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Written by Joseph O'Fallon Thursday, 22 July 2010 10:41

This year's Pitchfork Friday kick-off didn't have any theme to it (for example Sonic Youth playing Daydream Nation in its entirety or voting on the set list).

 

This year's Pitchfork Friday kick-off didn't have any theme to it (for example Sonic Youth playing Daydream Nation in its entirety or voting on the set list). However, Friday has expanded into more of the day and featured perhaps my favorite artist, Tallest Man On Earth. Having just seen him in his last show at Lincoln Hall I was less bummed that I didn't catch his entire set. Arriving for my favorite song I stumbled upon last year, the brilliant “Gardener,” was a strong start to an incredible weekend.

Day One:

Robyn: Festivals are best when they feature artists like these.  Robyn's sound is built for the stage, as are her adorable (and hilarious robot) dance moves. While few acts would cause me to miss this performance, I can't imagine ever seeing her live without this festival. Robyn was on right from the get-go with “Fembot,” the first single from her super good first installment of the Body Talks trilogy (Pt. II drops Sept 6). The seamless transitions from the four backing members between songs were a highlight in itself, while the best song “None of Dem” was the best of her ten-song set.  No “Show Me Love,” yes to "Cobrastyle," a cover from fellow Swedes the Teddybears, and a “Be Mine” closer.

Broken Social Scene: While I miss the full appeal that Broken Social Scene has, especially live, they always have a handful of good songs on each album, their newest effort Forgiveness Rock Record being no exception. Few bands can put together a string of songs like "Texico Bitches," "7/4 Shoreline," and "Fire Eye'd Boy;" while still having enough gas for my favorite of their set, "Superconnected," which led into the "Meet Me In The Basement" finale.  Sorry to see no "Lover's Spit," although it's not their most exciting on stage. 

Modest Mouse: By this time you've probably seen Modest Mouse if you have any enjoyment for their music. By telling you that this was a typical Modest Mouse show, then you'd know that it means it was really instrumentally tight and super good.  More so than Broken Social Scene, they really can't put together a bad set (assuming it's not entirely Sad Sappy Sucker). Any festival that starts with the Tallest Man On Earth playing on a beautiful day and sends you back to the CTA after “Black Cadillacs” is tough to mess-up.  I've grown a fondness for their latest (non-rarities) album and even “Dashboard,” which took place of “Float On” for their song that you could hear on the radio.  “Satellite Skin” and “Satin In A Coffin” made a run for best live song, but I don't think it got any better than the bouncy fun opener, “Tiny City Made Of Ashes.”  My friend said “Welcome to Pitchfork,” in response to someone's poor sound quality complaint. I agree that the sound was botchy, especially for the first few songs of sets, however, I think they do a pretty good job of not interfering with each other stages (although the comedians I hear struggled). I was hoping for a new song, or something noteworthy that Isaac would say, but neither came. What did rock was the guitar solos, and I do not like guitar solos, so I was very impressed—even despite having seen them a few times before.

Day Two:

Free Energy: The blogosphere-acclaimed Philadelphia quintet formed out of the late Hockey Night project kicked things off Saturday with most of the songs from their solid LP Stuck On Nothing.  The most impressive aspect of their performance was the size of the crowd for a 1:00 PM start – with nine hours left of music to go.  These frequent Chicago rockers were best with their last, “Hope Child,” and superb with their fan-favorite, “Bang Pop.”  Just by playing their songs straight and being genuinely excited to be a part of the festival made for a nice set. 

Sonny and the Sunsets: One of the nicest personal treats was listening to Sonny and the Sunsets on my iPod in the train ride over, later to realize that they were playing the festival.  Without a morning schedule I had forgotten they’d be bringing their charming San Franciscan call and response harmonies to the Balance Stage.  For ten minutes I was able to catch my favorite Real Estate songs, although I’m not so much of a fan.  I was happy I got to see their poetic “Suburban Beverage,” which entire lyrics are “Budweiser Sprite, do you feel alright?“ before scrolling over to the see Sonny.  Real Estate would be the first of two New Jersey bands to play the Aluminum stage on Saturday.  Having my notes stolen effects my set list I wrote down for Sonny and the Sunsets.  The set list, I remember, lacked “Lovin’ On An Older Girl,” a true ballad about having to be on your toes (and liking it), “The Houris,” and the funny “Planet Of Women.”  “Too Young To Burn” was the best of the other songs expected to be heard.  Sonny’s a cappella tunes, about art and color especially, was really fun to watch in a surprising way.  The band’s throwback doo wop sound was complimented by Sonny holding his acoustic guitar super high up.  If you have 2 minutes and 33 seconds that you’d like to enjoy, spend it on YouTube-ing their domination of the superfun, “I Wanna Do It Again.”  Also, if you have any friends called “Mario,” please play him the song for their MySpace.  It rocks.  Would’ve liked that one played, but it’s a solo song.

