Hello hello, this a continuation of day one and two of Pitchfork goodness. More music, fun, dancing, sweating, and awesomeness.
Part 1
Day Three - Sunday: Grand Finale, Chicago Style
Saturday wore me out a good amount after the crazy Girl Talk set. Mike, Andrew, Sam, and I woke up around 10 and headed out without much delay. Since it's the last day, I had to drive my car down to Union park, as opposed to riding in Sam's car. We stopped by Osco before heading onto the highway so people can use the ATM and get booze. The liquor aisle was pretty impressive, or at least compared to Indiana's, but Andrew and Mike were not satisfied with the selection, and want to get stuff at liquor stores in town instead. We left the store and headed into the city. Andrew rode with me, and we encountered traffic again. I was following Sam but lost him soon after the first toll booth, which was where the traffic jam began. After 30 mins. or so of being stuck in traffic, Sam called and told me to take the express lane, which was what they did. They got lucky and was able to get off on a good street, but I had already pass the exit for the express lane.
The jam wasn't that congested, and I got off at Ogden not long after...except I got lost. Sam and Mike was already in town and hitting up the liquor store. I drove around abit trying to get my bearing. If there's one thing I realized this weekend, it's that Chicago is not very hard to navigate at all. (but I suppose having a map would be helpful) I finally found Ashland, now a homely street for me, and headed North for Union Park. We waited outside to meet up with the others, but I was really eager to see Deerhunter, and it was time for their set to start, so I ditched the others and headed in.
1:00 - Deerhunter
Even though we actually were on time today, I was still far back for Deerhunter. Bradford wore a gold/sparkly sundress; it's not a bad color on him. The set wasn't very long, so that was disappointing, but other than that, I was happy.
Afterwards, I met up with everyone else, and we waited for Menomena. Again, no one was really a fan of them, but we had nothing else to do at the time.
3:00 - Junior Boys
We were about 3 rows back for the set, and it turned out a lot better than I had imagined. I didn't think their tunes were that dancable, but it was! Standing in front of us were some kids Mike friended at Girl Talk. Bryan, Katie, and Kevin. They were pretty cool, and we spotted them a lot. I also wished Junior Boys' set was longer along with the speakers not sucking.
Afterwards, everyone kind of went their own way, because the next big act wasn't till 7. We ate and explored. The oxygen bar was interesting, but I don't see anything special about it. I begin roaming around and caught some of Jamie Lidell. I was surprised that he DJed half of his set, because I always thought of him as a guitar wielding singer. But it was cool, and I heard him perform "Multiply"; kind of made me wish that I got to watch more of his set.
More roaming ensued, and I stopped to watch Stephen Malkmus. He's still quite a hottie for his age, and he was quite charming on stage. He played a surprisingly amount of Pavement covers, but I guess he did play mostly an acoustic set. I left after awhile to meet up with everyone at Balance. The Cool Kids (Chicago hip-hop ground) were playing, and they did sound pretty cool. I exchanged a quick convo with a fellow Exponent staff, sadly I still don't remember his name even though I've ran into him a few times.
The acts at Balance was running behind schedule, which was a good thing, because it meant more time for us to watch Of Montreal!
7:00 - Of Montreal
Even though Mike and I arrived about 20 mins. before the show, we were still kind of off in the back. Sam and Andrew went off to watch the New Pornographers. I'm not a huge fan of them, so I didn't really care that I didn't get to hear them.
Anyways, Of Montreal was just as fun as I had expected. Wild props/costumes, fun stage present, Kevin Barnes being scandalous. Yum Yum.
I left right after the last song, even though they played an encore. The night's goal was to rock out at Klaxons, and I would hate it if I was left out in the back. Everyone else was pretty much all rushing to Balance, and I was praying that it wasn't packed already. Luckily, the Field just begin his set due to the delays. Mike left Of Montreal early and had a decent spot, so I joined him. The Field had a good DJ set and got everyone moving. I thought it was funny that he did not say a word during his performance; I'm not sure if it was because he's Swedish and didn't know English.
Mike and I were plotting (along with drinking) during the whole as to how to get closer for Klaxons. Right after the Field ended, we pushed our way up just like everyone else; We got up about 4 rows from the stage.
