Credit: Photo by John Anderson

Tim Fite

Waterloo Park, Nov. 8

The F3 Fest has generally placed a premium on the off-kilter, but the bizarre sincerity of Tim Fite was a spectacle unto itself. Part carnival barker and part MC, Fite swung around the small Stage 4 with a wild-eyed, lurching gait, while his sidekick, Sexy Leroy, climbed the stacks and descended into the crowd. Musically, the duo delivered mostly from this year’s Fair Ain’t Fair, skittering through the easy pop flow of songs like “Big Mistake,” “Yesterday’s Garden,” and the grooving “More Clothes,” though with only laptop accompaniment, the tunes felt somewhat hollow live. Video interludes were unsettling, presented like a Spike & Mike’s Sick and Twisted PowerPoint presentation as Fite led the audience through the nursery rhyme calisthenics of “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.” It was all a bit more than necessary, Fite’s songs capable of standing on their own merit without the exaggerated theatrics, and his scathing wit and satire ultimately undermined by the extreme strangeness of the entire show.

This article appears in November 14 • 2008.

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Doug Freeman has been writing for the Austin Chronicle since 2007, covering the arts and music scene in the city. He is originally from Virginia and earned his Masters Degree from the University of Texas. He is also co-editor of The Austin Chronicle Music Anthology, published by UT Press.