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Fun Fun Fun Fest review: Okkervil River
On a sweltering Friday afternoon in September 2006, Austin’s Okkervil River played for a small, overheated audience on a side stage at the ACL Festival, still riding high on the success of 2005’s “Black Sheep Boy,” which was re-released in April 2006 after the band signed to Virgin/EMI in Europe. It was a good show, but a far cry from Saturday’s 5:25 p.m. set at Fun Fun Fun Fest, which drew the largest crowd up to that point as the festival-goers who chose to sit out the early sets began to funnel into the entrance to see the big guns scheduled for that evening.
Frontman Will Sheff and the boys started out on a fairly reserved note with “The President’s Dead,” but wasted no time after that with an energetic sampling of tunes, mostly from “Black Sheep Boy” and 2007’s “The Stage Names.” Keyboardist Jonathan Meiburg and drummer Travis Nelsen held it down as the band made their way through the set, with much of the crowd singing along to every word on songs like “Black” and “John Allyn Smith Sails,” the coda of which includes a rousing rendition of “Sloop John B” (a traditional song popularized by the Beach Boys). They closed the set with “Westfall,” off 2002’s “Don’t Fall in Love With Everyone You See,” complete with a bit of the Rolling Stones’ “Paint it Black” thrown in for good measure.
Sheff got sentimental with some talk of how good it was to be back in town, and even gave a playful shout-out to his pre-rockstar job as Web designer for the Texas State Senate (this being Austin, probably inspiring many in the crowd who are longing to quit their jobs as Web designers to pursue a career in music). He also noted that this was the band’s last stateside gig before they head to Europe to tour. It was a fitting sendoff for a band that has helped define a new generation of Austin music.
Update: As some people have pointed out in the comments section, Jonathan Meiburg was not with the band on Saturday. We are working to find out the name of the person who filled in.
(Photo by Jay Janner AMERICAN-STATESMAN)
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Permalink | Comments (3) | Categories: Fun Fun Fun Fest
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By CarterB
November 4, 2007 4:33 PM | Link to this
Wow, that was Meiburg? I swear he changes looks too often. Last year he had a buzz cut, this spring he had long locks of a rock star. Since he didn’t look the same and didn’t play banjo, I didn’t recognize him.
By T
November 4, 2007 9:53 PM | Link to this
No, that wasn’t Meiburg. That fellow was filling in.
By michael m
November 5, 2007 9:33 AM | Link to this
definitely not Meiburg, as he is away recording the next Shearwater album.