Pitchfork Music Festival Day 2: Jon’s Take

Very little to complain about today except for the fact that it is still hotter than the face of the sun and I would much rather be drinking Goose Island than Heineken.

Started off the day with Chicagoans Netherfriends, who I am not extremely familiar with but who put on a spirited garage-y set.  Couldn’t stay for the whole thing but I look forward to hearing more from these guys in the future.  Then it was over to Free Energy who, despite the early hour rocked out their classic oriented rock with abandon, drawing a good size crowd.

San Franciscan psych/folk group Sonny and the Sunsets played the B stage next, one of the acts I had been looking forward to most all weekend.  Sonny and co. didn’t disappoint, cranking up their laid back sound a bit to fill out their sound and delivering gems like “Heart of Sadness,” “Too Young to Burn,” and “Stranded.”  Then it was over to Delorean for the Spaniards high energy synth pop, whom I enjoyed despite not being extremely into their sound.

Afterwards I ping ponged a bit, catching a bit of Kurt Vile’s heavy garage/classic rock riffs here, some  Dam Funk hip hop there, and then most of Titus Andonicus’s stellar amped up performance.  I finally stood still for awhile for Raekwon, who captivated with a number of classic Wu Tang bangers as well as his Cuban Linx material, despite a number of sound problems that had the Chef noticeably irritated.

After Raekwon brought my enjoyment of the festival to its peak, John Spencer Blues Explosion tipped it over the edge by absolutely killing with a set of their classic tunes.  Despite not being extremely familiar with the Blues Explosion I was thoroughly impressed – especially considering the lead singer was rocking out in 95 degree heat in a pair of heat-stroke inducing vinyl pants.

My mind blown, I missed the next few sets (Why?, Bear in Heaven) to take a much needed breather.  I regained consciousness for some of Wolf Parade (not my thing but I can see why people like them) and Panda Bear, who is perhaps the most boring live performer I have seen since JJ.  Wandering around the park I kept getting startled when Panda Bear would yelp suddenly during one of his dense sound collages, sounding like someone had snuck up behind him and stuck him with a pin.  Still, if nothing else most of Panda bear’s upcoming tunes from Tomboy sounded interesting.

Finally, to finish off the evening I and the other photogs were herded in for LCD Soundsystem who took a few tunes to really warm up (James Murphy scarcely moved for the first two or three songs) but in the end pulled off a killer set of new and old tunes (“Daft Punk is Playing at My House,” “Drunk Girls,” “Tribulations,” etc.). It was a terrific ending to a long day – a park full of sweaty gleeful fools dancing their asses off as the blistering sun finally set.

Then it was home again, with the previous night’s bitter disappointment was replaced by that glorious warm high of coming home from a terrific show.

— Jon Behm

Jon Behm