Pitchfork Part III: Sunday

Sunday

Cave

Despite a lot of early rain that made the day unbearably muggy, Sunday got off to a good start with Chicago psychedelic rock group Cave. I hadn’t heard Cave or Alla, the band playing at the same time, but made the choice of Cave just because Best Coast was playing afterwards. After a humorous introduction by some guying in an army suit that was pretty much Borat these guys tore through a 50 minute set of aggressive psychedelic rock. The quartet utilized the motorik beat pretty often along with a bunch of post-punk melodies but after awhile into every song eventually entered into a massive krautrock crescendo. Perhaps the songs were a little too similar but these guys were a fantastic rock band and a pleasant surprise.

Grade: A

Psychedelic caveman rock

Best Coast

I’ve become a huge Best Coast fan this year and this was one of the sets I was most excited for. It was perhaps a tad disappointing, all the bros I was with left for Girls, but I still had a great time. As had become usual by this point the guitars were too quiet until the second half of the set, but had been loud enough for all of Cave?, and that was an initial turnoff. Bethany Consentino’s voice is in many ways the primary focus of the songs and that was definitely shown off without the guitars. Thankfully she was more than capable, unlike The Smith Westerns, of getting through the songs without having to resort to effects. A lot of people say the songs are all the same, certainly they are lyrically, but if you listened to all the singles and whatnot the set consisted of all the previous hits with a good chunk of the new album, which I thankfully listened to a few days before. And when they played “When I’m With You” all the men and I collectively expressed our undying love for her and Snacks.

Grade: B+

Bob just looks like the chillest guy ever

Girls

I arrived a little late due to Best Coast but I think the only song that I missed was probably “Laura”. I had really dug Album but Girls set consisted mainly of newer songs that were all on the sleepy side, bad buzzband mistake. The songs from Album faired better but even “Lust for Life” was played slower on the album. Thankfully they turned up the volume and kicked up some stellar feedback at the end but I don’t see why they couldn’t have been more exciting during their set. I really wish I had stuck around for Washed Out instead. Oh well.

Grade: C

Beach House

Although Victoria Legrand seemed particularly frigid, or perhaps overcome by heat, both her Alex Scally and the drummer seemed really grateful to be playing be again; buzzbands come and go but Beach House have remained, champions of their craft. While they’re unique spin on Dream Pop would seem to go better they still killed it. I was really getting bogged down by this point and Beach House were just so relaxing that all the lower back pain just seemed to drift away. Most of their set came from Teen Dream but each song was certainly a crowd pleaser. They finished up with “10 Mile Stereo”, the most guitar driven song from their latest album and boy was it a way to go.

Grade: A-

Lightning Bolt

Even stranger than Beach House succeeding at a summer festival was the abrupt transition from effervescent dream pop to the onslaught of noise from Lightning Bolt. Two bros, that really looked out of place, followed me over from Beach House, which was even stranger that they were seeing them of all bands, and had no idea who Lightning Bolt were. I merely told them that they “were in for it”. With a massive stack of amps and old stereo equipment backing the two Brians took the stage to uproarious applause. When Brian Chippendale donned his mask it was equivalent to Batman suiting up for the first time, and in some ways even more exciting. Then the onslaught started and never let up. While Brian Gibson was pretty stoic and didn’t move much, Brian Chippendale went wild; it’s improbably to think how he can keep playing with such intensity for that length of time. Totally insane but it would have been a lot cooler to see them playing on the ground at a house show.

Grade: A-

Surfer Blood

I skipped out a little early on Lightning Bolt, its not like I was waiting to hear a particular song, to check out another popular buzzband, Surfer Blood. When I got to the B stage, the smaller one, it was overflowing and Lightning Bolt was pretty much masking everything—one bro told me that he tried to get in later and was unsuccessful. I made my way closer to the point where I could actually here and proceeded to enjoy myself; I don’t know why anyone behind me stayed, they wouldn’t haven been able to hear anything really. Surfer Blood ran through pretty much their entire album, with one or two new ones, and managed to play everything exactly as they had on their guitar driven record, looking at you Smith Westerns, a definite buzzband advantage. I tend to forget that their album is pretty subdued and it would have been nice to have a couple more bangers like Swim to throw at the crowd. Really that’s not their fault, the show would have been awesome at a club, but they’ll definitely be better when they have another album to mix in. I was pleased overall; these guys have the chops to keep going for a long time.

