Yesterday’s Pitchfork Music Festival provided a great opportunity to see a bunch of bands that had eluded me. In total, I saw eleven bands during the course of one day, including eight of those for the first time.

I wasn’t going to miss a chance to check out Best Coast, whose album, Crazy For You, arrives next week behind a wave of great press. Her song “Boyfriend” would be permanently in my head for the remainder of the day.

Up next my group headed over to catch Girls. Had I been flying solo at the festival this is a band I would have certainly passed up. The combination of my fellow festival goers being fans and hearing from multiple co-workers that their Milwaukee show was something special, I decided it was worth giving the band a shot live. While it wasn’t the worst thing I heard all day, I didn’t leave feeling any more impressed with the band than I had been previously.

I took in Beach House from afar. Their set sounded absolutely amazing. These guys provide the perfect soundtrack to any time of day, and sounded especially at home under the blistering Chicago sun. Having seen the band only a few months earlier, I ducked out a bit early as I didn’t want to miss a chance to see Local Natives again. These guys were one of the highlights of the festival for me. If you don’t own a copy of Gorilla Manor, make sure to seek it out the next time you’re in a buying mood.

Despite the fact I’ve probably seen St. Vincent ten times in the past two years, I couldn’t resist seeing Annie Clark’s set. Backed by horns and violin, Clark demonstrated her guitar prowess, providing slightly altered/updated versions of the songs than I’d heard previously. Our group walked over and checked out Surfer Blood next and who could miss the insanity that is seeing Major Lazer live. The crowd went absolutely bonkers during Major Lazer, whose set included dancing girls, Chinese Dragons, and one very impressive leap into the audience via ladder. I literally cringed when I saw the dude jump off. That had to hurt.

We packed ourselves in like sardines in order to take in Sleigh Bells set. Unfortunately it was marred in technical difficulties which provided a good enough reason to depart early in order to secure a spot for Pavement and take it the remainder of Big Boi’s set along the way.

Even though we’re holding tickets for two upcoming Pavement shows, my friends and I couldn’t resist the chance at seeing the newly reformed band close out the festival. For many in the audience it was a time to be reunited with one the 90′s best bands. For myself it was an opportunity to see a band I was just a bit too young to catch them live before they called it quits. It was worth the wait. I think many in the crowd were a little surprised the band didn’t return for an encore with some time remaining before the clock struck 10pm, but it would be hard to find any other complaints with their set or the festival overall.

The music was obviously amazing, but I couldn’t wrap up this post without thanking Dan for the photos, our contributor Jon for hanging out and catching shows with us. It was great to say hello to our own Jodi and blog friends You Ain’t No Picasso, Chromewaves, J. Neas with Aquarium Drunkard, and the Ice Cream Man. We’ll be back next year.

Here are the Wisconsin and Chicago shows we recommend you take in this week. Check them out below and let us know which ones you’ll be attending or ones you think should really make our list. Also, don’t miss the very solid week of new releases, including our recommended purchases below.

Upcoming Wisconsin Shows:

6/8 – Grizzly Bear – Pabst Theater, Milwaukee
6/8 – Fleetwood Mac – Bradley Center, Milwaukee
6/9 – Starlight Mints/Evangelicals – High Noon Saloon, Madison
6/10 – Starlight Mints/Evangelicals – Turner Hall Ballroom, Milwaukee
6/10 – Daredevil Christopher Wright, Trapper Schoepp Band Cafe Montmartre, Madison

Upcoming Chicago Shows:

6/7 – Telekinesis – Schuba’s
6/8 – Art Brut – Schuba’s
6/9 – Art Brut – Schuba’s
6/10 – Art Brut – Schuba’s
6/10 – Pink Mountaintops – Empty Bottle, Chicago
6/11 – Art Brut – Schuba’s
6/11 – Vic Chesnutt/Jonathan Richman – Empty Bottle
6/12 – Art Brut – Schuba’s
6/12 – P.J. Harvey John Parish – Riviera Theatre
6/12 – Amanda Blank – Sonotheque
6/13 – Decibully – Bottom Lounge
6/13 – Phoenix – Park West
6/14 – Passion Pit – Empty Bottle

Just Announced:

7/8 – William Fitzsimmons – Majestic, Madison
7/29 – Steve Earle – Pabst Theater, Milwaukee
9/26 – Kings of Leon/Glasvegas – Bradley Center, Milwaukee
10/4 – The Gaslight Anthem/Murder By Death – Turner Hall Ballroom

New Releases:

The Low Anthem – Oh My God Charlie Darwin, Roadside Graves – My Son’s Home, Sonic Youth – The Eternal, Mos Def – The Ecstatic,

+Bookmark our Wisconsin and Chicago shows pages for all your concert announcements+

On June 23rd, Drive-By Trucker Patterson Hood will release the long-awaited Murdering Oscar (and other love songs) on Ruth St. Records. In support of the album, Patterson is hitting the road, including a Saturday, June 20th at the Metro in Chicago. As an added bonus, opening up that show is Will Johnson of Centro-matic/South San Gabriel fame.

