Wow, there are some really cool parents in Chicago.
How would you like to say you saw your first St. Vincent show while still in diapers?
Well these kids will have life-long bragging rights thanks to their parents’ love for music. (And some handy noise-canceling headphones.)
ABCs, 123s … and rock.
It’s no secret. I like me some facial hair. (On men anyway.)
While covering Lollapalooza last year for The Times, I took pictures of funny T-shirts I saw while trudging through the fields at Millennium Park.
As I walked through Union Park at this past weekend’s Pitchfork Music Festival, I would often wonder what I would focus on for a fun post this year. At first, I thought it would be tattoos, as I saw some that were quite interesting … but just a few.
By Sunday afternoon, I had it all figured out as I watched whisker by whisker pass me by. As I started to stop guys to ask for a picture, I was met with a variety of responses. Some looked at me like I was nuts when I told them I was photographing beards. Others soaked up the validation I was giving them by singling out their fuzz. I only had one guy stop to groom himself before allowing me to take a shot, and only one guy told me no, albeit a rude no. (I later learned he was a member of LCD Soundsystem, so obviously he was just too cool to have his photo taken by someone he thought was a “fan.” Look down, see that press badge? I’m working here, buddy.) I got an Iron & Wine joke from one guy, and many explanations of what their stubble meant to them, or what type it was. (Think “Amish Offshore Driller Beard.”)
It was hard to pick a best beard of the weekend, but I think the guy below fully embodied the Pitchfork spirit. (Plus he was excited to have his picture taken.)
As for the girl? Well, I just hope she lost a bet and didn’t wake up Friday morning with “I think I’ll Sharpie on a goatee today” running through her head.
Because well … she just looks silly.
The last day of the festival always seems to go by in a blur. The energy around Union Park has such a feel of desperation.
First there are the fans who are trying to see as many acts as possible, running through the small field from one stage to the next. (I saw one guy slam into a couple, knocking the $6 vegetable and shrimp tempura from the girl’s hands. Not a pretty scene as the guy simply yelled “Sorry, man,” as he casually ran away, leaving the boyfriend to shout some explicit words to anyone around who would listen.)
Then there are those who are sad the festival is ending, those who wish it could go on just a little bit longer. There are the vendors, from Flatstock artists to food-sellers, who are trying to sell as much of their merchandise before the park shuts down.
And then there are those who wish it would all just be over. Three days of commuting to the festival, walking from stage to stage, sweaty and dirty have taken their toll. They are tired, cranky and are left wondering why they think music festivals are such a good idea.
Count me among the last category, thank you very much. By the time Pavement took to the stage Sunday night, I was just ready to go home. I told a friend it was seeing hipsters singing and dancing to Big Boi that really took me over the edge. But before I had lost my Pitchfork sparkle, I did see some decent sets on Sunday. Here’s a quick run-down.
LIGHTNING BOLT
OK Lightning Bolt I get it.
You’re loud. Wait … let me make sure you understand. L-O-U-D.
Playing the Aluminum Stage Sunday afternoon, the noise rock duo from Rhode Island is known for its live performances.
Steve Albini has called them the “best alarm clock I’ve ever had,” referring to them performing on a sidewalk near where he was staying. They have performed in parking lots, kitchens and prefer to play out in the crowd, instead of from the stage. Playing it safe, with thousands of sweaty fans lurking in the field, singer and drummer Brian Chippendale and bass guitarist Brian Gibson stayed above ground.
With his face covered by an elaborate mask, Chippendale’s lyrics were almost indecipherable, but that didn’t seem to faze the crowd in the slightest. Harder rocking than most acts signed to play Pitchfork this year, the cacophony of sound had some crowd surfing and forming a mini mosh pit. Although not really for me, Lightning Bolt was the first band to really light a fire under fans Sunday. And they even garnered the attention of violinist Andrew Bird, who stopped by to check out the set.
SURFER BLOOD
OK Lightning Bolt, I get it.
Oh wait, we’re supposed to be talking about Surfer Blood here, right?
With a sound that has been compared to Built to Spill, Weezer and Pavement, I was looking forward to checking out this Florida-based band. The indie rockers are relative newcomers to the scene, after garnering good reviews for its 2010 album “Astro Coast,” which actually charted in the Billboard 200.
But even standing just 50 feet from the Balance Stage, clear across Union Park from where Lightning Bolt was playing, I couldn’t really make out any of Surfer Blood’s tunes. I can tell you that the faint percussion I could focus on had a really lovely tone to it. Well that, and everyone around seemed to use the band’s set to have picnics. There was a more jovial atmosphere around the stage, with many dining on curries, red beans and rice or massive sandwiches.
Guess there’s nothing better to do when you can’t hear the music.
ST. VINCENT
Gosh, I don’t want to do this Annie Clark. Really, I don’t.