Grade: B+

Neon Indian

Feeling very tired, and having not listened to any of the next couple bands, I took some time to check out the records— picked up Zola Jesus-The Spoils and a Christmas Island record— and chill out a bit before riding the chillwaves. Most other festival coverage I read raved about Washed Out but I didn’t see anyone covering Neon Indian. Major Lazer had a dragon?! Fuck dude that’s awesome! Personally I believe that live hip hop can never truly be anything less than disappointing, too bad most people had no idea what they were missing. In some ways, Neon Indian’s set was way more fun than LCD Soundsystem, with a smaller but more dedicated crowd ready to go crazy. LCD can make you dance a little but not quite the same effect as what riding the chillwaves can do to you. The big worry with electronic groups is how they’re going to replicate that sound live. The record might be great but no one wants to see four guys that don’t have anything to do after pushing play. Fortunately Neon Indian managed to replicate everything live, there was a theremin!, and do so with a tremendous amount of energy. While Alan Palomo was busy working his Menudo moves, their super cute keyboardist Leanne Macomber was jumping up and down, and the guitarist was having fun riding the chillwaves as well. At one point the drummer of Real Estate performed an epic stage dive and everyone had the best time ever. The end.

Grade: A+

Pavement

After Neon Indian, the bros and I rushed over to get a good spot for Pavement. A little further back than I was for LCD Soundsystem but at least much better than The Flaming Lips last year. Pavement already had Christmas lights strung across the stage the whole day but it was still just as exciting when they came out. Back that up a bit: first off the owner of Drag City came out and pretended to be an ex-Q101 DJ that was supposed to be introducing Pavement. While the whole thing was a joke, it was a little unclear at the time if he was serious, most people were incredibly pissed off and started throwing bottles. The next day all the journalist coverage was chiding the masses for not getting the joke. Here’s what they didn’t get: it wouldn’t have mattered if hipster comedian extraordinaire David Cross had come out, people wanted Pavement and that guy cut out 15 minutes of their set, which meant no Summer Babe. Fuck you guy and fuck you news media for not understanding that people enjoy music.

After a false start, they’re still sloppy but in an endearing kind of way, they busted out Cut Your Hair. From there they played a set of all the favorites, minus Summer Babe, and they looked like they had a great time out their together, especially Bob Nastanovich who spent a great deal of time bouncing around the stage, screaming into a microphone. They didn’t play all the songs perfectly (did you really expect them to?) but they made up for it with an enthusiasm that could easily bring a smile to anyone’s face. Big issue though was the sound. My friend sent me a text during their set that was something along the lines of Stephen Malkmus is being backed by SunnO))): the bass just fucking killed their sound. I could get past it but the incessant roar wasn’t too fitting for slacker anthems.

Grade: A-

Pitchfork Part II: Saturday

Saturday

Do to train delays I missed having to decide between Netherfriends and Free Energy, oh well.

Real Estate

Starting off an incredibly hot day, Real Estate’s ultra chill Galaxie 500 gone to the beach songs were just the ticket. All the pool, beach lyrics made me feel like I was actually getting cooler so props to them for that. One of the big issues with their set, and this happened the next day with Girls too, was that they were playing too many new songs. While it was my fault for not listening to the latest EP, they should have played some more songs from their only fucking album. Although all their songs sound pretty similar, playing recognizable songs at a festival is key especially during such a hot day when people were more than willing to skip sets to catch some shade or go to the water tent. These bros seemed really chill though and had an awesome guitar sound so it was still pretty good.

Grade: B

Some chill bros right there

Delorean

Ditching the bros that didn’t want to dance, and wanted a close spot for Titus, I wandered over to check out the Spanish Tough Alliance, Delorean. While with the heat the urge to dance wasn’t too great but these guys were having so much fun up on stage that it was hard not to get into it. What’s always the test for electronic bands is how they pull it off live and these guys managed to replicate everything off Subiza very well without having anyone standing their not playing anything while some prerecorded track plays. There were a few sound issues, and that guy is a pretty bad singer, but nothing that dampened the fun.

