Live music review: Holiday Hootenanny mini fest at Radio East with Of Montreal, Danny Brown
Austin-grown promoters Resound Presents teamed up with renowned music photographer Pooneh Ghana and long-running local radio station KUTX 98.9 for a year-end mini-festival dubbed the “Holiday Hootenanny” to close out another landmark year in the city music scene with both national and some of the city’s most heavy-hitting acts. A 2-day festival, the booked bill served up a little of everything. From the butcher shop antics of Tear Dungeon to the Broadway-level excursion presented by of Montreal, the weekend at South Austin’s Radio/East promised a photo-finish for 2024 in live music.
Since opening in 2023, the second Radio location transcended the box of its coffee and live music mission and has grown into a full-blown destination for live shows that allow for two stages, multiple vendors, and booked artists that is making the new concert venue a high-priority for attendees across the Austin area. The Holiday Hootenanny booked 16 total acts for the weekend, and the eclectic array of talent that made their way to the two-stage space for the event was plentiful and an epic representation of what makes Austin a percolator for musicians looking to make their mark in a playing field that gets fuller at a rapid progression.
Industrial Hip Hop duo Haha Laughing kicked off the first moments of the festival, complete with their ear-shattering beats that scratch the itch of Death Grips and Clipping. Members Jay Dilick and Aby Oviedo are a remarkable duo, each taking turns to have their own turn in the spotlight as the experimental instrumentation hits red-lining audio levels. Oviedo always takes time to elevate the sputtering tracks with a saxophone and an occasionally used drum kit. Dilick’s and Oviedo’s aggressively pronounced vocal delivery is also a highlight, spitting chaotic bars that made them a bold, yet statement-making choice for the opening slot.
Brooklyn noise pop outfit Water From Your Eyes delivered a mesmerizing sunset performance, their third show in town this year. Since the release of the Rachel Brown-Nate Amos-led group’s latest full-length, Everyone’s Crushed, the New York musicians have been on a meteoric rise with sold-out tours and festival appearances. Through the 45-minute early evening set, the lo-fi art rock murk carried well with Brown’s anti-consumerist lyricism, both laced with humor and powerful messaging about the current state of political and economic turmoil.
A local staple of all proportions, A Giant Dog’s Andrew Cashen led Tear Dungeon through a bombastic, blood-soaked set. The band, complete with ski masks, matching white outfits, and waves of prop blood, manages to bring a sludge metal-hardcore infused hybrid of madness with stage rowdiness that shows Cashen interacting with the crowd through joining the mosh pit with microphone in hand and climbing stage structures to jump back into the action from crisis-level heights.
Los Angeles industrial rock trio Health brought their deafening Nine Inch Nails-type soundscapes that demonstrated the limits of the Radio main stage armed with a mere power trio lineup of members. This one was loud, very loud.
Detroit-Austin rapper Danny Brown closed out the first day of the Hootenanny in his usual banger-after-banger scheme. Older fan-favorites “Dip,” “Smokin’ and Drinkin’,” and “Ain’t It Funny” appeared along with JPEGMAFIA Scaring The Hoes album collaborative cuts “Garbage Pail Kids” and title number “Scaring The Hoes.” Despite being admittedly under the weather, Brown fed Austin once more in his elevated presence in Central Texas.
Austin rock and rollers Magic Rockers of Texas started off day two of the festival shenanigans, bringing frontman Jim Campo’s songwriting expertise and his surrounding players that bring a high-energy dose of garage rock and other mannerisms the longtime member Campo of the music scene brings to the table in the veins of garage rock to country rock.
New York’s Native Sun brought their early 2000s NYC rock revival fury to the stand, taking after Tear Dungeon with an incendiary delivery that embodied the hard-rocking spirit of a time when punk rock was the thundering normality in the Big Apple.
Hometown post-punks Font brought their brand of 80s synth dance punk to the stage, riding the high tide off their debut LP, Strange Burden, released over the summer and spurred a sold-out gig at East Side venue Parish. Drifting between retro keyboard sections to jarring periods of noisy freakouts, Font brings a heavy dose of free-flowing creativity.
The on-fire indie rock three-piece Being Dead took the on-deck headliner position, one that is all too familiar with them in their huge past two years that have spawned a handful of tours, festival bookings, and two records. Songwriting team Falcon Bitch and Shmoofy have crafted music together since 2017, and it’s been off to the races since. From sold-out local shows to various side projects, the rapidly ascending Austin VIP’s unhinged, darkly comedic approach knows no limits. From sweet indie rock ditties to demented screaming guitar pedal freakouts, the truth is always told with the tremendous powers of the Austin scene leaders.
Indie rock Georgia institution of Montreal capped things off for the weekend, in their expected triumphant form. Bandleader Kevin Barnes is a master of the stage, bringing eccentric presence and a band that takes his mission to heart. With a studio discography of 19 albums, a spectacle-to-be is a certainty with the Athens act. From onstage dancers who rotate outfits to fit the theme of each cut, Barnes’s visionary staying power has been pushing the boundaries for 30 years and counting. The closing production was no different, proving the Barnes traveling circus to be an untouched force that immerses the audience in both visual art and a masterclass of rock, electronic, and pop music, plus over-the-top tunes that topple any single genre classification. When the smoke cleared, the feeling of a satisfied crowd after a packed two days of what makes the current state of music an outspoken endeavor was in the air, and as long as music fans keep going, good things will keep happening.
All photos by Troy Gonzales
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