Tagged: 2009pitchforkmusicfestival

* Scattered in the Flaming Lips Sunday night set between the hits were two new tracks from their upcoming album, Embyronic. This being the Internet age, you can already see a fan video of fairly decent quality for "Silver Trembling Hands" on Youtube, and you can bet the other new track, "Convinced of the Hex," will be there shortly. * I feel bad for all the bands who had to go up against The Flaming Lips on Sunday night. This includes Mew and The Very Best who closed the Balance Stage, as [...]

A Flaming Lips concert is quite unlike any concert you're likely to attend. It's like a birthday party. Not just for you and your friends, but for everyone. There were 15,000 birthdays yesterday, and giant orange and yellow balloons, and orange and yellow confetti shot into the night sky, and dancing frogs and dancing foxes, and a giant, pulsating vagina through which the band would enter the stage, and best of all there was a modern day Willy Wonka who goes by the name Wayne Coyne, there to make sure that this birthday with the Flaming Lips [...]

Was it a breeze I couldn't feel? Was there a fan I couldn't see? Or, was it the power of Rock 'N' Roll? I can't say for certain whether the wind which kept the hair of Japandroids' guitarist Brian King in perpetual motion was man-made or natural, but I'd like to think it was the power of Rock 'N' Roll. Gracious taking the stage, King and drummer David Prowse, didn't want to waste time with banter (They assured us it was good banter) and instead wanted to use the limited minutes they had on the Balance [...]

For those of us who witnessed the music and culture of the '90s firsthand, the unfolding revival of the past decade can be a bit unnerving. At one point Saturday, I sent a text to my photographer, Laura Webb, asking if flannel is back. A quick scan of the crowds Saturday and Sunday revealed the most plaid patterns I've seen since the days when Lollapalooza was a tour with Green Day, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and The Breeders gracing the stage, and not the ginormous festival event it is today. Our fashion consultant, Laura's sister Alissa, would [...]

Walking into the final day on the 2009 Music Festival, early arrivers had a chance to see what would perhaps be the final Mae Shi show. Late last week, news broke that three of the four existing members were splitting off and forming a new band , Signals, leaving Jeff Byron to hold on to the Mae Shi name. Yet, if the remaining Mae Shi were operating at only 3/4 efficiency, it certainly didn't show Sunday afternoon, as they ripped through the glitchy nintendo pop of their 2008 release, HLLYH. Plus, any loss of Byron was [...]

* Gogol, used as a fashion accessory. A paperback of the Russian author's Dead Souls, with the title and author neatly displayed, was sticking too perfectly out the back of those cut-off jean shorts for a little light reading. * Granted, I was in Chicago, but I still didn't expect to see someone wearing a Wesley Willis Fiasco t-shirt . Congratulations, man, you win the award for the most obscure band t-shirt of the day. * Maybe the title of this post should be seen, heard, and tasted because as Union Park was [...]

The biggest obstacle facing bands at this year's Pitchfork Music Festival, and every edition of the festival, for that matter, is how to take an act catered to bars, small clubs, and 1,000 person capacity concert halls and transform that act for the bigger venue. If you're a band who stands and plays with little stage presence, that lack of polish will be magnified by the thousands of eyes in the fields of Union Park. Conversely, if you're a band who thrives on the close interaction with your fans, like the Black Lips, you now have to find [...]

To demonstrate the power the Brooklyn band Matt and Kim have over a crowd, see the following text exchange: Me: I heart Matt and Kim, maybe Kim more than Matt, but I heart Matt, too. Laura: They are cute, like buttons Now, I had never seen the keyboard and drum duo live before, nor had I ever bothered to pick up one of their albums, but five minutes into their early evening set at the Balance Stage, I was hooked. Kim, never once stopped smiling, as she raised her hands high and thrust [...]

Considering Fucked Up's blazing, early afternoon performance on the Aluminum Stage, it shouldn't be all that surprising that I went through a late afternoon funk. I would spend the late afternoon and early evening, wandering from stage to stage, failing to be impressed. No one can deny Ponytail's energy and exuberance. Neon clad front woman, Molly Siegel, must have Five Hour Energy running through her veins, the way she bounces around that stage. Similarly, no one can deny the skill of guitarists Dustin Wong and Ken Seeno, who are teaching a [...]

When you hear Fucked Up on record, and especially, Damian Abraham's shredded voice, you're bound to make some assumptions about the Toronto progressive, post-hardcore band. For example, you might assume Abraham lives on a diet of smoothies-- Glass, thumb tack, sandpaper, and bleach smoothies. Or, perhaps you've dug into the lyrics of one of their near 20 minute singles, like, "Year of the Pig," and came to the conclusion that this is a serious band who sings about serious things like human trafficking and prostitution. And maybe you've seen a picture of the generously built Abraham and [...]

*Some memes die swiftly, other memes, it seems, are able to outlive their predictably short internet life-span. Minutes before Ponytail's set on the Balance Stage a man walked up to me trying to finish his hipster bingo card. He was looking for an out of place metal dude and thought the dude next to me may have been metal. Remember hipster bingo ? You may have played it five years ago. This particular card was updated for 2009 and included rompers (check), gladiator sandals (check), ray-bans (check, check, and check), ironic moustaches (Oh, my [...]

If the Dutchess is the lean, elegant woman in black tee, and The Duke is the bearded man whose belly stretches his blue tee thin, then who were all the others on stage? Turns out The Dutchess ( Kimberly Morrison) and The Duke (Jesse Lortz) had invited some friends, including members of the Chicago garage-punk band, The Ponys, and a small string section, to join them in presenting their brand of raw, front porch folk. Intimacy and honest, real emotions were key to the success of The Dutchess and The [...]

* I wasn't the only one complaining about the brutal drive into Chicago on Friday. Anyone coming from the East on 90 encountered an hour delay around South Bend, Indiana and a second hour delay in Gary, Indiana. Normally, this drive would have taken 5 1/2 to 6 hours. Friday, it was closer to 7 1/2. Could this have accounted for the sluggish start to the festival? * Spotted in the crowd were no fewer than six other dudes sporting Sunn O))) t-shirts, and each dude was was bigger, hairier, and beardier than me. [...]

With apologies to Dough Martsch and Built to Spill, who were by schedule, the first night's headliners, day 1 of the 2009 Pitchfork Music Festival belonged to David Yow and the reformed Jesus Lizard. It's simply a matter of fact. Any band with the misfortune of following Yow is going to sound like a bunch of choir boys in comparison. Tonight, those choir boys just happened to big, bearded boys, with guitars and a boundless supply of intricately winding guitar solos. Looking like a balder, dirtier Bill Maher, in jeans and black tee, Yow was [...]

In, let's say, eight minutes from now, I'll be heading out on the road to Chicago for the 2009 edition of the Pitchfork music festival. Check back this weekend for timely updates, reviews and photos of all the action from Chicago's Union Park. With Friday night, all-request sets from Tortoise, Yo La Tengo, The Jesus Lizard, and Built to Spill, and a closing night performance by The Flaming Lips, this will surely be a memorable festival.