Considering that all of Eleanor Tinsley Park was evacuated around 2:00 PM preceding some heavy rain in Houston’s downtown area, the first day of FPSF 2014 still proved enjoyable, boasting many outstanding performances. After reopening gates around 4:00 PM, the park quickly became once again packed with festival goers. Neither the torrents nor the ensuing mud pits could deter Houstonians from having their annual summer kick-off party.
Party works as an apt descriptor of the festival, whose spirit reflects Houston’s culture with its lineup of dance and hip-hop artists as well as its downtown backdrop. Many patrons don only bathing suits along with sunglasses and flat bill baseball hats as attire for the event. In comparison to festivals such as Austin’s ACL Fest or even Fun Fun Fun, where seeing families is a common occurrence, FPSF’s demographic seem more homogenous and younger in general. The festival even posted banners that read TURN UP, which I think sums it up.
I showed up to Eleanor Tinsley Park early in the day and made my way over to the Jupiter Stage to catch Jana Hunter, whose posted time on the printed schedule posters in the park was wrong. Pro tip: set times change often; if you’re attending a festival, download their app and/or follow them on Twitter. Those spots will always be more current than any printed times. Luckily, I had checked the most current schedule just before heading to the festival grounds and caught Hunter’s set. She’s originally from Houston, and although she hasn’t lived in the city in some time, the performance felt special for me. Her somber, understated pop fell outside the norm for FPSF, but the sharpness of her programmed beats gave the set enough edge to hold the attention of the early afternoon crowd.
Prior to the rain, I was also able to catch Houston’s own Wild Moccasins, who put on their usual high-energy, unhinged performance. Frontwoman Zahira parades the stage, busting flirtatious dance moves in neon rainbow colored outfit with fringe and fishnets. The group has gained popularity since their appearance at the festival two years ago, and their return to the FPSF stage is a testament to the event bookers’ devotion and respect for the music coming out of their own city.
Destruction Unit had just finished soundchecking when the first fat summer raindrops began to fall on Allen Parkway. Soon after, each stage at FPSF announced that a temporary evacuation of the park had been announced pending further notice. You can’t blame the festival directors for being cautious. As annoying as it was to leave, find somewhere to kill time, only to return and reenter in a couple hours, the event takes place on a bayou in a city where flooding is a real issue. Perhaps in light of this, the complaining by patrons seemed pretty minimal.
I returned and cleared the gates just in time to miss photographing Chvrches for the third time in my career as a photographer, but I did watch some of the latter part of their set from further back in the crowd. The band sounded solid, and fans were completely engrossed by the group, who’ve had a number of songs—“The Mother We Share” and “We Sink”—fare well as radio singles.
So far, dancey pop dominated the day, but H-town would soon unleash some of its finest rappers on the anticipating FPSF crowd. Following Chvrches, Houston rappers Bun B, Slim Thug, Paul Wall, Mike Jones, Devin the Dude and Z-Ro took the stage flanked by a massive entourage to perform a collaborative set. Mike Jones and Slim Thug dominated the early part of the set, which featured performance highlight “Thug From Around The Way.” Paul Wall had his share of time, and Z-Ro would play a more integral role in the set’s latter half, meaning that us photographers missed out on capturing him in all his OG splendor. In years past, FPSF has brought to the stage classic Houston acts like Z-Ro and Geto Boys, but having these rappers together onstage transcended past performances with this symbolic act of unity within the city’s rap scene.
Across the festival grounds, on the Mars stage, an entirely divergent hip-hop act geared up to take the stage. Childish Gambino, the rap project of Donald Glover (of Community fame), would be the penultimate act on one of FPSF’s two largest stages. Childish Gambino operates as a hip-hop culture counterpoint to Houston’s classic rap artists, but succeeds by understanding himself completely. Glover’s interviews and public comments come across as more sincere than most artists of our current era. In an era of posturing, and in a genre that’s heavily concerned with image, Glover managed to remain true to his ideas. It always bothered me when Drake sang, “Understand nothing was done for me,” after being a child star. I’m not saying the kid didn’t have it tough at points and exercise persistence, but come on, everyone has someone along the way that opens a door. It’s how the world works.
In contrast, Glover wholeheartedly embraces nerdy movie references, pop culture, the internet, and his own popularity and wealth in his lyricism. There is no pretense. And what’s most appealing about this when watching him perform live is his lack of affectation. No mean mugs or hard stares. Glover dances like crazy, bouncing about the stage in flowered shorts, grinning like a kid on the playground. He’s having so much fun, and you can’t help but love him for it. In fact, if Donald Glover happens to read this: I’d love to sit down for an interview…
I can’t write this article without totally geeking out for a minute, especially because I recently binge watched all of Community. I wish I weren’t a huge Troy Barnes fan, because I don’t want it to mitigate or comprise the validity of my affinity for Glover’s musical endeavors. But I am a huge fan. Despite frequently being back stage with notable artists and never feeling starstruck, I had a momentary surge of excitement at the end of Childish Gambino’s set. Glover tore off his sweat-soaked shirt during the last song of his set, and catching the cord on his wireless mic transmitter, his shorts were pulled slightly down in the process. As he finished the song and marched off stage to join his backing band, he simply pulled his shorts down in playful frustration and stood a few feet from me in nothing but briefs and Nikes. Despite having my camera, I respected what little privacy superstars have and didn’t snap any photos. Trust me, it was epic. Easily my personal festival highlight. Again though, the best part of the moment was how clearly jazzed Glover was from the performance’s adrenaline rush.
Vampire Weekend closed down the first night of FPSF with a set that featured all their hits—“Oxford Comma,” “A-Punk,” “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa,” and “Ya Hey,” to name a few. I’ve seen the group three times in recent months, and they always deliver live. As I recently wrote, they seem to have their live set down to a science. Ezra Koenig and co. function on pitch perfect pop, so it makes sense that their performances would be equally as pristine. I’ve always enjoyed the band in passing, but haven’t ever truly listened to their albums incessantly as many fans do. After three live shows, I think I’m finally a convert. Ever since Saturday night, I’ve had their music on nonstop. Infectious pop has been winning hearts for more than half a century, and Vampire Weekend owns one of today’s more winning formulas for addicting pop music.
I left near the end of the group’s set, as they played “Giving Up the Gun,” in order to beat the festival foot traffic. The first day’s performances amended the rain delay, but as I walked to my car under Houston’s city skyline lights, I held out hope that we’d get through the festival’s second day without inclement weather. See photos from the first day below. All images © Bryan Parker & Pop Press International; all rights reserved. Click any image to open in slideshow viewer.