I have seen you live before at the Metro here in Chicago. It’s what made me more open to your music. One of my favorite concert photos I have ever taken is of you, and I have it framed in my living room. Plus, you simply looked adorable on the Connector Stage in your tiny orange dressed, dwarfed by your guitar.
But Annie, my dear, you bored me.
Sigh.
I wanted to get excited seeing your backing band switch from flute to keyboards, bass to clarinet, saxophone, etc. I wanted to be giddy over the fact you played many of my favorite songs almost immediately. You started out with “Strangers,” and had me wanting to “paint the black hole blacker” for only a second. You launched into “Save Me From What I Want,” and I got a few goose bumps. The wave-like keyboards added so much to the song live, described by friends of mine as “aquatic lunar space noise.”
But by the time you launched in “Laughing With a Mouth of Blood,” I realized what was wrong. It. Was. Slow. Why’d you have to go and drop down the tempo of everything Annie, why? The saxophone part on “Actor Out of Work,” left me drooling and St. Vincent as a whole began to come alive. But it was too little too late for me. You apologized for being “standoffish” in the beginning and left the crowd with some fantastic droning guitar solos, feedback, and the like.
But you’re too floaty and melodic sometimes for a large festival field. I’m just thankful I saw you in a tiny room.
I believe you’re amazing Annie, truly I do.
MAJOR LAZER
DJs Diplo and Switch had it all.
Dancers in full Chinese dragon costumers, both glittery in full sequins. Scantily clad dancers, leaving little to the imagination as they grooved across the stage. They started out with a sample of “The Roof is On Fire,” which got the crowd moving, and it never stopped.
Chugging Hennessey in the afternoon sun as they all broke it down on stage, both DJs and their plethora of dancers kept the crowd entertained the full hour. Whether it was ballerina-skirted women or dancers drumming with Gatorade bottles, it was non-stop action on the stage. At one point, sampling Ace of Base’s “All That She Wants,” fans were brought onto the stage to join in on the action.
Hands in the air, everyone seemed to be in the mood to finally dance. Watching the action, my friend Chip said it best, “They’ve been bored the whole time …”
Well Major Lazer brought everyone out of their funk, and right into funky.
BIG BOI
Really Pitchfork, really?
What do you want me to say about Big Boi? He played mostly Outkast hits. He wanted women in the crowd to show him their breasts. He talked about it non-stop, only pausing for a minute as he brought 6- and 7-year-old breakdancers to the stage. It was the highlight of his show, and over too quickly.
Hipsters and Big Boi? Not a pretty sight. And one that made me go home and forgo most of Pavement. (Hey, don’t judge … I get to see them in September, when I will be fully rested and looking forward to only them.)
And Big Boi won’t be their “opening act.”
But hey, the day wasn’t totally a wash … I finally got my vegan corndog.
And a lot of mustard.
JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION: Heather Eidson photo
WHY?: Heather Eidson photo
OUT IN THE CROWD: Heather Eidson photos
LCD SOUNDSYTEM: Heather Eidson photos
I’m going to be honest with you. LCD Soundsystem just couldn’t hold my attention.
I was hot. I was tired. I was filthy.
And I wanted to go home. (Call me a loser, I’ll allow it.)
I stayed long enough to hear the band’s opener “Us v Them,” and see a lot of Flaming Lips-esque beach balls float through the air.
Halfway through the second song, I was making my way up the stairs to the Green Line and home. Another song and a half was heard from the train platform. I caught the end of the show online once I got home, thanks to Pitchfork’s streaming video all weekend.
Thankfully, Times staff photographer Heather Eidson stayed around and got some great shots from the show.
Visually, it proved to be more enticing.
WOLF PARADE: Heather Eidson photos
Oh, those Canadians.
I’m not sure what it is about bands coming from up North, but they sure have made a huge splash at this year’s festival.
Friday, it was Broken Social Scene that had me excited about the musical prospects for the weekend. Saturday, well Saturday brought us Wolf Parade.
The indie-rock band, together since 2003, has been touring the U.S. this year in support of “Expo ’86,” its third album on the Sub Pop label.
With the setting sun directly in their faces on the Aluminum Stage, the band members obviously gave it all they had. Heavy drumbeats from Arlen Thompson, highlighted by amazing playing from keyboardist Spencer Krug, really forced the sound out and over Union Park.
The crowd seemed receptive, even though most came across pretty subdued after spending all day in the sweltering heat. Lead singer Dan Boeckner, his face contorting constantly, belted out new and old songs with the greatest of ease, as fans down front sang along with every word.
Despite being daylight outside, Wolf Parade brought with them an extreme light show which only added to the anthem-like feel to their final songs as they closed out the show.
I had been waiting to see them live. They did not let me down.
FREDDIE GIBBS: Heather Eidson photos
“Freddie Gibbs, we need you up here now.”
By the time that was shouted out on the Balance Stage Saturday evening, a large crowd had finally gathered to watch one of the few Hip-Hop acts making their debut at Pitchfork.
