Pitchfork Music Festival Blog

This was my second year attending Pitchfork Music Festival and a lot of things certainly improved, however others could stand to have been better.

I saw that the festival and some sponsors made an effort to be green this year. We had some seriously strange weather. I was disappointed by the bands I was excited about, and surprised by others. I even saw the executive producer of the whole festival get down and dirty to help pump out the watery mud that had accumulated overnight on the field.

This year I had full VIP access which came with many perks. My
personal favorite was the free ice cream -- believe me when I say I took full advantage. In fact if it weren't for the VIP access I would
have never gotten close enough to a beer stand to find out that a
local company was participating in the green effort in a big way.

The 312 beer company was one of the primary sponsors this year and though the festival had implemented recycling receptacles (an improvement from last year), 312 stepped it up. They said, to hell with normal plastic -- and went completely biodegradable.
Though I don't drink alcohol, I let them know that that move was appreciated.

Chipotle didn't do a half-bad job of being green either, but that's not new news. Their plates and bowls were made of recycled paper, and they make a large effort to avoid factory-farmed meats at all costs.

Saturday was a ridiculous extravaganza. In the morning it started
raining like the heavens just didn't want their water anymore. A
select few came prepared with umbrellas and jackets, some also came with tarps to sit on, but most just brought themselves and wore a displeased face the wetter they became.

But sure enough boost Mobile came to the rescue and provided Boost Mobile ponchos. Before you knew it the Boost tent was swarmed with eager people -- they couldn't get them to the people fast enough. And though the rain died down, there were very many happy patrons that now had something to sit on instead of the soggy ground. Quick thinking Boost!

The whole festival was very hit or miss for me. Many of the bands
that performed made me get really excited about visiting the vendors instead of listening to music. However, there were a select few that I was excited to see. I was looking forward to Public Enemy and Spiritualized. I had so much excitement filling me that I couldn't hide it – but when push came to shove, both groups disappointed. I will still love the music, but neither group made me excited to see them live.

Animal Collective and !!!, however, I was pleasantly surprised. It was well worth slaving through the humidity for those two bands. Both blew my mind, especially Animal Collective. Between the light show and the incredible multi-member percussion and midi powered sonic love you couldn't go wrong. Check out this footage:



The only critique I have of Animal Collective is the same critique I have on all of today's hipsters -- short shorts didn't look good on men in the 70s, looked worse in the 80s, and American Apparel isn't helping anybody by bringing them back again.

That's been my Pitch' -- I hope you've enjoyed it. Go check out some of the live footage from the festival – youtube is your friend.

OK, so I might have been wrong yesterday when I said !!!'s lead singer Nic Offer could be the most entertaining frontman around. After witnessing my first Les Savy Fav show Sunday afternoon, I think Tim Harrington, the bald-headed, beer-bellied wild man who fronts this legendary punk band, takes the cake.

During "Patty Lee," Harrington made his way deep into the packed crowd as he sang (and screamed) his way through sweaty fans. Not only were his antics fun to watch, he was also quite the comedian in between songs. After just about every tune, Harrington walked back to his bandmates to find out what they'd play next. 'Cool, I love that song,' he'd respond.

Harrington had fun spouting water, aka "magic dream juice," into the crowd.

A couple times, the band would have to start playing the first few riffs of a song to get Harrington back to the concert at hand. He went through several costumes including a Sherlock Holmes get-up, his tight red spandex (with one legged completed ripped-off) and a black mask with a red cape (see the photos below). But antics aside, the music rocked. "The Sweat Descends," "Yawn Yawn Yawn," and "What Would Wolves Do?" proved that it's the music (not the wild man) that has made this band. I had always heard Les Savy Fav was notorious for their live show, and it was very entertaining. But, in my opinion, the music sounds even better on their albums. After all, it must be hard to nail a song when you're barrelling through a sweaty crowd.

The other band that really made a positive impression Sunday was Cut Copy. It may have been a 25-minute teaser, but it was 25 of the best minutes of the weekend. The Australian dance-music gurus were supposed to begin at 8:25 p.m., but 30 minutes passed and the crowd was getting antsy. Finally, someone announced that Cut Copy was running late, so the show was being postponed (that would've been nice to know at 8:25 p.m.).

Since it was 9 p.m., we decided to go check out Spoon. With only an hour left until the curfew, there was a good chance Cut Copy might not be playing. We headed over to the main stage in time to catch "My Mathematical Mind" (now starring in an Acura commercial) and "Rhythm & Soul."

