Ive said it numerous times before; Pitchfork Music Festival is one of the best in the country. Ive prolly narrowed it down each time I write these reviews but it still seems important to point out what makes this fest so different and so much fun.
-Its cheap, less than a hundred bucks for three days
-It can easily be reached by public transportation
-Tons of great up-and-coming bands that arent playing the other festivals this year
-People are happy and friendly
Now you might disagree with that last point because a lot of people seem to think that the people who run the site for which the festival is named, www.pitchforkmedia.com are jaded and snobby, which isnt true. Theyre just huge fans of music and have found a way to fill their lives with it by writing about it and throwing cool festivals and parties. They also do a great job with mixing up the sounds and styles. It seems easy to pigeon hole it as an Indie Rock fest but Public Enemy, King Khan, Jarvis Cocker, Animal Collective, Extra Golden, Spiritualized, and numerous other bands dont really fall into that category.
This was our third year slinging at Union Park so everything went pretty smooth for us. Blue Bunny donated all the ice cream and we rolled by Great Lakes Ice Cream just south of town to pick it all up on Friday. Before we made it to the fest we stopped off at Comer Childrens Hospital for a few hours and gave away a bunch of cream to the kids, their families, and all the folks who keep the hospital running. Once we got back on the freeway Jay was playing on the internet and pulled up live video of Mission of Burma performing Vs at the Festival. We were shocked that watching live video of a festival while driving to it was even possible.
Once we were parked we had to do some serious organizing because we hadnt had any time since Jay and I left Brooklyn to get things in order. We had picked up 2500 treats and thought that would be sufficient for the whole weekend but the cream was going fast. Chicago is a surprisingly tight knit city and most of the people we saw backstage looked familiar from years past and were happy to see us.
Sebadoh was playing Bubble and Scrape on the far stage and I occasionally could hear a song that made me wish I were closer to the stage rocking out. Public Enemy was the headliner on Friday night and they brought out all their crew. Obviously Flavor Flav and Chuck D were there but so also were Hank and Keith Shocklee who produced the legendary album they were performing in its entirety that night, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. The whole album is filled with classics but my favorite of the night was She Watch Channel Zero?! It was cool to find out that originally the A side of the album was the B side until they decided they wanted a song faster song with more bass to start things off. PE didnt wanna stop and kept the party going til a half hour after the curfew.
Saturday kicked off with the Balkan brass band, Boban i Marko Markovic Orkestar. They were on the small stage furthest from the truck but I had to run over and check them out cuz who knows if Id ever get the chance again. They were great and I could definitely see them rocking a Balkan dance party for days.
I had been hearing about Titus Andronicus for a couple years but for the longest time I couldnt remember their name or how to spell it so itd been a while since I actually heard their tunes. Theyre known for rocking out big time and their punkish pop tracks made me wish I would see more of them but ice cream duties were calling.
After I picked up our new tour poster from Jay Ryan and got a stash back to the ice cream truck I had to run out to catch some Jay Reatard. How cool is it that theres finally another garage-rock resurgence. I thought it all might ended with Reigning Sound and Dirtbombs but bands like Jay Reatard, King Khan, and Black Lips are keeping it alive. Jay Reatard was on the main stage and tearing it up. I looked at the bass player and his mouth was all red because theyd stopped by the truck just before they went on and he got a cherry bomb pop. I couldnt help but smile.
I spent most of the rest of the day by the truck. We could hear everything on the main stage good enough so Fleet Foxes, Vampire Weekend, and The Hold Steady were my soundtrack for cream slinging most of Saturday. Fleet Foxes have really got their stuff together and have been blowing up lately. Theyre on the radio here and I heard their CD while I was at the coffee shop yesterday. Theyve really tightened up their live show over the last year too. If youd like to get an idea of what theyre like live you should check out their NPR show.
Like Tapes n Tapes and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! before them, Vampire Weekend have been labeled the most recent Blog Buzz Band to blast off. Its a double edged sword and they seem to be doing their best to make the most of it. Almost exactly a year ago I saw Vampire Weekend at Empty Bottle while in town and I wasnt that impressed. They still dont have the most energetic live show (not that their music really warrants it) but they sound a ton better and lead singer, Ezra Koenig, seems to have lightened up a bit and having more fun. My favorite fashion moment of Pitchfork was spying drummer Chris Tomson wearing a Phish shirt.