Grade: A-

Chill Spanish Bros

Titus Andronicus

The last time I saw Titus was at Reckless Records where I enjoyed myself but was mostly nonplussed. In particular, the set featured mainly songs from The Monitor, which I have mixed feelings about, and I was stuck behind a bunch of shelves. This time though they kicked some ass and took some names and all that business. The set was a good mix of songs from both albums and more importantly they played to the festival crowd. One of my issues is that on The Monitor there are just too many “boring” moments where Patrick is strumming his guitar and singing and all you really want him to do is rock out. Thankfully Titus kept such moments to a minimum throwing out banger after banger. And when the group did slow things down these moments were much more emotionally impactful amidst all the guitar chaos.

Grade: A

The Smith Westerns

Heard a little bit of Dam-Funk, didn’t sound too good, while I was waiting for Smith Westerns to start. On a whim I had picked up their debut at last year’s Pitchfork, loved it, and was quite excited to see them whip out some power pop jams. Too bad that they were one of the most disappointing acts of the festival. Part of that was their fault but the sound issues were all on Pitchfork. For the first half of their set the guitars were incredibly quite just leaving some mediocre singing and some drums. Thankfully the guitars were turned up just in time for the second half which featured quite a bit more guitar solos than the first half. What made everything much more disheartening was the lack of energy that guys displayed.

On record their power pop jams are so refreshing because of all the energy: the songs are speedy and there are plenty of gang vocals that pop up. It seemed like they must have seen Real Estate earlier in the day and decided to chill out during their set. They started off with Imagine, pt.3 and really fucked it up. During the “Love Will Never Die!” parts they didn’t crescendoe or do anything except for quickly rushing through the best parts to the song. Ugh. And the vocals were always too sleepy and laidback even during the chorus to “Be My Girl” which should be massive. I realize they’re a pretty new band but they’ve played a ton of shows and I expected more from that. Just because you’re playing at Pitchfork doesn’t mean you’ve made it.

Grade: C+

Wolf Parade

Not too much to say about these guys; they were a well oiled machine running through all the songs I wanted to hear and cranking out some new ones from Expo 86. Everything they played sounded good the only issue for me was just that they were too much like a machine. Having four guys take up a massive stage and not move around too much is kind of dull especially when I was not too close to the stage. I’m sure though that I would have enjoyed them much more in a club atmosphere but for a festival they need to do something that gives them a bigger presence.

Grade: A-

Panda Bear:

I had been excited to see Panda Bear but upon being informed that he had retired his old material I wisely skipped him to get a good spot for LCD Soundsystem. Panda Bear’s set was pretty sleepy, filled with a lot of droning songs that consisted mainly of him moaning over everything. I’m sure I would have enjoyed this at a house show but a festival crowd wants to hear the bangers: “Bros” and “Comfy in Nautica”.

Grade: N/A

LCD Soundsystem

Whatever your qualms regarding this band, all their songs are incredibly repetitive and too long, they know how to perform tightly and with energy yielding one of the best sets of the festival. As I waited the bros and I saw a massive disco ball being attached to the rafters. While I was mainly trying to figure out the best way to urinate into a beer cup without anyone noticing, I knew that I was in for it. Ripping through tracks from their newest This Is Happening, as well as their previous two albums, they knew how keep the crowd dancing throughout their 90 minute set. Perhaps the most exciting moment was the transition from “Daft Punk is Playing at My House” to “All My Friends.”

I don’t think anyone was preparing to get “All My Friends” that early in the set but whenever it was going to come it was still one of the most amazing musical moments I’ve been able to see. The gut wrenching sadness was intact but the track came off with more danceability than on record, however, witnessing a few thousand people singing along was jaw dropping. Too bad it was over before it even began. The set closed with "New York, I Love You but You're Bringing Me Down" which was a nice closer made even better with the addition of a bit of “Empire State of Mind” at the end. Everyone can get behind that business. Although that seemed to be a pretty definitive set closer people were upset that they didn’t bust out “North American Scum” but all I wanted was appropriately “All I Want.”

Grade: A

Pow Pow Pow Pow

I promise it won't be too long of a wait for Sunday. I'm too tired to upload all the photos and what not and got that unpaid internship and all that business tomorrow.

