Hangout Festival Saturday: Foo Fighters, Dead Confederate, Mariachi El Bronx

The Flaming Lips (photos by Jamie Younger)

The Foo Fighters capped Saturday at the Hangout Festival with a two-hour plus set, with lead singer Dave Grohl calling it the best festival he’s ever been a part of.

It was actually the band’s second show of the day. Earlier in the afternoon, Dave Grohl and company stepped in for Cee Lo Green, who showed up late but managed to make it on stage to play a few numbers. Before Cee Lo arrived, the band cranked out a bevy of covers, including Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out” and Tom Petty’s “Breakdown.”

Kicking off Saturday’s events was Mariachi El Bronx, the alter ego of hardcore L.A. punk act The Bronx. “What a beautiful day for music,” lead singer Matt Caughthran said after taking the stage. “Just last night we were at some shitty club in Atlanta and now here we are on your beautiful shores. Take me now God.”

Mariachi El Bronx

Donning charro suits, the band –which plays traditional mariachi music with lyrics in English – led with an instrumental, though the PA didn’t come on until half way through the song. It was one of the few hiccups all day.

One of the highlights of the set was “Revolution Girls,” a tale about the ladies of Tijuana. “It’s about falling in love with something foreign and experiencing something for the first time,” Caughtran told American Songwriter later that day. “It’s about going to Mexico as a kid and getting in way over your head.”

Later in the day, Motorhead delivered a workmanlike set, playing the only encore this writer witnessed. The Avett Brothers played the main stage late afternoon, continuing until just before sundown. “We don’t want to leave,” Seth Avett said.

Dead Confederate

Dead Confederate played one of the side stages in the heat of mid-afternoon, delivering one the heaviest set of the festival up to that point. After playing “Run From The Gun,” a fairly uptempo number that belies the band’s reputation for dark, Gothic sludge, lead singer Hardy Morris said: “That was our freaking happy number. I didn’t wear this [tie-dyed] shirt for nothing.”