2006 Pitchfork Music Festival

"no Rita Lee, no credibility"

Main stage:

• Silver Jews
• The Futureheads
• Ted Leo/Pharmacists
• Art Brut
• Destroyer
• Mountain Goats
• Band of Horses
• Man Man
• Hot Machines

Biz3 stage:

• Dominik Eulberg *
• Matmos
• Ada *
• Ghislain Poirier
• 8 Bold Souls

* sponsored by Summer Dance

Sunday, July 30

Main stage:

• Os Mutantes
• Spoon
• Yo La Tengo
• Devendra Banhart
• Mission of Burma
• Aesop Rock
• The National
• Jens Lekman
• Tapes 'n Tapes
• Chin Up Chin Up

Biz3 stage:

• Diplo
• Tarantula A.D.
• Tyondai Braxton
• Bonde Do Role

Stay tuned in the coming weeks for many more additions, including many more to the Biz3 stage-- featuring the best in hip-hop, jazz, electronic, and experimental music. We will also announce some exciting new additions to the festivities, including a pre-party and more extracurricular activities that will join the WLUW record fair and DEPART-ment craft and clothing fair on site at Union Park during the festival

I'm really excited about this, this is going to be great.

ihttp://www.simonfraser.net/dante/Folio/illos/AGGRO.jpg

"As a matter of fact, I am free that weekend!"

Okay, I'll go with the hotpants and tubetop look. I'm thinking a sun visor and flipflops might complete the ensemble . . .

I was gonna say that...

The funny thing about PFM fans and critics and everybody in between is that it falls into the typical intellectual/hipster/nerd denominational backbiting where there isn't much that separates anybody from anybody else but they all absolutely hate each other for the most esoteric and petty things.

It reminds me of the Nazis members hating the Nazi sympathizers (who hate the Jews), while the SA hates the SS who hates the elite inner-circle who hates the Nazi members who hate the SA, etc...Any third party would just laugh at the petty differences that separate the Nazis.

It's all a lot of petty nonsense over who is the "hipster" and who is the genuine fan of pop music.

"I laugh at the Nazis!"

http://townsvillebulletin.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,3600,5133552,00.jpg

"I laugh at the Nazis!"

oh please. everyone experiences summer and apparently, their respective towns are the worst. will say this though: intonation festival < chapel hill in july.

http://www.banooba.net/images/joevicki.jpg

The notice on the festival's ticket page is great: "Children under the age of 10 are free when accompanied by an adult." OK, so how much is it if they go by themselves?

Are there any rumors of the "more to be announced" bands? The line-up is solid, but spending two long, hot days in a huge crowd to see abbreviated sets by bands I've seen (or could if I wanted to) play full sets in small or midsize clubs (Os Mutantes excepted, of course)... not my cuppa tea. Feel free to convince me otherwise.

There's supposed to be about 30 acts, so there's still more to be announced, by the look of it. The first seems to be missing some proper headliners in comparison to day two, with its Spoon/YLT/Os Mutantes.

-- jinx hijinks (mikeoptin...), April 14th, 2006.

and in American Express commercials

Another funny quirk was that the people who bought tickets ahead of time had to stand in a line that wrapped around the block to get in. I just walked up and bought my ticket and walked in right away.

I know someone who might fly from San Francisco for this just for Blue Cheer. But I bet they'll book other shows too.

Standing directly in front of you?

I hate that word when applied to booking bands.

This year's Ozzfest is being curated by Josh Feinstein, a 15 year-old high school student from Lincoln, Nebraska. Josh has over 167 band t-shirts (all black), including past Ozzfest participants Korn, System of a Down, Slayer, and Pantera. Josh has a tremendous interest in the Occult, and has a MySpace page notable for its many varied takes on the pentagram. He enjoys the poetry he carves into his arm, erotic fantasy literature, and playing his Sony PSP on the school bus.

The point of the joke was that while most places get the "too hot" line or the "too cold" line, Chicago is always getting BOTH from people, which is a bit funny if you happen to kind of come from that part of the midwest: like yes, duh, it's hot in summer and cold in winter, is this really that impressive?

Also, does anyone else remember that huge dude in the red mesh jersey?

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Reply to: pers-187932700@craigslist.org
Date: 2006-07-29, 10:59PM CDT

I saw you at Pitchfork standing in line for beer tickets. We caught each other's eyes and then acted very interested in the trees and the ground. Wish we would have said something to one another:"Did you like Art Brut?" perhaps. Me: oversized sunglasses, striped Urban Outfitters shirt, lots of long necklaces, skirt, dirty chuck tailors, short messy wavy hair in pigtails, lots of bangs. You: dark shaggy hair, dark frame glasses, rolled up jeans, dark socks, plaid button down, smoking American Spirits. Let's get coffee at Filter or some PBRs at Gold Star sometime?

this is in or around Union Park/Pitchfork

no -- it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

I'm like 80 shades darker than when I left for Chicago -- my cab driver thought I was Somali!

the bondo do role thing was totally grisly. i was positive she broke her arm cause it cracked the railing in a really awkward way and then buckled under the weight of her fall, but apparently it was just a dislocation. still, jesus, OW.

that said, it was a really ill-advised stage dive. no security at the front + minefield of concrete, railings and monitors in the deposit zone = poor exit plan.

xpost yeah i was really pleasantly surprised at the amount of people dancing for the techno stuff.

