That Pitchforkmedia must be doing something right; 19,000 people a day hit up their Festival for 18 hours of music over two days, despite some serious heat and humidity. Whether that’s a testament to the awesome lineup or the show-going tenacity of hipster nation, we heard the weekend was well run and chock-full of indie goodness.
Chicago Sun-Times music critic Jim Derogatis went so far as to call the Festival an “unequivocal success” before trashing Man Man, Chin Up Chin Up, repetitive band names and The Mountain Goats. He also minced the scene in one scathing sentence:
Too many of these bands lacked the charisma to captivate such a large crowd. They celebrated pointless quirkiness and uninspired amateurism, or they were dreadfully boring.
Ouch.
And though Jimmy D did throw some love at Yo La Tengo, Mission of Burma, the Os Mutantes reunion, and the well-tread antics of one Eddie Argos, his highest praise seemed reserved for Pfork’s organization and execution of festival basics, making for a pleasant, well-hydrated experience. (We heard something about $1 waters. Perry Farrell best be taking notes.)
We couldn’t be there (NYC weather was just too nice to leave!), but we did send Adam and his digicam over to Union Park in our place. Check out his pics and — if you were sweatin’ at the Chi town hoedown too — let us know where Derogatis got it right.
ART BRUT
BAND OF HORSES
CHIN UP CHIN UP
DANIELSON
DESTROYER
DEVENDRA BANHART
THE FUTUREHEADS
HOT MACHINES
JENS LEKMAN
LIARS
MAN MAN
MISSION OF BURMA
THE MOUNTAIN GOATS
MR. LIF AND AESOP ROCK
THE NATIONAL
OS MUTANTES
SILVER JEWS
SPOON
TAPES ‘N’ TAPES
TED LEO & RX
THE WALKMEN
YO LA TENGO
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while i thought chin up chin up was good, i’ve got to agree to an extend. some of the bands performed decently enough, but just didn’t play with the energy apropos to a festival environment.
it was in union park, not grant park. lollapalooza is grant park.
Haa…getting ahead of myself, then. Fixed!
I like how he mentions Lester Bangs casually…as if he didn’t write a book on the guy.
I stopped reading after that ridiculously uninformed comment about the Silver Jews.
Good thing the Biz3 stage didn’t exist.
re: stephen
it wasn’t uninformed.. silver jews were easily the weakest act of the weekend. whether or not he puts good records, the fact remains that he was way wayyyy boring live. im with the writer on this one: if there wasnt the pavement connection, no one would give a shit about the silver jews.
I’m just sayin’, I don’t own any Pavement records but I own 3 Jews records. You’re probably right about the weakness of their live act, I haven’t had a chance to see them. But to say people only give a shit about them because of Pavement is just inane. I wasn’t even aware of the Pavement connection when I first listened to them. They obviously wouldn’t have gotten the same exposure without Malkmus’ presence, but the band’s been together for about 14 years…that’s a pretty long time for a band people only give a shit about because of a band that’s been broken up for seven. This isn’t like a Minus 5/R.E.M. thing. Berman is a brilliant songwriter and they’re a great band in their own right.
that guy also said the main person in danielson was “bill danielson”.
i wasn’t at pitchfork, so i can’t really judge the joos performance there – but i saw them back in march and they were amazing. plus after the show they came down into the crowd and were like ‘what’s up?’ they signed everybody’s shit and took pictures with people – they were the most down to earth people. also nick, it’s pretty ignorant to say they wouldn’t be shit without the pavement connection. their contrified-rock bears no resemblance whatsoever with pavement’s music. not to mention Berman’s lyrics are some of the most original and interesting out there today.
don’t tell people that you don’t own any pavement records chief
I made a trip up to Atlanta for the festival. I only saw about half of the acts that I wanted to because of the heat. I give major credit to the vendors for only charging a buck for a bottle of water. I guess I am used to getting charged “festival prices” when I go to shows.
Um, that should be “from” Atlanta, not “to” Atlanta.
note to self: never post comments before having coffee.
yeah, the buck a bottle for water was great because i drank maybe 12 bottles over two days. at Lollapalooza prices, i would’ve gone bankrupt.
De Rogatis was right that high energy bands came across better. Man Man, Tapes, Art Brut, Ted Leo, Spoon, and Mission of Burma all were perfect for the size and crowd and whatnot. I’d rather see Silver Jews in a club.
CSS rocked my F-ing face apart. The Biz3 stage was worth the entire fee + Heat. Was it Rolling Stone that was sending hate towards Yo La Tengo? I don’t know who but someone really trashed them for being having a “jam session”. I thought they were amazing.
what deRo didn’t get right? reviewing the stacks of free sandwiches he chowed down while his interns were off actually watching the music he ended up writing about.
