Fun Fun Fun Fest Recap

We were not at Fun Fun Fun Fest this year (though we were with Stick Figure Andrew when he tried to break in*), but enjoyed following the festivities via instagram and our through our fellow music bloggers who were lucky enough to be there. Here is a great recap of the fun to the third power. FFFFest is a festival that gets to the heart of what I love so much about this city. It is incredibly diverse in music and therefore, attendee. It is a celebration of the weird, strange and great music!

Ryan Gosling at Fun Fun Fun Fest: A Post About Actual Music

I feel as though apologies are in order to you, my dearest readers. While I’m sure you enjoy a good post about a handsome celebrity as much as the next reader, Accidental Music is probably not the place you go to find your latest celebrity gossip. I mean, yes, his hair is freakishly perfect and seeing him around FunFunFun Fest was exciting, but the post had very little to do with actual music. I don't want you stumbling onto this site and thinking you are also going to find the latest scoop on Kim Kardashian, because that is just not the case. So here is my Ryan Gosling redemption post, which I promise, is entirely about music.

I did a little bit of journalistic research and discovered that Ryan has a bit of a music background! According to the interweb, he appeared in The Mickey Mouse Club and even lived with Justin Timberlake for a while (interesting). He would later take his vocal chops and lend them, along with Zach Shields, to the group, Dead Man’s Bones, which put out a self titled album in 2009. Their Facebook page describes their genre as “Gospel/ Gothic/ Showtune” which might be new favorite combination of descriptive words. It also is freakishly dead on for being three genres that you wouldn’t ever imagine describing the same band. They are remarkably good, and their haunting sound has a great deal of depth for all its simplicity.

Their album also features the Silverlake Conservatory of Music Children’s Choir and featuring children is generally a fantastic idea. So here he is, Ryan Gosling, talk of the 2011 Fun Fun Fun Fest and musician.

Fun Fun Fun Fest Day 1

Fun Fun Fun Fest is a new addition to my festival repertoire, intriguing me with their promise music and fun to the third degree. I wasn't as familiar with as many of the bands as I usually am going into a fest, but sometimes that's how the best discoveries are made. After all, it's not always about the bands you know, but the one's you have yet to discover.

Friday found me entering the dust bowl of Auditorium Shores and grateful for the pile of bandanas being given away back stage. The scene all weekend would resemble something post-apocalyptic, or at least a bunch of hipsters dressed up for a western themed party. With face masked, I ventured to see Omar Souleyman, a Syrian singer who played sweet dance music while maintaining the traditional Syrian sound. Sexy Sax made a brief guest appearance on stage and his sultry, jazzy sax complemented Souleyman beautifully.

Next up was the Thermals. They have a hard rock sound with singable melodies that immediately had the crowd singing and dancing. A few even moshed in the front, exacerbating the already heavy dust clouds in the air. Kathy's signature blonde curls bounced to their steady beats as they rocked out on stage.

Your Love Is So Strong by the thermals

The great thing about music festivals is that I always end up making great new friends. One such friend insisted that I catch Big Freedia, saying no explanation could be given and I just needed to trust her. Even though at this point I wasn't entirely sure I remembered her name,  I allowed her to drag me under caution tape and across the stage to get the most front and center view of Big Freedia possible. They are New Orleans bounce music, which translates to all kinds of awesomeness and ass shaking! I stood there dancing, loving and wishing I had a little more junk in my skinny white girl trunk to shake. It was easily the highlight of my Friday!

Big Freedia at FFFFest 6

Big Freedia Hitz Vol. 1 by Big Freedia

It was hard to come off the high of Big Freedia, though Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Passion Pit both tried.