Fun Fun Fun Fest Sunday: Part 2
As the festival came to a close Sunday night, it’d be a shame to leave Austin without catching the biggest acts of the weekend. As some bought Sunday wristbands just to see Odd Future, Slayer took over and packed the Orange Stage. And then there was Ryan Gosling….
Cannibal Corpse
Part of the mythical status of the death metal band Cannibal Corpse is that they managed to get big without much exposure, having little airplay on TV and radio. Despite this “setback”, a hearty crowd waited for them with anticipation (and a bit of malice), shouting “Cannibal! Cannibal! Cannibal!”, already riled up for what was in store for them.
And from there, things got a little crazy.
Cannibal Corpse took the stage, a group of scary looking men who either spend tons of time in the gym, or get ripped from scaring small children. Either way, they were an intimidating bunch, with singer George Fisher looking like the Underworld’s version of Fabio (way scarier than the real Fabio), along with menacing sneers from the rest of the band.
The crowd broke out into isolated groups of fighting, while the band banged their heads and Fisher let out a series of ungodly roars.
For the last song, Fisher announced to the crowd that the moshing that had taken place wasn’t enough, and that he wanted to see the entire crowd fighting, threatening to kill everyone’s sister if the crowd didn’t comply.
In the spirit of keeping siblings alive, the crowd did just that. The mosh pit grew about ten times its previous size, while those who were unprepared for the upcoming battle quickly escaped to the side.
Black Lips
Notoriously known for having outrageous antics in their live performances, Black Lips’ performance and theatrics only multiplied by plenty performing to a festival crowd.
A 12 oz. can of beer passed from Ian Saint Pe into the audience (he insisted everyone share despite the little amount), self-induced vomiting, a guitar lit on fire, a few rolls of toilet paper thrown, and some firecrackers lit later, you’ve got yourself a Black Lips show. The audience grew wilder as each number was played, covering tracks from latest Arabia Mountain including “Family Tree,” and “Modern Art,” the mosh-pit turned into a perfect storm of chaos when signature “Dirty Hands” and “Bad Kids” were played.
What came to be was an acknowledgement of the bad, the forever young, the don’t-give-one-damn feelings. This is what makes garage punk and Black Lips. And whilst many were most likely acquiring bloody body parts from shoving, pushing, and maybe even punching, everybody satisfyingly survived. Black Lips’ performance lies in their ability to drive the crowd, and a job well done after witnessing stage dives and bruises all around.
They’ll also be in our DFW area for 35 Denton in the spring. Catch ‘em and riot with us.
