As is tradition for me around this time (almost) every year, I take off to Chicago to catch the Pitchfork Music Festival that has been happening every year since 2006 in Union Park. Though I didn’t have a chance to go last year, due to an expensive cross country move that I was going to be partaking a month after the festival, I am excited to return to the tradition again this year. Just as I did in 2010 I’m going to break the weekend up into 3 posts, one for each day of the fest, detailing each of the acts that I am looking forward to catching and hopefully helping you to discover some new acts even if you aren’t going to the festival. With any luck I’ll be able to update after each day of the fest to inform you as to what exactly went down, with links to any pictures and video (of at least reasonable quality) that I can find.
Friday July 13, 2012:
Tim Hecker, with the release of “Ravedeath 1972” in February 2011, blew pretty much everyone away with his expansive ambient drones. For me, as someone that doesn’t normally sit and listen to ambient music, there is something very intriguing about the sound of this album. It’s dense, complex, gritty, it may seem simple on the surface but there is a lot to dig in to. It’s an album to which I keep returning. I’m looking forward to his performance on Friday, but I’m also a little bit nervous that his brand of atmospherics may get lost to an outdoor venue. There’s a lot of subtlety to his music that may be hard to grasp in an open air venue. Typically the crowd at the festival knows (I’m making an assumption here based on my own personal feelings after years of attending) the music fairly well so I’m sure it will go as well as it can, but there is still a chance that it will end up like the disastrous (and BORING!) Panda Bear set from 2010.
Japandroids, are definitely not ones to disappoint. After the release of their first album “Post-Nothing” this Vancouver duo played the side stage of the festival in 2009. The energy of their songs and the catchiness of their hooks seemed to endear them to everyone. Every shout along chorus seemed familiar and inviting even to those in the crowd that may have only come to know the band that day. Not much has changed in the 3 years since that album was released. They have a new LP out, the aptly titled “Celebration Rock”, that is perhaps the best release of the year so far. The new one is even more exciting than the last, and that Japandroids have spent the majority of their time on the road has certainly helped. There is no question that this set will be fantastic, though I can’t hide my disappointment and frustration that Pitchfork has decided to once again relegate them to the smaller stage.
[audio:http://quartertonality.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/07.-The-House-That-Heaven-Built.mp3|titles=The House That Heaven Built]
Dirty Projectors seem to be in step with Japandroids. The last time we heard from Dave Longstreth and company was the same summer that the Vancouver duo released “Post-Nothing”. Both albums fought for my attention that summer, and neither one surpassed the other in listens. I loved (and still do love) “Bitte Orca”, and being that a stream of the latest Dirty Projectors album, “Swing Lo Magellan”, was just released yesterday (and it sounds fantastic) I’m sure this will be another hard fought battle for the summer. The official release date for the album comes just before the festival (July 10 on Domino Records), and may push Japandroids around for their spot as “best release of 2012 so far”. But all that is ok. This will also be a repeat performance, as they played in support of “Rise Above” in 2009 just before the official release of “Bitte Orca”. That was my first ever introduction to the band, and now that I am more familiar with their stuff (as is everyone else) I’m sure to get a lot more out of it.
As for the rest of the performances on the first day of the festival, I have never really been the biggest fan of Feist. I found “The Reminder” quite boring and because of that I haven’t even bothered checking out her new one, “Metals”. Perhaps I will be pleasantly surprised. Though earlier in the day I am going to have to check out The Olivia Tremor Control as they have been in the back of my mind forever as a band that I definitely need to check out. All that I know about them is that they are one of the original bands in the Elephant 6 collective. That alone is enough to get my attention. I also realize that I lose about a million hipster cred points for not checking them out sooner.
I’ve written about these guys before when they were trying to raise funds to produce a new release. In that time they finished recording and pressing “Forever Hammer” a 4 song, 18 minute, EP of finely crafted jazz/metal/prog/fusion….well, they simply refer to it as “lungcore” and you should too.
In celebration of this latest release the band will be playing a show on August 16 at the Littlefield in Brooklyn, NY. Tickets are currently on sale and at $10 – $12 they are a steal! Also on the bill is Gato Loco and the Hirschfeld/Nazary Duo.
I’ve had the EP for a few months now, being that I dutifully contributed to the Kickstarter project and it’s great to hear them continuing to evolve their sound. The level of musicianship is way beyond anything else out there, and there really is no band that even comes close to playing anything resembling Jerseyband’s type of music. They are a genre unto themselves.
Unfortunately it looks like their web presence hasn’t been updated much since the release of their last full-length, the phenomenal “Beast-Wedding” from 2009, that can be heard in its entirety on their Bandcamp page. Their past releases “Little Bag of Feet for Shoes” and the live album “Lungpunch Fantasy” can also be heard on the site too.
If you are in NYC, go to this show, you’ll be sorry if you don’t.
I have been waiting to see Shellac for several years now. The opportunity came and I seized it. I didn’t even have to go to Chicago, like I planned on doing back in 2007. Shellac came to Buffalo on their way to ATP in Monticello and brought Helen Money with them, not to mention Tortoise who played the same night at a different venue across town.