Stephen,
Malkmus sings on and wrote a fuckload of Silver Jews guitar parts. Without his the band isn’t the same. And while “Tanglewood Numbers” is still a great album, the Silver Jews blow ass live.
Amrit,
I’m not sure why De Rogatis trashes Man Man – they were great, but he’s right about most of the other bands. Destroyer, Silver Jews, Devendra Banhart, etc weren’t that great. Art Brut and CSS were probably the two best shows.
i wouldn’t trash yo la tengo- i think they’re great- but at the point from where we where standing (between A and C stages) spoon’s sound check was louder than their set! i would agree with the Chitown reviewer that it was a little too reflective, quiet, and slow for a festival crowd- maybe more of a hoboken club set. CSS did rock- as did art brut, man man & tapes. thought silver jews were servicable but not inspired, but given his ‘actual air’ book and the lyrics- berman’s more of a poet than a performer. anyone who could perform on that main stage facing the western sun in 95 degree weather deserved a medal anyway- not trashing.
question to those that think bands don’t play with enough energy for festivals, if you aren’t a punk /rock band, ie: band of horses or something, what do you do when everyone is hot and just wants to dance to CSS, it seems unfair to judge someone on not rocking hard enough when they aren’t really a rock band
the jews were amazing. i was right up against the sound tent and the sun had just gone down and everything was just right. the band was tight, berman was charming, and the songs were brilliant, as always. i think that’s pretty damned impressive for a band that’s on its first tour, as in, ever.
i think art brut, spoon, and the silver jews made the festival for me.
ps.
did anyone else get one of those blackened catfish sandwiches? made me shit like a goose. just curious.
anyone see spank rock? i know you’re all indie-to-the-core, but they nailed their set, best thing all weekend, easy. “shake it till my dick turn racist”, indeed.
Did anyone else notice all the people dressed up as tennis players from 1976 at the pitchfork fest? Did I seriously miss dress like Borjn Borg day??
Biz 3 was where it was at.
Actually Brendawg Bright Flight and The Natural Bridge are two of the Joos best albums and Malkmus doesn’t appear on them. Yeah American Water and Starlite Walker are great, and Malkmus has some great bgvs and guitar parts but Berman wrote all of the songs on those albums except one he cowrote with Malkmus. Like I said, perhaps they do blow ass live, probably why the guy never wanted to tour before.
Jason, I have nothing against Pavement I’ve just never gotten into them. I’m sorry if that means my indie rock badge should be taken away, chief. Do your worst.
Pitchfork fest this year was way better than Intonation last year. The system was a lot more powerful, so the sound was really good. Highlights for me were the Futureheads, A-Trak, and Diplo. I’m not an even a dance music fan, but those 2 djs were amazing. Bondo du Role were really good too. Their singer dislocated her arm so they just brought up CSS to finish the set. It was great.
Well done PFork.
Pitchfork fest this year was way better than Intonation last year. The system was a lot more powerful, so the sound was really good. Highlights for me were the Futureheads, A-Trak, and Diplo. I’m not an even a dance music fan, but those 2 djs were amazing. Bondo du Role were really good too. Their singer dislocated her arm so they just brought up CSS to finish the set. It was great.
Well done PFork.
I had a catfish sandwich, too, and the same damn thing happened to me! I thought I was having a reaction to the heat or something.
Art Brut were fine, but I don’t get DeRogatis’ emphasis on them. Destroyer, Man Man, Lekman, and, especially, Burma, Ted Leo, and the National turned in performances that were anything but pointlessly quirky, amateurish, or boring (well, maybe the first applies to Man Man, but they were exciting enough to overcome the quirks).
In fact, his faves Art Brut and Hot Machines came off as the most amateurish of the bunch, although I agree with him that the Mountain Goats didn’t translate well to the setting. Banhart was obnoxiously dull, and Spoon’s performance was only workmanlike – nothing revelatory.
But the heat. Jesus, the heat. I wish they’d scheduled this thing in June or September, so I wouldn’t have had to watch half of the acts from under the protective shade of a tree and leave the park early both days due to pure exhaustion.
God scrolling through those pictures makes me depressed about indie rock.
Has Eddie Argos slimmed down a bit?
a superbly organized festival with artists that didn’t disappoint. lines moved a lot faster this year, plenty of shade and water. i often agree with derogatis, but in this case i think his overall impression does not give enough credit to the artists. i was definitely entertained the entire weekend long. except for YLT – terribly boring. i fell asleep during the second half of their set. otherwise, highlights were CSS (the best act all weekend, what energy…), spoon, futureheads, and danielson. absolutely made the right decision of going to p-fork instead of braving the masses at grant park this weekend….good luck and god speed.
p.s. of course the people-watching was top-notch. did anyone else see that guy walking around with a fetus tattooed on his stomach? gross.
