Fun Fun Fun Fest lived up to its name in spades last weekend, showcasing local and not-so local bands of all genres on three stages in two short days. Day one included local acts Okkervil River, Explosions in the Sky, and Brothers and Sisters, as well as touring acts like the New Pornographers, of Montreal and Youth Brigade.

To read what else we had to say about day one, click here. To see our first round of photos from day one, check out our Snapshots post, or read Gregg Gillis of Girl Talk's thoughts on the weekend by clicking here. More thoughts on the weekend to come, complete with live reviews, interviews and photos: stay tuned!

Youth Brigade: With a name like Youth Brigade, you’d think your band’s shelf life would be metered by how many years you can be taken as “youth” in the first place, but these punk rockers have managed to push on into grey-haired seniority, rocking three-chord numbers from releases going back twenty-five years back. With a crowd that ranged from prepubescent mall rats to old guys with fading tats, Youth Brigade’s set took on something like Punk 101, complete with political sloganeering (“…both parties are essentially the same…money controls the world…”) and songs with an emphasis on giving it to The Man and all that. One song was introduced with, “This is a song I wrote back when I was an English Lit Major, influenced by Jonathan Swift…if you know who that is.” How punk! -Adam Schragin

New Pornographers: Boasting every original member of this impressive Canadian powerhouse of pop, The New Pornographers filled their timeslot with both Dan Bejar and Neko Case in attendance, delighting fans who have witnessed the group without one or both of these intrinsic but not always available group members. The set was heavy on tracks from the band’s new Challengers, but they pulled out great performances from all over their oeuvre, including “From Blown Speakers” and the near-perfect “Mass Romantic.” A request by Neko Case for Rice Krispies Treats was miraculously granted mid-set, and the lights didn’t go out during their last two songs. A success! -Adam Schragin

The Lemurs: With bright, shiny faces, the Lemurs kicked off the weekend, playing a range of songs from their motley pool of styles and influences. Most of the set centered around a general indie rock sound, providing a continuous hangover recovery track for a hoard of fest workers. The 60 or 70 who hung around the stage during the early hours (12-1pm) were inspired by solid Lemur rhythm and responded with subtle but satisfied toe taps and knee bends. In true Lemur form, the vocals were Cure-esque and consistent, and the end of the set drifted into synth-powered tunes, giving the lead singer the chance to set down his guitar and enjoy the microphone. -Mercedes Kraus

Brothers & Sisters: Brothers and Sisters hit the stage mid-afternoon, the brothers clad in pearl snaps, the sister in denim. There was no doubt about it: we were getting a country-rock show. At the forefront of the first part of the set was the steel guitar, whining and wailing and drawing us into a pleasant, countrified reverie. Drawing us back out of the reverie was bearded, long-haired lead vocalist brother, whose vocals were, well, off. And while we realized that festival stage sound can be less than par, we were happy as clams when sister sang and harmony was literally restored. Some of the country-rock/pop verged on mainstream Nashville, with which, quite honestly, we were disappointed. Where Brothers and Sisters succeeded on Saturday was in the true country tunes, where the sound aesthetic of the band felt the most comfortable. -Mercedes Kraus

Emma Pollack: The former member of the pop band The Delgados took to the warmed-up but still intimately un-crowded second stage at 2:30 in the afternoon, playing tracks off of her new album and chatting comfortably between songs. Expressing her shock at the relative warmness of November in Austin to Glasgow, she asked, “What happens in summer, does everything just catch on fire?” Pollock’s band had a tight, easily embraceable sound, with touches of a late nineties influence from Radiohead to Sparklehorse. Overall, it was a nicely brisk if calm and contained early set to help kick off the fest’s second year. -Adam Schragin

Small Sins: Under a pleasantly shaded pecan grove was the small stage, where we found solace from the sun and the doldrums of the festival with Small Sins of Toronto. Five distinct guys brought together the fine and refined harmony, the stage presence, and the solid sound we had been waiting for. One of those fun indie rock bands with quirky instruments, Small Sins' set never failed to be consistently impressive. We shook our hips to the synth and tossed our shoulders to the flawless vocals and were able to enjoy the quirky but insightful lyrics and percussive flourishes on every song. And it was clear by the end that we weren't the only ones enjoying it -- a fervent young crowd rushed forward to buy Small Sins' September release "Mood Swings." This is a band to watch. -Mercedes Kraus

