All Photos by Christopher Alvarez
With the third and final day of the Pitchfork Music Festival, it is announced that all three days were indeed sold out affairs. An impressive feat, even if it took a little longer than to sell out than in previous years. Perhaps that has something to do with the star power of the lineups, though I felt this year’s selections to be another very solid showing overall. That momentum continued into Sunday, as did the incredible heat. The festival crew did another fantastic job of keeping the crowd hydrated, and with the exception of the Odd Future set (more on that later), the air of safety and security remained intact all through the day.
The Fresh & Onlys
Sunday morning was unforgivingly sunny and hot. It was fitting, then, that the opening act of day 3 of the Pitchfork Music Festival was the San Franciscan group, The Fresh & Onlys. Their mellow, Grateful Dead meets Jenny Lewis sound was an early bright spot on day 3 of Pitchfork. Playing though a song cycle that could have been mistaken for a greatest hits collection for The Band, frontman Tim Cohen captivated the 1:00 pm audience with his rich baritone. Reverb-heavy tunes like the standout “Waterfall” made The Fresh & Onlys a welcome warm-up act for the day ahead. So impressed was I by their set that I even picked up their Secret Walls EP at one of the record shop tents.
Darkstar
By Sunday, an unfortunate trend had become apparent. Keyboard/synth driven bands with dense, swirling sounds but little else to offer seemed to litter the blue stage. Darkstar, Sunday’s first electronic performer, did not entirely break this trend. Their set included many dark, brooding, but ultimately boring performances that did little to differentiate themselves from the other electronic groups. However, they did have the occasional moment of brilliance, relative though it may be. “When It’s Gone” featured a slow, intricate piano intro cut into by a thick baseline moving underneath. Once the beat dropped in, the crowd was finally into it. Yet overall, Darkstar was but a footnote and their performance was mostly forgettable.
Yuck
Based on their self-titled debut album, I had drawn a few conclusions about what Yuck would sound like live. One, that the vocals would be drowned-out as they often are on the album, and that the band would play like a train-off-the-rails garage band. Neither of these predictions were given any credence by Yuck’s performance on Sunday. For starters, lead singer Daniel Blumberg’s voice, in all its nasal glory, cut right through the noise and proved more than adequate for an open air festival. The band also played very tight and proficient, which allowed for melodies such as that on “Get Away,” which were sometimes obscured on the album, to find new life live. Other songs like “Suicide Policeman” sound just as great as they did in the studio. Even more impressive were “Holing Out” and “The Wall,” the latter of which had the crowd singing along.
How To Dress Well
Sunday was just littered with technical problems across the stages, causing odd start times all across the fest. Consequently, the crowd was a little restless and disinterested when How To Dress Well came on stage. That stage name refers to singer Tom Krell, who could have used a little help with volume. The soft set was nearly drowned out by Yuck across the way. The string quartet accompanying Krell did very little in assistance, and the performance was limp and languid. Krell was mostly motionless and introverted on stage and the group were not pushing themselves to make something special happen. In his defense, at least Krell (when he could be heard) had no trouble hitting the high notes. Still, not much was going to save this set, and How To Dress Well didn’t seem to care one way or the other.
Kurt Vile & The Violators
The 90s alt-rock revival was in full swing at Pitchfork by the time Kurt Vile and the Violators hit the Green stage. While not lacking for enthusiasm, Vile’s set did not have the same appeal as that of Yuck. The crowd, seemingly composed of most of the same people who had stood through the heat for Yuck, were still nodding along with Vile as he tore through “Society Is My Friend.” At about halfway though his set the demographics of the crowd changed in preparation for Odd Future, which brought some unwelcome jeers from some in the audience, “kill people, burn shit, fuck school” chief among them. If you saw Yuck, you didn’t need to see Kurt Vile, but you probably enjoyed yourself if you did.
OFWGKTA
It’s impossible to divorce this group’s performance from the controversy surrounding it. Various women’s advocacy and rape prevention groups made quite a bit of noise about their displeasure with the booking of Odd Future Wolfgang Kill Them All, whose music centers around rape and violence against women. The Pitchfork Music Festival made a smart move by inviting those groups to set up shop inside the festival and pass out their literature. Still, there was an element of danger surrounding Odd Future’s performance. As it came to pass, the danger was very much real, as the audience was particularly angry and violent. There were blood and casualties in the front of the crowd mere minutes into the set. When Tyler, the Creator made his first appearance, hell did indeed seem to break lose. This did have the adverse effect of distracting from the music, which was as heavy and powerful as any hip-hop act to grace Pitchfork in years. Regardless of your feelings about the messages contained in their music (and certainly there is much to feel negative about with lines like “Don’t have a problem with smacking a bitch” and “all lesbians hate dick”), their presence is commanding. They’re certainly fearless, as exemplified by Tyler, the Creator’s crowd surfing, broken leg and all.
Shabazz Palaces
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, and more specifically Ariel Rosenberg himself, played like a hot mess of glammed-up Mothers Of Invention. That shouldn’t surprise anyone with even a modicum of experience with Ariel Pink, who’s been doing this sort of thing for the better part of two decades now. Ariel, stumbling around the Green stage, had his vocals distorted throughout the set, making him even more incomprehensible than he already is. That said, he’s a captivating frontman, and at the best moments of the set when the band coalesces, the results can dazzle. Perhaps those moments weren’t common enough, but it’s hard to argue with the band’s performance of “Bright Lit Blue Skies.”
Baths
Superchunk
The veteran band, who themselves can claim to have contributed to the existence of the Pitchfork Music Festival itself via the influence of Merge Records, should by all rights have passed their prime as a live act. Frontman Mac McCaughan shouldn’t still be pogoing his way around the stage for an hour, nor should the band’s new material be making any kind of an impact on a live audience. This is why I love festivals like Pitchfork; they find a way to show you that the clichés of music don’t always apply. Featured prominently in the set were new songs like the pop-punky “Crossed Wires” and “Digging For Something,” which the majority of the crowd knew and sang along with. Mac’s voice is in beyond remarkable shape for a man in his 40s. Laura Ballance is having fun, something that supposedly had not been the case not that long ago, which is a treat to see, as is the ever exuberant Jon Wurster behind the drum kit.
Kylesa
How to win over a geeky music critic 101: employ two drummers and a theremin to play sludge metal. I was completely unfamiliar and unprepared for the band’s set, so forgive me if my description resembles that of a witness to a drive-by shooting. The band alternates between singer Phillip Cope and singer/growler/demonette Laura Pleasants. The voice that comes out of Pleasants, which is more snarl than singing, has to be heard to be believed. Truly though, it’s the banging produced by percussionists Carl McGinley and Tyler Newberry that make this quintet. They employ not only raw power, but a finesse that is too often absent from metal. It also helps that they use a theremin, which I can’t get over.
Deerhunter
Straight off a European tour, Deerhunter played a poppy, jaunty set that worked as a nice palette cleanser after Kylesa. I hadn’t seen Deerhunter live in a few years, and I noticed a few changes. Their songs, even the older ones, are played a little cleaner and smoother than I recall them doing in the past. They almost seem arena-friendly in a way I could have never expected them to sound. I don’t mean that as a criticism, just an observation. Hell, on songs like “Revival,” the band sound damn near like the Verve. It was an impressive set, especially considering Bradford Cox was supposedly under the weather.
Toro Y Moi
Cut Copy
Cut Copy seem like an oddball group to me. Dan Whitford moves around onstage like he’s Hugh Grant in the movie Love Actually (don’t ask, girlfriend made me, still bitter). Their albums even kind of sound like what you’d expect Hugh Grant’s character to make in the movie Music And Lyrics (so, so bitter). While I still contend that those things are true, that shouldn’t dissuade anyone from taking a chance on seeing these guys live. At Pitchfork, as one of the final sets of the night, they drove the crowd mad in a manner befitting of a headliner. The crazy dance orgy that formed during “Lights & Music” was worth the price of admission alone. Other highlights of Cut Copy’s performance included “Take Me Over” and set closer “Need You Now.”
TV On The Radio
Some bands just have an unfair advantage over everyone else. Great sound, great voice, great songs. Like the spoiled kid who always has the newest, coolest toys, these bands have everything. TV On The Radio has absolutely developed into that kind of group, and they put their considerable talents on full display as the festival closers. Lead singer Tunde Adebimpe has some of the best pipes in indie rock, and the band has crafted a sound that is instantly recognizable as its own. Wasting no time, TV On The Radio kicked straight into Dear Science highlight “Halfway Home.” The band followed this with several more up-tempo tunes, before reigning in the pace with new track “New Cannonball Blues.” Even “Will Do,” which I felt was kind of weak first single for their most recent album, bursts with intensity in the live setting. The band continued to build on their momentum with the scintillating “Young Liars” and “Staring At The Sun,” that latter of which put the audience in a frenzy. After “Wolf Like Me,” the group was joined onstage by Shabazz Palaces for a rousing performance of “A Method.” Still, the best moment of the night was a cover of Fugazi’s “Waiting Room” which just goes to show that TV On The Radio can do just about anything it damn well pleases and get a crowd of 18,000 behind it.
