As wet, wild, and wonderful as UTOPiAfest 2012 was this past weekend, one article simply cannot contain all of the adventurous escapades of the weekend. We will split our coverage into two days, each accompanied by a full set of photos. Though the second day of the festival would reveal sunnier skies, the first day of UTOPiAfest contained many of the artists to which I most looked forward: Dana Falconberry, Kaki King, Houndmouth, Dr. Dog, and SORNE.
Upon arrival, the beauty of the enormous green hills surrounding the festival grounds reminded me of the stunning scenery of this location. By early afternoon, sprinkles were already descending on Four Sisters Ranch, but as the music commenced, many stalwart festival-goers braved the light precipitation and enjoyed these bands with smiles on their faces. Following festival openers Sour Bridges, fellow Austin musician Dana Falconberry was the first artist to perform on the Cypress Stage. 
For those who foolishly delayed arriving to the festival, you missed one of the weekend’s best acts. (You can make it up to yourself by seeing her album release show this Thursday night at the Scottish Rite Theatre.) Falconberry’s set contained many of the songs that will be featured on her upcoming album Leelanau, including the NPR-certified song “Crooked River.” Falconberry’s backing band provided excellent accompaniment through unique and nuanced instrumentation.
On the Arrowhead Stage, Hard Proof Afrobeat performed an instrumentally rich, beat-centered, brass-driven set to a dancing crowd before guitar virtuoso Kaki King took the Cypress Stage. King communicated directly and earnestly with the crowd about true love and being able to marry her partner soon in New York. In her songs, King utilizes experimental guitar noise and swells 
interspersed with percussive knocking and thumping on the guitar’s body and intricate finger picking. The result pleases the aural senses while pushing the boundaries of straightforward music—a difficult achievement.
After my interview with Houndmouth last week, I made sure to find the band and talk with them briefly before their set. Just as in the interview, each band member proved to be incredibly down to earth, genuine, and upbeat. By the time they took the Arrowhead stage around 8:00, the rain had become much stronger and the set had to be delayed slightly. 
Though rain-soaked, the members of Houndmouth seemed thrilled to be on stage as they performed material from their four-song EP, and a tremendous amount of new material that will be featured on an upcoming full-length. Their set had the crowd enthralled from the first song. Taking time out from a tour with Dry the River to fly down to Texas for the performance only to fly back to Minneapolis the next day, the band furthers evidence that they are on the verge of something huge. Keep an eye on this one.
Rearranged scheduling and the forced shut-down of the Cypress stage due to rain meant that Dr. Dog performed before Charles Bradley. With the rain now almost pouring down, Dr. Dog rocked a packed UTOPiAfest crowd, who cheered and sang along despite the deluge. Dr. Dog recently performed an Austin City Limits taping and have climbed in notoriety in recent years. Their status as a UTOPiAfest 2012 artist says much of the festival’s ambition and aim. The set left fans talking about the performance as one of the highlights of the weekend.
By the time Dr. Dog finished, most of the area within a 50 yard radius of the stage had become a giant mud pit, rivaling ACL’s mud year (which was the year Dr. Dog played that festival), but still attendees danced on. Though rain prevented me from shooting photos of any of the sets after Dr. Dog, I can say the following about the remainder of the evening: Charles Bradley moved many audience members to tears, and SORNE’s performance can only be called one-of-a-kind. We’ll bring you more coverage on the latter when we publish an interview with SORNE later this week. Regarding their set—it’s one that can’t be shrugged off. Regardless of your musical leanings, the spectacle and musical fusion create a mixture that captivates any viewer. Morgan Sorne, whether you like his work or not, can only be regarded as an artist with a singular vision, unabashedly pushing performance to the limits. If it makes you a little uncomfortable, that’s probably a good thing. There’s far too much comfort in independent music these days.
Which raises a larger point about UTOPiAfest in general. Many of the artists on the UTOPiAfest lineup blur that line between indie and any number of other genres. Many are artists that might be shrugged off, especially when listened to recorded, because they don’t fit into the little box that independent music, just like mainstream music, has built for itself. Put simply—UTOPiAfest takes risks. Every once in a while they fall flat, but most of the time, they pay off. The diverse, almost categorically great performances from the first day of the festival support that claim. The second day would have me thinking about this concept even more.
Come back tomorrow for more coverage of UTOPiAfest 2012 and plenty more photos! All photos below shot from under an umbrella by Bryan Parker. Click any image to open the set in slideshow view.