Helen Money was the opening act. She is a Chicago based cellist that seems nervous on stage on a personal level, but completely dominates with her musicality. She creates complex songs alone on stage with the assistance of several effects, looping layer upon layer of sound structuring dense music that can seem as though it is improvised except for the clear direction that each of the compositions lead the listener. Money is a phenomenal talent and the audience remained in rapt attention throughout her set, silent and leaning forward in the already small room in order to catch all of the nuance of her music. Her set was varied with music that went from aggressive to subtle, distorted and layered to simply stated. It’s always amazing to hear such forceful and confident musical expression from such a seemingly soft-spoken individual.
Quite to the contrary is headliners Shellac. There is very little to nothing subtle about their music. When asked by friends to describe their sound the words that came to mind were abrasive, confrontational, and aggressive. I don’t think of these descriptors as negative, though I suppose I’m alone in that thought. I think it sums up their sound pretty well though.
First off you have the notoriously outspoken and opinionated Steve Albini on guitar and vocals. The astoundingly accurate drumming of Todd Trainer beating the shit out of the drums with all of the force he can muster and Bob Weston on bass, vocals and director of in between song Q & A that seems to be just a way of being able to verbally abuse the audience or give otherwise smart-assed answers to stupid questions:
“Are you going to play Copper?”
“Sorry, we’re not taking requests.”
Of course the next song was Copper.
I worked my way up to the very front, well the very side of the stage right next to Albini and his famous Harmonic Percolator. Since I know all of the songs really well (when I first discovered their music I used to listen to their entire output daily….and I did that the morning of the show as well) I didn’t mind that the sound kind of sucked from where I was standing. My mix was mostly guitar and drums, but that was just fine with me.
I didn’t bring a camera, so all that I had with me was my phone, with which I took several pictures and one video of terrible quality. Here’s one of the photos that displays Albini’s “Rainbow Trout” shirt.
Shellac at the Ninth Ward at Babeville
They played all the crowd pleasers: Copper, Squirrel Song, Steady as She Goes, The End of Radio, My Black Ass, Canada… the only song that was missing, in my opinion, was Prayer to God. I thought that they were going to do it because I was privy to all the in between song banter that goes on between Bob Weston and Albini due to my position next to the stage. They don’t use a set list, they just hop up on stage and figure out what they want to do. At one point Weston turned to Albini and said, “What you want to do?” which was followed by his hands coming together in a prayer-type gesture. The crowd reacted positively, but Steve must not have been into it that day.
There’s really no point to reviewing a Shellac show. They are such a cult act that I’m fairly positive everyone at the show, myself included, was loving every minute of it. The audience was, not surprisingly, made up mostly (90 – 95%) of males, though there was one woman in the audience that found herself at the receiving end of a fairly scathing comment courtesy of Mr. Albini. Now, before I go into the exchange you must understand one thing: The venue, Babeville, is named so because it is owned by Ani DiFranco. Also, this venue that is owned by Ani DiFranco is a converted church, a beautiful, gothic church that was lovingly restored with a significant amount of money.
So…during those Q & A sessions in between songs there was one woman in particular that seemed preoccupied with Steve Albini’s shirt. She was more interested in having a conversation with the band than in asking any questions. After a few songs, with Weston trying to stop her from talking, Albini steps to the mic and says, “Could somebody stuff a cock in this woman’s mouth, please?”, to which Weston immediately turned and said, “Dude, you can’t say that here man! We’re in Ani DiFranco’s church!” I was surprised to see that Albini actually looked like he was sorry for what he said, as if he felt that he had gone too far. Not because of what he said, or that he may have offended the woman, not at all, but rather because of where he was when he said it. He quickly changed his tune and said, “uhhh I mean, could someone please stuff a sparkly gel dildo in her mouth, please?” which elicited a lot of laughter.
Suffice to say that it was an excellent show. No encore. I was really happy to have finally had the chance to see these guys. I did muster up enough courage to have a 2 minute super awkward conversation with Steve Albini as he was packing up his gear. At the end I got to shake his hand. Mission accomplished.
Lightning Bolt, on the surface, seems simple enough. Two guys, Brian Gibson on Bass and Brian Chippendale on drums, are responsible for making enough noise to fill stadiums. Their music is an all out aural assault, yet it’s not all just free improvisation and noise as it may appear on the surface. There is a subtlety to their art that can easily go unnoticed to those unacquainted with the band’s output.
Based out of the Providence, Rhode Island artspace known as “Fort Thunder”, Lightning Bolt originally began as an art school project when both members were attending the Rhode Island School of Design. The music that Lightning Bolt creates is powerful and energetic and incessantly so. It seem to break the laws of physics that a band can produce 5 albums of impossibly intense music without letting up, but they have. Their albums are best enjoyed at the loudest volume possible, they almost demand it. This is not quiet music by any means. It seems to eschew the values of any typical touring band, more concerned with keeping the energy level high than admitting that there needs to be time to cool down. The music is urgent. This is also true of their live shows. They are never willing to give themselves a break.
Lightning Bolt
Seeing Lightning Bolt live is another experience entirely. They usually play directly in the crowd, instead of up on a stage, with the crowd encircling them and at times pushing against the drums, which are placed directly in front of all of the sound gear. The wall of gear is stacked precariously behind the Brians and is seemingly thrown together from odds and ends that creates an astonishing level of volume and feedback that serves as a constant counterpoint against which they are playing their music through.
