Reportin on the PFM Fest....
has an entire week really passed? it seems hard to believe it. anyways, i'm back in Vancouver and its appropriately rainy. good to drive you back into the lab but not so good for making you want to be back from vacay. anyways! in this entry i will try and stick to the story of the Festival itself. Some of these images i'm stealing from the Pitchfork site itself (they have both better photographers and better access than I do).
Friday Night: ATP Presents Don't Look Back
Don't Look Back is a concert series in which seminal albums are performed in their entirety, in order, straight through by the bands who recorded them. This concert had three albums.
First up was Slint, doing a very faithful and careful rendition of Spiderland. there were plenty of dudes in the crowd and they were neither the excitable type or the moving type. the near-stock stillness of the crowd turned out to be a recurring theme during the weekend. Its not really an album that needs a live setting, nor one that particularly benefits from one in my opinion. Since I'm not that familiar with Spiderland, the magic feeling wasn't quite there, but I did at least have the feeling that I was in the presence of legends. They should not have played that encore song (i.e. if that is indeed new material, I don't think i'm interested in hearing it).
Next was GZA performing Liquid Swords. He had a large crew with him, but no Wu-Tang members as far as I could tell. I spent some of that set at the record fair but from the opening beats of the opening track I was feelin the set through the whole park. Energy level was much better AND they were throwing out t-shirts the whole time!!!
Finally, Sonic Youth performing Daydream Nation. My musical timeline (albums that I had teenaged experiences with) doesnt go back that far.... so it was interesting to hear such a seminal album with pretty much fresh ears (I did run through it once or twice, to be honest). I thought that a lot of Thurston Moore tunes sounded pretty much the same. I was impressed with the number of guitars I spotted in racks for noise, but to be perfectly honest i've been spoiled by the laptoppers and the significance of that groundbreaking guitar work is lost on me. I did enjoy "Eric's Trip" a great deal, however. There was a huge crowd who loved hearing every note, and I was happy to be in on the experience. It was really cool, after all. They did close with a lot of noise, which was perfect.
Pitchfork Music Festival: Saturday
The day started off on just the right foot for me: Free Jazz!!!! New school courtesy of Ken Vandermark (featuring Jeff Parker and John Herdon of Tortoise)
and old school courtesy of the William Parker Quartet.
Vandermark's group was nice and rocky, and most of the strangest sounds came from their (electric!) bass player. Common to both sets was a dubby groove piece-well laid down by William Parker with fellow legend Hamid Drake on drums, and well played over by Jeff Parker and Vandermark (they even threw in a little squawky dialogue back and forth!). It wasnt the hugest crowd there for the show, but there was great enthusiasm for the free jazz, and thats always heartening.
Then, it was off to catch Grizzly Bear from afar and get a good spot for Battles.
I was expecting the Grizz to be hit and/or miss since they have some HUGE arrangements and layers, and they only tour with 4 or 5 guys at a time. It was true earlier in the set, but by the end they had quite warmed up and the set had become delightful. Sacrifices have to be made, however, and I needed a good spot for Battles.
One of my notions was that Battles was to be one of the sets of the weekend, possibly the best. Due to a long layoff due to technical difficulties near the end of the set and an absence of movement in the crowd (cmon people, you can dance to that stuff! its not that technically complex!!), it was somewhat lessened. also, the sound folks seemed to be compensating for the assumed lack of ear protection in the crowd, so for folks like me who were responsible and had plugs the volume was a little on the low side. Their powers are fearsome, however. John Stanier is a friggin factory, let alone a machine, and he became VERY sweaty. Ian Williams opened one of the older pieces solo and i had a brief moment of wishing i'd had a chance to see Don Caballero back in the day. Tyondai Braxton didnt come across as an ass, and Dave Konopka is a nice boy who its fun to watch playing. See them if you get a chance, and make sure the volume is up!
After taking a short break to get some eats and drinks, I did the same thing for Iron and Wine while i waited for....MASTODON.
