Source: morecowbell.net

It was a beautiful, breezy, sunny day in downtown Chicago. Despite imediately feeling my neck beginning to burn from the sun, I was excited for the long day ahead. The enormous never-ending line succeded in keeping my energy up while Stacy Schwartz & I waited for the Festival to begin. Armed with a delicious bag of David’s sunflower seeds and a list full of great acts to see, I entered Union Park.

Glasow Scotland’s “The Twilight Sad” was the first band of the day to take the stage. While it might seem lame to play first, they actually had a solid crowd due to being the first thing that everybody saw entering the gates. The band looked like they had just crawled out of bed. 1pm IS pretty early to play for a band on the road. Despite all of this, the band played well. It was something else to see that amount of sound being created from only three instruments. Although the band had probably the shortest set of the day (25 minutes), they were grateful, and used their time well. The Twilight Sounds’ dark, swirling sound was a supurb way to kick off the day.

After some exploring and a small shopping excursion, I made it back in time to catch the last few songs from “Califone,” a middle-aged quartet. Their slightly experimental, dusty tunes were a surprising treat. From what I saw, the band is capable of creating an avalanche of noises at times. Their sound evolves over the course of a single song, taking and mixing various elements of rock, soul, folk and world music.

As Califone wrapped up, I started to notice just how many people were crammed into the parched Union Park. I knew the event was sold out all weekend, but the enormous crowd at each stage for every act was really something special.

I dont need to say much about the band that was up next, as this was the thrid time I have seen (and written about) Grizzly Bear in the last six months. Their brand of new aged indie-folk has launched them into the stars over the last year. With heavenly four-part harmonies, and stunning musicianship, seeing these guys live never gets old. It is interesting at outdoor shows how the elements sometimes like to throw in their two cents. For example, during Grizzly Bear’s set, while the band was playing their most frantic and intense song, the wind picked that exact moment to throw a furrious gust at the stage and delight us all.

My first confilict of the day came during the 4pm time slot, as Fujiya Miyagi and Battles were playing at the same time. I decided to head over to Fujiya Miyagi based on Stacy’s reccommendation. They braved technical difficulties and began their set, which pleased the patiently waiting crowd. Despite their name, Fujiya Miyagi is made up of three white British guys. They bring sexy grooves that feature breathy, whispered vocals that don’t make a lot of sense (although most people dont listen to dance music for the words). The trio features crisp, clean guitar, smooth funk bass, and mellow synth lines. As their set progressed I kept waiting for the band to kick it up to the next level, but it just never happend. The music was solid and the grooves held up, but not much about this band really stood out. I should have gone to Battles.

Professor Murder was up next on the same stage following Fujiya Miyagi. The band combined dancehall, club and funk to create a show that was begging to take place at a house party somewhere. Frontman Michael Bell-Smith was the star of the set, bouncing around stage smiling with his mouth agape like a delighted infant. Full of energy and life, Michael was a lightning rod onstage. I couldn’t help but smile as he slammed his timballes while giving the crowd a look like, “check out what I’m doing!” I did’t see anybody, onstage or in the crowd, having a better time than him all day long.

Virginia’s hip-hop superstars Clipse bounded on stage at 7pm, barreling through three hits from their 2006 critically acclaimed record “Hell Hath No Fury.” A surpring amount of people went bar for bar with Pusha T and Malice even as they reached back into their catalogue. Unfortunately, Clipse’s charismatic and distict vocals that save them from the heaps of other cocaine-rhymin emcees were nowhere to be found in their live show. They fell into a trap that far too many hip-hop artists fall into, as they basically yelled into their microphones throuhout their set. However, the crowd didn’t seem to mind too much, as we all danced and sang along as Clipse riffled through hit after hit.

This was the last full set of the day that I took in. As I wandered around Union Park for the last few artists I caught songs from Cat Power, Girl Talk, Dan Deacon, and unfortunately, Yoko Ono, who I must admit I dont know much about, but after a video segment, and her first song, I dont think I want to. It was simply bizzare and I left the park grounds scratching my head as to why she was chosen to close out the festivites for the evening.

Overall the day went well. I saw everything that I wanted to and discovered some surprises along the way. Tomorrow’s schedule promises to pack more of a punch, with performances by Menomena, Of Montreal, The Cool Kids and The New Pornographers topping my list. Pitchfork may not be the most impressive as far as lineups go, but it certainly has one of the most diverse. Today, back-to-back-to-back, were Mastadon, Clipse and Cat Power, and more importantly, a huge crowd of passionate fans singing along to each.

