So I went to pitchfork again this year. This time around it was a bit different for me as I pretty much flew completely solo for most of the 4 days I was in Chicago. Of course my main man in Chi-town, Mauricio put me up for the 3rd year in a row and we did hang a bit. Otherwise I was a loner and it was really great. Okay, so first day I get to Chicago and jump on the El over to Wicker Park area where Mauricio lives. He is there with his lady and we get to hanging, they are not going for the Friday shows so I hang a bit and I am not worried about catching Tortoise because it would have been really hectic and I have seen them before. So the hang stretches, time warps on and then, Oh &^%$#t, Yo La Tengo, who I am extremely psyched to see is on in five minutes!! What do I do Mauricio? Do I have to call a cab or can I hail one like in my native New York but not like in my adoptive Portland, Maine. He says no problem go out to the corner and hail one. I get all my stuff together which is a project because I have to travel light but be prepared for anything, run out the door and immediately catch a cab to Union Park. I get there and the music is floating through the air, they have just started. I bob and weave my way through all the lemmings, show my ticket, open my pack for the inspectors and I am in. Hustle up close and I have only missed one or two songs. They go on to put on a great show, Ira Kaplan shreds the guitar and does some really crazy freak outs both in sound and body. They play sugarcube which sends me (Friday's bands were all "Write the Night" sets where people emailed in their requests) and I am happeee!.
Then came Jesus Lizard, whom I had also seen before and wasn't that determined to see them, so instead I used the time to get my beer tickets and wrist bands and all the associated lines. Next is the headliners and one of my all-time favorites, Built to Spill. I am so pumped up and they did not disappoint. Maybe some pompous music geeks were poo-pooing the fact that it was "all the hits" but I loved it.
Untrustable:
Got out of there on such a high, walked home with the masses alone together and went to Mauricio's pad. He was out partying and I just hung and vegged to cable a bit and then crashed. Next up was an all day Saturday of music. My host was in for this day and although I was interested in seeing Cymbals eat Guitars, it was the first show of the day at 1pm and it just wasn't happening so after hanging at the pad until about 2:30 I set out wanting to check out The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Got all the lines out of the way and checked the band out. They weren't bad, enjoyable. Then watched the Bowerbirds for a bit who I had seen before, they don't exactly fit well in this outdoor concert setting but they are a great band. Then began what seemed like was the pattern for the next two days. After getting my food and drink needs taken care of, I would begin the battle to get up front. Made it up pretty close for Yeasayers set, which was amazing, high-energy, dancing fun. In the back of my mind though I am making moves in anticipation for the next show on this stage, one of my very favorite bands of today; Beirut. I got up really close and then had to wait an hour in a pretty uncomfortable position, in very claustrophobic conditions. I didn't mind though, I had lots of little conversations and I was able to see Doom and hear his set a bit. I heard lots of people saying later that they didn't enjoy it and some even said that he was lipsyncing. All I know is that it was pretty warm and he was in full leafy camouflage. Don't know how he did that, mask and all.
Beirut went on finally and promptly at 7:25. I was so excited and it did not disappoint. I was wondering if he was going to have as much going on as on the albums but he only had six people or so up there but it sounded great. He seemed like a very cool person, nice stage presence, self-effacing, spoke a lot of french (he isn't french but is a francophile). And the people just loved him, myself included.
And finally, to cap off the night was The National, another of my very favorites of today. It unfortunately was on the other stage so I wasn't able to get up really really close but close enough. I had high expectations and although it ended up being a really good show, the beginning was a bit rocky. In my opinion the lead singer (Matt Berninger) sounded a bit flat, and he seemed a bit out of it. He did warm up though and the band was great. Eventually, on the strength of their amazing songs I was taken away and rocked out to them and a good time was had by all and overall I would say they were a B+/A-. One of several highlights was "Mr. November"
Again, off with the masses on the walk home alone together on a concert high, and again and unlike past years, I declined partying it up further and went to veg on more cable (we don't have cable so it is a treat) and go to sleep. End of Saturday and more to come.
To be continued......
