Free Press Summer Festival, known verbally as “Free Press” and digitally as FPSF, held its fifth annual music festival this past weekend in Houston’s Eleanor Tinsley Park. The young festival appears to share sensibilities with Austin’s burgeoning upstart Fun Fun Fun Fest, as the lineup targets acts that possess credibility live or hold a lasting legacy with subsections of the music community. Acts this year that embodied this tendency included experimental artist Jandek, rappers Geto Boys, and Gogol Bordello. Many other younger acts also bolster cred with their irrefutable live performances such as The Men, Japandroids, and A Place to Bury Strangers. Even headliner The Postal Service isn’t simply a festival buzz band, since so many fans have adored their singular album for ten years now.
Despite some insufferable heat on Saturday (the hottest day Houston has logged all year) and a little overnight rain, FPSF 2013 proved to be not just another great iteration of the festival but also a milestone in multiple regards including the event’s first time to be sold (the fuck) out. Everyone has a few minor complaints about FPSF; I mean, one can only walk on asphalt in 90+ degree heat for so long without getting grumpy. But what the festival can’t help, it compensates for handsomely. For the second year in a row, we found the Fancy Pants tents to be beyond refreshing, and the craft cocktails and local brews are more than appreciated. The areas topography and natural amphitheater structure allows viewers to sit on a large hill and watch stages that aren’t as obscured from view as at other festivals. Between my two visits to FPSF, I found myself championing the event against major and beloved festivals like ACL. Without air-conditioned tents (as FPSF has), I’ve spent some brutal days in the sun even in September. In short: it’s worth it, and you should definitely go if you haven’t.
But what about the music? In a word–excellent. We began our Saturday at the Mars stage watching Houston’s own Buxton, a band that has seen increasing fan love and widespread acclaim in recent years. The band sorely misses former member Haley Barnes, but under the leadership of Sergio Trevino, they band is still energetic and profound live. Moving between delicate, quiet sections and hard hitting folk rock-outs, Buxton’s songs are impeccably rendered.
Japandroids took the Mars stage next and, as usual, proceeded to completely obliterate everything in sight. This Canadian duo simply destroys, a feat made especially impressive when they have to travel from their moderate to frigid climates and perform at mid day in Texas heat. It’s hard to believe that so much sound and cacophony can be achieved by two men. Dripping sweat from every pore and pumping powerful punk rock from every fiber of their being, Japandroids’ played a set that would be one of the most caustic and memorable of the weekend.
We were able to catch the last few songs of Vintage Trouble’s set from the back of the crowd at the Saturn. The group plays into the neo-soul revival given life by acts like Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, and they do a great job of exciting festival audiences and getting folks to have some fun and dance. Alabama Shakes shares some of that soul sound, and she soon followed Vintage Trouble back on the Mars stage. Brittany Howard’s facial expressions, voice, and slight movement are captivating enough to carry a live set, and the group continues to find solid spots in large scale music events .
Meanwhile, back on the Saturn stage, an anxious crowd waited in confusion for the Geto Boys set, which was delayed and now threatening to push well over half an hour late. Scarface and Willie D ended up taking the stage without Bushwick Bill, who was a no show for the event. The duo still performed a solid set of crowd pleasers like “Mary Jane” and “Mind of a Gangster.” Also representing hip-hop on this year’s bill, 2 Chainz let his DJ get the crowd warm for a good while before finally making an appearance on the Neptune stage to an explosively rowdy crowd. Donned in a flashy gold Chanel chain and a black and gold snakeskin baseball cap, the rapper spit rhymes to incredibly bass-riddled beats.
Having never heard Arctic Monkeys (somehow completely missed the train on that one), I was surprised by the low-end distortion and crunch in their songs. I had expected a much more pop-oriented and vocally affected performance and found their set to offer something unexpected and enjoyable. Across from their performance on the Mars stage, Young Mammals performed on the Jupiter stage, cranking out hazy, distorted, garage-leaning indie-rock to a modest but entranced crowd.
