Pitchfork Music Festival - Sunday - Union Park

Right when we exited the train the sky let us know who was boss. Rain came down, hard. We anticipated a mudfest. We contemplated buying a crap umbrella. But then...

Best Coast
Like that, the sun was back with a vengence. Suddenly it was mad hot & humid. Best Coast's laid back devil may care vibe felt right for the state of things. Chill, beachy, Cali, smoke up sound that felt vintage. Quotes like "This song is about weed!!!" & "This feels like Woodstock in the '90s... minus Limp Bizkit... too bad they're not playing." amused between songs. I think Best Coast is cool ...and good. I did miss the muffled lo-fi sound of their recorded sound, Beth Consentino's vocals rang super clear.
#LOVE: mmm, no. i'm sticking with like & respect.

Washed Out
a mixture of excited energy & anxiety kicked in in the minutes leading up to Washed Out's (washed out is chill-waving sound genius, Ernest Green) set. he was also a major reason i trekked up to chi-town. once positioned against the rail before the stage, i instantly noticed that the vibe all around me was so right. danceable tunes were being played as he set up. and then, as if sinking into a sparkling dream, his own beats kicked in and i remember immediately thinking he should just play the rest of the day. Ernest sings with earnest. the layers of his sound and the blending happening from song to song make seeing Washed Out live a worthy cause. I will say I DO wish small black was there with him. Hopefully another time. Nevertheless, Belong, You'll See It, Feel It All Around, You and I... all of it. WAS. GORGEOUS. i was in heaven. -summer was MADE for chill wave- that is all.
#LOVE: like a junior high obsession. yes.

Beach House
I high tailed it from the balance stage to the connector stage knowing that due to the schedule overlap, i'd already missed some portion of beach house. the first thing i noticed was the weather was different from one stage to another. I asked our new & local friend if it was about to monsoon or was the sky just being nice and he smiled and said he thought the sky was in fact, just being nice. overcast and cool, all of sudden, to the gentle musings of beach house. hmmm... they're cool. really. i get it. they are. beautiful even. but. maybe they're a little too chill for me?

#LOVE: don't freak out. no. i don't. like only.

Lightning Bolt
And like a true clap of unexpected lightning: BAM! Lightning Bolt tore into the atmosphere, mere moments after Beach House faded out. Frenetic blaring madness. The drummer in a whacked out mask. Hot damn. I tried to walk away but I had to come back. I don't know what it was. The speed? The fact that I was getting '90s Ministry vibes? I was in awe. They freakin' rocked. They are so aptly named. They strike.

#LOVE: i tried to fight it. but like a moth to a flame, i do. i love. live, at least. not sure what i'll think of their recorded stuff.

Surfer Blood
the crowds thronged to the small balance stage to catch surfer blood. i told the german it was a good time to grab something to eat. but even from the stretch of food booths, you could hear surfer blood wooing the masses. they've got it live.

#LOVE: well, they didn't piss me off this time AND their sound was LOUD & CLEAR in comparison to others that played pitchfork.

Here We Go Magic
i watched their entire set. i remember thinking, ah yeah, this is agreeable. at the time. and that's what i've got for you. can't really explain it. what i'd heard recording wise, previously, digable. maybe live they were dream like. maybe it was magic? yeah, that's what i'm thinking.

#LOVE: no, but i do like, i think.

Neon Indian
The last of the BIG FOUR that inspired my pilgrimage. (to recap, that's delorean, LCD soundsystem, washed out, neon indian.) A few minutes before they came on, I set out to get as close as I could on my own again. Massive water bottle & camera in tow. I found myself wedged, far too tightly for my own tolerance, within a sea of very young adolescents. I'm talking, not able to drive yet. And that was weird. Did my best to set that aside and the brilliance that is Neon Indian helped in vast ways. Two seconds into the first song I was enraptured. I think I actually tweeted something to the effect of, 'don't let this ever end'. This era of sound, this genre, it is true, dreamlike genius. Songs like Deadbeat Summer, Mind drips, Sleep paralysist = MIND BLOWING DANCE-YOUR-A$$ OFF BEAUTY. layers. atmosphere. beats. are you feeling me? this, kids, is where it's at.

#LOVE: enough to plant myself upfront between 3 million sweaty 15 year olds, i'd say YES.

Sleigh Bells
"Are we in a library?" I'd warned the german about how loud he would find Sleigh Bells. then they came on & practically whispered their set (in contrast to their West Palm Beach Respectable Street show just the week before). Alexis, despite volume handicap, still managed to astonish. She's a firecracker. And now I have to see them but again, sans bully relatives & sound issues.

#LOVE: it's an elusive love. i still long for my perfect sleigh bells show.

so there you have it. the #MUSIC i experienced at pitchfork music festival.

STAND-OUT FAVES:

DELOREAN

LCD SOUNDSYSTEM

WASHED OUT

NEON INDIAN

+

PANDA BEAR

LIGHTNING BOLT (yeah, strange)

+

BEAR IN HEAVEN (but that goes w/out saying)

love,

sunlovey

p.s.

vids are still to come. look out. no seriously. do. they're going to jolt your brain.