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.