The only metal band of the weekend pretty much, and the only time the crowd was whipped into a frenzy (though i did see dust rising during the New Pornographers), and the only time I was transported back to high school all weekend. Everyone was feeling them, though, from the hipsters to the indie boys to the indie girls. Maybe even the Cat Power fans who must have been there trying to get a good spot for Chan (she was next on the same stage). I took off partway during the set after hearing a couple of tunes from the latest album-i had to get ready for Clipse.
Nothing more needs be said. It was motherf'n Clipse. Mixtape shit, "Virginia", and Liva up from Philly. They also chose the same actions for "Keys Open Doors" that i did. Thats some awesome shit right there. And there were at most 4 or 5 black fans in the crowd. Seriously. And you should buy their record when it come out. oh wait, it is. go get that shit to-DAY.
The day ended with most of Cat Power with David, the latter half of both Girl Talk (too jammed with people standing still to be REALLY amazing) and Yoko Ono. Yoko was suprisingly ok. oh, and she brought on Thurston!!!
Pitchfork Music Festival: Sunday
First up: Deerhunter. It was the only time all weekend I felt like i was seeing a band that had the potential to be a band for our generation. And the sunshine didnt dent the feeling at all either. I immediately ran to the record fair to get the last copy of Cryptograms.
Menomena really impressed me on the big stage (albeit from afar). Having seen them at Pat's, they really stepped up with energy and volume for a big festival stage and it was much more enjoyable. No good snaps from me but there are good ones at Stereogum's Sunday coverage.
Then I caught the Junior Boys and was dancing up a storm with honeys all around!!! They did VERY well in the daylight, and I liked the drummer this time. Sunday was a much less hectic day. It was nice to just take in the festival as an experience in itself.
(taken by dum2007)
This was also the time when I got to hit Flatstock. Rock posters are AWESOME. I also got to see Daniel Danger's work (he was also crashing with nickdiscredit). I didnt budget for posters but I would strongly recommend you check out Flatstock and bring about $70. Next one is in Seattle in September IIRC.
During the Sea and Cake i was getting into position for Jamie Lidell.
He wowed a lot of the people I talked to. Which was nice for them, but i've seen better sets by him in Vancouver (Jazzfest 2006 for one). The new material seems to be solid as well, so we'll see how his next one turns out. He had a theremin this time and is remarkably deft with the electronics.
I had been planning to take in Cadence Weapon but the B stage had gotten behind schedule... so i saw the end of the Cool Kids (who were a pretty good party) and headed back to the A stage for Of Montreal. WOW.
Not only is Kevin Barnes an amazing spectacle, but the band is really rockin live. It was probably the biggest pleasant surprise of the weekend-it was a world-class set from these guys. They played all the ones i wanted to hear. And since the B stage was behind, i bolted during the encore and caught all of The Field:
He played a really solid set that was true to his sound and very unified. A little bit of dancing but it was mostly academic by that point. David and Andrew (my hotel-mates) took off after that set, and I headed off to represent for East Van with the New Pornographers. In the break before the encore i tried shouting out for East Van, in fact, but i'm not sure anyone heard.
It was a pretty hard-rockin set for the NPs, and it was good to hear. Kurt Dahle is an amazingly gifted drummer, and also has the gift of pulling out cigarettes, smoking, singing, drumming, and looking good all at the same time. Katherine is solid and the crowd was loving it. They're a popular act stateside it seems!!!
last but by no means least, De La Soul.
They are professionals at rocking a party. It was probably the biggest partying crowd i've ever been in, and i still managed to get near the front to get that snap. The big hits, a tribute to James Brown, and shouts out to the VIPs.
and thus ended PFM. i realised it was probably the best possible way to spend 2 days. So many bands from all over the spectrum, cheap peripherals (food, merch, beer, water), and a really good vibe. I'd like to go again, depending on lineup.... I regret only missing Dan Deacon, and the fact that the B stage isnt staggered like the A and C stages. hard to go catch a good act on the small stage when you want a good spot for, say, Clipse or Of Montreal. BUT that is the price one pays.
last image: the parkful of people being rocked during De La:
