WaronWar Posted July 15, 2007 Share Posted July 15, 2007 Got back about 50 mins ago from train station, and it was a great day. I saw Califone first, and was amazed. I last saw them when they perfomed with Wilco at the Aud in Novemeber, and I dug them. However, I never got anything of theirs until about three weeks ago when I brought "Roots and Crowns," which I have been loving. They played most stuff from "Roots" with songs such as "Pink And Sour," "Spiderhouse," "The Orchids," "The Eye You Lost In The Crusades." And their song opener I am actually unsure of because I can't remember for some strange reason. But I enjoyed their set throughly, and at the end of it, Tim Rutili said to the crowd to watch out for drugs because though they might seem good, they actually aren't. I then saw Grizzly Bear, which I found to be rather annoying because of the singer's yelps and howls. So I have left after 15-20 minutes. But then I saw Fujiya and Miyagi, and they were great. They had unbeatable dance grooves that were almost in a state-like dream. They have gotten comparsions to being similar to Kraftwerk. I found the band Oxford Collapse to be not so good. Dan Deacon (I guess he is sort of a Dance DJ, though I have most likely labeled him wrong) to be really good expect a packed crowd started to dance, and while I wanted to join them, I was holding a vinyl I bought for a buddy of mine to bring back to him. So I did not want it to get scratch or destroyed so I left. However, as a result of my leaving, I got good standing seats for Yoko Ono. Yoko was interesting to say the least. I have always heard that she has done avant-garde stuff, but I have never actually listened to any of her discs. So I am unsure if her songs were new ones or old ones. But her backing band was very straightforward in it's musical approach, and I thought they were rather good. The only avant-garde thing was Yoko's voice because of her different yelps, screams, hums, cries, or sexual moans she blurted out into the mic. Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth joined her for a duo song in which he nuts on his fender jazzmaster creating a fury of noise while Yoko created blurts of noise. Moreover, he then joined the rest of her band for about three more songs. In short, she was good, but she had only about 60 mins of music prepared because when it came time for an encore, I believe she played one of her songs she had played earlier on. So all in all it was a great day of music, and I look forward to seeing the Fred-Holmberg Lightbox Orchestra, The Sea and Cake, Of Montreal, and some others today (since it is 12:45 a.m. Sunday Morning central time). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LouieB Posted July 15, 2007 Share Posted July 15, 2007 Okay day two... First off the logo for this fest bears a striking resemblance to the color scheme and some design elements from the Eagles album On the Border... Fun day, but I find these these festivals more like an all you can eat buffet; some of the music is great, some is mediocre and some is better left alone before you get too full. I stuck pretty much to the approved VC buzz band list for my listening pleasure and was mostly rewarded. I was still having fun selling records and buy some too. I discovered late in the day that the Numero Group had a booth directly across from the booth I was working when one of the guys came buy and begged a $5 album for $3. I ended up buying $35 worth of stuff from them and telling them how important I think their work is. I also did record browsing right next to Thurston Moore, who I didn't have the nerve to tell him how great SY were the night before. Record selling went slower yesterday, but was still fun and a place to go when I got tired of the crowds on the lawn. The small stage was particularly packed out. Somehow they couldn't figure out that these acts might just attract a fairly large crowd. Anyway, I did get to see Califone, which was augmented by a four piece horn section. They did a great, but very short set since the early slots were only half an hour. I slipped up to the front side for the second half of this and after the set talked to a couple who was from Vermont who is spending the summer traveling the country looking for a place to settle. I told them Chicago is a great town if you like big cities and lots to do. I didn't really get back out on the lawn until Iron and Wine, who also sported a big band including former Wilco member Leroy Bach in a white hat. Sam Beam played new material, I understand and a Grateful Dead show broke out, with the band doing some extended jamming on some songs for well over 10 minutes. It was a pleasant enough set. As mentioned above these events allow you to see a range of folks and I heard a bit of Battle, who got good reviews from other VCers and only heard Clipse through the fence in the record tent. Despite complaints that many bands were not loud enough, Clipse's bass was set at a ear shattering level. I heard Mastodon (or was it Mammoth..... ) was also pretty good, more head banding music. I headed back to the lawn for Cat Power, who was also set at low volume if you weren't right in front of the stage. She was singing earnest and soulful material backed by a low key and competent band. I moved up to watch her connecting with the audience including doing a nice cover of Dark End of the Street. Her set was fairly low key and reasonable; enjoyable enough, but not earthshaking. The finale of the night was earthshaking however, with Yoko Ono peforming in her time tested (??!!??!!) avant guarde manner behind a competent band. Most of the audience had no idea what she was going to do and Rosie and I started way back in the pack and ended up by the end of the hour or so set about 15-20 rows back. For an audience that had heard some pretty strange stuff all day, many thought a Beatle show was going to ensue and when it didn't they headed for the exits. Yoko came across as very sincere and the remaining audience, including me, did get caught up in the spirit of the thing, with her playing her disco version of Walking on Thin Ice and the afforementioned duet with just Thurston Moore. We thought Cat Power was also going to appear but she didn't Yoko came back for an encore of one of the numbers she had already performed. It was nice to see her, clearly an important figure in her own right and wife of John Lennon. She was very appreciative and almost shy in her approach. Luckily the weather was great yesterday and promises to be good again today. Lots of cool stuff is still on tap for today including the New Pornographers, Of Montreal, and Steve Malkus. Perhaps (and hopefully) Neko will show up with theh NP. We shall see. If Fred Lonberg-Holm's Lightbox Orchesta performs the way I saw them a year or so ago, expect something pretty out there and sadly Fred himself does not play his Cello, which makes this group less interesting. Sea and Cake are touring behind their new more