The first day of the Pitchfork Music Festival showcased three classic acts, performing their classic albums. Slint re-created their seminal Spiderland, and while watching their set we realized that they are definitely one of those bands everyone name-checks, but almost no one has actually heard. Kind of like how dudes in the '90s would talk about how awesome Patti Smith's Horses was because that was just the sort of thing you were supposed to say. We were pleased to see them though, and suspect that the small portion of the crowd that did love the band finally saw their dream come true through their live set; and we suspect that the rest of the folks in the crowd were probably won over by the band's slinky melodies and explorations deep into their own cavernous sound.
GZA was up next to play his high water mark, Liquid Swords. Looking around the crowd it was then that we realized that for this current generation, GZA and the Wu-Tang Clan are like their Nirvana, or R.E.M., or Minutemen, or Sonic Youth; they were the artists that spoke to them, and broke through to them, and showed them what music was capable of, at an early age. We enjoyed the show, and vibed off the crowd's energy as we got closer to the stage, but we also admit not feeling the emotional connection or visceral thrill that was evident throughout most of the crowd. We personally like hip-hop better when it's performed in a club where the beats can truly envelop us, but we enjoyed the set nonetheless.
And then came Sonic Youth.
While the crowd paid attention to Slint, and grew more energetic for GZA, it was obvious just about everyone was really there to Sonic Youth's performance of Daydream Nation. And the older art-rockers did not disappoint. When they ripped into "Teen Age Riot" to start the set, the crowd exploded, attempting to match the furious guitars, rolling bass, and cacaphonic drums leaping off the stage with an equal return of energy. But the crowd was no match for Sonic Youth massive presence and submitted happily to the band's attack. The energy seeped all the way around the park, and the backstage area was packed with musical luminaries (including Spoon's Britt Daniel, making a stop on the way to his own show at Schuba's later that night) held captive by their heroes.
BEST LINE OF THE DAY: As Time Tuten tried to introduce Sonic Youth to a hostile crowd he said, "What are you going to do? Start a 'Middle-aged Riot?'" Sadly we think the joke was lost on most of the audience, but we thought it was pretty darn funny.
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Chicagoist really needs a better music reviewer.
And who cares about backstage?
You know, the most annoying thing about the Chicagoist isn't the writers, or the stories, it is the commenters who won't shut up.
If you want professional music reviews go read Rolling Stone.
I, for one, appreciate getting reviews and pictures of the show the very next morning.
I disagree with comments about the GZA. I think at minimum a 1/3 of the people were disinterested. yes, they shout along to "Wu Tang Wu Tang..." but familiarity with the material went no further and for these kids Wu Tang was certainly no defining moment in music.
I agree that most people have only a vague idea of who Slint is and may have expected something different.
I have rarely seen a band that was as synchronized as Sonic Youth. I guess that comes with being a 20 year old band. Even their noisy stuff all kind of mushed together well. It's exciting to see live tinkering with instruments that always has the potential to go very wrong.
why was the sonic youth crowd "hostile?"
They were a tad impatient, since they had been made to wait quite a bit while the band's techs painstakingly set up the gear onstage. By the time Tim got up to introduce the band, he was met with lots of boos and few empty beer cups were flung his way.
It's unclear to Guest what a Time Tuten is. Is it similar to "Darn Tootin!"?
Regards,
Guest
I was a bit suprised to see no mention of how the DJ during GZA's set fucked up three or four times to the point of the set sucking. I mean they did stop two songs because of a skipping record and the DJ cutting one of the songs short.
I agree that Chicagoist really needs better music reviewers.
If you view Slint's "Spiderland" as some far-away holy rare record, you really shouldn't be reviewing any music in Chicago. Although they were from Louisville, that Slint record has a lot to do with the infamous "Chicago post-rock" sound of 90's indie-rock.
This isn't about having the "right" records or some hipster b.s., but if Chicagoist is gonna review something like Pitchfork, you should get a music writer with an understanding past the VHI/Rolling Stone history of rock, since that ain't where that festival is coming from.
#1 and #8, did you actually read the review, or yesterday's preview? If so, I'm not sure how you think I'm denigrating Slint in any way. My point is exactly that they HAVE been incredibly influential in the Chicago scene (some even praise / blame them for the WHOLE post-rock movement).
Slint was fine, good musicians, too many slower parts of the album killed it for a lot of people. I'm not into hip-hop, would say Clipse and De La Soul were way more fun that GZA. Sonic Youth was way better than I thought they were going to be. Their set kicked ass for me.