Fun Fun Fun Festival announced Wednesday morning that neo soul star D’Angelo cancelled his Sunday closing set after also canceling his Austin City Limits performance earlier this week. Put your worries aside because FFF Fest has delivered and replaced him with hip hop legend Lauren Hill. The clutch substitution is a perfect replacement for D’Angelo. While Hill hasn’t released a new album in over 15 years, fans say her live performance is still at the top of her game and fff festival goers will be sure to enjoy her closing set of the festival.
On a more serious note, the trial for the deadly SXSW crash of 2014 is underway and new public safety concerns have resurfaced over the festival’s trend of surging crowds. Both City Council and the Austin Police Union have addressed the need for more patrolling officers during the two week festival. The Police Union has called for an increase of 2 million dollars in their budget from city surplus funds to have more off-duty cops during the city’s most financially lucrative festival. City Council and the Police Union are now in talks to agree on a figure with SXSW 2016 around the corner.
As far as Austin’s live music scene goes, things have been looking a little grim for Austin music venues lately. However, there may be a silver lining for Drag Bar Hole in the Wall. Last Thursday, Austin music legend Ben Ballinger took to his home stage at the Hole in the Wall and vowed it would not be his last time to play there nor would the bar be closing if he had any say in it. While there have been no new official announcements or progress updates, owner Will Tanner hinted that he was confident he and his landlord would come to a deal over the property.
The good news keeps rolling in with Rock God David Bowie’s announced release of his new album Blackstar. The record goes on sale on his 69th birthday January 8th, 2016. Blackstar being his 25th studio LP, Bowie has released 45 seconds of the opening theme to his title track of the album. Other than this, fans will have to wait patiently to hear Bowie’s latest musical installment.
-Michael Zahlit