Gibson stands stoic to one side, nearly expressionless, fingers effortlessly flying up and down the neck of his bass which, incidentally, is a 5 string tuned in 5ths like a cello with the two highest pitched strings taken from a banjo, which really helps to cut through the sludge of the distorted lower register of his instrument. Meanwhile Chippendale is a flurry of non stop excitement as he desperately and relentlessly fills every possible nanosecond with a drum hit or cymbal crash. He is a new breed of drummer, the best kept secret of the underground crowd and a testament to human endurance. The complexity and accuracy with which he plays is a sight to behold, if you are able to stand still long enough and not be swept away in the pulsating crowd to watch.
The two lock into a groove and work as one, churning out music that is at once trance inducing in its sometimes minimalist compositional approach that is at the same time loud, foreboding, and fierce but firmly grounded in structure, yet not so much that there isn’t room for them to search out new ideas in the midst of a song.
Hiding behind Lightning Bolt’s wall of noise and fighting through the feedback are rhythmically complex and strangely catchy melody lines and Chippendale’s all but indecipherable and infrequent vocals that are sung through a telephone’s microphone which is held in place by a mask that he wears while performing that hides his face but makes him and his playing seem all the more crazed. Seeing Lightning Bolt live is truly a unique experience and will bring you to the heights of excitement and leave you completely exhausted but satisfied. Truly a rite of passage. Plant yourself firmly in front of the drums, hold the crowd back and prepare yourself to feel music like you have never felt before.
Unfortunately they just finished touring, but you can check their official page or their official myspace for tour dates when they post them.
To try and understand what a Lightning Bolt show is really like, check out these videos:
I see this show as a conclusion to the just about 2 weeks of insanity that I put myself through that started with Titus Andronicus in Buffalo on the 13th and continued through Pitchfork in Chicago. What a way to end a series of concerts!
Opening band, Fang Island, played a fairly lengthy set of tunes that are clearly influenced by the arena rock and prog. rock of bands like Yes and Boston. Their sound was crystal clear with guitars swirling all around, bouncing off of each other throughout extended, yet tightly controlled and segmented jams. It is kind of refreshing to see a band that consists of kids that clearly were not around for the arena rock thing at its peak, dishing out guitar solos. Fang Island doesn’t really focus on the vocals, which I see as playing to their strength. Why cloud everything up with words if what you are trying to say is completely contained within the music? They even used a MOOG for a few of the songs, which really helped to solidify that Rush prog. rock arena kind of sound. The prog elements were definitely there in the music, but the changes weren’t so lurching and pretentious. It’s not like they were up on stage playing songs that they wrote just to prove how smart they are. Think of a slightly less aggressive sounding Iron Maiden. Or better yet, Iron Maiden crossed with Explosions in the Sky.
Wayne Coyne came out onto the stage before the show started to inform us that he was a bit skeptical about coming out in the ball. The way that the space is designed there are seats all the way up to the stage and I think he was nervous about depending on so few people to hold him up. It ended up being worry for nothing because after the band emerged from the vagina of a woman dancing on the screen behind the stage he stepped into the ball and walked nearly all the way to the back of the indoor seats. Sadly I was at the front of the lawn, and there is no way that he could have made it back there.
Of course, as everyone online probably knows The Flaming Lips really know how to open a show. Within moments there was confetti everywhere, hundreds of balloons floating and bouncing over the audience, streamers, bright flashing lights and pulsating psychedelic trance rock booming from the PA. No matter how many times you experience that you can never get over the absolutely uplifting feeling of all that excitement all at once. They pull out all the stops at every single show.
Flaming Lips at the Lewiston Artpark on July 22, 2010
The set was full of new material from “Embryonic”, which is really a return to a bit more of the abrasive side of the Lips that they seem to have been moving away from on Yoshimi and At War with the Mystics. The songs all come off great, and they really know how to fill a space. They were energetic, focused, spot on and loud. They really do have a unique sound that is sort of designed for even larger venues.
But they aren’t afraid to pull it back either. Their set list is very carefully designed it seems. Most songs have quiet introductions or quiet codas that help to bring some shape to all of the non stop excitement. The entire experience is pretty well paced. The last time I saw them was at a festival setting and I came away wanting more. It is only now that I realized that they really don’t benefit from a short time limit. The show needs time to develop, they take time to connect with the crowd, they really don’t work well if they are just cramming in song after song after song like Japandroids or Lightning Bolt. Going to a Lips show is a journey.
Great show all around. It’s good to have the boys so close to where they record their albums. Dave Fridmann was spotted at the side of the stage by one of my friends, and I believe it since he is so important to their sound. If and when the Lips come to your town, do whatever you can to go. It is an experience that you will not soon forget.
What is one to do after 3 days of attending a major music festival? The answer is clearly to catch one of the bands that you saw at the festival in a small club setting. Real Estate played the Pitchfork Music Festival on Saturday at the main stage to probably something like 10,000 people. Getting to see them again, this time at a club with a capacity of less than 200 (I’m guessing), changed things a bit, for the better.