Incredibly Late Pitchfork Roundup: Friday

This is my fourth Pitchfork that I’ve attended and they’ve gotten better and better at getting the fest to run smoothly. This year there were no portable toilet issues and I never even really had to wait to use one. Plus even though it was sold out all three days I felt that it was somehow easier to manage maneuvering through all the people, except for the B Stage. What separates Pitchfork from Lollapalooza is that Pitchfork actually cares about its festival goers. On the first day water was reduced to $1, a free refill station was set up, and free water was passed out at nearly every set. I can’t ever see lolla doing something like that. However, the weekend was not its issues. The same sound problems still prevailed—many shows weren’t loud enough and the bass tended to rumble and muffle the guitars. Now if they could just fix that then Pitchfork would be nearly perfect.

Friday

Sharon Van Etten

Having received an email from her responding to a photo request I felt the need to at least check her out. There doesn’t seem to be too much buzz about her other than appearing on the latest Antlers album. She was a tiny figure on the stage pretty much playing the same chord over and over again. Not really my thing and didn’t seem too appropriate for a festival setting but I didn’t pay much attention so my opinion is only so valid.

The Tallest Man on Earth

I received his 2008 album “Shallow Grave” a week or so before the festival and quite enjoyed. A rather small man, the Swede gave it all he had furiously striking at his guitar and pouncing all over the stage despite saying he was jetlagged and hadn’t slept for two days. Normally guy with acoustic guitar doesn’t work well for a festival setting, especially on a main stage, but his songs were performed with so much energy that made everything sound larger than life. Watch out for this guy, he’s going to be huge.

Grade: B+

More like The Tallest Bro on Earth. Amiright?

Liars

Skipping El-P, sounded pretty lame, I stayed and picked up a good spot for Liars. The AV Club trashed this but this was definitely the best set of Friday. Keeping the energy up that Tallest Man started, Liars ripped through a set heavy on songs from this year’s “Sisterworld” and their previous self titled album. Even though “Sisterworld’s” songs are pretty odd they translated surprisingly well; they were able to keep the slow parts interesting, Angus Andrew’s voice was in spectacular form, and then tear through the faster parts. They got quite experimental at times but managed to keep up with enough bangers, “Scarecrows on a Killer Slant” and “Plaster Casts of Everything”, so that the set was balanced and always entertaining.

Grade: A-

Broken Social Scene

A lot of people skipped BSS for Michael Showalter, who bombed horribly I heard, and they missed a fun time filled with guitar solos and general merriment. Unfortunately, I unwisely decided to skip Robyn for a good spot up front. She sounded like a lot of fun and I regret not heading over. While BSS were not the penultimate live band, as I had been promised by many BSS devotees, they still were beyond competent showmen. Brendan Canning looked like a lesbian version of Paul McCartney and strutted around like Angus Young or a small child with ADD whilst Kevin Drew looked mainly like he would be an asshole if you spoke to him. There set consisted mainly of songs from Forgiveness Rock Record, which came off better live than the sub-par album, but the older “rock out” songs from past albums faired better. They skipped the slower songs, which was probably a wise decision for the festival crowd but it would have made the show a bit more emotionally impacting if they had.

Grade: B+

The two brains behind BSS. Sans beard, Brendan Canning looks like a lesbian Paul McCartney

Modest Mouse

I should have left BSS early but it didn’t really matter. When you’re so far away at a festival there gets to be a point where you would almost rather just go home and Modest Mouse didn’t do too much to keep my attention. They opened with Tiny Cities Made of Ashes, incredible, but the seven, I think, piece group quickly switched gears to songs from the newest album and that EP I never bothered to check out. They played a lot of songs from Good News so that was alright. That was the first album of there’s that I picked up; I was a freshman in High School and Float On was just starting to get noticed. Most of my friends that were there never “discovered” Modest Mouse like I did, instead got into them several years later and immediately started with their better albums. While I myself did that, I’ll always hold a special place for Good News. In terms of other “classic songs” they played Dramamine and encored with Gravity Rides Everything. Everyone was hoping for “Do the Cockroach” but that unfortunately did not happen. The band sounded great and played the songs well but I wish they would have ran through a couple more bangers.

Grade: B

Really shitty photo but I was miles away.