Walking up to the stage, I had felt a sense of sadness at how few people had shown up to catch Gary-born emcee Gibbs. But I needn’t have worried, as our native son proved to be quite the draw.
Coming out to a rousing reception, one hand holding the microphone, the other bottles of Hennessey and water, Gibbs went right into “Str8 Killa No Filla,” the title track off his most-recent mix-tape release. As the water sloshed out of the bottle and onto the stage, Gibbs began to interact with the crowd.
“Fresh out of Gary, Ind., I’m Freddie. Freddie Gibbs,” he said as the first song ended. “You don’t get love like that anywhere but home,” he said as his fans responded with screams.
I have to admit, as Hip-Hop is not normally the genre I would lean to, I was not sure what to expect from Gibbs.
I should have never worried, as he put on a spectacular show. As he moved around the stage and out in the crowd with great ease, his set became more interactive and the mostly white, hipster crowd responded as if this was the music they had been raised on. Stripping off his T-shirt during the fifth song, Gibbs revealed a chiseled physique above his backwards khaki shorts.
I have to give Gibbs credit. Anyone you can think to rhyme Gary with obituary or testicles with vegetables has got to be in the right business.
Despite his not-safe-to-print lyrics, Gibbs did his hometown of Gary good.
And he gave me a break from all the indie-rock sameness.
PANDA BEAR: Heather Eidson photos
OK, I love Panda Bear. As my favorite member of Animal Collective, Noah Lennox was who I was looking most forward to seeing on Saturday.
As I walked towards the Connector Stage Saturday evening, I could barely hear Panda Bear’s ambient sounds, as they were being pushed away by Bear in Heaven playing on the Balance Stage. But just as the crowd would begin getting comfortable with the reverberation coming across the field, Lennox would belt out a screamed lyric, and the silence was shaken once more.
Standing alone on stage, just his guitar and recording equipment to aid him, Lennox seemed like a tiny ant on the big, black, overbearing stage. But with futuristic films coming across the screens, reminiscent of an Animal Collective performance, Lennox’s haunting tone eventually drowned out everything else, including all the fans gathered at the adjacent stage for the eventual headliner LCD Soundsystem.
Dressed in a simple green T-shirt, Lennox was not all that exciting to watch, but I think his strength lies more in his music than performing for a festival crowd. I’m just going to buy a copy of his newest release “Tomboy,” and simply enjoy him at home.
It’s just how it was meant to be.
Well, Pitchfork has brought me my first great surprise in the form of WHY?, an indie-rock band out of California.
Lead singer Yoni Wolf, decked out in a banded straw hat, plaid shirt and basketball jersey looked every part the hipster as the band took the stage for an unheard of nine-minute soundcheck.
As rumblings began to swoop through the crowd, WHY? finally found things to be as close to perfection as it could garner on the Balance Stage and finally started the set.
As the first beats of “Song of the Sad Assassin” began to waft through the air, I have to admit I wasn’t sure WHY? was who I should have chosen in that time slot, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion playing on the Connector Stage.
But as Wolf stripped his hat and plaid shirt off, and the full sound began to come together. With a xylophone-heavy beat, WHY? was a great mix of blues, rock and funk.
As Wolf shook his maraca on stage, the band belted out songs from its 2009 album, “Eskimo Snow.” As he sang “… alive, I feel alive …” I was glad that I felt the same way too. His gravelly voice sweeping over the crowd added to the wonderful, soulful feel.
And I now have a new band’s catalog to check out.
* Photographer Heather Eidson was also at WHY? today, and I look forward to sharing her shots later tonight.
No doubt about it, it’s hot.
Despite the heat, the mood around the fields at Union Park is actually quite jovial.
A lot of fans have retreated to the few shady parts of the park, but the mass faithful are crowding around the stages in 90-degree heat, waiting for a glimpse of their favorite artists.
Philadelphia artist Kurt Vile was a big draw on the Balance Stage this afternoon, with thousands making their way there to listen to his rocking guitar sounds. Vile, lead guitarist for the band The War on Drugs, has begun to make a name for himself over the past few years as a solo artist. His latest album, “Childish Prodigy,” was put out by Matador Records last year.
Vile, playing tracks off his newest release, and some going back to his first album, “Constant Hitmaker,” has proven to be a surprise standout in the Saturday heat.
As Vile finished his set, electronic artist Dam-Funk took to the Balance Stage. Born Damon G. Riddick, Dam-Funk is a California-based DJ and producer. Known for his modern funk music, Dam-Funk is an easier one to get down to, though many found the weather to be tough for dancing.
Spinning and singing tracks off of “Toeachizown,” Dam-Funk brought a lot of fans out to the smallest stage in Pitchfork’s arsenal.
Hopefully the heat will subside as we move into tonight’s performances. Bear in Heaven, Panda Bear, Freddie Gibbs and LCD Soundsystem will all get some of my time.
Here’s hoping for a breeze.
2010 Pitchfork Music Festival 