Several bands had their performances marred by poor sound quality or too much noise coming from the stage next door. However‚ Pitchfork is still a young festival with some logistical issues it needs to iron out before next year. A pleasant urban location‚ super cheap tickets‚ tasty microbrews from Goose Island and reasonable finish times each night (around 10pm) lend a more civilized and relaxed air to the whole event. Sponsor involvement is also kept pretty minimal and relevant-Ready Made‚ Threadless Tees‚ The Chicago Reader and Zip Car were a good fit for the target audience. It seems there is little regard for reaching the lowest common denominator (and highest return) by booking any of the mainstream crowd pleasers you see on the bill of most major festivals. The Pitchfork Music Festival is decidedly curated by and for obsessed music nerds. Headliners Built to Spill stole the night by digging deep and shredding on some of my favorites off Keep It Like a Secret like "You Were Right" and the epic "Carry the Zero." From a distance‚ hometown heroes The Jesus Lizard looked to be stirring up the Chicago faithful in their first gig in over a decade. Yo La Tengo suffered from chronic sound issues on the Aluminum Stage early on‚ but managed to power through classics like "Cherry Chapstick‚" "Autumn Sweater" and "Sugarcube." A super stretched out version of "Pass the Hatchet‚ I Think I'm Goodkind" allowed for some guitar feedback calisthenics from Ira Kaplan. As Berninger crooned and the elevated train whooshed by again‚ I thought back to the prior night's "Write the Night" showcase-set lists were chosen by the fans several months before the festival. Glimpses of the city skyline started to glow above the trees and nearby squat buildings-the newly re-branded Sears Tower stood resolutely above it all. The sun was going down bringing on a crisp summer night that came as a respite from standing in the sun all day. Doesn't seem too corporate (yet?).The National are a beautiful band that got emotions running high‚ but a big contributor to those tears had to due with the setting and the day and half run up to their Saturday evening slot. Bottled water is a buck.fairly cheap local food. Insane energy, crazy noise, and a little scary to watch.like horror-rock. Lightning Bolt was like a punch in the chops. For me, Sunday's highlight was Neon Indian. But I never got into Animal Collective, and this was like AC's worst ideas wrapped up in a show. It was just a horrible sounding mess that went on forever. Usually the screen shows a nice multiangle presentation of whoever is playing, but Panda Bear had some psychedelic pseudo-experimental bullshit on the screen as they played. I had my spot for LCD right next to the board so I could only hear Panda and see the big screen. They (he?) performed right before LCD on the adjacent stage. The Flaming Lips closed last year and they demonstrated how to properly cap off a music festival. I've tried to like them several times in the past, never really got it, and still don't. I think they topped Pavement, who closed out the whole thing. LCD Soundsystem was easily worth the price of Saturday's admission. The heat was punishing, as it is every year. Never had the interest to attend anything larger. The lineup wasn't stellar this year, but I do appreciate the fact that it's a mini-festival.
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