Then, Spoon played a few low-key songs and we were able to hear some dance music coming from the Balance Stage. We rushed over to discover Cut Copy playing to a much smaller crowd. We got there at about 9:40 p.m., so we only got about 20 minutes. (I'm not sure what time they actually took the stage). It was a complete dance party. Cut Copy had the normally sedate Pitchfork crowd going nuts - people were jumping in the air and throwing their fists. I actually felt the earth shake at Union Park. And unlike some of the other bands this weekend, I thought their music translated even better in a live setting. The bass was pumping and the band was instigating the dance party with some moves of their own. During their final 20 minutes, they ran through great renditions of "Lights & Music," "Future" and set closer "Hearts on Fire." (To get an idea, check out this Youtube clip).

Overall, Sunday was hotter and seemed a lot more crowded than Saturday - even though Saturday was the first to sell out. A few other highlights were Raekwon and Ghostface, who played some Wu-Tang classics including verses from C.R.E.A.M., and Spiritualized, who played its laid-back rock to a massive crowd on the Aluminum Stage.

The many looks of Les Savy Fav's Tim Harrington:

I always have such high ambitions heading into festivals. I plan on maximizing my time and catching as many bands as possible. But for some reason, it never quite works out like that. Factor in the heat, the need for a little downtime, bathroom breaks, food and beer runs, and my day didn’t go quite as planned.

I only stayed for one song by No Age (they got a late start and I was on mission to catch Animal Collective on the other side of the park). I ended up being mobile during most of The Hold Steady, but they sounded great in passing. And I skipped Fuck Buttons all together (instead I just planted myself along the side of the Aluminum Stage to check out the folky Fleet Foxes).

Vampire Weekend, perhaps the biggest buzz band of 2008, drew a huge crowd at their 5 p.m. set, but I only stayed for the beginning (I decided to make my way over to the Connector Stage to get a little closer for !!! at 6 p.m. ) I actually expected Vampire Weekend to play later since they’re the only band with a Saturday Night Live appearance on their resume. Their catchy, poppy songs sounded good live, but not nearly as good as they do on their self-titled studio album.

In a recent post, I commented on how festivals were so much fun because you get a chance to discover new favorites. Well, on Saturday, my two favorite shows came from the two bands I was looking forward to seeing most - !!! and Animal Collective. !!! (pronounced chk chk chk) may just have the most entertaining lead man in music. Their high-energy disco/punk/funk had more people dancing than any other show Saturday, but lead singer Nic Offer was the person getting down the most. Rocking short shorts, Offer is not shy about shaking his ass and flailing his arms for the masses. Their music is great, but Offer’s stage presence really adds to the live experience. I can’t help but have a smile on my face the entire time I’m watching this guy. The band tested out some new material, but also played some favorites from their latest album Myth Takes including set closer “Heart of Hearts.”

 

There’s no other group quite like Animal Collective. They’ve created an out-there, yet appealing sound that's uniquely their own. Their songs incorporate lots of odd noises, catchy harmonies, and vocals that can turn from singing to screaming on a dime. The foursome – Avey Tare, Panda Bear, Geologist and Deakin – was a good choice for headliner, as their psychedelic, abstract rock probably wouldn’t have been the same without the psychedelic light show (and Geologist’s trademark headlamp) that accompanied the music. As the crowd funneled out on to Ashland Saturday night, almost everybody seemed to be singing, humming or whistling the Beach Boys-esque vocal harmony (whoo-ooo-ooo…) from Animal Collective’s set closer “Fireworks.” The hour long show ended promptly at 10 p.m. due to some strictly enforced curfew, but Animal Collective’s exciting set of controlled chaos was a proper way to close out a great day of music.

All in all, Saturday was a lot of fun. It rained until about 2:30 p.m., creating some muddy conditions in spots, but overall the mud factor wasn’t all that bad. And at about 4 p.m. the blazing sun made an appearance, but luckily some passing clouds spelled us from the intense heat.

In my estimation, Pitchfork is the ultimate fashion show. It brings out all the alternatively-inclined, and they’re all dressed to impress. Or, um, not to impress per se… because no one actually thought about what they were going to wear, right? Or so Pitchfork-goers would have you think. The trick is to look insanely trendy, while still retaining the air of someone who threw on whatever happened to be lying on their floor—which would only be feasible if said floor fed directly into a vast whimsy pit chock full o’ quirky vintage threads.

Well readers, I took on the task of wading through the whimsy pit to bring you the latest in Fork fashion: the good, the bad and the just plain baffling. The aforementioned task took on a degree of difficulty today as the sky commenced spitting all over Union Park like an overzealous Broadway actor, but I—bolstered by my love of good music and affinity for scruffily attractive hipster boys—persevered. Take a look below for today’s highlights:

Fashionable Forkers

The Madonna

Check out Katie Klein, 18. Although she deems her style "retarded," I think this Icy Demons and Animal Collective fan has the 80s Madonna vibe going on here.

