They can get you far enough to meet Ratatat. For free.
Well, besides buying a Fun Fun Fun Fest ticket, my friend and I were able to meet the band on stage at the 2009 festival. We managed this task by getting back stage (easier than I could have imagined), and waiting for the prime moment to run up the stage steps and greet the two member band we so admirably admire.
This accomplishment was a nice high light to the festival experience. Although, Fun Fest is a small scale festival and is definitely more low key than ACL, back stage was a nice hide out. Scattered around were huge bean bag chairs, perfect for lounging on after a day of rocking out to music, and free food and drinks which is never bad. I enjoyed the back stage experience so the next night I decided to give it another go. I literally just walked back stage following some one who had a back stage pass. One of the staff yelled at me, but no one chased me or attempted to kick me out - representative of the relaxed Austin vibe. I was yet again rewarded for my sneaky-ness with a side stage location to watch Danzig.
Fun Fun Fun Fest is being held this year on Nov. 5, 6 and 7 at Waterloo Park in downtown Austin. Sadly, this year I will be unable to attend due to conflicting commitments in Houston. If any one has the opportunity to attend, I definitely recommend it. More so than ACL, Fun Fest is representative of Austin culture because the attendees are (mainly) local people. Like Austin, the festival is growing. It is approaching it's fifth year in existence and has expanded from a 2-day festival to 3-day festival, meaning more bands, more music, and more fun, fun, fun. Even though the event is not as publicized the music is amazing: last year's bands included Of Montreal, Ratatat, Kid Sister, The Cool Kids, and Crystal Castles. Bands which played last year at Fun Fest that played this year at ACL include: Shearwater, Lucero, and Yeasayer.
The web site for the festival provides sound clips of all the participating bands, helping attendees plan ahead and making sure you know who you're buying your ticket for. All of the basic information for directions, transportation, travel and hotels, rules and contacts is also provided.
I have heard of this musical festival before, but I didn't know much about it. I think this is really neat. I like that it is a more low-key music festival. At the same time it's really cool that it's growing and able to bring in more bands. How many people normally attend Fun Fun Fun Fest on a given day?
ReplyDeleteProps to you for your sneakiness! I am jealous that you met Ratatat. They're one of my favorite bands. I was actually looking at the Fun Fun Fun Fest web site the other day because I missed out on it last year. I have been thinking about buying a ticket for the festival and after reading your post, I definitely am!
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