rocking (for them) album. I caught them a month or so ago at the Empty Bottle. LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wendy Posted July 15, 2007 Share Posted July 15, 2007 I saw Califone first, and was amazed. I last saw them when they perfomed with Wilco at the Aud in Novemeber, and I dug them. However, I never got anything of theirs until about three weeks ago when I brought "Roots and Crowns," which I have been loving. They played most stuff from "Roots" with songs such as "Pink And Sour," "Spiderhouse," "The Orchids," "The Eye You Lost In The Crusades." And their song opener I am actually unsure of because I can't remember for some strange reason. But I enjoyed their set throughly, and at the end of it, Tim Rutili said to the crowd to watch out for drugs because though they might seem good, they actually aren't. I think it was "Horoscopic.Amputation.Honey" from Quicksand/Cradlesnakes. The 4-piece horn section were 4 of the talented multi-instrumentalists from Chicago's The Bitter Tears who had joined Califone on the last stretch of their tour promoting Roots and Crowns that just ended in June. There is one more chance to see Califone in a much longer set on Sat 8/11/07 in Chicago at West Fest (7:00-8:15). WaronWar, don't miss this! It'll be your last chance for a while. RE: Iron & Wine: Besides Leroy Bach, the Iron & Wine set also sported 2 of the Califone guys -- Jim Becker added fiddle and vocals, and Ben Massarella added his hand-percussion which IMO adds a lot of charm. I do wish the volume had been louder. For Califone we were standing by the sound tent, so it wasn't bad, but low in volume. For Iron & Wine we were off to the left side, half-way back, and the sound was terribly low and muffled. At least the jumbotron screens helped the visual aspect of an event like Pitchfork. I will say this - the weather was perfect! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dr. Steve Brule Posted July 15, 2007 Share Posted July 15, 2007 Even though I like the individuals playing with Iron & Wine, I'm not really too happy about them becoming the Allman Brothers. Iron & Wine used to sound like Iron & Wine, now they don't. I yelled "Judas" at Sam Beam, but all the freaking electric guitars were too loud. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LouieB Posted July 15, 2007 Share Posted July 15, 2007 There is one more chance to see Califone in a much longer set on Sat 8/11/07 in Chicago at West Fest (7:00-8:15).Interesting music line up for this as well. Not Pitchfork, but not bad. LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
owl Posted July 15, 2007 Share Posted July 15, 2007 Hmmm. I just got a new credit card. Maybe I'll have to come out on 8/11.Glad everyone enjoyed the Califone set. ViaChicago is the new PastrySharp. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
WaronWar Posted July 16, 2007 Author Share Posted July 16, 2007 There is one more chance to see Califone in a much longer set on Sat 8/11/07 in Chicago at West Fest (7:00-8:15). WaronWar, don't miss this! It'll be your last chance for a while. Yeah, I saw that on Thrill Jockey's website. I think InGlenntion and I are going to go to that show, and I can't wait to go. Moreover, speaking of Califone, I read in the Chicago Reader description of Califone that they said the band was working on a new album. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
insideoutoflove Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 biggest mistake pitchfork has ever made = putting girl talk at that small ass stage the crowd there was RIDICULOUS. i had never really heard of girl talk until this weekend, i went with a friend who's more into that stuff and she convinced me to check it out..i somehow made my way up to the left side of the stage, and stood mashed up against a chainlink fence for the majority of the show (getting an occasional shove in the back as people tried to sneak through..we were packed in there like sardines). i saw a bunch of photographers backstage and attempted to get through, but by the time i got there they weren't even letting credentials through anymore. rumor has it that they predicted about 1700 people to be at the show...and there ended up being about 7000. apparently the crowd had pushed the barriers forward like half an hour before girl talk even came on, and the fire marshal threatened to shut it down. they weren't letting anyone in or out. the actual show was pretty great, though...insane, but great. greg controlled everything via laptop, and was one of the few artists of the weekend to actually get the crowd going and into the performance. members of deerhunter, grizzly bear, and other pitchfork artists from throughout the weekend made their way on stage along with random people from the backstage area, spraying silly string and throwing confetti and stripping and such. it was quite the show! i finally managed to slip through once the show ended, and hung around as greg greeted lingering fans...he's a really great guy, extremely nice and personable, and interested in his fans. i think the girl talk performance was my biggest 'shock' of the weekend other than that, in terms of saturday's performances...califone was great. voxtrot was one of my favorites..their energy was eaten up by the audience. grizzly bear left me pleasantly surprised..what a great performance. i was not expecting anything incredible from them, but left the stage thoroughly pleased. iron & wine was another pleasant surprise, wasnt expecting him to have so many 'guests'...great to see leroy bach up there! and that radiohead cover was AWESOME. the sunset left the main stage basked in perfect light as clipse came on..im not much of a hip hop fan, so the good light for photos was what i enjoyed most about that...cat power was timid but powerful, im happy i finally got to see her live ive got more to say but cant get it all into one post..ill probably write up some reviews when i have more time, and put up some pictures from the weekend once i get them all sorted and whatnot. overall it was an incredible weekend though--perfect weather, great bands, tons of fun. and it was good seeing some of you VCers there! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Adam2 Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 is West Fest free, or what? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wendy Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 metromix.com says "$5 donation benefits the West Town Chamber of Commerce" Quote Link to post Share on other sites
insideoutoflove Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 Some pictures from the weekend..still in the process of going through them, so more will be added when I find the time.. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jc4prez Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 http://lastwaltzer.blogspot.com/2007/07/pitchfork-day-2.html here is my review Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.