Show Recap: Omar Souleyman at Red 7, 08/29/13

Photo Courtesy of http://airwaves.grapevine.is/

I first discovered Syrian musician Omar Souleyman earlier this year when one of my colleagues at SXSW booked him to perform at our 2013 event. He performed for our Red Cross benefit show called "Our Hearts Ache for Syria" at Austin's Long Center for Performing Arts for which all of the proceeds went to aid the 80,000+ refugees of the Syrian crisis. The showcase had quite the impressive lineup, also including Black Lips, Deer Tick, and White Lung. However most people had absolutely no idea about the insanity that Souleyman went through to even get to Austin for his performance. I remember being back in the Music Festival Headquarters room at the Austin Convention Center and my colleague who had booked them panicking over the fact that he was stuck in the Middle East and might not even make it over. You can read all about the tribulations he experienced in The FADER's article, "Omar Souleyman takes the long road to SXSW." It is quite the fascinating story!

However, God willing, he did make it here just in time to perform. I unfortunately am not really able to get the chance to see any showcases during SXSW as I am running around working and checking on my own shows, and this was one I also had to miss out on. However, I had already been intrigued by Souleyman's music and his interesting background and hoped that he would eventually come back again. He had only been to Austin one other time to perform during the Chaos in Tejas festival in 2011, but at the time I wasn't living in Austin. Lucky for me, Transmission Events snagged him for a show on August 29th, one of his only three US tour dates. The only other two shows he played was for LA's FYF Fest and Pioneer Works 10 Year Anniversary show in New York. 

I suppose I should back up for a minute here and explain that Souleyman first started his career as a wedding performer in Syria in 1994. His traditional Middle Eastern folk music is performed in Kurdish and Arabic. Several years ago he was picked up by Seattle based label Sublime Frequencies who primarily focus on exposing international and world music artists. He released five albums on the label and through that has gained more prominent recognition in The States. He also did some absolutely amazing remixes of several Bjork tracks off her 2011 album, Biophilia. He is now on London's Ribbon Music/Domino Recordings label who are releasing his most recent album, Wenu Wenu.

Of course when I found out I had the opportunity to see Souleyman I jumped at the chance, having no idea when I'll even be able to see him again as he typically only performs overseas. Unfortunately the show was more sparsely attended than I would have liked to have seen, but I suppose he does cater to a niche market. Regardless, I was absolutely thrilled to have been there. Souleyman performs on stage with a DJ of sorts who runs his futuristic sounding tracks with the use of high-powered synthesizers. His style of music definitely has it's traditional roots but can appeal to a more mass audience because of his relatively heavy electronic sound. It's great dancing music and I can absolutely understand why he made such a name for himself in Syria through his performances at weddings and parties. He wears traditional Syrian garb and dark sunglasses, evoking a sense of mystery; I personally found myself entranced by his stage presence. 

Holding nothing but his microphone, Souleyman chanted out his lyrics and clapped his hands, encouraging the crowd to move and shake. Honestly the show was nothing like what I'd ever experienced before, and I have been to hundreds of shows. People who didn't even know each other grabbed hands and started a large dancing circle. Every single person in the venue seemed to be completely enthralled by this unique experience. And unlike so many musicians I've seen before, Souleyman had such a humble and thankful attitude toward his fans. He really didn't speak much, granted his English is sparse, but continually put his hands together and bowed his head toward the crowd to show his gratitude. 

Overall this show was one of the most mind-blowing I've ever seen. I truly hope that I have the opportunity to see him perform again in the future. World music is a genre that I don't know a ton about, however, Souleyman definitely encouraged me to open my horizons to what else is out there from an international standpoint. I strongly urge anyone who has the chance to see him to take to the occasion and go get your Syrian dance pants on! 

Fun Fun Fun Fest 2012 at Auditorium Shores, November 2, 3, 4

Fun Fun Fun Fest is an annual music and comedy festival put on by Transmission Events and is held in Austin, Texas at Auditorium Shores. It began in 2006 and celebrated its sixth year this past 2012 festival. FFF showcases genre specific entertainment including metal, hip-hop, indie rock, electronic, punk rock and comedy. They have also become known for the large-scale skateboard and BMX ramp, as well as this year's new addition: The Taco Cannon. Yep, that's right. A cannon that shoots warmly wrapped tacos to patrons in the crowd. 

Last year when I first moved to Austin I was working for Transmission Events and was unable to fully enjoy the festival. This year my old boss provided me with two "homie" wristbands and I couldn't have been happier; the lineup was insane. We started off attending two of the FFF Nite shows, the first being Texas psych bands Holy Wave and Fungi Girls at The ND. I'm always a sucker for some psychedelic music and a trippy light show. We then went to Mohawk to see one of my favorite Texas bands, Mind Spiders, who as usual, totally rocked the stage. 