Angry Samoans: The Angry Samoans’ set showed them to indeed be angry, but who knows if they’re Samoan. It’s just a shame, however, that they weren’t furious. This L.A. punk rock group with roots all the way back to the early '80s didn’t quite possess the same stage energy as fellow aged punk alums Sick of It All, and at their age, the sophomoric taunts toward authority figures were a little immature and awkward. It was a lot like watching your dad try to be cool in front of your friends, acting as if he were down with their hip lingo.

Speaking of fathers, “My Old Man’s A Fatso” had the same speedy, reliable power chords that have kept kids hating ‘the man’ since the very beginnings of punk. The Samoans even brought fans on stage to shout into the mic why they can’t stand their fathers. And all of this was going on while stage divers leapt out into the crowd only to fall through a hole or get tossed back on stage. -William Mills

Grand Buffet: Grand Buffet took to the leafy, flora-centric third stage to a modest crowd just before their erstwhile tour-mates of Montreal were set to perform just a short walk away. Compared to their innovate but beat-loving peers, Grand Buffet came off more as the equivalent of an indie House of Pain, segueing awkward rhymes on top of jams so unfresh they might have been left over from the last ICP record. Blissfully unaware of their goofiness, MCs Jackson O’Connell and Jarrod Weeks traded rhymes about “Things That Go Bump in the Night” while waxing polemical between songs (“Pitchfork can suck my pussy”), etc. Somewhere between self-serious and funny, they managed to be neither – but how much could you expect from a group with a song called “Murderfuck”? -Adam Schragin

MGMT: MGMT pleased an appreciative crowd for perhaps the shortest set of the weekend, as a delayed start gave their '70s disco-influenced pop rock only twenty-five minutes to work its magic. Playing a brief mix of songs from their debut LP, the band managed to make its presence known despite the time constraints, as they showed no fear of vocal harmonizing and setting a solid beat. Not even their own audiophilic tendencies and general unattractiveness could hold back their rhythm driven sound.

The sometimes embarrassing cheesiness of their lyrics was less a presence live than on the album, as their wannabe rockstar declarations didn't have enough time to sink in, which is definitely a good thing. But MGMT has plenty of potential, and it's a shame they weren't given long enough to show what all they have in their musical arsenal. At least—when they were told they had to stop playing—the crowd voiced its displeasure loud enough to make it obvious that their short-lived set was a good one. -Nick Courtright

Cadence Weapon:
In the early evening and scheduled at the same time as Of Montreal, Cadence Weapon and his crazy-looking DJ showed up on stage, and instantly seduced the crowd. Cadence, himself wearing skinny black jeans and a black t-shirt, invited us close to the stage and threw some genius rhymes to the accompaniment of beats from his DJ who, frankly, was not what we expected him to look like. With long blonde hair and accompanying beard-mustache combo, gold chains around his neck, a backwards cap, and a really tacky early-hip hop windbreaker jacket, he laid the tracks for Cadence's raps, and the team were honestly unbeatable. The tracks were fast and driving, and the bridges were often harder, sounding like guitars from the hardcore stage. -Mercedes Kraus

The Saints: This seasoned Australian trio (read: old) made their first visit to Austin with the Fun Fun Fun Fest, giving fans and confused punks an opportunity to experience that brittle mix of Thin Lizzy classic rock and Sex Pistols punk that first brought this band prominence back in the seventies. Stripped down to guitar, bass, and drums, The Saints were still loud as all get-out, and their performance was at least a welcome respite from festival first-timers. After a run through songs that ranged from loud rock to louder rock, complete with half guitar windmills and all, the band cooled it enough to get a little bluesy, throwing in a verse from “I Heard it Through the Grapevine” and playing around with a blues lick with the accompanying lyrics, “The good-looking boys from the APD / are gonna sodomize me.” He didn’t sound that broken up about it, honestly. -Adam Schragin

Explosions in the Sky: If you love guitar, you love Explosions in the Sky, what with their six-strings crashing against each other in sound and swell and interlocking melody and a whole heap of testosterone. They've done well for themselves with this approach, having released their fourth LP earlier this year, and certainly, the Friday Night Lights gig has helped, giving them not only a ready-made national audience, but also a venue for their more-sensitive and soft material.