The Twillight Sad

Califone

Voxtrot

Grizzly Bear

Fujiya Miagyi

Professor Murder

MORE COWBELL!!

Oxford Collapse

Clipse

Cat Power

Yoko Ono

More of Stacy’s photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mnconcertphotos

Source: morecowbell.net

Neil Olstad gave you his take on Day Two of the Pitchfork Music Festival, so here’s mine. Yes, we missed/skipped Sonic Youth. Yes, we’ve been getting flack for it. But neither of us own any albums, and neither of us had a strong desire to see them. I know, I know… I heard it was great, and blah blah. But we chose instead to leave a bit later on Friday to drive down to Chicago. We didn’t reach our destination until around 10pm, and our hosts for the weekend weren’t home yet. We sat in a parking garage and ate processed powdered and chocolate donuts, ok?

As far as yesterday is concerned, I really enjoyed Voxtrot - even though this was the third time I’ve seen them I still have such a big place in my heart for them. They were a lot better than when they played here in Minneapolis… more energy and they seemed like they were having a better time. Plus, they did choose to play much of the music from their EPs. They mixed in a few songs from their new album, but over all it was “Your Biggest Fan,” “Soft and Warm,” “Mothers, Sisters, Daughters and Wives,” mixed in with “Kid Gloves” and “Your Brother in Conflict.” It was a good, poppy, upbeat set and I got to watch Ramesh hop around the stage again, which is always nice. They are coming back to Minneapolis in October (Triple Rock - Oct. so let’s pack that show!

I looooved Fujiya Miagyi despite what Neil thought. They said they will probably be hitting up Mpls again in September, and I would recommend them to everyone. Pat O’Brien from HowWasTheShow.com and I saw them open for Peter Bjorn & John a few months back at First Ave and we both commented on how if they’d just kept going and played through PB&J’s set, we’d have been fine with that. Not that we don’t like PB&J, but Fujiya Miagyi was where it was at. They are entertaining, but maybe with never hearing them before that show in Mpls I had no expectations, and thus was fully surprised. I love when that happens, but Neil’d heard the album and wanted more than Fujiya gave. I still enjoyed it and the girl behind me at the show had come from NYC just to see them. It will be one of the highlights of my experience at Pitchfork.

Oxford Collapse is always fun, played a solid set and I enjoyed watching them bounce around the stage. They always make me laugh with their facial expressions too. So much energy in three people is enough to make you stare, and their music is a great blend of sounds that bring me back to the end of the 90s alternative scene, mixed in with that newer indie pop. As far as Professor Murder, Neil was dead on - awesome and hilarious. He was just wonderful to watch on stage - having such a great time up there it was like it didn’t matter if anyone’d shown up for his set. He was there to have a good time, and dammit, he was going to.

The other thing Neil didn’t mention is that for Dan Deacon’s show Deacon asked to have his equipment in the middle of the crowd so everyone could dance around him. All of us in the crowd during Fujiya had been talking about how this was going to work. The stage was literally at the end of an alley, and the crowd was boxed in by giant chain link fences. Of course, this created a huge issue for the Chicago Fire Dept and they were not happy. This affected Girl Talk’s set right afterward, delaying set time and pushing restrictions on the venue. All press (including me) for GT were relegated to the side of the stage behind a large chain link fence. It was squished, hot, and terrible, so I left before Girl Talk started. I was pretty sure that if I stayed there I’d get trampled and/or not be able to move at all. It was ridiculously crowded and took a lot of time and effort to make it about 100 feet to the gate to get out. There were around 60 people still trying to get into that stage’s area when I did finally pop through. Insanity. Apparently it went ok though because there was no fire engines or festival shut downs - whew!

Yoko is Yoko. I mean, I expected what I got. I’ve never been a fan and tonight didn’t change that for me. I’ll out myself as a Barenaked Ladies fan and say that in the song “You Can Be My Yoko Ono,” the guys in BNL squeal like pigs in imitation. Well, that’s not far off from the real Yoko’s vocal stylings. Oof. After sitting through a long, drawn out video intro to her set, I stayed for one song and pushed through the other press to go home. I agree with Neil - Why would you close out an alternative indie-rock festival with Yoko. Who made that decision?

Today promises to be a great day as I look forward to seeing Deerhunter, Menomena, Of Montreal, & The New Pornographers. Afterward Neil and I will undoubtedly hit up a local breakfast nook here in Chicago, just like yesterday. mmm… late night pancakes!

Til’ tomorrow…

Stacy with members of Deerhunter & Grizzly Bear… it’s nice to be a girl.

Ramesh Srivastava of Voxtrot

Pitchfork Music Festival

Califone