Friday rolled around and I snuck out of my office early to go enjoy the festivities (I wasn't the only one, hah!). We got to Auditorium Shores around 2:30pm, just in time for the Air Sex Championship at the Yellow Stage. I am still having nightmares about it, so I won't inflict the same pain on my readers. We then headed over to the Blue Stage to see Canadian electro-pop singer, Diamond Rings. I had seen Diamond Rings when I was a junior in college in a little hole-in-the-wall venue in east Atlanta called 529. He was playing solo with just a keyboard and pre-recorded beats. I think maybe 1/4 of the venue was full. To see him with a full band at FFF Fest was truly exciting; I love seeing musicians’ careers blossom when I had once seen them when hardly anyone knew who they were. Next was indie hip-hopper Astronautalis on the same stage. As I have mentioned before, I hate white rappers, however he is one of the handful that I actually do respect. He blew me away during his performance when he asked the audience to shout out random words and he then turned it into a legitimate freestyle. With words like chopsticks, time and possum, I thought that was pretty impressive! We then headed to the Orange Stage to see 90s alt-rocker Bob Mould who truly proved he's still got it. Closing your eyes, you would've thought you were listening to a twenty-something musician. Next we headed back to the Blue Stage to see a "special performance" by the Black Lips. Little did we know that the performance was actually a filming for a scene in the new Terrence Malick flick with the band, Rooney Mara and an overweight Val Kilmer. He was clearly playing the role of the burnt-out, drug-induced musician as he screamed incessantly at the band and the crowd. He threw a blow-up doll and a bucket of sand into the crowd before chainsawing an amp in half and then sawing off his own hair with a pocketknife. It was one of the oddest things I have ever witnessed. 

After this wrapped up we stuck around Blue to see hip-hop duo Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. It was honestly one of the most fun shows I'd attended in ages. They played all the hits from their great new album The Heist and kept the crowd amped up throughout the duration of their set. Their trumpet player was one of my favorite additions to the show. Next we ran to Orange to see alternative reggae electro singer Santigold who also put on a highly entertaining show. However the highlight of the night by far was seeing Run DMC, a group I never thought in a million years that I would ever get to see. This being their first show in ten years, FFF really capitalized on their reunion. While Rev Run seemed to be struggling slightly, DMC was going nuts and they played all the well-known hits from the 80s and 90s. They even had Jam-Master Jay's son, "Jam-Master Jason" (yes, his real name is Jason, go figure) DJing in his late father's place. 

We arrived on Saturday around 3:30pm just in time to catch the tail end of DMC's solo set on the Blue Stage. Next on was white-girl rapper Kreayshawn... Let's just say that's 15 minutes of my life that I'll never get back. We swiftly ran from her show to catch indie rockers Surfer Blood. I really enjoy their music and was glad to finally be seeing them live. They have such a happy, airy sound to them. Next we were back to Blue to get our dance on at Tanlines' indie electro-pop infused set. We stuck around afterward to catch LA rapper Schoolboy Q, who most people know from the hip-hop supergroup, Black Hippy. After his set we traveled to Orange to see New Jersey indie rock group, Real Estate followed by folk-pop band The Head and the Heart. Following that we finally traveled to the Black Stage to catch lo-fi punk band Wavves. Along with Surfer Blood, I'd been waiting to catch a live set from them so that was enjoyable. We ran back to Blue to catch Portland electronic group STRFKR, who unfortunately was having some problems with their sound. So we traveled back to Black to headbang to Austin natives, The Sword, one of my all-time favorite metal bands. We then shuffled over to the Blue Stage to catch some New York rapper A$AP Rocky and then I drug my friends to the Yellow Stage to see rock supergroup, Diamond Rugs. This is a collaboration between Deer Tick members John McCauley and Robbie Crowell, Ian Saint Pe of The Black Lips, Steve Berlin of Los Lobos, Dead Confederate's Hardy Morris and Six Finger Satellite's Bryan Dufresne. Post-festival we journeyed downtown to Austin venue staple Mohawk to check out psychedelic, experimental group Black Moth Super Rainbow. I love their new album Cobra Juicy but I was disappointed by how lackluster their performance was. Next we ventured to Red 7 to check out my friend's punk band Turf War and garage rockers King Tuff. 

I was determined to arrive early on Sunday to see one of my favorite bands, Fang Island. We were actually early enough to catch half of Austin band Balmorhea. Arriving early proved fruitful, as I was able to get a front row spot for Fang Island. They have a lot of lyric-less guitar driven songs, but I also thoroughly enjoy their lyrically-full tracks from their newest album, Major. We stuck around to catch girl indie punk band Bleached (former members of Mika Miko) and Brooklyn based psych noise rockers A Place to Bury Strangers. Next we walked to Black to check out metal rockers Valient Thorr and Canadian rock duo Japandroids. We then went back to Orange to catch folk-pop band Givers and over to Blue to see Austin psych-instrumentalists The Octopus Project. That was my first time seeing someone play the Theremin, which I thought was very cool! Next we went back to Orange to see Austin psych rock band The Black Angels who personally, are one of my favorite bands and one who I've seen several times. Surprisingly, the highlight of my night again was a hip-hop act, legendary rappers De La Soul. Their set was intense and enthralling, and they were another group I never thought I'd have the chance to say I've seen live! That set took it out of me so I watched a couple of songs indie folk group Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros then called it a night. 

Overall Fun Fun Fun Fest was an amazing festival experience, and may very well be my favorite festival I've attended thus far. I only see this festival continuing to grow in size in years to come. Although I'm sort of crossing my fingers that doesn't happen because it would be a shame for it to turn into an over-sold event such as ACL. It is a really great scene for underground and up-and-coming music and the one festival it seems that local Austinites can actually enjoy. I encourage anyone with similar taste in music to make the journey next year.