Which isn’t to say their live show has lost any of the energy or gusto that first earned the Midwesterners accolades, or that “Black Mags” or “A Little Bit Cooler” bang any softer than they did upon their debut back when Republicans still controlled Congress. It’s just that at this point the continued absence of new material from their repeatedly delayed full length “When Fish Ride Bicycles” is starting to affect what they can do on stage in terms of sequencing and pacing.

That was evident Saturday at the duo’s Fun Fun Fun Fest show, even though MCs Mikey Rocks and Chuck Inglish belted out the well-worn chant-alongs like they were still in a Chicago basement club in 2005. While the enthusiasm and crowd adoration was there, the material started to blend together after more than a few songs; a symptom of the electro synth-heavy production that’s characterized most of their work.

The glaring exception to that malady being “Black Mags,” with its syrupy vocal hook and skittering beats making it the most distinct and successful song the group’s ever produced. Since it came at the tail end of The Cool Kids’ set, though, it had a greatly diminished audience since the throngs of punks and indie fans who had bobbed their heads for a song or three early on eventually straggled away for closing sets by The Jesus Lizard, Destroyer or Ratatat on nearby stages.

-Chad Swiatecki

That being the doings of the Motor City based brothers Hackney (Bobby on bass and vocals, Dannis on drums and David on guitar) who in the early ’70s crafted a raw form of music that would’ve become punk if they’d kept at it instead of breaking up following what was supposed to be a short hiatus and move to Vermont(!) in 1976.

We know all this because indie label Drag City dug up Death’s seven songs and reissued them as “…For The Whole World To See,” a record that’s been embraced as a bygone-era curio and paved the way for Saturday’s set at Fun Fun Fun Fest, for a crowd of several thousand that probably dwarfed anything the African American band saw while toughing it out in Detroit clubs in the years following the 1968 race riots.

So the music, then. As billed, tunes like “Rock-N-Roll Victim” and “Keep On Rocking” do have a distinct proto-punk quality to them with a chugga-chugga bass and scuzzy guitar riffs kinda like what Ohio neighbors Rocket From The Tombs would ride to just a bit more success a few years later. Crack the band - with Bobbie Duncan playing guitar in place of David Hackney, who died in 2000 - and its mythos out of its amber preservative and it’s certainly accomplished but nowhere near revelatory.

But the point of a gig like Death’s on Saturday isn’t really about discovering something new, but instead paying respect to nearly lost pioneers and giving them a chance to enjoy a much delayed moment in the sun. And with a black-and-white almost life-sized photo of David Hackney looking on from stage right the other Hackney brothers did their past proud, earning every bit of the cheers that for a long time seemed improbable if not impossible. -Chad Swiatecki

Fun Fun Fun updates from music writer Patrick Caldwell:

And yet it succeeded as a tribute to the awesome power of good, hard, rock n’ roll. The capacity audience of over 13,000 (staging took out about six seating sections) made the show; in fact during the “T.N.T” and “Highway To Hell” chant-alongs, it sure felt like seeing the band in metal-crazed San Antonio. When the two-hour set ended with “For Those About To Rock (We Salute You),” with cannons, of course, the band seemed genuinely appreciative of the energy they got back.

AC/DC hadn’t played Austin in 13 years, but much of the set was unchanged since then. Besides the aforementioned cannons, there’s still the drawn out strip tease by guitarist Angus Young during “The Jack.” Singer Brian Johnson once again took a running leap to ring the bell during “Hell’s Bells” and “Let There Be Rock” ended with the most self-indulgent guitar solo of all time.

But AC/DC is a band you don’t want to change. The show was as much a thanks and celebration of all the great music through the years, as it was a high dollar, two-hour show that found a veteran band proving that they can still do what made them beloved. AC/DC is a memory machine, KISS with talent instead of makeup, taking fans back to their discovery of rock. Where were you when you first heard “Whole Lotta Rosie”?

With the three-piece rhythm engine of guitarist Malcolm Young, drummer Phil Rudd and bassist Cliff Williams clustered together in the back, like they were playing the Continental Club, the throb was relentless on “Hell Ain’t a Bad Place To Be” and “Rosie,” probably the band’s two best songs.

But as Angus and Brian, “the new singer,” worked the crowd shamelessly I had to ask myself if I could actually be this bored during a show by the world’s greatest hard rock band, I couldn’t control the yawns that stretched out during “Dog Eat Dog,” which has no place in a career-spanning AC/DC concert.