Opening, and already well into her set when we arrived, was Zola Jesus. Her voice is beautiful and haunting and the backing music was not quite danceable, but not exactly droning either. Could we be happy with a classification of “electro-shoegaze”? Thankfully for her, the music is wonderful because her stage presence was unnerving to me. She paced relentlessly back and forth across the small stage for an entire song, which took my focus off of the music and placed it more in the “is she ok? What’s going on?” as my eyes moved back and forth following her. For her last song the pacing continued, but this time in a straight line from the stage and through the crowd. When she reached the point where I was standing she turned around, and I realized how short she is (about to my shoulders). When her set was finished she promptly scurried up the stairs located to the rear and side of the stage, never to be seen again for the rest of the night.
Huh.
Anyway, I was really there because of Real Estate. Like I’ve said on here before, I love their album and their performance at Pitchfork was great so I was expecting another great set. I was not disappointed. The set consisted of pretty much the same tunes as their set from a few days before, but there was more banter, and I think that the size of the club really helped them make a strong connection with the crowd. At least that was the case with me. The sound at the Subterranean is really good, and the mix was clear. I also like that the bar is parallel to the stage, so people don’t tend to crowd around it, and I could zip back for a beer or 3 or 4 and quickly return to my spot at the center of the floor where Kurt Vile can push me out of the way to make his way to the front.
Upon visiting the merch table I saw that there was another Real Estate record that I don’t have. Unfortunately I don’t have money to change that, but after hearing those new songs a few times I realize that I need that album. It’s on my ever-growing list of “albums to get”.
I took one picture at the show, with my phone. Here you go:
This was the grand finale of the festival. The lineup was pretty stacked this day and it all seemed to go by too fast. There was an early morning shower, but it was all sunshine and 90ºF by the time the gates opened. It was a day of math rock, rap, crowd surfing, moshing to Lightning Bolt and nearly passing out and finished with Pavement, followed by an aftershow at the Subterranean featuring Zola Jesus and Real Estate, but let’s just stick with the festival.
On the B stage was Chicago band Cave, opening the day. I think the rain set things back a little bit on the side stage, so their set didn’t start on time, though I think things were sorted out quickly so that the rest of the day ran on time. Cave’s music is what I would consider heavy stoner rock. They are very riff heavy with a rhythmic focus and not much more than one chord per song. They had a lot of energy and elements of psych rock via delay pedals and keyboards, though there was not much in terms of vocals. Really good band to open up the day with and they had a pretty decent sized crowd. The opening commentary provided by some dude in military fatigues was kind of lame though. I don’t think anyone quite got the joke, or if there was even a joke to get.
I had been anticipating Best Coast‘s set for months and months. Sadly, they did not deliver. Maybe I just had too high hopes. Maybe it is best that they have just been releasing one song at a time. Their sound is highly recognizable with reverb laden guitars and vocals, getting that famous “wall of sound” Phil Specter sound with a surf rock sort sound added in. Their performance was just not impressive. Their set simply showcased the similarities between Bethany Cosentino’s songs. There were two songs in the set, back to back, that featured the exact same 2 chords over and over, which is the kind of thing that annoys me to no end. Is she aware of what is going on in her music? What is she focusing on when she writes, or puts a set together? Lyrically everything is about missing her boyfriend, wanting a boyfriend, and pot.
I imagine that the album is good from a timbral standpoint. There is good production, but I think that those production values factor in a little too heavily to her sound and the songs just can not stand on their own, exposed like this at a gig. The album is far too short as well, less than 30 minutes. This isn’t an album review, but I wasn’t going to spend money that I don’t have on an album that short by an unimpressive band.
We made our way to the main stage for a set by Girls. I made note of their good ensemble work with their sophisticated pop songs though I didn’t really find many hooks to grab onto. The tunes were all well played, the crowd seemed pretty enthusiastic. The video screen showed a bunch of people in the crowd swaying and singing along. I just couldn’t get that into it. I was ready to be won over, but I think seeing this band for the first time in this setting just wasn’t working.
The lead singer played a Rickenbacker, and the other guitarist was with a Les Paul. I tried to make note of the guitars that appeared at the festival, because I think it says a lot about a band, or the sound that they are going for. I think this was the only Rickenbacker of the festival that I saw, though Annie of St. Vincent may have played one, I’m not sure. On a side note that is completely unrelated: Someone tweeted that the singer for Girls looked like a cross between Macauly Culkin and Kevin McDonald from the Kids in the Hall. Looking up at the video screen only proved him right.
Beach House brought their very low-key but lavishly beautiful songs to the main stage next. They provided a subdued set of keyboard driven tunes. I did like the guitar work (Les Paul again) and I really love the singer’s voice. The all around sound was very atmospheric, not too upbeat but perfectly crafted. I will definitely have to familiarize myself more with their music and I would suggest them if you don’t know them already. For some reason I used to get them confused with Real Estate, but I think that was mostly because Real Estate’s music makes me think of being at the beach. There are, come to find out, no real similarities between these two bands.
Beach House photo by Kirstie Shanley (2010 all rights reserved)
Previous to this festival my favorite juxtaposition was Iron and Wine followed by Mastadon a few years back at the 2008 Pitchfork Music Festival. We may have a new winner. Memories of Beach House’s delicately crafted atmospherics were obliterated when Lightning Bolt started.
