And Explosions fucking rocked.
They were psyched, the crowd was psyched, it was all energy and intensity and love. Apathy and detachment were both at some other stage. Their new stuff sounded great, and their old stuff sounded fresh. If it wasn’t for Damien Jurado, this would have been the wholly unexpected highlight of my FFF.
This also would have been the perfect close to an excellent three-day festival. But Explosions didn’t close; Edward Sharpe did…
Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeroes – Sunday, 8:50 p.m., Orange Stage
And they were pretty great, in their signature way: Alexander was charming, bumbling, and highly interactive with the audience. (Early in the set, I lost sight of Alex on stage. I then felt someone put his arm around my shoulder and give me a friendly hug. I looked up, and it was Alex. He smiled, started singing, and continued on his way back to the stage, up through the crowd.)
“40 Days Dreaming” was an outstanding opener. And “Home” is still one of the best songs of the past 10 years, even if it has been entirely played out. Plus, it’s just a little hard not to get the sense that the band feels handcuffed to that track, that they’ll have to break it out every time they perform, even if they continue to play till the world comes to an end….
But back to the good news: their rendition of “Truth” (a song that Alexander originally recorded with the RZA) was unbelievable—powerfully performed, and far better than the original recording. (Apologies to the RZA.)
And after Edward Sharpe closed down the three-day festival with their “Om Nashi Me,” that was that. Well, sort of.
We all slowly began to file out of Auditorium Shores and head for more food or more drinks or more shows. Because in Austin, even when the show’s over, it’s never really over.
Bottom Line
And so, in a nutshell, How was it?
Let me put it this way: next year, if for some reason I’m not at Fun Fun Fun, wherever I am instead will feel like I’m in the wrong place.