A highly charged crowd at the Connector stage did their best to wait patiently while Dirty Projectors completed their angelic folk-pop set on the Aluminum stage across the field. All of a sudden a gong rang out, and Japanese psych-rockers Boris proceeded to prove that despite any evidence to the contrary, rock’n’roll still reigns supreme. Their guitar driven set gave listeners a taste of music off of their latest album Smile (Southern Lord). It seemed illogical to place what was arguably the most high energy and loudest band of the weekend in the early afternoon, but regardless, the show was worth the risk of dehydration and potential skin cancer that comes from standing in direct sunlight for too long. Soon, the power of Boris proved to be too much for the sound system, and the group was forced to end their set early, after which drummer Atsuo Mizuno dove into the audience, crowd-surfing not to music, but to the cheers of their adoring fans.
Indie favorite Apples in Stereo breezed through their set, demonstrating their knack for writing catchy pop songs. They churned out tune after tune of fuzz-driven power-pop to new listeners while satisfying long time fans as well.
Sporting gold-beaded headgear (and not much else), Berlin by way of Montreal’s King Khan and his psychedelic, soulful rock band The Shrines put on a spectacular show, complete with their own cheerleader-gogo dancer, whose undergarments, according to the King watching the lady do a particularly acrobatic dance move on stage, were “like a golden dream.” After urging the audience to “Pick up the Trash!” the sky became filled with projectile water bottles and beer cups, and the resulting splash of liquid was actually somewhat welcome by the stifling hot audience. Forgetting where he was, (or not), Khan declared “this next song is in French for all of your separatists!” With an energetic, entertaining performance, the band proved to surpass all of their glowing live reviews.
Later in the afternoon, Les Savy Fav proceeded to play what may turn out to be a lengendary performance, with singer Tim Harrington spitting water into the crowd and changing into a full body skin-tight bodysuit. At one point he even hopped into a garbage bin and had the crowd pass him around in the audience. This was before he dove into the mud and inscribed designs on his belly and marked up bandmates and fans with some of the mud like war paint. Shortly after, highly anticipated San Franscico duo, The Dodos entertained with their psychedelic-folk tunes, employing dirtily distorted acoustic guitars and utilizing a metal garbage can for percussion.
Beginning their set with “You Lie, You Cheat,” Britain’s Spiritualized (seen above) put on a stellar performance, bridging the gap between space-rock and soul complete with soulful backup singers. The band was plagued with sound problems. As the fans danced and swayed in the field, the band coursed through new material as well as old favorites like “Come Together.” Unfortunately, the sound eventually went out entirely, and although the band played through while the staff managed to get it going again, singer Jason Pierce was understandably miffed, taking his frustrations out “rock-star” style, by throwing his mic stand through the ground and using his guitar to punch a hole through a speaker. Pierce may have left the stage a little grumpy, but despite the sound issues, Spiritualized gave a first-class performance worthy of a headlining spot on the bill.
While Boston rock legends Dinosaur Jr., played a solid set of classic tunes as well as cuts off of last years “reunion” album, towards the end of the set, they were drowned out by Spoon’s atrociously loud sound check. (What was it with the Aluminum Stage on Sunday?) Everyone nearby agreed that Dinosaur Jr. sounds better without “the horn section” from the other stage. Anyway- Why would they need extra instrumentation when J. Mascis can still tear it up so well on guitar?
Sadly Australia’s Cut Copy were delayed at the airport (not surprising if you’ve ever been to O’Hare), but thankfully King Khan and Bradford Cox (Atlas Sound/Deerhunter) came to the rescue in a highly entertaining, rocking, improvised set. (Cut Copy did show up later and played a short set to their patiently waiting fans). Austin’s Spoon closed out the festival, giving a typically solid live performance, playing songs from all across their extensive catalogue, and giving the remaining concertgoers a final memory of Pitchfork Music Festival 2008.
– Jamie Ludwig and Michael Danaher
– Photo by Jamie Ludwig