Lightning Bolt. Where to begin. I wrote this down after their set was over because I was too busy being thrown around in the mosh pit to even try to write things: “Total. Fucking. Insanity”. Though my hands were shaking a lot when I was writing that so some of the letters are wrong, and out of order. It was just non-stop bassy, thrashing energy-fest. Even the heat did not stop the Brians or anyone in the crowd from going batshit crazy. The pit was huge and very intense and I was in the middle of it. As soon as the first snare drum attack I was pulled from the side of the audience and into the middle and then pulled all over the place. They did play some new stuff like “Collasus” and I think I heard “Transmissionary” and of course all the Lightning Bolt classics.
I think I nearly died twice. I had to be pulled out at one point because I couldn’t seem to keep my feet under me. I chilled for a song or two and got back in there for the last song. This was by far the most fun I have ever had at the festival. Total and complete abandonment. Good times if you know the band, but I imagine many people were wondering what the hell was going on. Lightning Bolt has been one of my favorite bands for a few years now. I could listen to their music all day. They are an interesting study in subtlety and intensity at the same time. Very interesting from an analytical standpoint. That is for another time though. This set was simply amazing. I don’t know how Brian Chippendale is not dead.
I will take a little tangent here to talk about the pit and the security at the festival. The people in the pit were helping each other out. If someone was looking like they were in trouble someone would hold them up, a ring of people would form around them so that they weren’t in the fray and they would be given water. Everyone would just pour water on the person, feed them water directly from their water bottles, and make sure that the person was doing alright. The security people at the front of the stage were continually spraying us with water from water bottles, handing water out and just making sure that everyone was alright. Chippendale would, thankfully stop after a little more than half the set to check up on his drums. This provided us with a much needed break, as I’m sure it did the same for him too. He also called out to us during the end of the set, pointing to specific people and expressing genuine concern.
“Are YOU alright…..how about YOU, are YOU ok?”. He must have been watching us. I can’t believe how amazing this band is. Great music, great guys. Fun fun times. Last thing: Most rock and roll moment. The set ends and the pit is dispersing. Sweaty people everywhere trying to walk away, staggering about. There was a general feeling of camaraderie like we had all just had this wonderful shared experience. A guy walks past a few of us in a white shirt with a significant amount of blood on it. Someone says to him, “Hey man! You’ve got a lot of blood on your shirt, are you ok?” to which he responds, “Yeah, I see that, but I don’t know whose it is”.
I was planning on seeing another band immediately after Lightning Bolt, but definitely needed food and water after that. I can’t remember who I missed, but the next act I caught was St. Vincent. I think the original plan was to catch all of her set, but making sure I didn’t lapse into convulsions seemed more of a pressing concern.
The end of St. Vincent‘s set blew me away. I don’t know where I got the impression that the music would be quiet and singer-songwritery, but I couldn’t have been happier to be proven wrong. Lead singer/guitarist Annie Clark was a crazy person on stage, and can shred the guitar like a maniac. She seemed to be in the same state that Isaac Brock was in on Friday night. She just loses herself completely to the music. The music was a really polished, arty, technically proficient showing with a good amount of noise thrown in, and very energetic. I left her set reminding myself to get her latest album.
This was a tricky part of the night a few things going on at once that we wanted to check out, but we were also still exhausted from Lightning Bolt. Major Lazer was up on the main stage, and it seemed like it was basically Diplo up there doing all the work while the other dude ran around the stage, jumped off a ladder to hump a dancer, jumped into the crowd and generally served as hype-man. I admit, despite the dancers, the humping and the Chinese New Year dragons up on the stage, I was bored and skipped out after about 15 minutes.
Over at the B stage was Neon Indian, the apparent torchbearer for the newly dubbed “Chillwave” genre. Sadly I couldn’t get anywhere near the stage after he started, so we just decided to go back and get a half way decent spot for Pavement.
Pavement. Pavement. Pavement. I have been waiting for this for a long long time. Not as long as some. I came to Pavement late in life. I don’t think I heard any albums until 2006, but once I did, it was a non-stop Pavement fest in my apartment and in my car and on my iPod for a long long time. When they announced they were reuniting I was ready to travel almost anywhere. When they said they were coming to Pitchfork I nearly died. I didn’t have to go to them, they were coming to me.
They played all the hits, “Cut Your Hair” was the opening, “Range Life”, “Silence Kit” and on and on. Everyone in the crowd seemed to know every song. We all sang along, bounced up and down, shouted, had a genuinely amazing time. I definitely did not want their set to end. I can’t say enough great things about their set. They met expectations, they seemed to be having a great time up there playing. Malkmus was loose and throwing down guitar parts with seemingly no effort.
Mysteriously theirs was the only performance not broadcast simultaneously online. Reports vary, and I’m not going to write anything I’m not sure of. It lived up to my expectations. I could have cried right there. It was definitely something special and they packed their hour with song after song after song. Everyone was great, it was fun. Enough said.
I took some very crappy video that I will share here that honestly has more sentimental value than anything else. The festival was amazing and I don’t think I am the only one wondering how the hell Pitchfork is going to keep growing after this. It’s a shame that some people missed this. In my opinion the audience for any of these bands should be enough to fill a park twice the size of Union Park, but at the same time I am proud to still be able to be part of this growing secret society.
Goodbye Union Park. Until next year I will dream of baking in the sun, standing on your baseball diamonds and resting in the shade of your tall trees.