Muzzle of Bees Giveaway: We’ve got two (2) pairs of tickets to give away to the aforementioned Patterson Hood & the Screwtopians + Will Johnson show at the Metro. To enter, drop a comment with your favorite Drive-By Truckers album or song. I’ll select two winners at random next week.

Pre-Order: Patterson Hood – Murdering Oscar (And Other Love Songs)
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Myspace: Patterson Hood
MP3: Patterson Hood – “Pride Of The Yankees”
MP3: Patterson Hood – “Pollyanna”

Last night in Chicago Menomena reminded everyone how great their 2007 Release Friend and Foe was, and how desperate everyone is for its follow up. The Empty Bottle crowd was on hand for what turned out to be a 32nd birthday celebration for Brent Knopf, who, as you can see in the pictures below, blew out the candles, then helped the band through a blistering set of material.

Those hoping to hear some new material got their wish. By my count there were two (possibly three) new tunes, but the majority of the set drew from Friend and Foe, which drew no complaints from me and my crew. Check the photos from Daniel Brielmaier and drop a comment with your thoughts if you made the show.

Those hungry for new Menomena material can get their fix via Brent Knopf’s new Ramona Falls project until a proper studio record comes around.

Buy: Menomena – Friend and Foe
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Myspace: Menomena
MP3: Menomena – “Wet & Rusting”

Time to hook up our friends and Chicago readers. Muzzle of Bees has a pair of tickets to give away for both St.Vincent (Sunday, June 7th) + Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band (Tuesday, July 14th) at the Metro.

To enter, drop a comment with your name and which show you’d like to attend. We’ll draw our winners a week from today and notify them by e-mail.

Buy: St. Vincent – “Actor” + Conor Oberst – “Outer South”
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Myspace: St. Vincent
Myspace: Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band
MP3: St. Vincent – “The Strangers”
MP3: Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band – “Nikorette”

By Jodi Root

The Bottom Lounge hosted a very interesting and solid music line-up last evening here in Chicago. Opening up the night was the rhythmic, electro-drumbeat, ambient yelp chant sounds from the duo The Berg Sans Nipple—wasn’t sure what to expect from these guys, especially with the remainder of the line-up—but I was not disappointed. Warming things up a bit, Doomtree ringleader P.O.S. was next up—busting out yet another, incredible live performance with several numbers from his recently released album, Never Better. P.O.S. got the kids to their feet, hands in the air, and bouncing to his fresh ass rhymes, backed up by the DJ mix of Plain Ole Bill, as he thanked the crowd for making it out earlier for his set—the last of four stops with Cursive. It seemed like an odd bill for these two groups to be paired up with this Saddle Creek rock staple, but the overall theme of solid music definitely prevailed.

For their final U.S. tour stop until June, Cursive took to the stage around 11:00 to a full house, busting out several older numbers and giving their loyal fans exactly what they wanted. The sound quality was super crisp, and the beats were right on, loud and immediate. Songs seamlessly blended from track to track—led by Tim Kasher’s misplaced, spoken word/yelp/shouting vocal work, atop driven guitars, steady bass, disarrayed organ action, tight percussion and polished horn segues. The crowd loved it.

Highlights from the set included older jams, “Dorothy at Forty,” “The Night I Lost the Will to Fight,” and “Bad Sects.” My only complaint from last night would be that I really would have liked to have seen more new songs accounted for. “I Couldn’t Love You” was pretty rad, and of course “From the Hips” was accounted for as the final encore number—which was dedicated to the wives and girlfriends of the group for sticking it through despite their constant absences on the road. But still, even though I do dig their older material as well, I feel like I see the same show every time I make it out to see these dudes—last year at Belmont Art and Music Fest, their SXSW set at Radio Room (video above), and lastly, Bottom Lounge. Mama, I’m Swollen may be one of my top albums of ’09 thus far and I think it’d be super great to see a more consistent representation of the album live. Still, I see why older material is showcased as well; these dudes have been around on the scene for a while so it’s great to see they are sticking true to their roots. Overall, it was a solid performance and a kickass night of music.

Discuss: Did anyone else make it out last night? What were your thoughts on Cursive and the openers?

Additional U.S. tour dates are listed below.

JUNE 13 DENVER, CO WESTWORD MUSIC SHOWCASE
JUNE 18 SIOUX FALLS, SD NUTTY’S NORTH
JUNE 20 BILLINGS, MT YELLOWSTONE VALLEY BREWERY
JUNE 21 MISSOULA, MT THE OTHER SIDE
JUNE 22 SPOKANE, WA KNITTING FACTORY
JUNE 23 SEATTLE, WA NEUMO’S
JUNE 24 PORTLAND, OR WONDER BALLROOM
JUNE 27 SAN FRANCISCO, CA GREAT AMERICAN MUSIC HALL
JUNE 28 LOS ANGELES, CA EL REY THEATRE
JUNE 29 POMONA, CA GLASSHOUSE
JULY 1 SALT LAKE CITY, UT CLUB SOUND

Buy: Cursive – Mama, I’m Swollen
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Myspace: Cursive
MP3: Cursive – “From The Hips”