The stash of cream was dwindling fast and once I condensed everything to one freezer I realized we needed to close shop if we were to have anything left to sling on Sunday. No Age was playing on the far, small stage so I headed over there. Its great seeing bands doing well. No Age has been playing shows all over the place and their audience just keeps getting bigger. Theyre a two piece band that seems to be trying to push the boundaries of what can be done with just guitar and drums. Mixing up tracks off their new album Nouns and Weirdo Rippers they had everyone up front dancing around. Its hard not to dance with these guys, once they get into a groove, you cant help but get down more on that in a minute.
Animal Collective was the headliner on Saturday and by the time they went on there were prolly 15,000 in front of the main stage. For an experimental, psychedelic, electronic rock band, thats pretty damn impressive. Theyre obviously doing things their own way and have built up a huge fan base while theyre at it. Last years album, Strawberry Jam and Person Pitch by collective member Panda Bear were #6 and #1 (respectively) on Pitchforks top albums of 2007. They started off with a new track then mixed up some old and new ones before Peacebone really got things going. Fireworks, my favorite song of last year has morphed into a fifteen minute opus with the addition of an intro and some new stuff in the middle which I first heard on their NPR performance from DC a while back. I think my only gripe with the whole festival this year was that AC only got an hour set. They went on at 9ish and were off at 9:55. This is THE headliner of the weekend and they get less than an hour? I can only imagine how some of the people in the audience felt as their extracurricular stimulation was just kicking in.
We laid low on Friday night to make sure we got some rest for the rest of the weekend but come Saturday night, we were down to party. King Khan and Jay Reatard were playing the official after party at the Bottom Lounge and we were planning on rocking that but we knew itd be super crowded. Thered been murmurings about No Age playing a house party which sounded like exactly what we wanted to do. We knew it might be crazy or crowded or non-existent but we locked up Newt and Jay, Addison, Amanda and I hopped in a cab and headed toward Humboldt Park. We had the cabby drop us off at liquor store near the party and we grabbed a 30 pack of Old Style to bring with us. When we walked in the back from the alley way there were only maybe a dozen or two people there. This was great because we got to introduce ourselves to the people that lived there and hang out as the rest of the party people arrived. Frank, whod been shooting all weekend rode his bike over with a buddy and we hooked him up with some Old Style and it was ON!
No Age was going to play in the basement and, as Mung started we made our way down the stairs into what looked like an abyss. Once we got down there, outside of super low ceilings, it was quite nice. There was a soundboard toward the back and a good sized PA. You could prolly fit about 200 people in there, if you wanna sardine it. Mung was a good band to start things off but it really picked up once No Age showed up. I was outside when Randy showed up so I grabbed him an Old Style. Since the drums and PA were set up it didnt take long for them to start playing. It sounded great down there and it wasnt even that hot yet. People were dancing around and somehow there were crowd servers even though the ceiling was only seven feet tall. I held my composure while standing near the sound board til the kicked off Brain Burner then bolted for the front while dancing and banging my head. Wow what a show, definitely the highlight of the weekend.
Abe Vigoda, another local LA band had a gig at Empty Bottle that night then headed over to rock to basement after No Age. Id been hearing quite a bit about them and all of our crew was jazzed to check them out. I headed outside to get some fresh air right before they started and was greeted by a blast of lightning and thunder. It was raining yet but you knew it was on the way. We thought we were safe in the dungeon but we werent that lucky. After a couple songs either the lead singer or sound man said, if you want to live, you should leave. If you want to die and ROCK, you should stay. There was maybe an inch or two of water at this point and I dont think it had reached the band yet. After another song the flood waters were rising and the bands gear was about to get swamped and water and electrical gear arent the best of friends. Most people took off and a half dozen or so of us stuck around to help get everything off the ground and out of the water. There was prolly six inches of water now and it was pouring down rain outside. We got everything secured then once it the storm lightened up a bit all the gear got loaded up and we skipped out for some gyro action. Ah what a great night.
When we woke up on Sunday we were all still buzzing from the night before. Luckily the 30-pack ran out when it did and none of were hung over too bad. Its no bueno to be slinging cream while hung over.whadda ya want? . Argh. Times New Viking was the first band on Sunday and I REALLY wanted to see them but we ended up getting off the train as the crowd was clapping and walking away.. damn. Ryan from Pitchfork had said at Pitchfork vs. All Tomorrows Parties in England that Dirty Projectors were his favorite show there so I wanted to be sure to check out at least a couple songs. Right he was. The band, fronted by a guy on guitar and flanked by two cute girls on guitar and bass, definitely had a unique sound and their harmonies were catchy yet unique. Def gonna be listening to them some more soon. Boris and HEALTH were coming up but I headed back to the truck to relieve the crew.