9:00 - Klaxons
The setup/sound check look way long, and everyone was getting impatient. The boys finally came on after god knows how longs, and the crowd went wild. They opened with "Gravity's Rainbow", and the chaos began.
To my surprised, everyone was already going all out for the first song (granted, many of them were probably drunk). Mike and I pushed/jumped out way towards the front, but I lost him at some point. Head banging, moshing, dancing, singing, it was all good. Some kids behind me were trying to start a dancing circle. They weren't very successful at first, because there was no space at all from all the people crammed together. I'm not sure how it went later since I moved up as the the show progressed.
The worst part of the set was that there were barely any room to stand. It became hard to breath, and dusts were flying everywhere. I wouldn't be surprised if people passed out. There was a guy (he was old, and I thought he was a staff member at first) who pushed me from the people that were trying get past, and let me stand in front of him. "You got pushed back, and should be up here," he said. It was really nice of him, but I don't know if I should be creeped out or not. I spotted Mike in the second row and made my way up to find him. He let me stand in front of him because he "had already seen them live". It was nice of him too, and I got a better view of Simon!
I'm pretty sure even the Band did not expect all these ruckus, because everyone was wild wild wild. They closed the set with "Atlantis to Interzone", a fitting choice in my opinion. I danced one last song among a crowd of sweaty happy-go-luck kids.
After the show, we didn't have anymore energy to watch De La Soul, even though they sounded good from afar. Rather, Mike was excited about an after party Bryan had told him about where Dan Deacon would be playing. (Unfortunately, Bryan and his friend got there late and wouldn't be let in because of the capacity) Sam couldn't come with us, so I drove and successfully found the place with one attempt. Everyone was really skeptical at first, because the street we were on was deserted, desolated, and janky. We saw someone and asked him about the show, and he said it was around the corner, but the music doesn't start till midnight. We parked and found out way to an abandoned two story apt. like building with a fenced yard filled with random junk. I was pretty confused, and the place was empty. We walked up and talked to the "owner" and got more details about the shows. Apparently they host/have hosted a lot of shows at the house. The inside of the house looked pretty stripped down too, but in a way it was kind of cool. (Fastforward to after the show, I realize it's probably good that the place is kept "janked up", because it was trashed by the end of the night)
It was only 10 at the time, so we decided to run to the liquor store. We drove all over but could not find any places that were open. Somehow we ended up in the ghetto, and it's definitely scarier at night. Empty handed, we made our way back to the venue, where more people have began arriving.
I talked to the guy that stood beside me during Dan Deacon and Girl Talk. I guess he was getting rocked during Girl Talk, so he left during the set. Anyways, there were a lot of performers before Dan came up, so I'm just gonna quickly list them.
Performers:
- Drone guitar guy with interpretive dancer- pretty interesting I suppose, not really sure what to make of it
- Noise guitarist This guy played electric with pedals. He also had 2 TV sets turned on, and the screens would change colors because of the static. It was neat, but the music kind of blew my ear.
- TraktorDJ guy- he screwed up a lot and got cut off by the next band
- Noise band- wtf. We left and went outside
- More DJs
- Light show guy- really interesting. He played and synced lights to his set. His equipment/mixer dealie was also cool
Dan Deacon finally came on afterwards, and it was probably around two at that point. He played pretty much the same songs as he did at Pitchfork, except he didn't get cut off this time and played the epic "Wham City". I had fun but lacked a little energy to dance. That's ok, because the party was just getting started. I soon found out that Deerhunter was playing next. I really had no idea that they were scheduled to play, and it was the best surprise of the night, and a redeeming chance for me to enjoy the music.
Some drunk DJ was spinning in the other end of the room while Deerhunter was setting up. I forgot to mention that the room was set up with two "stages" so performers can alternate playing without wasting time to set up; pretty smart.Anyways, I got a good front row spot and was super excited. I didn't care that it was 3 already, I just want to hear good music.
Crew members formed a new row in front of us. I was bitter at first, but I soon realized it's good that they did...
Much to my surprise, people were going crazy. In my opinion, Deerhunter isn't really the rock out band, but I guess I just didn't realize, because it turned out pretty rockable. I got pushed by the guy behind me a lot, which was annoying, solely because I knew he was drunk, and he stepped on Bradford's pedals when he was trying to go across the room. I felt bad for pushing onto the crew guy that guard in front of me, but I did thank him after the show.
