Yesterday, Pop Press INTL. Assistant Editor Lukas Truckenbrod did a great job capturing the Utopiafest vibe and reported about some of the music from this year’s installment. 2014 marked the third time I’ve made the trek through Texas’ hill country to attend the festival. The first time was, in a word, utopian. The festival directors may be a little unorganized, and that may lead to a lack of information for festival-goers, but those who can ride the chill waves will find themselves enjoying a relaxing weekend of music and fun. With tickets capped at 2,000 and no overlapping set times, the creators of Utopiafest have invented an environment that minimizes the frenzy of festivals and maximizes relaxed enjoyment.
One of Utopiafest’s greatest assets is their BYOB policy. After taking a $200 hit for a ticket to a music festival, it’s always a drag to stress about spending $8 per beer all weekend. At Utopiafest, after paying the incredibly reasonable $100 for a ticket, it’s nice to know you aren’t going to be brutalized with pricy beverages. Pro tip: don’t forget the beer, since Utopia is a dry city. The second core benefit of Utopifest is the gorgeous landscapes that surround the grounds. The rolling, green hills that cradle the state highways and farm-to-market roads that lead to the Four Sisters Ranch rise gently and slope softly as they unfurl. Even Baltimore-based DJ and electronic musician Dan Deacon ecstatically praised the gorgeous countryside during his headlining set on the festival’s final night.
As for the music itself, 2014 boasted what I consider to be the best lineup the young festival has ever assembled. While retaining their calling card roots musicians and jammy, laid back folk bands, the festival also incorporated notable acts from across myriad genres: psych, experimental, electronic, hip-hop, indie rock, and more. Dan Deacon’s set consisted of the usual audience participation–dance offs between people in the middle of a circle, the crowd divided into two sides dancing against one another, people making a human tunnel by joining hands as others pass under them, and one massive swirl of bodies running in a circle. Deacon always has an edge of humor as he rambles through self aware and socially astute stage banter between songs. He’s the thinking man’s DJ, and I couldn’t love an electronic set any more than I love Dan Deacon’s.
I’m currently in love with Hikes’ live show, as I’ve indicated in a few recent posts, so I was ecstatic to see them bring their explosive and energetic live set to a large audience at Utopiafest. With their folk undertones and whimsical Neverland aesthetics, the band fits in with Utopiafest’s free spirits, but Hikes also brings and edge of forward thinking indie-rock sensibilities that merge anthemic post-rock with late 90s math rock. Their late afternoon set on Saturday stood out as a clear highlight.
Maybe it was the fact that our group had finally come out on the other side of the mud trek to find a camp site, braved the fire ants, survived the dropping temperatures, and overcome the rain, but by the time we had settled in and made it down to the main stage for GZA, I was thrilled to be watching the set. Backed by Brownout, GZA delivered a performance of hard-hitting, old-school hip hop that proved “Wu Tang ain’t nuttin ta fuck wit.” Although the live brass resulted in a different kind of set than one might have expected from GZA, the prevailing popular opinion from anyone I talked with during the weekend confirmed that The Genius killed it.
It’s awesome to see Utopiafest booking big names, but they always do a great job of bringing in local bands at the other end of the notoriety spectrum, such as Saturday’s opening act Borrisokane. We’ve praised the band quite a bit lately, and were proud to premiere music from their most recent effort, a highly ambitious box set featuring new music from six different Austin bands. The group sounded better than ever with a nice festival audio set-up bringing their music to the crowd. If you still haven’t heard them, change that soon.
Before Dan Deacon closed out the main stage, Kishi Bashi played a set of experimental pop full of looped violin and teeming melodies. The songs are the aural equivalents of vibrant, ornate tapestries. I was impressed with the band when I saw them at Mohawk earlier this year, and was even more impressed with them after seeing their set at Utopiafest. At one point, Kishi Bashi jumped on bass while the bassist hit the deck to crank out a hundred push-ups as the crowd cheered him on. I also couldn’t believe the crowd’s involvement in the set, as they sang along, grinned, and cheered along to the upbeat, joyful tunes. Kishi Bashi has an incredibly devoted fan base.
Despite a rainy start, Utopiafest’s diverse bill, remote locale, and chilled vibe made for an outstanding weekend, particularly the fest’s Saturday, which ultimately offered cool fall temperatures and equally cool performances. Pop Press International had a crew of four in attendance, and the time to kick around big ideas and laugh at stupid jokes as we sat around a cooler must be cited as one of the fest’s vital highlights. At the end of the weekend, it was clear that these bonds of friendship are the heart of Utopiafest–the rare element that you just won’t find at most music festivals. And it’s the thing that will keep devotees returning each year.
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