Flowers in July Showers

Kristen Althoff, 27, and Kelly Tucker, 30, don't really pattern themselves after one pattern. These Public Enemy and Animal Collective followers know that mixing always matches.

Portrait of an Artist

Josh Rickun seems to be channeling old school MC Hammer here. Or trying to blend in with his funky designs.

Jesus of Nazareth/Atreyu

Casey Biggs, 20, sports a prevalent trend among young music fans today-- the Indian band. Like everyone else so far, he's a fan of Animal Collective, as well as those wonders of punctuation, !!!.

The Russian Doll

Pitchfork is always replete with terrific tats. Check out Susie Sniderman's newest ink. This 28-year-old got dolled up to see Atlas Sound and Ruby Suns.

Urban Cowboy

Traditional Americana is so freaking ironic, isn't it, Ian Fitch? This 24-year-old seemed a bit confused when I asked to take his photo. He likes Animal Collective, too.

Things That Make You Go Hmmmmmm

The Michael Cera: Since when did he become a fashion plate?

 

The Urkel: Brace yourself...

 

Ear Plugs-- Brought to you by Fisher Price: Practical AND fun

 

Croc Hunter: She knew I was on her trail.

 

Check in tomorrow for more trends and tunes.

Pitchfork began yesterday with it's Don't Look Back, where bands pick one of their albums and play them the whole way through.  The bands participating in the series this year were Mission of Burma (performing Vs.), Sebadoh (performing Bubble and Scrape) and Public Enemy (performing It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back).

For me, however, Pitchfork began somewhere near the end of Bubble and Scrape, because before I got to Union Park I was meandering down the green line in the opposite direction.  In case it was unsure who could be stupid enough to take the green line to the Ashland/63rd stop at the end of the line rather than to the Ashland stop significantly closer to the loop (and Union Park, obviously), well look no further than this humiliated blogger, who missed all of Mission to Burma and most of Sebadoh to spend on evening with the CTA.

 

 

When we got off at the end of at Ashland/63rd, our small group was joined by a few other lost hipsters and we bonded over our confusion as we began walking down Ashland.  Where could this music festival be hiding, we wondered.  It wasn't soon after that a paddy wagon pulled up, two officers coming out and asking us if we knew where we were.  Apparently, Ashland/63rd isn't the best neighborhood.  "This is the homicide capital of the country," one of the cops told me, with somber pride.  "You're lucky you didn't come here after dark, or you all would've been jacked."

At the cops insistence, some of my friends went in their paddy wagon while I took a cruiser headed to the nearest red line stop so we could get back on track to, what was that thing we were looking for?  Oh, right, Pitchfork.

 

We arrived at Union Park at a little after eight, in time to catch the end of Sebadoh's set, which was great.  As my Pavement-loving friend observed, Sebadoh have mastered the '90s rock sound, which is great for anyone who's into, well, Pavement.

Pretty much immediately after Sebadoh ended, Public Enemy started.  The crowds swelled up and grew as they did their sound-check, and then when Flavor Flav came out everyone was understandably ecstatic.  After all, it's one thing to see that clock dangling from a necklace on TV, but to see it in reality is just mind-blowing.

Today, I plan on being a bit more careful of how I get to the festival.  I'm determined to make it in time for Fleet Foxes, so I can stand in the rain and listen to their soft, acoustic songs while wishing I had remembered an umbrella.  More to come.

 

Good afternoon, faithful readers, and welcome to the Citizen's Pitchfork blog!

Jacob Nelson here, on my way out to what is sure to be a great weekend of music, hipsters and rain. Pitchfork Music Festival, the three day concert held at Chicago's Union Park, begins tonight, and the Windy Citizen will be there reporting back to you sad suckers who thought for some crazy reason you'd rather do something else than stand beneath ominous rain clouds, trying to get the best view of skinny-jean sporting rockstars.

Joining me as I spend the next 72 hours listening to music and then running back to you to brag about it (or complain about it, depending on how tall the people are that stand in front of me), will be:

• The Citizen's live music blogger Jim Collins, who will be reviewing some of the key Pitchfork performances.
• Brenna Ehrlich will be contributing fashion reviews as well, and we can only hope she doesn't get mauled by the indie crowd after day one and burnt at the stake.

So long as clove cigarettes aren't allowed, we can at least rest assured most people won't even have their lighters.

And if you're really, really curious about how Pitchfork and the Windy Citizen are getting along, follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/pitchforkblog. If you haven't memorized the link by the end of the weekend, then you haven't been doing your job.

More to come as the festival begins! Keep checking back.

Photo from the 2007 festival by nautical2k