Saturday was the first full day of the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago. All three stages are dedicated to music, all day. In case you are unfamiliar here is a very brief overview: Main stages (A and C stages) alternate with hour long sets. As one band plays on the A stage another is setting up on the C stage, so all one has to do is walk, or simply turn 90º and see continuous music on the main stages. The B stage, however, runs more or less independently and is across the park. If you want to hang out at the B stage all day you have to wait through set-ups and tear downs, and the set times overlap with those of the main stages. So, basically, you are able to see continuous music all day long no matter what you do. The park is large enough where there isn’t too much sound interfering from mainstages to B stage, and small enough where you can walk from one end to the other in a matter of minutes.
The first band I caught, Free Energy seemed quite excited to be playing to such a large crowd. The park was crowded right from the get-go on Saturday, which is good to see. Their music reminded me more than a little of J. Geils Band from the 70’s. Not necessarily saying that that is a bad thing, but it isn’t really the kind of thing that I would go out of my way to see. Their classic rock influences are proudly worn on their sleeves with their rockstar posturing, big arena rock sound and gratuitous guitar solos (some taken right at the front of the stage, guitar pointed towards the sky as if offering up alms to the ever present God of Rock ‘n Roll). Their music has some hints of decency, but it also seems like they ran out of ideas pretty quickly.
Real Estate was one of the bands that I was really looking forward to hearing at the festival. It was great to hear them play new tunes (I counted 3), one of which featured the other guitarist as vocalist. What was also promising is that the songs that they played from the record had extended sections worked out a bit more, some noticeable tempo changes and some parts added. The fact that the band is not content to just leave the songs as they are bodes well. They have taken the time to evaluate their work and are changing things, bringing the songs through a process of evolution. They are making the old (even though it really isn’t that old at all) new again. Their mix was good, everything came through and the band is very balanced in general. The new songs sound a bit more focused and less jammy than the tunes on the first album. They were an early highlight of the day. Their songs work well in a large outdoor setting, especially with the bright early afternoon sun blazing down on us. Their music is so relaxed and uplifting in a way that the setting just made them all the better. Meanwhile over at the B stage Kurt Vilewas getting ready to bring his psychedelic garage rock to life. I have heard a lot about him before seeing him at this festival, but have never actually heard any of his music. That being said, this was one of the acts that I was ready to have impress me. Every year I try to catch as many bands as possible that I know absolutely nothing about. This year was a little bit leaning in the other direction because I
Kurt Vile photo by Kirstie Shanley
am so familiar with so many of the bands that there were only a few that I would be able to catch for the very first time. His band featured a harpist on stage left, in lieu of a bassist. Her sound brought a certain depth to the music. The percussive attack from the harp would percolate through the flanged, delayed layer of guitars that were washing over the vocals. At times the harp seemed to act as a piano, other times it would break through with intricate little lead lines that really brought some focus to some of the noise all around. All in all his set was pretty good, and I’m glad I caught it.
Now for the real action. Titus Andronicus. Holy shit. They brought it, and they brought it hard. Right up front I’m going to say that this was quite easily the highlight of the day for me. Their performance was spectacular, and this was the 3rd time that I have seen them. The first time was at the Pitchfork Music Festival in 2008, where they opened up Saturday, in the rain and I don’t think very many people were familiar with them at all. I certainly was not. The 2nd time I saw them was only 3 days before this most recent performance, but in a small room in Buffalo. That gig in Buffalo familiarized me with their songs a bit more, and they have recently released a new album. When they took to the main stage the crowd was so large that I couldn’t force my way any closer than the sound booth, about halfway back. It was good to see them from there though because I could see the crowd bouncing with the music, shouting along, pumping their fists and making the whole set like a huge celebration. The band was running around giving it all they got. Patrick, the leader of the group, jumped into the crowd while continuing to sing his powerfully emotional and heartfelt songs to an audience that was supporting him in every sense of the word.
His lyrics really spoke to me, and I think to the whole audience. They came off as pieces of advice from the trenches that he was translating to us because he has been there. “You will always be a loser” in his hands is not a defeatist saying. Instead it is a rallying cry. “Your life is over” is said as if not speaking directly to us but through him to others that have given up fighting. He is warning through experience. My personal favorite though is, “But when they see the person that you really are, you won’t be laughing so hard.” It’s not all toughness and struggle though, there are also feelings of vulnerability and honest desperation when he repeats “Please don’t ever leave”. This is hardcore music with truly no fear at all. It must be frightening to bring that kind of honesty and strength to the stage every day. It is all well worth it though, because the connection that was made with the 10 – 12,000 people that were there will not soon go away. Helping the band out through a few songs were members from Boston’s Hallelujah the Hills bringing a trumpet, cello and extra set of hands for keyboards and guitars which really helped their set truly reach new heights. Local Chicago band of extraordinarily young kids, Smith Westerns played the B stage. They have some really good tunes. Basically what you have here is really young kids playing well crafted rock tunes that sound like they are influenced by old 60’s albums and a touch of garage rock. They were catchy enough, though I feel as though the singer really needs time to develop his voice a bit, but he is still young, so it isn’t truly a concern. He is relying too much on his falsetto and that kind of wears on one after a while. Uniqueness bonus for the lead singer playing a left-handed guitar right-handed, perhaps a backwards nod to Hendrix?