Head and the Heart took the Saturn stage in the early evening hours and would be the first of several big name folk rock acts to perform over the course of the weekend. The band succeeds live by a combination of energy, frequently rotating vocal responsibilities, and an ensemble lineup that offers plenty of of visual stimulus. Passion Pit’s performance on the Mars stage induced one of the day’s biggest dance parties as lead singer Michael Angelakos tirelessly paced from side to side of the large main stage, leaning out toward the crowd while belting out lyrics. The band engrossed the audience with favorites “Little Secrets” as well as new and unreleased material. Like 2 Chainz set, the bass-centered song structures translated well live and kudos are in order for FPSF’s sound systems, which seemed to not dilute much even at a distance.
As dusk began to spread over the festival grounds, punk pioneer Iggy Pop took the Neptune stage and wasted no time before beginning his usual antagonistic and brash behaviors. Before he uttered the first lyrics of “Raw Power,” he’d already jeered at the photographers, flipped off a few people, and spit all over his own naked torso. I’ve had several opportunities to see The Stooges in recent years, and it has never come to fruition, so catching this set was by far one of my personal favorite highlights of the weekend. Although new material has been somewhat lackluster and widely criticized, The Stooges energy live is still inarguable and indefatigable, and songs like “Search and Destroy” are as blistering as ever. Iggy and the Stooges kill it every time.
From the Neptune stage I jetted all the way back to almost the festival entrance to catch Austin’s Sour Notes headline the Venus Stage. The band’s energy was as commanding as ever as they played many old favorites as well as a few new songs including a cover of “Mannequin” by Wire. In a year when the festival was much more selective about which up-and-coming and local acts they wanted to include, it’s no wonder that the Sour Notes keep getting invited back. We’ll be out on the road running a tour blog for the band as we both make out way up to NXNE starting this weekend.
I caught A Place To Bury Strangers doing their thing and destroying a few guitars on the Jupiter stage on my down to the Postal Service. APTBS were yet another act on this year’s bill that win fans over almost immediately with their live show. The blistering, noisy indie-rock goes a long way to impressing concertgoers, but when they start demolishing gear show after show, the spectacle is too potent to ignore. Read out interview with the band here, and see them on tour soon.
As the Postal Service had to be one of the most anticipated sets of the year, it felt strange that it was already upon us at the end of the first night. The band’s set provided almost anything anyone could want–the entire track listing of Give Up (I believe, although I wasn’t taking notes), as well as the band’s more recently released archival songs. However, nothing could have prepared me for them playing a cover of “Our Secret” by one of my favorite bands of all time, Beat Happening.
Beat Happening frontman Calvin Johnson is the founder of K Records and is responsible for fostering so much of the music that comes out of the Pacific Northwest, and it’s incredibly to see Gibbard honor him and his legacy. The Postal Service has invaded every nook and cranny of culture over the ten year’s since the release of Give Up, but for me, it still stands as a classic, no matter how many Starbucks stores I’ve heard it in. The show was an amazing way to close the first night of FPSF.
Only for the purposes of explaining my own giddy excitement, know that I saw the band’s third show ever on their only tour ever, in Austin at the Mercury (before it was called the Parish). It might seem like I’m trying to sound cool, but rest assured, I was certainly very not cool then, and I’m even less cool now. But for what it’s worth, I listened to that album ceaselessly when it came out, and spent the entire evening of April 7th 2003 with my elbows on the stage, completely entranced by Ben Gibbard and Jenny Lewis.
So as silly as I feel about it, I was thrilled to see them. I ran into an old friend, Meghan, who I met at the Postal Service in 2003 and have long since lost contact with following college, and it felt like more than a coincidence. It’s this kind of saccharine melodrama that the Postal Service evokes in the 19-year-old in all of us. It’s also this kind of ephemeral euphoria and experiences with friends that are what music festivals are all about. So, as hot as summer in Houston may be, there isn’t a better time for this kind of youthful reminiscing and carefree memory making. My first day back at FPSF was great, and at the end, I couldn’t wait for day two to arrive.
All photos © Bryan Parker & Pop Press International. Click any image to open in slideshow viewer.
