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Pitchfork Music Festival Festival Review |
Thirty six thousand people journeyed to this year’s Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago and we think most of them biked there. We got there on Friday. We got a late start, we drove through a lot of construction, but we were triumphant.
Friday was the kick-off party, held in Union Park and thrown together by All Tomorrow’s Parties. We were late (because we’re poor and don’t know what to wear to All Tomorrow’s Parties) and missed Mission of Burma’s “Vs.”. At the front gate, however, we were greeted with the sonically pleasing sound of Sebadoh’s “Bubble and Scrape.” Public Enemy finished off Friday night, with their groundbreaking “It takes a Nation of Millions to hold us Back.” Pause. Public Enemy is sweet and Wide-Eyed needs you to know that.
This year’s layout was vastly improved, which made our little gang of troubadours feel as though our entries to the prior year’s suggestion box were read by a real live human being! This year, they had utilized the grounds to their fullest extent. The venue set-up provided three stages: Two large main stages (A & C) were set up so the crowd could turn sideways to focus their attention on the next act, which is good, because some of us are lazy. Two giant video screens between the stages showed the live streaming video, which was also available online. The third stage (B) was much smaller and located toward the back of the venue.This was the only place to sit in the shade and still be able to watch a performance. With temperatures in the high 90’s all weekend, we found that we liked B Stage a lot. This could also have been because B stage was where the beer was. They’d trucked in any food request you could think of: BBQ, Vegetarian, Mediterranean, Organic, Indian, you name it. The alcoholic beverage options were limited to Sparks (for the classiest of attendees), Goose Island 312, and Goose Island IPA. We didn’t pay attention to non-alcoholic beers because we abstain from those. The art and music tents were grouped together here also, and offered a plethora of awesome finds.
It rained on Saturday morning and about halfway through the day a giant mud pit appeared...images of Woodstock danced in our heads, but mostly, lot of people just got dirty. The line-up for the festival was amazing and if you played your cards right, you could see most of the bands for at least a few songs.
As we entered the park on Saturday, crystal clear electronic indie blared from the speakers at the second stage where Caribou (Dr. Daniel Victor Snaith) had his quartet at the ready. Icy Demons, an experimental collaboration of musicians from Chicago and Philadelphia that owes its beginnings to Man Man’s Christopher Powell and Bablicon’s Griffin Rodriguez, took stage B.
We caught folk-pop Fleet Foxes by dodging the crowd and being quick. Their vocal harmonies bordered on what one might call a spiritual experience.
The Fuck Buttons, an electronic progressive rock duo from England, and The Ruby Suns, a psychedelic indie adventure pop duo from New Zealand, both played on the B. Both duos held their own at such a large festival and impressed a very large crowd, gaining numerous new fans with their original sounds—and by calling themselves The Fuck Buttons.
Vampire Weekend packed Stage A. NYC’s afro-pop inspired new wave indie dance quartet (yeah, all that) awed the crowd with their vivacious stage presence and killer tunes. And the energy didn’t stop! The eight piece alternative indie beat driven band kept the vigor in the crowd on Stage C.
Back on the B stage, Extra Golden started to chill things down with their afro-beat funk. Then, headliners Animal Collective wowed the crowd with an impressive, albeit short, set that consisted heavily of newer tracks and intense stage lighting.
Things that happened on Saturday that we missed: Boban i Marko Markovic Orkestar, A Hawk and a Hacksaw, Elf Power, Atlas Sound, No Age, Titus Andronicus, Jay Reatard, Dizzee Rascal, and Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker.
Sunday was hotter than fuck, but Mahjongg kicked the day off late, as they had to wait for church to let out across the street. The boys from Chicago blew minds and made new fans, as each one switched instruments and kept the intensity high. And I’m sure they’re getting into heaven for their courteous behavior, right?
Later in the afternoon, The Apples in Stereo, perfectly poppy indie-pop, took the main stage, turning the crowd into bobble-heads. Shortly thereafter, King Khan & The Shrines added an old-time groovy feel to the festival on the B stage.
Then, the darkness came. A cancellation due to hold-ups at the airport turned the Sunday schedule upside down. Confusion ensued. While waiting for The Dodos on the B stage, a call came in alerting us to their performance on the A Stage. We missed it. We were pissed.
Luckily, Chicago’s own Occidental Brothers Dance Band International had an intriguing enough name to distract us from our misery. NOT a let down! Traditional West African dance perfectly melded with jazz and rock… what more do we have to say? Following OBDBI was Ghostface Killah & Raekwon. Wu Tang Alum. REALLY?!? Do we have to say more? No. We don’t. And we’re not going to.
England’s Spiritualized. Holy Fuck. What a presentation of talent. These guys have been at it a long time and know exactly how to destroy the crowd. The quintet produced a sound worthy of a twenty-piece. Heavy guitar plus soul singer strength whipped the crowd into a religious, cult-like frenzy.
Next up? Dinosaur Jr. could be heard all over the park, with some old time favorites mixed in with newer, less recognizable tunes. Although they may have a few years on some of the younger bands and attendees, they proved that they still have it. J’s hair sure is long, bleached and dreamy nowadays. Oh, sigh.
Cut Copy never showed their faces. They missed a flight or something, running late from the airport? This proved to be a huge letdown, because in their place, the organizers tried to get some sort of “all-star jam” together. Valiant effort, but little satisfaction on the delivery.
Spoon ended the entire festival this year, in high fashion and catchy-ass hits. Spoon are no strangers to Union Park and Pitchfork Festival as they have performed there before. As they played us out of the park, it was time to regroup and head home.
Stuff we didn’t see on sunday: Times New Viking, High Places, Dirty Projectors, Boris, Les Savy Fav, M. Ward, and Bon Iver.
The music attracted the fashionistas, the artistic, the eclectic, the posers, the hipsters, the hippies, the bashful, the brave; all-in-all an absolute blast. Each year seems to top the last, so we’ll just have to see what’s in store for next year.
