Fun Fun Fun Fest Day Three Featuring The Men, The Julie Ruin, Slayer, and Jurassic 5

Oh, the culminating day of a music festival. Such internal conflict and turmoil. Your feet and liver barely feel like they can take anymore, and yet you hope the imposing Monday morning at work stays at bay forever. Alas, the final day of Fun Fun Fun Fest arrived as beautiful and clear as the two before it, offering a succession of equally impressive performing artists.

I arrived later than intended midway through Cayucas’s set and started off the day right with their great set of upbeat, breezy pop. The group delivered most of the staples from their debut album Bigfoot, including “East Coast Girl,” “Cayucos,” and “High School Lover.” For a young act, Cayucas has had a pretty impressive first year, performing at festivals and having their music featured on TV shows and commercials. It’s easy to see the appeal—with fun but rewarding pop music, the band appeals to both casual and more discerning fans of indie pop.

I have been proclaiming the greatness of The Men in previews and to friends in conversation for months leading up to Fun Fun Fun Fest, and their set did not disappoint. Other than the once-in-a-lifetime experience of seeing Television, The Men’s performance is at the top of my list for my favorite performances of the weekend. Blistering punk rock opuses blended with countrified renditions of songs such as the epic, plodding rocker “I Saw Her Face.” The Men’s sets are unhinged and raucous and yet the songs sound deliberate and well executed. If you missed The Men, you missed one of the weekend’s best acts.

The first set I caught on the Blue Stage on Sunday was xxyyxx, an electronic musician that I knew nothing about. The set was crisp, chilled out, and danceable with DJ Marcel Everett conversing earnestly with the crowd between songs.

Back on the main stage, The Julie Ruin launched into a set of disjointed pop with punk rock leanings. Along with Bob Mould, Tom Verlaine, and Thurston Moore, Kathleen Hanna is a legendary name that demands attention. After years of inactivity, Hanna’s new band The Julie Ruin, which also includes Bikini Kill member Kathi Wilcox, has released their first album. Most of the recorded songs and videos reflected tight, well-crafted indie pop that I found enjoyable. However, I hadn’t set expectations too high and found myself subsequently blown away by the set.

The less pop oriented and more challenging disjointed nature of The Julie Ruin’s music became more pronounced live and Hanna offered witty banter between songs. Wearing a blouse and tight spandex bottoms, she informed the crowd that she had some job interviews and was trying to land a job with the outfit. She also pointed out that all women are taking their clothes off for musical performances so it just seemed like the thing to do. Hanna also dedicated a song to “all the young feminists out there.” In retrospect, I should’ve expected this kind of greatness from legends like Hanna and Wilcox, but I welcomed the pleasant surprise just the same.

Back over on the Black Stage, I arrived to photograph Cloud Nothings and found the band characteristically slaying. Each member of the trio is each exception at his instrument and collectively adept at creating a ruckus. Their set offered a similar sort of barrage of sound as The Men, but with a little less stage drama and raw emotion. After only catching the tail end of their set, I made my way back to the Orange Stage to check out Washed Out.

While Washed Out’s set did provide chilled out vibes to calmly move the crowd into swaying dance moves during their late afternoon set, the songs translated much more crisply live than I imagined. Recorded, the band’s music always struck me as essentially atmospheric, but live, I couldn’t help but dance along to the pop beats as I photographed the band from the pit. The flowers that adorned the keyboard stands and surrounded the drum kit were a nice touch to make the performance a little more visually captivating. Before I saw them, Washed Out isn’t a band I would’ve sought out in a live setting, but I’m a convert now. See them if you can.

From there, I trekked to the ride and skate area to try and catch Killer Mike’s set that was schedule to happen on top of a skate ramp. I feel like there must be a story of suspense and drama buried in the fact that fans crowded around as techs tried to get the sound functioning. Would we ever get to hear Killer Mike? As it occurred, the answer was no. However, Mike did spit a few verses a capella to the great delight of onlookers who rapped along with him. Subsequently, Transmission hooked Austin up with a Killer Mike performance later that night. I was pretty bummed I didn’t get to hear “Reagan,” but with little time to devote to my woes, it was onto the next set for me.

I did see a moment of Dismemberment Plan, having missed the photo pit opportunity and much of the set waiting to see if Killer Mike’s set would come together. Ultimately, I landed at Deltron 3030 and was able to snap a few pictures of the rapper along with the conductor for his onstage orchestra. I kicked myself when I learned later that after I left to catch the photo pit for MGMT, Del closed with the Gorillaz song “Clint Eastwood.” You can’t win ‘em all I guess.

MGMT sounded tight live and drew one of the largest crowds of the festival thus far. As a band whose music by and large is much weirder than their accessible indie-pop radio hits, I find it almost unbelievable how many teenage fans seemed to know the lyrics to so many of the band’s songs and sing along with enthusiasm. MGMT made sure to give casual listeners what they came for, playing hits “Kids,” “Time to Pretend,” and “Electric Field.”

I’m not going to pretend I know what’s up with Bonobo. I went for a few songs. It sounded good. An incredibly talented singer came to the stage to perform a song. But I headed back to the main stage before long. I won’t try to offer a review of the set of which I really saw very little.

The moment had arrived. Anticipation coursed through the crowd and the photo pit. Extra security aligned themselves along the barrier giving the photographers even less space in the already completely packed pit. Sure enough, as Slayer appeared onstage amidst smoke and glowing red light, crowd surfers began spilling over the barrier and onto the heads of photographers. It’s a dangerous business, I guess.

What can you say about Slayer? Whether or not this is your kind of music, the band is impressive to watch. Upside down crosses dangle over the stage, lights of various colors illuminate endless rolling smoke that pours over the band, and the fans go completely nuts. Punishing guitar riffs never end and the bass from the speakers makes your earplugs feel almost useless. I didn’t expect to have a great time at Slayer, but I so completely did. You win again, Fun Fun Fun Fest.

I ended my festival with Jurassic 5. While I had looked forward to Jurassic 5, nothing could have prepared me for how impeccable their performance was. The beats and backing tracks sounded much warmer and more balanced than any hip-hop artist all weekend. All the members of the collective smiled and laughed, as they pointed at fans and generally appeared to have a great time.

The group defied every stereotype about live rap shows—no annoying hype men, no demanding the crowd to perform certain tasks, no posturing and hard exterior pretenses, and no wandering through bad versions of raps that feel half-baked at best. Jurassic 5 sounded like they actually rehearse, and rehearse a lot. Again, this is the kind of music performance you can respect and the quality we’ve come to love in Fun Fun Fun Fest each year. If you don’t completely trust Fun Fun Fun Fest yet, it’s time to start. The festival is already planning next year, and you should plan on being there. Until then, music lovers.