Stroger Makes Hollywood Play
Put Down Your Nanowrimo And Leave The House
Sox Shuffle Continues
Jay-Z Announces 2010 Tour Dates. Chicago Not On List.
We entered the Pitchfork Music Festival grounds a little late Saturday, since the CTA saw fit to make sure all the buses we needed to take were running extra slow, while suspending Blue Line service between Western and Clark/State. They picked a bang-up weekend to make sure they removed the primary vein of public travel right from the heart of the hipster corridor. As we arrived though, we were dually serenaded by the noise of a big-time photographer trying to argue his way into a VIP pass, overlaid by the muted strumming of Iron and Wine.
Iron and Wine exhibited one of the main problems with putting some of the more popular indie rock acts on the huge main stages; they just don't have the sound or presence to pull it of. Music that is deeply touching in a club environment drifts off and gets lost when it hits the open air. It also didn't help that near the end of their set you could hear Mastodon soundchecking, rather loudly. (This, incidentally was a problem that popped up a few times this weekend, most notably when one of GZA's backing tracks started playing during Slint's set Friday night.)
Walking across the festival grounds it also seemed that people were drunker, the lines to the bathrooms were Sisyphean, the dust in the air gave the scene a slight Mad Max feel, and we were worried. Where was the feel-good vibe of last year?
Luckily we rediscovered that vibe as we made out way to the side-stage to catch part of Professor Murder's set.
Professor Murder's polyrhythmic energy was certainly a hit at the crowded side stage, this year mercilessly bereft of a tented covering but still far too small (as we would learn later in the evening). Kids were smiling and dancing, although we're willing to bet that this was almost every person's first time even hearing the New York based band.
We swung back onto the main field for a quick look at Mastodon, the true oddball in the weekend's line-up, since their crushing metal attack doesn't really seem like the Pitchfork crowd's cup of tea. Unlike Pelican or a number of other "safe" indie rock metal groups, Mastodon maintains no ironic distance from their music. They just fucking rock.
And then it was back to the side-stage for another New York group, Oxford Collapse. We really enjoyed their last album, and sure enough they delivered an energetic set that hit just the notes we expected them too. Bassist Adam Rizer proved to be the tru joy of the group to watch as he stomped, hooted, and hollered his way across the stage leaving a trail of spilled beer and untied shoelaces in his wake.
Back at one of the main stages, Clipse erupted amid a flurry of thudding, chest-heaving beats to deliver one of the best live hip-hop sets we've since, well, just about ever. Malice and Pusha-T delivered super-tight rhymes, and visually spent their energy engaging the crowd. Tales of dark drug deals and disappointed moms became unlikely party anthems punctuated by the screams of the ecstatic teenagers in the front row. We've had quibbles all weekend that the sound on the main stages wasn't really loud enough, and Clipse only furthered our belief when they proved just how much volume those speakers can push through. We did find it kind of funny that a hip-hop act kind of out-louded the brutes in Mastodon though.
We'd been curious what Dan Deacon would be like live, but as we made our way back to the side stage we were caught totally off guard by the scene that greeted us. Massive waves of people were swimming about, and their was a frenetic chipmunk-driven electro-rock with beats whose speed were approaching digital hardcore territory. Kids were hopping madly up and down, and all focus seemed to be centered on the ground in front of the stage. We wormed our way up and discovered Deacon had placed himself and his gear in the middle of the crowd, truly bringing his show to the people. We also discovered that a great number of folks at the side stage had been camped out there all afternoon, to insure their space in the crowd when Girl Talk hit the stage later that night.
We decided to risk losing our own spot for Girl Talk and ran back over to the main stage to catch a bit of Cat Power. Boy was that a mistake. Chan Marshall turned in a total snoozefest that wasn't helped by her constant apology of, "I'm really sorry about the sound here, everyone." Perhaps they were having issues onstage, and that's what she was responding to, but out in the crowd, we could hear every single dull, and lethargically uninspired note. To say we were bummed by tis let-down would be a huge understatement since we really like Ms. Marshall's work. Oh well.
And it was back to the side stage -- what is it about the side stage that seems to draw the most attention -- to find edgy security guards, a massive crowd, and a whole bunch of upset VIPs realizing that sometimes a laminate is worthless in the face of crowd safety. Greg Gillis' crew erected a big inflatable spider while he set up his computer. The crowd was warned the fire marshal was there and was threatening to shut down the whole stage due to a worrisome fence that seemed as if it might not hold up under the mass number of people pressing against it.