Much of the set seemed programmed by the concessionaires, whose favorite words were “Here’s another one from the new album.” The new “War Machine” is quite possibly the dullest song ever played at the Erwin Center during a sold out concert.

Part of the reason I couldn’t get fully into the show is because my seat in section 20, row 16, was separated from a 20-foot drop over an exit by a railing that went up to my knee. I get shoved and I’m dead. (Dying during a concert by my alltime favorite band would’ve made for some nice “at least he died happy” talk, but I’m kinda holding out for the 25-year anniversary show of Them Crooked Vultures.) Even though my seated view was unobstructed, sitting down during AC/DC is like standing up during a lap dance.

It would be a shame if it took the death of a fan for the Erwin Center to rectify this blatant safety hazard. How about some webbing below the rail to catch clumsy fans? Then us 20/ 16 folks can rock out like everybody else.

The best-selling series has raised a remarkable $2 million for the SIMS Foundation since it became beneficiary with “Volume 5.” (Last year’s donation was $137,000.)

This year’s CD is dedicated to Stephen Bruton, who has a hidden track on the set.

AC/DC at the Erwin Center. When people say their band sounds like AC/DC, it just isn’t true. Oh, they might think they sound like this crew of Australians’ patented hard rock, but they don’t. Very little sounds quite like AC/DC. The chunky riffs, the drumming’s beyond-basic feel, Brian Johnson’s ancient tomcat screech pretty much embody the idea of deceptive simplicity. Like the Ramones and Motörhead, the band struck upon a perfect song and just kind of kept playing it again and again. And like the Ramones and Motörhead, you can tell an AC/DC song about three seconds into it. This is, of course, where bands fail in their quests to become yet more AC/DC-like: They attempt to add to AC/DC, to combine it with something else. This is a mistake — you cannot improve upon rock perfection. 7:40 p.m. $89.50. Erwin Center. 1701 Red River St. uterwincenter.com. — Joe Gross

Also recommended:

• Eyehategod at Emo’s
• Mojo Nixon and the Toadliquors at the Continental Club
• Gary Newcomb Trio at Lovejoy’s
• Galactic at Stubb’s

SATURDAY

Loudon Wainwright III and Richard Thompson at the Texas Union Ballroom. The Wainwrights — Rufus, Martha, Sloan and Lucy — are probably the closest thing American folk has to the Kennedys, with the talented, prolific and good-humored Loudon as the patriarch. Richard Thompson is a British folk legend whose compositions have been recorded by everyone from R.E.M. to Elvis Costello. Both are touring behind new releases — Wainwright a double-CD tribute to legendary hard-living banjo picker Charlie Poole and Thompson an exhaustive 4-CD retrospective. 8 p.m. $40. 2247 Guadalupe St., utexas.edu/txunion — Patrick Caldwell

Also recommended:

• Voxtrot and the Octopus Project at the Mohawk
• Jack Oblivian at Beerland
• Negative Approach at Red 7

SUNDAY

George Winston at One World Theatre. The capo de tutti capi of New Age-slotted piano players. There was a time when Winston’s music was considered progressive — he first recorded for John Fahey’s Takoma label and his sales practically built Windham Hill Records. Winston also has a long history with Austin — Waterloo Records was an early booster and he once sold out the Paramount. He also plays Friday and Saturday. 7 p.m. $20, $45, $60. One World Theatre. 7701 Bee Cave Road. oneworldtheatre.org — J.G.

Also recommended:

• Black Panda at Mixx
• the Weird Weeds at the Salvage Vanguard Theater

Donations have helped move the fire’s survivors into a new home, replaced all lost musical instruments and assisted Pettis’ fiancée in getting back on her feet. The band is also working on establishing a Jon Pettis Fund to assist other local musicians in times of crisis, as well as a scholarship in Pettis’ name at his high school, Westford Academy in Westford, Mass. Plans are still under way for a benefit show Dec. 6 at the Hole in the Wall, where the band was planning to play a November residency before Pettis’ death.

Denis O’Donnel from The Bread, Tyler Hautala of the Bridge Farmers and Blake Van Buren of The Van Buren Boys will contribute to the performance.