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. Gritty. Loud. Raw. Epic voice. This is what Jack White wants to be when he grows up. It was good to see a truly veteran performer up on the stage. His confidence showed through his ability to jam on a song for 10 or more minutes of bluesed up abandon. He never lets his guitar prowess put too much of a shine on the dirtiness of the sound. Great balance of raw improv and solid structure.
Back on the B stage WHY? gave us their interesting mix of eclectic influences ranging from prog rock shiftiness to straight up old school rap. The singer’s nasal vocal style is reminiscent of John Linnell of They Might Be Giants. This was the first act of the festival that is truly hard to define in simple terms. Artful arrangements with xylophone, sometimes sparse drums, sometimes aggressive guitar and a declamatory vocal delivery with a fine tuned focus on rhythm with deeply personal lyrics. Really good sound, and interesting. I’d file this under “need to investigate further”. Another surprising discovery for myself at the festival.
Wolf Parade‘s nervous and jittery set of energetic tunes were already blaring from the main stage as we arrived. The crowd had swelled considerably. My best guess is that people were jockeying for position for Panda Bear, who was closing out one of the main stages. The lead singer has quite a recognizable voice. The songs were mostly straight ahead and rocking and ranging from guitar driven to synth-centric, though some did wander in the territory of what I would consider “angular”, bringing attention to their quirkiness.
Panda Bear. Everyone was excited for Panda Bear. After his set everyone seemed to be wondering, “Why was I excited for Panda Bear?”. Yes, of course, he is a member of Animal Collective. That in and of itself doesn’t mean that his set is going to be good. His set got off to a slow start and once it did there were no breaks. If you are into standing in a large crowd to watch a guy stand at a keyboard with a guitar play excruciatingly long and drawn out songs that are mostly developmental headphone music then maybe you would have enjoyed this set. I don’t feel that this kind of music works for this venue. There is really nothing to latch onto. The energy, whatever energy there is, doesn’t really translate very well. There was no chance for the audience to really digest the songs or to even figure out what was happening. Total dud of a performance.
The headliner of the night was LCD Soundsystem who really has a way of making songs that are over 10 minutes long that simply repeat the same groove over and over again into
a constantly growing mammoth tune in spite of itself. As opposed to Panda Bear, this music was EXACTLY the kind of music that plays well at this type of venue. LCD Soundsytem turned the entire Pitchfork crowd into one huge dance party. A conga line was formed that snaked through the crowd. Glo-sticks flew through the air, people sang along and everyone danced. They danced with strangers, they danced by themselves, they smiled, they moved. Everything was great for that 45 minutes. It was a great way to end a night. This was the one night that we didn’t catch a show after the festival.
After a full day of festival-ing at Pitchfork we walked down the street a few block to the Bottom Lounge to catch a show by Liars (who had already played an awesome set earlier in the day). Opening was Chicago based dark-prog-metal band Follows and sound artist John Wiese.
When we walked in Follows was already on the stage. If you are familiar at all with the work of “Enter” era Russian Circles you can begin to understand the heaviness of Follows as the bassist is formerly of the Chicago post-metal band. They are almost devastatingly heavy, made all the more so by their extended compositions that seem to build continually louder and become more imposing as the minutes tick by. The songs feature quiet, understated vocals by their female lead singer/guitarist that exist over the top of a roaring crescendo of bass, guitars and drums. Many of the songs featured asymmetrical meter and odd phrase lengths, hence my “prog” designation. Check out their songs on myspace.
Follows
John Wiese took a little longer to set up than I feel they were planning on. Alone on stage with just a laptop and some assorted electronics he performed, or possibly composed on the spot, music that was consisting mostly of manipulated sounds. I guess the best description I could come up with is “sound sculpture”. An interesting juxtaposition coming from a band like Follows and preceding a band like Liars. His set consisted of a non-stop ebb and flow of sounds for about 25 minutes. Take a listen here.
John Wiese
Liars took to the stage shortly thereafter in much the same way they did for their set at Pitchfork earlier in the day, with everyone in the band except for Angus coming out and beginning a song. This makes them seem like even more of a “rock band” than they really are. Their set consisted of the same material from earlier in the day plus a few other songs. They still tended towards the more guitar driven tunes but during their encore they did play as the classic trio. Though I do miss the days of Angus Andrew flailing around with a guitar around his neck and him seeming to struggle to break free, their band is really tight now. The noise is much more like a controlled burn rather than the out of control forest fire that used to be their live show.
They really seemed more energetic, oddly, at this point in the night. Their set was loud, wild and felt far too short. The addition of a bassist really makes a big difference in their overall sound, especially considering that he would spend most of songs strumming the bass as if it was a rhythm guitar. There was a low end rumble that was noisy, but still providing the foundation that one would expect from a bass guitar. I would have been happy to stand there all night.
Friday, July 16, 2010 was the first day of the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago. The festival is growing year after year from it’s 2 full day beginnings in 2006, to their collaboration with All Tomorrow’s Parties in 2007-2008 that saw bands invited to play their classic albums in their entirety (including Sonic Youth, my personal favorite, playing all of Daydream Nation for the first time on American soil).
