Pitchfork 2011 Wrap-up
Quick Saturday and Sunday recap. The line-up for Saturday left us with a lot to be desired, but there were a few really great bands featured. Highlight shows included Wild Nothing & Twin Shadow. I ended up splitting off from a crew of friends that saw The Dismemberment Plan, and really liked it, so that group might be worth checking out too. I caught the Destroyer set for a few songs, I was slightly disappointed but not surprised with their show. It just didn’t translate very well. Too slow for the outdoors during the day in the muggy heat. I also spent some time perusing the poster and record tables, this is a feature which is unique to the festival and should be on the list of any future attendees.
First impressions of Pitchfork 2011, we arrive at 4:15 just in time to catch the tUnE-yArDs show. Merill is playing at the Blue stage, which is blanketed by a few trees and faces an old church across Ashland avenue. The crowd is amped, it’s one of the first shows of the festival. She comes out with her band, yells a few times and then exits the stage. I’m immediately struck by how authentic her voice sounds. She comes back a minute later to diluted yells from the crowd and says, “Okay just pretend like this is the first time you’ve seen us.” And for most of us, it is. The New England native has been around since 2009 but has gained tremendous support over the last twelve months with her record w h o k i l l. She grabs a drum stick in each hand and starts banging away, snare on her left and base on her right, standing all the while. Her songs begin organically, as she prepares loops and hooks. At times you’re wondering where it’s going to lead, how it will all collapse together. And invariably it does, and you dance and sing and it’s great. The video above was shot by my friend John, kudos pal.
Fast forward an hour or so, my friends and I are standing outside at the Blue stage again. This time the act is Das Racist. The sun is setting, sort of. Everyone is just kickin’ it. This sound is definitely rap, but infused with parts of reggae and funk. Really great. I didn’t get too close but they left an impression on me for sure. I can’t say a whole lot else about the set. At one point a guy next to me says, “This is college rap.” Which I’d have little argument with, it’s not necessarily a dig, rather than a statement of fact.
A little later we decide to sit in shallow right field on a tapestry and hang out for a while. I say shallow right because Union Park, where the festival is located, has two baseball fields in between the Red and Green stages. So the whole time when you’re trying to find people you say things like, “I’m right by first base” or “We’re over behind the visitor’s dugout.” It’s about 7, maybe 7:30. I recall that James Blake is on, back at the Blue stage. I can’t hear his set, but I can see throbs of people through the food stands. I make a remark about how I want to see him, and my friends say, “Yeah, he’s cool but I bet it’s too mellow for a festival.” I shrug and agree. And then I remember how much I loved his EPs. I make the decision to check him out and head across first base towards the set, arriving about halfway through the show — it’s electric. He has a guy on a drum pad, another on a modified electronic drum kit and himself on the keys. They’re playing a track off of one of his EP’s from last year. It’s awesome, hands in the air, screams, whistles, the whole thing. With a smile on my face I get pretty close near a tree with yellow hazard tape and groove for the last thirty minutes. This was my favorite show of the day, foremost because of what it wasn’t. It wasn’t sad, or gloomy, or melancholy in the least. It was alive and delivered the rush you hope for at a concert but don’t always get. Either the last, or second to last song was Wilhem’s Scream, a personal favorite and so great.
That’s all for Friday Pitchfork, hasta luego.
I’ve watched and shared this Blogotheque Beirut video too many times, but I love it!
I’m staying in Austin for work now and Beirut was playing the first week I was there. I got a ticket day-of for the show at the Moody Theater. It was really fun, and I found my new favorite concert venue!
Iron and Wine at Boulder Theater
The Head and the Heart opened last night, which we didn’t know until we got there. It was a good set, but nothing different from what we saw a few weeks ago at the same venue.
Okaymovingon. Sam Beam is a master musician. This was the best show I (and Justin too) have ever been to. I didn’t have any expectations coming in; I’d never been to an Iron and Wine show nor heard about one. I really would have been fine with a night of lullabies, but with 11 musicians on stage we got much more than that.
Each song was a complete rearrangement of the studio recordings, a lot of which were probably improvisations. They were mostly upbeat with strong jazz and blues influences, reworking the original rhythms and melodies. On stage with Sam were two drummer/percussionists, two vocalists, a bass guitar, lead guitar, keyboard, trumpet, bari sax, and tenor sax/clarinet/flute. I have never been to a show where I was so excited to hear what was next. You could recognize the songs pretty easily, but they all had a little more flair. It was like listening to theme and variations.
This time around at the Boulder Theater was pretty great. We were probably 25 feet from the stage in a packed house. I could have done without some loud, back-to-stage conversations, but apparently that’s a ‘thing’ now.
For the most part, everyone was loving the show, but there were a few concertgoers who were not too pleased. I think the reallyintoit dancers were caught off guard. A guy behind me made it his personal mission to sing along to every song. That might work at a Coldplay concert, but not here, man. (Full disclosure: I have attended at least two Coldplay concerts and sung along at both.) As you can imagine, he was constantly out of sync. He couldn’t keep up with the tempo and would say things like, “This is my favorite song and it’s totally different from the CD.”