Update 3:25 p.m.: The song has been removed. You’ll just have to trust us that it was really good.

Sheff and the rest of Okkervil River will also be joining the Levon Helm band for a New York show in January.

“Unless It’s Kicks,” from last Saturday’s Okkervil/M.Ward Austin City Limits episode:

Listeners were able to hear local sports talk, including popular morning host Erin Hogan, on the FM dial at 104.9. That station, which has previously featured Spanish language music, has been renamed “The Horn.”

“We’re trying to build on what the Longhorns are doing,” Hogan said.

The local sports talk programming will be simulcast for awhile on its previous station, 1530 AM.

That station will now be devoted to ESPN’s national programming. ESPN Deportes will remain on 1260 AM.

Hogan, who’s also programming director for the new station, said, “FM brings some cache. It sounds better to the ear with the stereo.”

He added that the biggest advantage would be reach, as signal strength at 1530 AM has always been an issue.

Although the move had been touted on air for several days, late last week managers at both 104.9 and 1530 weren’t sure that the deal was going to get done.

On Friday, Steve Wilder, general manager at 1530 ESPN, said, “All I can say is that there’s been a small conflict in the legal agreement to operate our stations together.”

FM 104.9 is one of four Austin radio stations owned by Border Media. This past summer Border Media, in a liquidity crisis, transferred its assets to Border Media Business Trust, with the plan to sell about 30 stations, including those in Austin, to pay off debts to investors. The media broker overseeing the trust is Larry Patrick, whose Patrick Communications is based in Maryland. Patrick could not be reached for comment.

On Friday, there was even talk that it would be ESPN’s national programming moving to the FM station, not the local content. Since January, ESPN has added about 30 FM stations to its national network.

Some of ESPN’s national programming, including Colin Cowherd’s show, will be heard on both Austin stations.

“This is a move for the long term,” Hogan said of the switch. “Everyone is excited.”

Both of Alan Palomo’s bands, Vega and Neon Indian, will perform Saturday during Fun Fun Fun Fest, with about three hours between sets. It’s a tall order for Palomo, 21, who doesn’t have much experience performing with either band, but he’s not overly concerned.

“It’s going to be like one extended set with a break in between,” he says. “I’m more curious than worried. We’re trying to brainstorm a little to make the sets seem as different as possible.”

Though casual listeners might not notice much difference between the groups, both of which rely fairly heavily on electronic effects, there are differences. Vega, which Palomo says is mostly named for the star (and not for Alan Vega of the band Suicide, although he is a fan), is the more danceable of the two, pulling from disco in service of a sound that might appeal to fans of Cut Copy and Passion Pit (he has remixed the Boston band).

Neon Indian, on the other hand, is a more psychedelic affair, which Palomo describes as an “audio documentary,” where fleeting samples of random sounds (car radios, background noise) underscore lyrics that describe moments from his teenage years.

Of the two, Neon Indian is getting more attention at the moment, with a well-reviewed debut full-length, “Psychic Chasms,” out now on Lefse. Palomo also caught a big break during the Austin City Limits Music Festival, when he filled in for Raveonettes after the band was unable to get out of Denmark, although it didn’t quite work out as well as he would have liked. “From what I read, everyone still thought we were the Raveonettes, which kind of sucks, but it was still pretty surreal and amazing to be up there and see such a large audience of people,” he says.

It’s all happened very quickly for the Mexican-born musician (his family moved to Texas when he was 6), who moved to Austin last year after deciding to take time off from film school at the University of North Texas in Denton, where he fronted a third band, Ghosthustler. Though his father, Jorge Palomo, is a musician who enjoyed a stint as a pop star in Mexico during the ’70s, Alan says that he didn’t become interested in making music until high school.

That is not to say that Palomo isn’t influenced by his father; he even sampled him on “Psychic Chasms.” Despite the fact their styles of music don’t have too much in common, the father and son have been able to find some common ground when it comes to the music business. “The more stories I tell him about being on the road the more parallels we seem to find between the experiences he’s had in music and the experiences I’m having in music,” Palomo says.

Vega plays at 3:35 p.m. on the Blue stage. Neon Indian follows three hours later at 6:35 p.m. on the Blue stage.

It’s this simple: In the 1990s, the Jesus Lizard was one of the best live rock bands on the planet.