Delorean: It pains me to say anything bad about these guys, because their music is impeccable.  I would have liked more hits, and more songs in general.  “Simple Graces” not working its way into the set was tough, and not having awesome sound quality really hurt.  I liked the fact that the musicians all were at the front of the stage, although they lacked exciting stage presence (especially in hindsight of what Major Lazer would later do on that same stage).  What was really admirable was the little amount they relied on pre-recorded instrumentals, and more amazing was the bass-heavy echo-y drum sound.  “Deli” was phenomenal as expected, while “Stay Close” and “Grow” also were incapable of disappointing.  If the band continues to make music so well they’ll become closer to headliners, and I’d love to see them work with cool lighting and play for a night crowd.  I often call them sophisticated Passion Pit.  While their set did not blow me away or reach my insanely high standards, they might be one of the acts I’d want to see most live again, in their own element, at a Delorean-headlined show.

I didn’t stay for the entire Kurt Vile set filled with guitar soloing and extending his jams at the Balance Stage – which was best (on his best) for “Freeway.”  I took off for Titus Andronicus – which is another band you need to see live to fully appreciate.  They, like how I’d imagine Delorean would be, are more fun in a dark venue, as opposed to 3 PM Chicago summer that, to quote the band, makes you “sweat more than a pregnant nun staring at the Pope.”  As far as I know, “’Theme’ From Cheers,” did not make the cut.  That song might earn top play-count by the end of this year for me.  Their self-titled song rocked and the overall energy of the show was high.  Frontman Patrick Stickles proved he was a fan of the festival and the other bands and dedicated one song to his New Jersey family and friends back home watching the live stream.  In my notes I wrote how awesome it’d be to have them as your hometown band.  Despite not really sounding much like Bruce Springsteen the structure is often the same; Titus Andronicus makes in-song references to Bruce, both have autobiographical songs, and create a crowd familiarity.  “A More Perfect Union” came off really well, while I’ve still not gotten into their newer album as much as their debut – to contrast that, “Your Life Is Over” was a festival highlight.  I don’t know enough about Dam-Funk to give a full report, but while I took my only sitting break of the festiv al, I was super impressed.  It was the funkiest take on the Blues that I’ve seen in a long time.  Getting my notes stolen has sent me to YouTube looking for some of the jams.  Definitely the act I’m going to explore, which is nice because I was pretty familiar with most of the acts I saw. 

Smith Westerns: The Chicago locals brought their glam-rock great-grandchildren of the nuggets.  “Be My Girl” and usual suspects were the best.  There did seem to be one song that I didn’t recognize.  Even in the time since seeing them open for Girls and play with the Acrylics a few months back they’ve gotten tighter and added stage banter and comfort.  They were, though, a lot more fun at all ages shows which draw a lot of Northwestern and high school classmates to the show – they all know their songs and it’s a party.  During this block I checked out Jon Spencer which came out a lot better live – and Why?  I was sorry not to see more of Why?’s set, but I wasn’t totally feeling them at the time, and this seemed to be the time in which the Balance Stage had the most sound difficulties.  I watched the Wolf Parade set instead of waiting for the awesome tracks, including one of the 2009 year-end’s best “Into The Shadows Of My Embrace.”

Wolf Parade: This is one of the acts that I’d say I’ve sort of grown out of; I haven’t loved any of the off-shoots, and seven years after the fact, and tons of similar bands later they’ve lost their magic to me.  However, I did enjoy the show, even though I didn’t make much effort to get to the front.  Wolf Parade used this 6:45 time slot in order to showcase mostly their new album.  Without “Shine A Light” the set seemed lacking of old favorites; “Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts” was the only representative for fan-favorites, but this is not to say that songs like the opener "Cloud Shadow on the Mountain" and the clangy-cool "What Did My Lover Say" won’t become favorites.  To be fair, the popular "I'll Believe In Anything" did manage to slip in the end. 

I’m going to let someone who understands Animal Collective more to do the talking for Panda Bear.  I was talking to my friend who streamed the video on Pitchfork, and his comments were that the visuals added a lot and the songs which included a lot of new ones went well.  I think that most of the people depended on the jumbo-tron screen art; it seemed like Panda Bear’s work, and Panda Bear didn’t have any stage antics to mention.  I don’t remember him doing much besides staying stationary and can’t remember any memorable quotes.  I really thought that Bradford Cox, Pitchfork Fest-regular, was going to perform “Walkabout” with him, but he was nowhere to be found.  I had a lot of fun with LCD Soundsystem, and have waited many years to see “Daft Punk Is Playing At My House” live.  I will say that I think the new album is a little overrated, and his sarcastic lyrics and passionless singing approach gets old.  I’m speaking more on the behalf of the new album, but no song divides me to the next fan as much as “New York I Love You,” which I think is garbage.  YouTube has that whole show pretty well documented.  I saw the disco ball being queued up during Panada Bear, and the show got really cool by nine o’clock when it was dark enough to fully appreciate the lights.  The most noteworthy aspect of the show was the Jay-Z stripped down cover of “Empire State Of Mine,” which was meshed with “New York I Love You,” and the best was one of their best, “Someone Great.” 