Now the festival has grown to 2 and 3/4 days of music, and for some reason comedy (a failure that hopefully won’t happen again), and art. I always try to see as many bands as possible and this year I actually brought a notebook so that I don’t have to attempt to do it from memory. This was my friday:
Sharon Van Etten- The very first musician of the festival. She came out with only a guitar, which I think is a very daring thing to do, but she was fantastic. No effects on her guitar, just a clean tone. Her songs have these really honest and heartfelt lyrics that don’t hold anything back, and don’t hide anything. Heartbreak, loneliness and trying to pick up and start again after failed relationships seems to be the main themes.
During her set, towards the end, she broke a string on her guitar and after managing to make it through one more song she was joined on stage by a roadie that handed her a new guitar to finish her set, to which she excitedly announced to the crowd, “Modest Mouse just let me borrow their guitar!”. It was a beautiful black Gibson hollowbody with gold trim. That was the end of her set. Unfortunately the first two sets of the afternoon are only a half an hour long. I would have gladly listened to Sharon Van Etten’s music all night.
Marie-Claire (left), of Speck Mountain and Sharon Van Etten (right) Photo by Kirstie Shanley
We decided to skip out on The Tallest Man on Earth to check out the Flatstock Poster Convention. It’s a great showing of many artists that design show posters. Every year I make it a point to stop at the Bird Machine tent because Jay Ryan always does the official Pitchfork Music Festival poster.
From what I did catch of the Tallest Man on Earth set I gathered that it was another singer songwriter, solo, on acoustic guitar. I don’t really feel like I caught enough of the set to make a good judgment on what his music is really like though.
Next up was El-P. I can’t say enough bad things about this performance. The first thing that I have written down in my notebook is “fucking bullshit garbage rap”. This isn’t to say that I hate all rap. That is not the case. I really hate when Pitchfork puts really shitty rap on their festivals, it ruins the whole flow of the festival. GZA did well a few years back, Public Enemy blew the roof of the place a few years after that, but this was just awful. It was mostly pre-recorded. There was no melody, no harmony, seemingly no focus on song structure. It seems that their entire set was spent just trying to get us to “put [our] motherfuckin’ hand in the air”. Why is it that this act gets an hour when Sharon Van Etten only got half that?
After that, which was too loud to avoid, it was time for Liars. Last time I saw Liars they had just finished “Drum’s Not Dead”, album oriented psychedelic (in a sense) concept post-rock. Their set was focused more on long form tunes that seemed improvised to a great degree. This time around they are a roaring tight aggressive and polished band playing more “traditional” (it’s funny to even say that in reference to Liars) rock. They have added 2 members to their touring band, up to 5 from the trio that they previously toured with, adding a guitarist and bassist.
The sun was blinding me during their set. It was good to hear new arrangements of old songs from previous albums due to their new touring lineup. There was more of a guitar focus than the tribal, perpetual drumming of their performance at the same festival in 2006. The set was mostly up-tempo noisy rockers, and the band touched upon each release in their output so far. It was definitely great to hear songs from “They Threw Us All in a Trench and Stuck a Monument on Top”. Highlights also included “No Barrier Fun” and “Scissor” as well lead singer Angus Andrew’s stage antics including reminding festival goers to stay hydrated by visiting the water stations, including the one located “in [his] pants, so feel free to hop up on stage and have a go.” Their set was the most energetic of the day (and we went to see them after the festival later that night, down the street at the Bottom Lounge)
Broken Social Scene played a set of new songs from their current album “Forgiveness Rock Record” and classics from their catalog on stage with several musicians from Chicago, including string players and the drummer from Tortoise. I suppose they just aren’t comfortable on stage unless there are at least 15 of them up there. The songs were ok, the new ones came off well, but it just seems to me like there are too many cooks in the kitchen. How can you make that music sonic space for that many people up on stage? They seem to want to make this epic statement every time they take the stage. I think that they really need to allow the songs to speak for themselves. If the songs don’t hold up live then the best thing to do would be to change the songs, not continually add more layers on top of things.
I was happy that they played “7/4 (Shoreline)” which is one of my favorites, as well as “Windsurfing Nation”, but the singer that they brought with them had a very breathy voice with no projection and even less stage presence. I just didn’t connect with the set as much as I was hoping to.
The final set of the night was brought to us by the biggest (commercially speaking) act of the festival Modest Mouse. They also had a fairly large band with them, with a few extra members, one of them a multi-instrumentalist. They also played a wide swath of material from old favorites to new tunes, but noticeably avoided playing “Float On”, which I actually feel good about, even though I kind of wanted to hear it. I like when bands seem to know what their “big hit” is, but avoid it. In essence they are saying “we have many many other songs that are equally as good, or maybe better. Perhaps you should familiarize yourself with them, right now. If you want to hear Float On, go home and throw it on the turntable”.
Lead singer, and all around lead-dude Isaac Brock came off simultaneously insane and focused and in control. He had a crazed look in his eye for most of the set and played the guitar and banjo like he was attacking them or punishing them for something. At one point between songs a glo-stick made its way onto the stage. Brock thought it would be a good idea to bite into it and make his mouth glow. It was not a good idea. He told us immediately that he discovered this was a bad idea, but when he spit it out his spit glowed.
I felt as though the set was pretty polished with a few rough edges. It wasn’t absolutely pristine, which is a good thing. They did a 2 song encore after sort of abruptly leaving the stage the first time.
After that we headed down the street to the Bottom Lounge to catch Liars. That review will be coming soon. It will also be a much shorter review. Next up, the 2 full days of the Festival.