They might, in fact, have been the best. They started in 1989 and disbanded in 1999. Until 1997, when original drummer Mac McNeilly quit, they owned the decade. And were simply pretty dang good thereafter.

They reunited this year with their original lineup to play a series of shows, and the band’s Touch and Go studio albums were re-released with improved sound and bonus tracks in October.

Just go to YouTube and check out the evidence of former (and current) glories. There’s singer David Yow, a wee yet terrifying man, launching himself into the crowd or reeling around the stage, drunk and shirtless and screaming.

There’s David Sims, the “Four-String Napoleon” who’s Yow’s old pal from Austin psychedelic punk legend Scratch Acid, grinding away on bass, looking vaguely hacked off.

There’s guitarist Duane Denison, the lanky silver fox, his riffs half-rockabilly shimmer, half-noise rock crunch.

And then there’s McNeilly, the hammer of the gods, one of the hardest-swinging, thunder-slinging-est drummers American punk ever produced.

They were a perfect rock band. And if reports from their reunion shows are to be believed, they are again a perfect band.

Nobody thought this reunion — which continues at Fun Fun Fun Fest this weekend — would ever happen. “A number of people approached us over the years,” Sims says from his New York home. “Mike Patton asked us to do the (All Tomorrow Party) he was curating (in 2008), but by the time he asked us, it wasn’t logistically possible. They said how about next year and we decided to nail it down.”

Sims says the band convened at Denison’s house in Nashville in January to rehearse: “He had the biggest house and an incredibly patient wife and daughter.” While the split in ‘99 wasn’t hostile, it had been a long time since these four guys had been in a room together.

“That first show (at All Tomorrow’s Parties in May) was a very emotional experience,” Sims says, “especially for so many people who had worked with the band over the years. There were a few guys who I won’t name who were backstage crying.” The band jumped to major label Capitol Records in 1996 for the album “Shot,” which caused a certain amount of consternation among the indie faithful. Sims thinks these wounds have healed.

“I’m a little surprised at how much fans are into the ‘Shot’ songs that we play,” Sims says. “There was a lot of backlash about them at the time, but they seem to have been rehabilitated, like an old Soviet premier that used to be airbrushed out of a photo.”

He has little good to say about the indie versus major wars of the 1990s. “It all seemed a little bit arbitrary and contrived to me,” Sims says. “We were very lucky to be on a spectacularly great label (like Touch and Go) but there was no shortage of scumbags running indies back then. When people drew this bright shining line with all of the majors on the dark side, my B.S. detectors went off. It was always a lot more complicated.”

As for future Lizard plans, Sims remains good and vague. “We haven’t really looked beyond this series of shows, but we’re also never say never,” he says. “I’ve been really happy with how the shows have gone, there’s been no down side to it.

“I really, really love playing with those guys and hanging out with them. They are three of my all time favorite people.”

Doesn’t get better than that. Neither does the rock.

Molina & Johnson
‘Molina & Johnson’
(Secretly Canadian)
B+

Fans of Centro-Matic frontman Will Johnson know that he’s a prolific musician, from the Centro-Matic sister project South San Gabriel to solo material and a seemingly endless string of collaborations and guest spots with the likes of My Morning Jacket’s Jim James (Johnson is currently touring as drummer for James’ Monsters of Folk Project, which plays Stubb’s on Nov. 13). Jason Molina, who first earned a loyal following in the ’90s with his Songs: Ohia project and later with Magnolia Electric Co., shares Johnson’s penchant for working with others (also including James, on a split EP in 2002).

It makes sense, then, that the two would eventually cross paths. Other musicians are on board as well, including Centro-Matic’s Matt Pence and Texas singer-songwriter Sarah Jaffe. The result is an extremely sparse, well-crafted affair, but definitely not a point-of-entry for music fans curious about either artist’s work. Opener “Twenty Cycles to the Ground,” which was released as a single, is the most accessible track here, with Johnson taking the lead on vocals atop the mid-tempo shuffle of an acoustic guitar and some restrained percussion.

Molina, whose smooth folk-singer voice stands in stark contrast to Johnson’s rasp, takes the lead on a few of the songs as well, but one of the most charming moments comes when the two trade verses on “Almost Let You In.” The juxtaposition of voices adds a depth that the album could have used more of; along with “Twenty Cycles,” it also highlights the duo’s ability to get to the bottom of a well-rounded song without relying on too many frills.