The set was pretty amazing. Everything was just right in front of me, and I truly enjoyed it.
It was probably 4 when we left the house. We were all soaked in sweat again, but that's ok.
Oh, here are the random people I spotted at the party:
Spotted:
- Nerdy bassist from Voxtrot.
- I think she's from Yo Majesty (they had a show that night at the Empty Bottle with My!Gay!Husband!). She sat down by us outside and started talking. I know she was "known", but had no idea who she was at the time.
- A guy with long hair/beard. He looked familiar, and I think it's the guy from Devendra Banhart.
- there was this chick (she might have lived at the house too) that was handing out pieces of toilet paper. Someone said she's a singer in a band that performed the other night.
- Klaxons!! Someone claimed they were performing, but they were stopping by. Mike and I were looking out the window to see them come in. I don't think Simon came in, but James and Jamie came up, and I stalked them. Mike claimed they were just "picking up bitches".
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Chicago was pretty dead at 4 in the morning. The only cars out were the cleaning trucks. I drove down Lake Shore and got one last look of the city; just magnificent and serene. Andrew fell asleep in the car again. Mike claims he wouldn't, but did not last the last 30 mins. or so of the ride. I wished the sun didn't rise so early, because I liked driving in the dark better.
I finally got home around 7:30 after dropping the two off. I planned on showering, but I decided it was a lot of effort and just passed out, woke up at 12, showered, ate, and went to work.
To Reflect:
Hits:
- Free stickers and pins
- Touching Gregg Gillis
- Touching Simon (Klaxons)
- Given a hug from Bradford (Deerhunter)
Misses:
- Didn't get to catch any of Cat Power, although I hear her set wasn't that great
- Didn't have enough money for a Deerhunter shirt
- Tried to get a Deerhunter shirt after aquiring money, but smalls were sold out
- Lack of Klaxons gearz; also couldn't see their DJ set, because the venue was 21+
- Hot/Burned= ugly tan line
- Didn't visit/forgot about the poster tents
- Random bruises/sore
Final thoughts:
- There are 3 types of people at Pitchfork: the press/crew/artists, indie fags, indie dance fags, the old people
- Chicago is not too hard to navigate without a map
- I've become more "wild" after driving in Chicago
- The ghetto is a bit creepy at night
- Chicago is beautiful at night, and makes me want to live there even more
- Bible Boner loves you
- Pitchfork 08 will rock harder
And thanks Clay Hauck for the images!
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PMF 2007 is:
Friday, July 13 (in conjunction with ATP/Don't Look Back):
Connector Stage
6:30 Slint perform Spiderland
Aluminum Stage
7:45 GZA performs Liquid Swords
9:00 Sonic Youth perform Daydream Nation
Saturday, July 14:
Connector Stage
1:00 The Twilight Sad
2:00 Voxtrot
4:00 Battles
6:00 Mastodon
8:00 Cat Power and Dirty Delta Blues
Aluminum Stage
1:30 Califone
3:00 Grizzly Bear
5:00 Iron and Wine
7:00 Clipse
9:00 Yoko Ono (with special guests)
Balance Stage
1:00 Ken Vandermark's Powerhouse Sound
2:00 William Parker Quartet
3:10 Beach House
4:10 Fujiya & Miyagi
5:15 Professor Murder
6:15 Oxford Collapse
7:15 Dan Deacon
8:30 Girl Talk
Sunday, July 15:
Connector Stage
1:00 Deerhunter
2:00 Menomena
4:00 The Sea and Cake
6:00 Stephen Malkmus
8:00 The New Pornographers
Aluminum Stage
1:30 The Ponys
3:00 Junior Boys
5:00 Jamie Lidell
7:00 Of Montreal
9:00 De La Soul
Balance Stage
1:00 Fred Lonberg-Holm's Lightbox Orchestra
2:00 Brightblack Morning Light
3:10 Nomo
4:10 Craig Taborn's Junk Magic
5:15 The Cool Kids
6:15 Cadence Weapon
7:15 The Field
8:30 Klaxons
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