I only went on sunday, and i thought the National and especially Jens were very good. However I was underwhelmed by Spoon, I think their show would be much better in a smaller venue; I felt a disconnect between them and the audience kind of. But they picked up speed towards the end.
Best shirt of the festival clearly goes to Mr. Lekman and his ukelele and pineapple get up. He was definitely one of the best performances as well, and translated far better to the festival setting than I’d anticipated. Totally my fake Swedish boyfriend.
Let me join the Silver Jews parry: They are a wholly likeable band that have been elevated to a undeserving status because of a)connection to Pavement, b)Berman’s pedigree with an MFA and published poet, c)Berman’s drug/suicide history and recovery. People, myself included, root for the Silver Jews because Berman’s likeable, the songs are fun, and he’s been through a lot. Still, that doesn’t mean the music is all that great. I love some Silver Jews songs “Room Games and Diamond Rain”, “I’m Gonna Love the Hell Out of You”, “Horseleg Swastikas” etc., but, for being a good poet, he generally is a pretty generic songwriter. Take a listen to “Tanglewood Numbers” with lyrics like “I’m gonna love you to the max, love you to the max, love you to the max.” And, “God must be carvin’ clouds into animal shapes.” Stale imagery over stale guitars. And live, as has been noted, Berman et al. are still quite green. At least he’s not having to read lyrics from sheet music anymore. And his guitar playing is lacking. Hell, Berman admits all of this in his PFork Fest. interview, wondering why he was headlining. It’s because they’ve never toured, and because of that mystique and lore surrounding the genius poet, with indie blueblood, who overcame his addictions and is a lovable guy. And all that is fine and well, let’s just not pretend the Silver Jews and the keepers of indie’s Holy Grail.
I thought pitchfork was really really well done. I had a great time.
i did, however, wonder what was up with all the (mostly red) shorty shorts.
that was weird.
Hey guys,
I posted some CSS pictures and some others on my site too.
check them out if you want.
http://thepunkguy.com/
krist
man man kicked ass! i thought band of horses was probably the most “into” it though (from the bands i saw, anyway). i think it’s hard for bands to really look pumped up playing 25-35 minute sets.. i mean, by the time you get going it’s already over. and the way the festival moved quickly from one band to the next also probably detered the crowd from getting pumped up.
if i was pitchfork next year, i cut about 1/3 of the amount of bands and have the more “established” bands play a bit longer.
I drove out from Brooklyn for this thing and it was worth every moment in the car. Water was cheap, the crowd was into it and the music was non-stop goodness. The only thing missing was a slip n’ slide.
Aesop Rock and Mr. Lif rocked it, and The Futureheads surprised me by not being boring. Art Brut was excellent, but then again I’m always partial to people who quote Jay Z during their sets. The water was cheap (or free for VIP, suckaz!), but some of the food was outrageously priced…$6 for some weakass tofu curry!
But of course the best act of all was Jens Lekman. A Postcard to Nina brought the house down and his all-girl backing band was adorable. I’m pretty sure they’re all afraid of me now because I was stalking them all day.
Top three performances…
The National…surprisingly awesome given their 2:30pm start time.
Mr. Lif and Aesop Rock…gave a “just the great stuff” 45-minute set with virtually no talking between songs, just great hip hop.
Spoon…contrary to the above poster, I thought they did extremely well. Plus they played “Paper Tiger” the best track on “Kill the Moonlight”.
Runners – up … The Futureheads, who were certainly the loudest performers, Tapes ‘N Tapes for their good early set and Ted Leo for his normal stuff, but mainly for gashing the ever living fuck out of his forehead during his set.
Boos to…Devendra Banhart. Man, a more overrated piece of suck I have yet to see perform live. He’s no better than the coffee shop jerkoffs that populated my college campus.
Yo La Tengo were boring. And I like Yo La Tengo! Maybe if I had been closer, but I stood back in the shade for their set and it was…boring.
Cage…really disappointing live…but what retard put him opposite Lif and Aesop? I mean, there were only like five hip-hop acts all weekend, and you schedule three of the bigger acts at the same time?
the fashion was atrocious. people in chicago need to learn how to dress better. it looked like 1997.
i thought it was fucking aweful! the only good artist there was the mountian goats!!! WHERE WERE THE PIPETTES OR RADIOHEAD!!! oooomg!! wtf!!! gnarlse barely is a fat fag!!!! I MEAN CEELOW
Anyone have the Joos playlist from that show?