And it was at this point we realized that we were witnessing the biggest scheduling snafu of the evening. Girl Talk should have been on the main stage. It's that simple. Once we saw him performing we realized that not only was his crowd big enough for the main stage, but his live show was more than big enough to fill that stage.
And what about that live show? We love Gillis' mixes and mash-ups, but can understand when some folks criticize him for playing a show while rearranging files on his laptop. But if that was all he did, we doubt that his rep would have grown so quickly. In fact, Gillis takes to the stage like a spastic electronic Iggy Pop, and his dance sets are more rockin' than most bands we're seen. A constant stream of guest dancers mills about the stage, throwing confetti, silly string, water, and whatever else they can get their hands on, while Gillis leaps around like a mad scientist, gleefully mixing sonic concoctions meant to drive the crowd ever more crazy. It's also worth noting that it was during Gillis' set that we saw the most crowd surfing of the weekend, and Gillis himself supplied a couple spectacular stage dives into the crowd.
Girl Talk creates fun mixes, but Gillis' real weapon is the live set. We particularly enjoyed hearing Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend" turned into a massive slab of super-pop anchored by crunching beats, and Pilot's "Magic" snaked it's way into his set, spurring a spontaneous sing-a-long from the ebullient crowd. Unfortunately, near the end of his set, Gillis was abruptly cut-off (we're guessing the marshal pulled the plug, or security just grew too nervous about the crowd?) and he left the stage, visibly upset at not being able to finish.
Even without the release of the climax Gillis was obviously building up to, though, it was easily the most exciting set we've seen yet this weekend.
As we made out was out, across the quickly emptying festival grounds, we urned to take in a bit of Yoko Ono's set, hoping against hope that something about her live would change our minds about her solo output. Alas, our opinion wasn't to change, so we returned to memories of Girl Talk and prepared for our long trek home.
Photos of Dan Deacon, Oxford Collapse, Clipse, and Girl Talk by Jim Kopeny. See lots of other pictures from Day 1 and Day 2 of the Pitchfork Music Festival at the Chicagoist Flickr page.
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So would you say that chan marshall was a 5.3? and girltalk like a 8.4? Please let me know cause pitchfork-style quantified ratings are the only way i can understand if music is good or not.
Wow, so far nothing has matched the opening set by Ken Vandermark, John Herndon, Jeff Parker and the dude from Dirty Three!!! Herndon's amazing drum skills were put to the test and he was OF FIRE for the whole set! Iron & Wine was actually a nice set and sounded great up in front. That was the first encore performed, followed by huge cheers! Cat Power had major sound problems, but still managed to get through her set, which I think was quite good. Battles was quite the crowd pleaser, too. Clipse sounded terrible from beyond their stage, just thumping bass and the occasional, "uh..." yelled into th mic between thumps. From our view, the crowd near the stage was going crazy, though. The lines for food and beer (and even bathrooms) was very short for most of the day. It seemed half of the crowd didn't show up until 3pm!!! Another highlight was Thurston Moore joing Yoko Ono for some major noise attack!!!! AMAZING!!!!
now that i think about it, the taste of chicago bands, espec. cheap trick, were so much better than this year's pfork lineup. they may not fit the hipster's definition of "cool", but at least they know how to hold a crowd's attention.
Guest, I think it's retarded to lump a few thousand teenagers and several hundred of us older music freaks into the "hipster" category. Maybe you don't understand the fashion of today's youth or feel threatened by anything other than your dozen Chicago classic rock stations.
No sound problems, transit problems, or washed up novelty acts at the Old Town School's fest. No whiny wannabe-VIPs, no lack of enthusiasm from the crowd.
I no longer regret skipping Pitchfork.
This festival was way oversold. There was no water in the hand-washing stations by 4:00. There were lines for food stretching back to the toilets. And Girl Talk, that's a whole different story: Some guy jumped on top of a Fuze truck and got shoved off by an angry vendor. A bunch of idiots climbed onto the fence and were yanked down by a poor staff woman who was verbally abused for trying to keep the peace. Others tried to shove their way out of the crowd and nearly got into fistfights. Ridiculous.
And the day started off great with a nice set by Battles, but after Clipse it all terrible quickly. Today I'm skipping Deerhunter and Menomena -- who I'd really like to see -- just to preserve sanity. If Pitchfork would allow reentry, like every other competent festival, that would be helpful. I am so disappointed in their lack of organization and foresight.
Who the hell is Chicagoist to say things like "we're willing to bet that this was almost every person's first time even hearing the New York based band" or "one of those bands everyone name-checks, but almost no one has actually heard" (from day 1 review)?
