety of genres on display. Sunday’s highlights included the first live performance in almost a decade by the legendary and universally beloved Descendents, a dance party curated by Yelle, and of course, the hard stuff courtesy of Mastodon.

Fans were also afforded the opportunity to indulge in a whole host of fun activities like euro-bungee launching, a mechanical bull, and the unmistakable “port-o-potty photo-booth,” plus an impressive sampling of some of the finest food and retail the city has to offer. When all was said and done, Fun Fest had once again proved itself as veritable purveyors of underground, emerging, and legendary acts, in one place, over the course of one beautiful weekend.

Thanks to Brendan, Michael, Rosa, and Graham at Transmission Entertainment in Austin for putting on another great Fun Fun Fun Fest. And A Horse With No Name Photography for the EPIC photos. We look forward to seeing you at the Mess With Texas Party in March 2011.