Four Tet

Kieran Hebden is a limited commodity. His recent and upcoming US tour dates consisted of two shows with Radiohead in September along with two festival appearances. To everyone’s dismay at Fun Fun Fun fest, his talents weren’t treated as preciously as they are dished out. With an ingenious stage setup that they have used since their inception, FFFFest places two stages right next to each other, allowing for seamless music with minimal transition time. Performers can quietly soundcheck and come on stage immediately after each other with little to no interruption.

Unfortunately, Public Enemy and the FFFFest sound crew had a different idea. For fifteen solid minutes of Four Tet’s fifty five minute set, the soundcheck could be heard over his performance. Furthermore, Public Enemy members came onstage and started to hype up their fans in the middle of his set. The level of disrespect was incredible. In three years attending, I have never seen such an atrocity at the usually well-run Festival.

Distasteful distractions aside, Four Tet spawned his magic for his adoring fans. The first standout track “Love Cry” took an extended cut, washing various beats underneath the repeating melodies. “Angel Echoes,” also off of his 2010 album There is Love in You, made an appearance as well. His work live mimicked the recent Fabriclive 59 release which he mixed with seamless transitions throughout. The beats morphed and transformed underneath his distinctive vocal samples, leaving no real breaking point between tracks. “Pyramid” and “Locked” from his Fabriclive release also made an appearance, representing his most recent cuts in an ultimately satisfying manner.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

After taking a break in 2009, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah have returned to the masses that were left insatiable during their hiatus. Starting with “Is This Love,” off their self-titled album, the crowd’s attention was immediately grabbed and kept captive for the remainder of the set. After the familiar opening, it became apparent that most of the crowd was not very familiar with their newest album, Hysterical. Songs like “Misspent Youth,” “Maniac,” and “Ketamine Ecstacy” were sure to convince any non-belivers that Alec Ounsworth and crew are still at the top of their game.

The performance took a turn when the band played the only song from Some Loud Thunder of the night, “Satan Said Dance.” The song, which might be their most well-known, had been transformed into a more upbeat, and less electronic piece that the audience gladly accepted. It’s a evident the band brought a polish that slightly altered their older experimental tracks to better fit a live setting, but thankfully their layered melodies and interuptions of Ounsworth screaming as many words as he can fit into a breath remain intact.

The last three songs were definitely a highlight of the night, as they represented that best of their beloved self-titled release. During “Upon This Tidal Wave of Young Blood,” Ounsworth added improvisation to his vocals, which led the crowd’s singing to act as religious chanting that backed the rest of the song. Just one glance throughout the crowd, and anyone could see the copious amount of attendees mouthing every word with their eyes closed like a church choir. Ending with a rougher “Heavy Metal,” with plenty of harmonica and guitar solos, every member of the band reached an emotional peak that lifted the crowd onto the tips of their toes, screaming and waving their arms as if inspired by some celestial entity. Although that inspiration didn’t cause a similtaneous clap of the hands, or exclamation of “Yeah,” it was enough to confirm to many attendees that this festival weekend was worth it, even if it was only the first night.

Danzig

It seemed like an eternity, waiting for the American metal band Danzig to take the black stage at the end of the night. The crowd, dressed mostly in leather jackets and black hoodies, continued to grow visibly restless, as the expected wait time continued to increase. “Why don’t you just play some Sammy Hagar?!” shouted one man, who quickly admonished that he was “only joking” after he was met with a few sharp glares.

Just when it seemed like the band was deliberately torturing the audience, the crowd was met with a flash of blinding light and an ear-shattering guitar wail. Without further ado, Danzig took the stage, dressed the part in all black (not to mention, long hair that is so beloved by metal artists).

From there, everything seemed to be smooth sailing. Glenn Danzig riled up the crowed by directing them to help keep him warm from the cold November night, which was met with shouts of joy by the crowd. The band’s energy level was impressively high, as their unrelenting thrashing onstage persuaded the audience to follow suit, banging their heads and pumping their fists into the air.

“I hope you’re not getting tired!” shouted Danzig, throwing his arm into the air. The crowd, who, after a long day of festivities, most likely were tired, but they didn’t seem to care as they continued to dance, head bang, and in some cases, fight.

The fun didn’t last much longer, though, as Danzig’s set was cut short, as their set had gone on long after it was supposed to end. The crowd became severely disgruntled, and after some tension, finally left the stage.

Glass Candy

It was starting to get pretty cold at 11 p.m., but the crowd outside of Mohawk were packed so tightly together that they didn’t notice as they danced during Glass Candy’s set.

It kicked off with Glass Candy’s Johnny Jewel at the synthesizer, warming up the crowd with spacey Italo disco, until a few moments later he was joined by singer Ida No.

Ida looked about serenely as she walked onto the stage, rocking her arms back and forth as the crowd wailed in excitement. Dressed in a bright blue dress with pink tights, she looked the part of an aerobics instructor as she blithely bounced around on the tips of her toes, at some points stopping to jog in place. “I really do jog like this” she said as she swung her arms back and forth in front of her body.

No’s voice ranged from a light and sweet to sharp, breaking shrieks, occasional outbursts that were more of a command for the crowd to dance than anything else. And dance, they did. The audience at front of the stage were packed uncomfortably close together as they grooved and jumped around, fueled by No’s example as she hopped across the stage.

At the end of the set, No reached out into the crowd and pulled audience members onstage to dance with the band. Soon enough, the stage was packed with about 15 enthusiastic dancers, leading the way as the crowd below followed suit.