But Saturday night at Waterloo Park was no place for sensitive material. Without a need to rest vocal chords, Explosions in the Sky rocked relentlessly with crescendo-driven songs designed to inspire antsiness. Undoubtedly, the spider-fingered sometimes-bassist and spaceman guitarists, backed by a powerful drum presence, executed the Explosions in the Sky formula perfectly.

But this is where the trouble arises—there is a formula of sorts at work here. Over the course of their career, the band has become more technically proficient, more gifted at playing off each other with absolute precision, more diverse in regards to soft songs versus hard songs…yet still seems to have fallen into a pattern where dynamism has been replaced by old reliable. After all, everyone kind of knows what to expect from Explosions in the Sky, right?

This predictability isn't necessarily a bad thing, as the band is still capable of churning out beautifully-constructed post-rock anthems worthy of shaking your speakers straight down the stairs. And when it comes to a live show—regardless of all the critical mumbo-jumbo—there's no question that they still rock about as hard as anyone. And we in Austin love that sort of thing, especially from our hometown sons, right? -Nick Courtright

of Montreal:

Dear Of Montreal:

I remember way back in the day when you were singing silly little ditties on the four-track, or when you were talking about old people in the cemetery, or disconnecting the dots, or just plain old doing nothing. Ah, I remember those times like they were yesterday, when no one knew you except the fine few obsessed with that whole Elephant Six thingy. And you were so much like the Beatles!

But look how you've grown! Now you've got this whole lovely stage presence, where you like to get as nekkid as the local laws allow, with the blue lights flashing all around…you even have the money for fancy screens with disturbing cat-centric videos that look like something out of an lysergic Wall redux! And you yourself, Kevin, you've been working out! It makes me so proud, how magnetic you are on stage, everyone's eyes glued to you and your pretty makeup and oversized package! Of course you still write all the songs yourself, but you've grown up so much! Even if you've become kind of a weirdo in the process!

Kevin, I know that when the lights went out, you thought the festival was shutting you down—but don't worry, we would never do that to you. How filled with utter joy were all us loving partisans when it turned out to be only a blown circuit! And upon your beautiful return, your gracious mention of "everyone's positive energy"! Truly, that unironic rendition of "Purple Rain" brought a tear to my eye! Literally, I was weeping with almost-deranged love for your electro-glam audacity!

So I just wanted to write, and let you know that I still think you're absolutely boffo, even if you've changed ('cuz man, of course you have). I know it's all part of the growing process, and I did enjoy your new song "Exquisite Confessions," which seems—dare I say—to have more of a full band mentality, and that new falsetto was indeed like soft core porn on Cinemax….

Alright, alright, I've come to grips with it—I won't be sad that I'm not the only one who loves you any more. It's okay, really. No, seriously, it's okay.

Till death do us part,
A Longtime Fan
-Nick Courtright

Okkervil River: Will Sheff's voice is light and pleading. "It's a life story, so there's no climax." This song is about the absence of lighting and costumes and scripts, the ordinary days in ordinary lives. Then there is a cymbal crashing, the slapping of strings, a peak in the symphonic soundtrack we were told did not exist.

And we realize Okkervil River is indeed performing this tale of nonperformance before a throng of hometown fans at Fun Fun Fun Fest. The cameras are rolling, the players are on stage and the audience is watching. What a clever dose of indie band irony.

Yet it perfectly describes Okkervil River's triumphant year. This summer, they received glowing reviews for their fourth album, The Stage Names. On Sunday, Sheff and the boys hopped on a plane to England, their first stop in an extensive European tour. But Saturday's set still felt like a friendly farewell party. It was the perfect celebration for an Austin band and the Austin fans. -Julie Neumann