It is this sort of cheesy elitism that makes Chicago look bad. My friends and I (5 total) have seen both bands several times, and afterwards had several conversations with others who were fans as well.
Please take a hint from your parent blog Gothamist and quit assuming that you are more enlightened than the rest of us. There is a reason those bands were booked for this year's festival. It could have something to do with them having fans.
Embrace concise writing for the internet, Chicagoist, it is your friend. And Jim, what is up with that last paragraph?
#8 That last paragraph was a result of speedy typing as I was trying to get out the door for today's festivities!
And #7, my comments about Slint were in no way meant to be negative towards the crowd, it was merely an observation. Not everyone has to have heard every album by every obscure / seminal band in order to appreciate them ... that's the point I was trying to make. Sorry if that wasn't clear.
And, like Gothamist, we seek to illuminate our audience, not alienate them. But reviews are reviews, and will often contain some criticism of some element of the concert experience. In this case I wasn't criticizing the crowd, but I do believe that crowds are fair game when compiling a review of a show.
Joe M: "Wow, so far nothing has matched the opening set by Ken Vandermark, John Herndon, Jeff Parker and the dude from Dirty Three!!!"
Huh? I don't get it.
Anyway... The fourth member of Powerhouse Sound is bassist Nate McBride.
JoeM500: "Wow, so far nothing has matched the opening set by Ken Vandermark, John Herndon, Jeff Parker and the dude from Dirty Three!!!"
Huh? I don't get it.
Anyway... The fourth member of Powerhouse Sound is bassist Nate McBride.
Man, I totally knew of Prof. Murder, and I live here in Chicago. He really did try to give a great set, despite the sound issues.
Also, the Girl Talk fiasco was HORRIBLE. I felt so bad for him. I gave p-fork a .25 for planning in my review.
Today was somewhat better, but Pitchfork sure did drop the ball on planning this thing. Something was missing this year that was so nice about the past two years. Just something wasn't the same.
Lisa
heavemedia.com/blog
Man, I totally knew of Prof. Murder, and I live here in Chicago. He really did try to give a great set, despite the sound issues.
Also, the Girl Talk fiasco was HORRIBLE. I felt so bad for him. I gave p-fork a .25 for planning in my review.
Today was somewhat better, but Pitchfork sure did drop the ball on planning this thing. Something was missing this year that was so nice about the past two years. Just something wasn't the same.
Lisa
heavemedia.com/blog
0.7/10
i'm good friends with the guy that got pushed off the Fuze truck. he wasn't hurt, but some douchebag security guard escalated the situation and decided he was going to get revenge on my friend (to impress the trixieish Fuze girls that he was flirting with). after a bunch of yelling, (none by my friend, lots by the security guard and the worthless lying POS Fuze girls) our friend was slammed against the Fuze truck, and whisked away to the VIP area.
said security guard never provided his name or badge number (after claiming he was a cop. yeah right.) and threated to have us arrested if we continued to demand to know what my friend was being charged with. 7 hours, one holding pen, and 2 police stations later, my friend was released with a trumped up assault charge. that's right. the security guard claimed he took a swing at him. if you knew my friend, you'd know that this is about as likely as a timy baby counting all the grains of sand in the world in 10 minutes.
plus, the sound on the side stage was a joke, esp. during fujiya and miyagi and dan deacon. couldn't hear a damn thing. and cat power/iron and wine sucked. plus, i get it, various lefty groups: bush should be impeached. stop following me around and yelling at me about it. it only makes me want to vote republican when you do that.
battles' set and the lovely weather were the only redeeming things from this day.
The sound on Saturday totally blew.. The two main draws for Saturday for me were Girl Talk and Cat Power. Neither of which I was able to enjoy because I wasn't able to hear either. Isn't the point of going to a concert to hear music. Get your shit together Pitchfork. Girl Talk should have been on main stage and the sound for Cat Power should have been better. I agree, the vibe last year was way better. If I hadn't gone to see Chromeo and Flosstradamus at Empty Bottle after the fest, my Saturday would have been a total bust. By the way, that show was friggen awesome!!
Anyway, I dont plan on going to Pitchfork next year.