After the show, we were doing that thing you do after a good show (i.e., rave excitedly) and overheard a girl say, “Oh my gad that was the worst show I’ve ever been to!” I shouldn’t expect everyone to have the same preferences as me, but what a buzzkill! She probably should have saved her money and sat at home listening to Endless Numbered Days. I just never go to a concert hoping they’re going to play my favorite CD really loudly. Oh, and I initially thought she said it was the best show she’d ever been to. So I yelled ME TOO! like a 100% asshole.
Anyway, if you have a chance to see Iron and Wine live, you should. I don’t know if the shows are always like this, but I hope so. If you’re in Chicago, they’re playing for free at Millennium Park tomorrow. It would be prudent to attend.
A few friends and I went to sea the See and Cake this past weekend at The Empty Bottle in Chicago. Wait, no I said that wrong. We went to see the Smee and Cake. Smee?? Yes Smee! No, still wrong, I apologize — we were quoting a lot of Captain Hook on Saturday. Is that Dustin Hoffman’s best acting performance? It might be..
Getting back to the concert. It was a lot of fun, I wasn’t sure how their sound would translate live because their music is what I would call easy listening. But it wasn’t in any way underwhelming, in fact they rocked out pretty hard. The Sea and Cake is a group that has been around for a long time (1993). It was evident in the meticulous care of their rhythm and timing, I remember saying over and over ‘these guys are so polished.’ It’s why they remain relevant today, almost 20 years after prevailing from the indie rock scene in Chicago. Their latest album, Car Alarm is out now, you can get it here. This track, An Echo In, is off of their 2003 record called Glass.
Pearl Street Music and Arts Festival
Justin and I went to some concerts last weekend at Boulder Theater as part of the Pearl Street Music and Arts Festival in Boulder.
Friday was a pretty mellow night with Gregory Alan Isakov, Mason Jennings, and The Head and the Heart. They also played Mumford and Suns exclusively during every set break, so there’s that. The show was actually kind of weird. I’m no concert snob, but there were a bunch of people with their backs to the stage having really loud conversations (read: totes annoying girls). So much for the power ballad.
First on Saturday was Boulder Acoustic Society. They covered Ingrid Bergman (you know, Mermaid Avenue, Woody Guthrie + Wilco + Billy Bragg) so they’re cool.
Oh. Also? I’m a total lame mom at concerts now. And I’m fine with that. After being out until ONE IN THE MORNING on Friday, I was really tired. So we went up to the last row of the balcony during Paper Bird. I took a little nap (I know. Whatever y’all.) to prepare for Dr. Dog. (Wait. Is it more disrespectful to sleep or talk during concerts??)
We were supposed to see Dr. Dog open for Wilco at Slugger Field in 2007, but we missed them. We couldn’t find a place for dinner, finally had to settle on McDonald’s, and got to the show late. Anyway, they still got it.
SXSW
So the week is ending but I’m going to get this post in while SXSW is still relevant. First of all I’ll admit I did a terrible job at SXSW this year. I didn’t get to see nearly half the bands I intended on seeing but I’ll keep focused on the good. I DID get to see Lia Ices, Cass McCombs, GAYNGS, Deer Tick, Little Scream, Holiday Shores, and Candy Claws. All aurally fantastic. I’m kicking myself for not taking HD videos on my new camera that has HD VIDEO CAPABILITIES but oh well. These few pictures will have to suffice.
Candy Claws @ Gypsy Lounge
Holiday Shores @ Tito’s House (Yes, Tito as in owner of Tito’s Handmade Vodka)
Candy Claws @ Soho Lounge
Tweets from the night:
@jumex: Okay, but truly, Candy Claws is blowing my mind. It sounds like I drank a bottle of cough syrup. In the best way.
@Jumex: The craziest, surprisiest surprise of this year’s #SxSW was @candyclaws. Still trying to decode, happily.
Jumex = Chris Walla of Death Cab for Cutie
Concerts: Telekinesis - Oh, what a dirty thing!
It’s with great excitement that I announce I’ll be attending the Telekinesis concert tonight in Los Angeles. They’re a band with only one mainstay, Michael Benjamin Lerner, and man is he incredible! What led me to them was their Tiny Desk Concert on NPR, (an amazing series, I must add), and I’ve been a big fan ever since. Give it a listen…
The second song they play, Coast of Carolina, is most definitely their calling card; so catchy, and so well crafted. The album version is vastly different, but equally incredible.
Don’t be fooled by the acoustic guitars though, these boys pack a punch, and their new album, 12 desperate straight lines, proves just that. It was released earlier this month, just in time for a quick tour before they head to Austin for SXSW.
With any luck, I’ll catch one of those shows, too; I’ll be there, dancing along with a huge smile on my face.
