July 4th doesn't have a chance to top this

Text by Anthony Rathbun

06.20.10 | 9:56 pm

Summer Fest 2010 is the show that will not be forgotten in Houston — not as long as there is still mud in someone's sneakers. By giving Houston the kind of insanity that many thought was reserved for the Austins of the world, this second-year music festival is only becoming more and more important.

30 Foot Fall, local veterans of Houston’s music scene, blasts the senses with their humorous yet middle-finger lyrics and hyper punkish sounds. On Sunday, a group of young ladies poses for a shot, covered in paint after each sliding down the hillside paint-slide behind them. It is the second year that the paint-slip-and-slide was available. Free hugs were just one example of the overall loving and fun atmosphere present around the Free Press SummerFest. Wayne Coyne of The flaming Lips thrusts toward an insanely happy crowd. Northside Houston rapper Slim Thug moves towards the audience for a intense and rappid-fire set of first-rate lyrical flow. Slim Thug performed later in the day at Sunday's Free Press SummerFest. As if Sunday's paint slide wasn’t enough, the rain provided ample opportunity for SummerFest attendees to make a mud slide about 60 feet in length. Eventually, festival security closed the slope down due to safety concerns. Despite Sunday's hour-long rain shower, many attendees still had reason to smile as the music kept on through the wet weather. Girl Talk whips the crowd into a frenzy before Saturday ends as the first day of SummerFest. The Flaming Lips, Sunday's headliner, last played Houston in 2001. The Oklahoma-based group is known for deeply affecting lyrics, blissfully arranged sounds and mind-blowing psychedelic theatrics. Despite a crowd most likely exhausted by rain and heat, people at the end of Sunday's SummerFest close still found plenty of reason to celebrate. Two people on the hillside audience share some love during Sunday's post-rain golden sun. Robert Ellis and the boys, a local grouping of talents, wakes up the Sunday SummerFest noon crowd with tunes alternating between soothing and lively. People sharing body paint and getting friends and passerby colored with a veritable rainbow of moving fun Aerosol art was one of a few types of art either on display or in the process of being created for SummerFest enjoyment. With temperatures hovering in the upper 90s and more than 80 percent humidity, even one of the youngest in the crowd could be seen trying to charge-up a super watergun to spray the crowd. Hula-hooping was a fun way for some of the SummerFest crowd to dance during the music or pass time between sets. Avant-groove jazz trio Medeski, Martin and Wood amazed old and new fans alike with flawless musicianship and the group's own unique funk, jazz and hip-hop jams.