I'm in total agreement with the last poster. This year was a wash for me. I'm psyched that so many people are turning up to see some of my fave bands but i'm disgusted that i wasn't able to get anywhere near close enough to enjoy the show without risking life and limb. There were WAY more people packed into Union Park than in previous years and it got to be pretty claustrophobic, especially regarding the handling of the B stage during the beginning of the Dan Deacon set. Seeing Dan Deacon was one of the reasons i decided to attend this year in the first place. I'm no old fogey, but it was making me really nervous to be so packed into such a small space with nowhere to go. There literally was no way away from the stage as people were packed so tightly together that nobody could even turn around. And yet a-holes were still trying to smash their way to the front for a better look at an act (Dan Deacon) that couldn't even be bothered to set up on the f-ing stage so people might be able to see them which just made everyone waiting for Girl Talk more antsy. That's just irresponsible on the part of the festival organizers. I have no intention of going next year, and i've been a HUGE supporter in years past. This was just sad and disappointing for the real music fan. I was so disillusioned with the weekend that i didn't even bother going on Sunday, and i'd been looking forward to seeing Deerhunter and Of Montreal. How about better security/allowing re-entry in the future, guys, whaddya think?
Also, the sound was too quiet. It ain't rock if you can't feel it in yer bones. Didn't help that P-Fork booked a lotta 'mellow' acts this year (Beach House? Iron & Wine? Brightblack?, etc...) Just sayin'...
Beach House had a nice little set. Iron & Wine made the crowd go nuts until they came out for an encore... I will agree that the sound wasn't very loud, but outdoor shows get that treatment a lot.
Also not sure if I get the #10/#11 comment... I didn't know the bassist's name. Big f'n deal, I stil think they were the best band of the whole fest!!!!
#14, obviously I can't dispute the account of your friend's travails, but gee, think a bit about how that all could have been avoided in the first place.
Granted, I was closer to the stage for Clipse than anyone else I saw Saturday, but how come I came away from their fucking badass set nearly deaf, but I could barely hear any one else the rest of the day?
The Girl Talk fiasco was something I knew was going to happen as soon as I saw the schedule. It's Saturday night, you've got Clipse, then two soft, low-key acts on the main stages, and you put the two high energy acts on a stage where the audience is packed into an area the width of an alley with fences on both sides.
We ended up watching Girl Talk from across Ogden Avenue, where we could kind of hear it, and see the first 10 rows of people listening to it and having fun, and the last 90 rows of people looking pissed off.
Reading that, I should have prefaced my first comment by saying I couldn't hear anyone before Clipse either.
I couldn't even SEE the side stage, not wanting to fight through the mass of people crowded in there. The massive amount of smoking got to me, as well - at one point a breeze came by and made me realize how I'd missed fresh air.
Those gripes aside, the evening was beautiful, we still found a place to spread a blanket and listen to music, and Flatstock was amazing.
I agree the festival had some serious sound problems, but it was definitely not oversold. I never waited more than two minutes for a beer or more than ten minutes for a bathroom, and I was at the festival from 1 to 10 Saturday and Sunday. If Connies pizza has a thirty minute line, maybe you could settle for a sandwich from Wishbone (which had like a five minute line at most anytime I went by it). De La Soul was great, as was Grizzly Bear, Battles, and Menomena (excpet for the apparently pitchfork impossed shortened set--which was bulls**t). Unfortunately, sound problems were pretty consistent on all of the stages. Cat Power, however, suffered froma lack of confidence rather than sound problems in my humble opinion. Chan is notorious for her fickle perfomrances, and you could tell she was uncomfortable from the start. Maybe something didn't sound right to her, but the sound wasn't so bad that she couldn't have kept going with a a little more spirit. It is ashame to hear Girl Talk ended up the way it did. I love his Night Ripper CD, but I have to say I saw the s**t show coming and got out of there fast. Acts that make people go nuts in a good way and dance there asses off (which Girl Talk has an established rep of doing) do not belong in confined spaces with multiple choke points!!!
To Guest 19: Of course the whole situation could've been avoided if my friend wasn't "enjoying" himself so much. However, notice my use of the word "escalated" my second sentence. Look it up. It doesn't have to do with moving stairs.
-Gee, Guest 14 can be just as condescending as you
How did Yoko sound? Couldn't bring myself to stay and listen after my disappointment with Cat Power's set.
Day 2, I'll agree with the poor sound complaints and crowds at some of the stages. Fuyija & Miyagi's set was wrecked by a long setup and terrible sound problems. What was up with Deacon doing his set from in the crowd? He sure should have known only the people right around him would be able to see him, no? I did like Twilight Sad, Voxtrot early. Got a choice spot for Girl Talk and that kicked ass. Outside of that I liked the Day 3 lineup a whole lot better.
Day 3, for the side stage was handled much better than Day 2. The Cool Kids were much louder than Girl Talk the night before. However, I suppose using a mic can have different results than just having a laptop.
I thought Saturday was a great day, though the crush of people at the Balance stage was far from ideal. I wrote a full review which you can find here.
Sunday review is on its way.