Day Three:

A thunderstorm scare wasn’t going to keep me from the best day at the festival, but thank the Lord that the rain stopped right before the show kicked off.  I had a great idea of what bands I’d get to during the day, but I wish I would’ve known that Alla was going to be so amazing.

Best Coast: Bethany Cosentino showcased her great voice (which is sometimes hidden in distortion), powered through early sound troubles, and made the crowd laugh on several occasions during her set.  The set list was predictable – only having twenty songs can do that – but would’ve been cool to get a cover song in there like the Lesley Gore “That’s The Way The Boys Are.”  Between song banter like Free Weezy and telling the crowd to shut the fuck up for suggesting a Wavves covers was great (her boyfriend, who makes (shitty) music)).  Her best was “Remember Woodstock in the ’90s? This reminds me of that…PSYCH.  Except Limp Bizkit, I wish Limp Bizkit was here.”  Playing the songs straight for the most part, with the exception a more rocked out version of “I Want To” made this set a winner and set the standard for rest of the lineup.

Girls: were already a few chords into their bittersweet love song “Laura” by the time fans headed over from Best Coast.  The obsession of “Lust For Life” had settled down and made hearing this one super good again.  Fans, and this was especially true of their set at the Empty Bottle, seemed to be waiting around for “Lust For Life.”  Their brilliant Beach Boy-ish surf song “Big Bad Mean Motherfucker” though was the best way to end a set.  Like Best Coast, the band had a solid set just playing the songs as they appear on the album.  The second half of the set had their louder songs, which to me are better.  Christopher Owen did two things that made me like him a lot more and they had nothing to do with music; the first was wearing baggy white slacks with a floral long sleeve shirt tucked into them (look on YouTube instead of me describing them), and when he took a twenty-second video of the enormous crowd.

Fans shifted over across the field to prepare for Beach House.  I feel like I’m repeating myself, but it shows the caliber of their songs to say that Best Coast, Girls, and Beach House had successful sets without much variation to their studio recordings.  Beach House was by far the best though out of the three.  In ten songs with a Teen Dream-focus the band absolutely dominated “10 Mile  Stereo,” “Norway,” and “Master of None.”  Everyone cried during “Zebra,” although I still like the earlier two albums more (I might be in a minority of one) were my favorites.  “Turtle Island” was one of many songs that weren’t hit upon that I would have liked were.  I had seen the band three times before, and the first time being in 2006 at Pitchfork.  The band commented something to the effect of “We played here a few years back; we sat down.”  The duo is now backed with a drummer (Dan Franz I believe), rely a lot less on pre-recorded music, and seem to be a lot more comfortable.  Oh yeah, the band said they’ve been seeing lots of shows of Celine Dion in Las Vegas, worked on a song with her, was asked to tour together.....and said…NO.  Something Like That.

Surfer Blood: I don’t have a lot to say without my notes especially, and this is not a band that I know a lot about; it’s also a set that I have very little bad to say about.  The best songs were the usual suspects “Swim (To Reach The End)” and “Catholic Pagans,” but there was also a new tune they busted out that went over well – it sounds a lot like the band Surfer Blood.  The best thing that lead singer John Paul Pitts said was, “This is really cool because last year I was watching this online.”  Shows how young the band is too.  The show had a really good turnout. 

Major Lazer: was to me, by far, the best.  My friend said it was kind of lame how bands get up (Beach House in this case) and will talk about coffee, and so refreshing hearing a band with Hennessey in hand talk about getting drunk, high, and having sex (see “SOMEBODY’S GONNA GET PREGNANT”).  The band claims they party every night, and they seem like professionals.  They’d ask the crowd if they loved Major Lazer, and in return for the huge roar, he’d say, “Good, then Jesus loves you too.”  I won’t attempt to talk about the ballerinas, the dancers, and the ladder stunts – because YouTube will do it better – but it was awesome.  Brooklyn Vegan has an incredible picture.  Diplo’s reggae pop mashing was incredible and always his.  Was Switch there?  Seems like Diplo did all the work.  Festivals have bands that are really good and we come to expect songs like “Keep It Goin’ Louder.”  Festivals are often a showcase for people to learn about them.  Often they are a spectacle and a visual entertainment.  Major Lazer was entertaining in every facet.

Big Boi: I’d like the set list to do the talking except that my notebook was stolen and it’s not on the internet for an ever more bizarre reason. Outkast verses from every album to tracks from his Son of Chico Dusty amazingness to the C-Bone and Vonegutt collaborations were amazing.  The coolest thing, like Robyn, is that it’s be expensive and tough to ever see him this close.  What wasn’t cool was that it made me tired from dancing and made me miss Sleigh Bells.  What was really cool and made me envious was how cool he was.  A lot of the ATLien rappers are.  “Kryptonite” with C-Bone was really fun, Cutmaster Swiff was incredible, and the video mixing on the Jumbo-tron was great.  I think I got to give it to “Shine Blockas” though, I never get sick of it.  Check out Bun B’s new verse in the remix.

I think the best Pitchfork in the last three years, and that’s pretty pretty impressive. | Joseph O'Fallon