Since Khan himself had been hanging out at the truck all weekend we all wanted to catch some of his show. I let the crew roll first then locked up Newt and ran over for a bit. King Khan and the Shrines are a send up of garage rock meets old school R&B with a bunch of humorous stage antics. We gave Khan a cooler filled with dry ice so he could start the set off smoking. Their classic, catchy tunes were perfect for Sunday in a park. The only thing missing was some BBQ. Les Savy Fav were rocking as I headed back and apparently Tim hopped in a trash can and crowd surfed during their set. You just cant go wrong with those guys.
The Dodos latest album, Visiter is one of my most listened to albums this year so I had to sneak out to catch some of their set, especially since they were playing just a couple hundred yards from the truck. They stuck to playing mostly tracks off of Vistiter which was prolly the wise thing to do. I was shocked at how much energy they put into their set for just having a drummer and acoustic guitar most of the time. These damn two-piece bands are killing it lately. I didnt wanna leave but duty called.
Once I got back we had run outta treats so, in hindsite, I shoulda stuck around a while longer. M. Ward was just starting so I locked up the truck and headed over. Poison Cup is one of my favorite songs of the last couple years and lucky for me, he played it right after I had worked my way into a good place to watch the show while being in the shade. The song is about wanting it all. If love is a poison cup, I want it all. Most people prolly think of love, especially when mentioned in song, as being for one other person. A while back I had a revelation that love was the most important thing in the world but it was love for everything and not just one other person. While on tour last year I thought about this while listening to Poison Cup and had another revelation when I stopped thinking about the song being your average love song. A sip or a spoonful wont do I want it all. As I stood there on a baseball field at Pitchfork Festival and looked at the clouds passing above everything made since.
Spiritualized went on right after and I got a cup of coffee and a couple cookies and hung out side stage while lying on the grass and taking it all in. Im not sure that performing in a park during daylight hours is the best place for them to play but they gave it their all and rocked it louder than anybody else all weekend.
Bon Iver had the misfortune of playing opposite Spiritualized for the first half of their set and Dinosaur Jr. the second half. Seeing Bon Iver play at ATP vs Pitchfork a couple months ago was an eye-opener for me. They were inside and the crowd was hush as their gentle tunes grabbed everyones attention in the room. They did what they could here but the overpowering music from the other stages made it tough to focus on their gems.
Dinosaur Jr has been back in action with all the original members for a couple years now and Ive been lucky to catch them a couple/few time. I rocked a couple tracks but then took off to grab the rest of the tour posters from Jay. On my way back I heard Feel the Pain AND The Wagon and was happy to know that they were now playing other Dino Jr. tracks that they didnt all record together.
Spoon was the headliner on Sunday and it seemed fitting enough. Theyve got an impressive catalog of music and have been plugging away for over a decade now. Plus theyre one of the hardest working/touring bands out there. Last year I was watching Yoko Ono in the audience at Pitchfork and looked over and Spoon frontman, Britt Daniels, was standing next to me. Spoon wasnt even playing the fest last year but they had another gig in town and decided to stop by. Since they only had an hour their setlist was packed with most of their hits and they ended with a solid one-two punch with The Underdog and You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb I ran out to dance around and found a pocket of other dancing friends which is always a plus.
After the music was done we headed back to the truck creamless truck and did our best to sell some of our new tour posters. We ended up selling over twenty of them throughout the weekend which I thought was pretty respectable. If you wanna get one for yourself, check back in a couple weeks and well have them up in the merch section with some NEW shirt designs. Yeeee haw!
Thanks to Blue Bunny for donating all the ice cream and Great Lakes Ice Cream for allowing us to pick it up at their place. Thanks to Jay Ryan for the super-dooper-awesome tour poster, Chipotle for the burritos, Goose Island for the 312 beer, and all the folks from Pitchfork and At Pluto. Thanks to Frank and Jeanette for shooting and Amanda, Jay, and Addison for helping sling. Thanks to the all the people in the house that threw the No Age party too. Ok, I think that does it. These reviews are getting a bit too long, whatta you think?
Pitchfork Music Festival 2007
