Pitchfork Update

'Ello 'Ello 'Ello!
(Sorry for the greeting...been reading some Agatha Christie ;o)

As you may recall from my previous post, Kurt and I spent a good part of our weekend at the Pitchfork Music Festival. It wasn't as spectacular of a line up as last year, but nonetheless, it was quite enjoyable. I'll give a quick (ha) review of each day...

Friday night was pretty cool. We went later, but ended up hearing the entire concert of GZA (pronounced "Jizz-ah"). He's a rapper from the super-group "Wu Tang Clan." By no means am I a fan of Rap, and I probably never will be. But you have to give props to a rapper for putting on a show in front of a bunch of indie-loving, preppy/hippy/mod white people. I kinda felt bad for him at times. Probably like Spoon (a popular indie band) playing for a crowd of rap-loving, black people. There were plenty of people throwing the "wu tang" sign (make a 'W' with your hands), but still...can't be the same ;o)

After GZA was Sonic Youth. This band has been around since I was born and are considered one of the greatest indie/alt rock bands of all time. They performed their break out album "Daydream Nation" perfectly. Kurt and I were pretty far back, so we couldn't see as well, but just being able to hear them perform was pretty cool.

What was also cool about Friday was that it gave a chance for those of us who were 7 in 1988 a chance to hear what is considered to be one of the greatest albums in indie history. Without Sonic Youth, the popularity of modern indie music wouldn't be as strong as it is. Indie music probably wouldn't even be what it is. And having the chance to see/hear them...very cool.

Saturday, we ended up going to the concert later than we had hoped. We wanted to see an Austin based band call Voxtrot at 2, but the train system, we sadly found out, doesn't run very consistently on the weekends (at least the brown line, which we live on). So we missed them...oh well. We ended up parking our chairs in some shade and enjoying the rest of the evening just listening to the bands. The one thing about music festivals is that there are TONS of people (I think something like 30,000 for the weekend), so the chances of seeing a band up close are slim to none - that is, if you are polite. If you so choose, you can cram through the crowds and TRY to get to the front. But that's not fun for someone whose 5'3" ;o)

Sunday, we ended up going late again, but that's ok. I wasn't feeling well for a good chunk of the day, but after while, the nastiness went away. So, this time we took the bus to the festival. Worked MUCH better and only took 30 minutes as opposed to 1 hour!

Once again, we parked our chairs and enjoyed the music from afar. It was actually quite enjoyable. We grabbed some tasty food (and cheap, I might add) and walked around a bit, too. We visited what they call "Flatstock"; there's an underground art (meaning, not as popular as, say, gallery art) form where artists create posters advertising concerts. These aren't typical looking posters. Each one is hand designed, then printed. We actually saw a guy making posters by hand from a big stamp (2 ft. by 3 ft.). SO, we bought some posters we plan to hang in the apt. We actually bought a National one last year, and as we were paying for it, we noticed Matt Berninger (the lead singer) standing right there! SO, of course, we got his autograph on the poster. It's now hanging in a lovely frame on our wall ;o) Anywho, we got some really amazing posters this time - one of Wilco, Of Montreal (who we saw this weekend...more on that in a sec), and of Tapes and Tapes. The Tapes one is very cool, as it's a poster for the show they played in Columbus back in May that we attended. A nice memory...

After that, we went and got a spot for the main reason we went to the show - the band 'Of Montreal.' They were AMAZING! Their music is a mix of electronic and rock/pop, with a slight disco flavor. I know Kurt was slightly embarrassed to admit that he liked them at first - he thought they sounded too disco-esque. BUT, after a closer listening, the lyrics are very poignant, dark, and quite amusing. So, it draws you in as you listen. Now he listens to 'em all the time ;o) As for the show, the band loves to use costumes and strange dancing people on stage. At one point, the lead singer was on the shoulders of a man completely covered in a black bodysuit. AND, the rhythm guitarist was dressed in a 70's-ish flashy suite and HUGE wings on his back. Very entertaining ;o) They brought out people dressed as comical monsters and a dude covered all in black with a huge lobster claw. Strange, but mesmerizing! They are going on tour this fall, so we are hoping to catch a full length concert instead of only 50 minutes at a festival. Can't Wait!

We were also entertained by some strange dude dancing near us. He would strike all sorts of poses and perform the strangest dance moves. I even got a picture of him. Everyone around us was trying SO hard to not crack up laughing, but I couldn't help it ;o) At one point he took off a vest he was wearing and swung it around above his head. I was laughing so hard I almost peed my pants!

In closing (thank goodness...this was a long one)...

Even though this years line-up was nothing fabulous (besides Of Montreal), we enjoyed ourselves. Relaxing in the shade and listening to good music in beautiful weather. What more could you ask for?