I was in Chicago all week leading up to Pitchfork, so here are some visual highlights from that part:
It is, apparently, Pirate Summer in Chicago because the Field Museum is having a pirate exhibition.
This picture was taken at the beach by my brother's apartment.
As for Pitchfork, my personal viewing set list went something like this:
Friday
1. Yo La Tengo
The band played a great set. As some of you already know, Pitchfork had made the headlining acts abide by the rules that the fans "write the night"--so everybody voted on what each band was going to play. As a result I heard most of the hit Yo La Tengo songs, including such highlights as "Tom Courtenay" and "Autumn Sweater". However, I never claimed to be a music writer so a) I can't remember the exact setlist and b) I can't give any sort of critical examination of any of these bands. BUT I will say that the set was fun and that Ira Kaplan looked like he was having an epileptic fit when he started doing mad noise drones during many of the set's freakout songs. I was three rows back for this, the closest I got to any stage during the entire festival, so I shot my Pitchfork wad on the first day and first show that I attended. However, the Flaming Lips did manage to go out with a bang, which you can read about below.
2. Million dollar Ratatat bike
So in the record tent there was a sign for a million dollar Ratatat bike. I could have solved this mystery by simply asking the guy at the table why the bike was so expensive, but I preferred leaving it unsolved. Besides, it's way more fun to walk around gasping in horror: "ONE MILLION DOLLARS? WHO DOES RATATAT THINK IT IS? IS THIS BIKE MADE OF PURE GOLD?" I speculated that the bike was so expensive because it was for charity. It also could have been an art piece. ("Hey, you wanna come to my apartment later? I've got this keen million dollar ratatat bike." Try this pick-up line, guys. It gets the girls every time). Needless to say, I was astonished.
3. Built to Spill
There was no real reason to post a picture since, as you can see, I was far away from Built to Spill. But damn if it wasn't a baller show. I really enjoyed seeing them as they were my favorite band in high school for about a month. The highlights of the show included "Carry the Zero", "Conventional Wisdom", "You Were Right", and opening the entire set with "Liar." My brother suggested that Built to Spill should play a set some time with every song they allude to in "you Were Right," which I think would be DOPE.
The lowlight of the show was, of course, the fact that they didn't play "Car," probably the most popular Built to Spill song. It was assuredly voted number 1. My entire Pitchfork posse claims conspiracy. When my brother was muttering to himself, "what, no Car?" an overly enthusiastic girl practically jumped down his throat to agree.
Another thing to point out about Built to Spill is that Doug Martsch looks like a bobble-head doll on stage, regardless of how fast or slow the song is. Look out, Pitchfork 2010: I'll be there, selling limited edition, 500-run Doug Martsch bobble-head dolls! Get them for $200 while supplies last! And maybe I'll sell the last one for, shall we say, ONE MILLION DOLLARS?! (I'm looking at you, Ratatat).
Saturday
This day was definitely a dud for me on the music front (all Beirut fans simultaneously gasp in horror). This was partially affected by the fact that my boyfriend was suddenly ill and couldn't attend. Hence I took no pictures of my own, but click on the links if you want to look at the images I chose online to fully encapsulate my experience of these three acts.
1. Mf Dooom
I don't listen to MF Dooom's music and probably never will in any serious way. However, he rolled out on stage in that incredibly cool mask, and it was enjoyable to see him all fun-sized and far away looking like a supervillian. I think the picture says it all: MF Dooom was clearly the hippest (and blackest) act to play Pitchfork. Although I haven't looked at the entire setlist to back up that claim.
2. Beirut
Beirut was boring. Beirut sounded terrible in the open air. Beirut was like a big indie rock candy bar that gave me a cavity when I was 7. Le yawn. But I will say Zach Condon is dreamy. Take a look at the picture. Ain't it da truf?
3. The National
The National was, admittedly, also boring. Hence the boring linked photo. I heard the two songs I wanted to hear--"Slow Show" and "Mistaken for Strangers"--and then bounced before the bumrush to the green line train at the end of the set. We went to Wicker Park and got drunk.
Sunday
Sunday was a good day. Sunday, in fact, rivalled Friday in its awesomeness, though there were no gratuitously overpriced bicycle discoveries for me to constantly reference.
1. $20 Squid Poster
Read it and weep bitches! This poster is MINE!
But all bragging rights aside, one of my favorite parts about Pitchfork is the poster sale, where local artists from around Chicago bring together their silkscreen posters and sell them. I didn't buy any posters last year, but this year it was a difficult decision. It essentially came down to squid suit and a poster that said "U is for Unicorn," but squid suit won out. The artist who made this piece was definitely my favorite of the day. He also had a poster of famous beards throughout history which included many Civil War soldiers (the south represents!)
2. M83
This video link doesn't encapsulate the awesomeness of M83 and I wish I had taken a video of them now. They were incredibly energetic and played a lot of fun dance music. They also included "Don't Save us from the Flames," for which I was grateful, although they didn't play "Unrecorded." Why no Unrecorded, M83? Why?
But the girl from the group was wearing an overly fabulous blue sequined long-sleeved shirt and spent most of the set bopping up and down. Whenever they talk the entire crowd sighed, as they are le french with le sexy french accents.
2. Grizzly Bear
To be honest, I spent most of the Grizzly Bear set wandering around the Flaming Lips stage, trying to find an appropriate spot with my cousin and my boyfriend. But what I overheard was damned good. I will also take this time to mention (as I must have said a million times that day) that I saw Grizzly Bear over a month ago at a small venue in Chapel Hill and it was infinitely better than Pitchfork, if only for the fact that there were 15,000 fewer people. They did not play "He hit me." Oh, I should link to that as well. Watch this.
3. The Flaming Lips.
I have my own youtube videos for this! Wee! Watch them below!
The show started off with a video on this big LCD screen they had set up of Wayne Coyne's naked wife dancing around. The video then zooms in on her vagina. Wayne came out into the crowd in a giant blow-up hamster ball and rolled around for about half a minute. He never really came near my part of the crowd, but oh, don't I wish.
And then came the first song: infinite amounts of confetti and balloons.
This was at the end of the first song. It's a very short clip but I wanted you all to get the idea of truly how many balloons were floating about during the first song. It was a beautiful thing, the way the Flaming Lips mercilessly pelted the crowd with big, soft balloons.
So the set went on. They didn't play nearly as much music as I would have hoped because of all the additive stuff (the hamster ball, the hype leading up to them coming on stage, Wayne constantly talking between sets), but they played a good show. I am not a flaming lips die hard so I can barely remember any of the songs, but they played both Yoshimis, She don't Use Jelly, and, of course, Do You Realize.
This was the finale, "Do You Realize," where they pumped more confetti out than I've ever seen in my life in one place. Ever. It was like the V-day ticker tape parade in Union Park. I'm sorry the video cuts off and doesn't get the entire song but I wanted to live my life instead of just recording it, so next time mon petit readers.
Regardless of how you feel about their music, seeing the Flaming Lips live was an amazing experience. They almost made me convert to following the band around the country, if only because I could be immersed in confetti and balloons during every show and watch scantily clad bunny girls dance on a stage.
So that was Pitchfork. Any questions?
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