Can't wait to get home from work and see if I can spot myself geeking out in the Art Brut youtube. Nice meeting you, jaymc!

True, the tent actually made things worse because it halted the breeze.

Silver Jews were good but not as life changing as in march. Funny banter. He's best in a room full of jews fans.

Met Darnielle. What a great fucking guy. I just said I liked his show and we wound up talking for 5 minutes. And his show WAS good. Really good.

Walkmen's guitarist looks frighteningly like Eddie Van Halen. It's in the face. The singer was totally into it but I dont understand why the guitar tone has to be ear drum shattering all treble so you can only hear a few scratches here and there. But their drum kick sound and their bassists crab dance were both equally nice.

Destroyer does the pained artist thing well. Actually liked it. Best guitar tone of the entire event I think. Agree that he needs to uhmm maybe engage the audience. But maybe he doesn't either.

A lot of the second day was a blur because I'd slept in a car and was all sweaty. I kind of walked from show to show and would leave early if I lost interest.

Yo La Tengo's piano stuff was a lot better than the guitar stuff.

The Liars need to lose the guitar and singer and keep with the drummy stuff.

Spoon was good and they later asked my friend if he could get them blow.

Devandra was perfect summer outdoor music. Jammy and light and airry.

Os Mutantes was biggest letdown of all. It was all overdone and made into some laser show light rock muzak extravaganza. That was the one I was looking forward to the most.

I saw like 4 white rappers at assorted periods and although I didn't catch any of their names they usually weren't very good.

my friend stayed at the hotel pitchfork rented out for the artists and met david byrne (there to see os mutantes) and lou reed who said something about yo la tengo and offered my friend whiskey shots (my friend turned him down!)

WHAT THE FUCK!

your friend is in the rock penalty box.

also, no rita lee no dice

the liars were possessed.

burma ruled.

t. braxton was awesome, but managed to clear the tent a good bit.

holy reasonable food and beverage costs.
m.

Ada was my revelatory moment. That shit was great. Not only the mohawk kid but the hairy kid in the blue soccer shorts was dancing his ass off!

Damn Ulrika, Jens' pianist, though. I still don't think she understands that we need to be together.

yeah, wtf, that was just weird. I've never seen anything so...ridiculous and almost...disturbing? If that tent wasn't so hot I would have stayed in there to get those timid kids bumpin. But when Diplo told the crowd it was one of the best he'd ever played to, that was some kind of bs.

And still, that Burma crowd was such an embarrassment. However, the best thing about moving around in that sort of indie immobile-ness is that the people start move over so you have lots of room to rock out. Still. lame.

It just seemed like with all the talk about people wanting to see them (the conversations I'd had with random attendees prior to the set), there was going to be some sort of expression about it. I love that sort of display of unabashed energy--the stuff usually only reserved for rocking out in your room. So it really just would have been nice to be surrounded by a bit more of the excitement verbalized prior. Maybe a few more fist pumps. Some air jamming. a little bit of bumpage?

But, okay. I just love music & the adrenaline rush of letting it take me over (when possible. and before I get too old to do so.)

and m.--happy to hear.

anyhow. I had a good time.

Tim Tuten, co-owner of the Hideout. Funny thing is, he often does the same grandiose patter before shows at his tiny club, too.

And I'll second the 'great city' nod. So clean!

and I thought the laid back, indie-celebs walking the streets and watching the shows vibe was cool too

On Friday afternoon, we ran into Wayne Coyne from the Flaming Lips walking around near the Art Institute, watching kids play in the monolith sculpture fountain pool, in his full-on suit and (untied) bow tie. (He said he was in town because they were playing in Wisconsin that weekend; it had nothing to do with Pitchfork.) We talked to him for a little while (we had seen the Lips play in L.A. just last week) -- he's a super nice (and intense) guy.

Drew, did you see the amazing all-windows, super-reflective building on the river where it bends? That's my favorite in Chicago. Also, that last part feels like my whole summer. Drunk dude today in Logan Square telling everyone to fuck themselves, that he was fucked up and at one point saying, "I'm a n*gger." Very confusing and deeply depressing.

Chin Up Chin Up: "generic angular guitar rock"
Man Man: "all shtick and no substance"
Band of Horses/The Walkmen: "good but not great"
Destroyer: "fine but not fabulous"
Silver Jews: "interestingly skewed but far from superb"
Mountain Goats: "too sleepy and tuneless"
Ted Leo: "a rollicking set"
The Futureheads: "overstayed their welcome and became repetitious"
Danielson: "gimmicky presentation"
The Liars: "rollicking noise-rock"
Aesop/Lif: "good-time hip-hop party grooves"
Devendra: "hippie campfire music"
Mission Of Burma: "nothing short of incendiary"
Os Mutantes: "gloriously strange and sweepingly cinematic"

wtf!

"Argos is a frumpy Everyman and unapologetic schlub -- think of Philip Seymour Hoffman portraying the late rock critic Lester Bangs in "Almost Famous""

wtf more!

no lester bangs, no credibility.

SpankRock "crotchtastical booty jamz"
Tarantula A.D. "Shadowfaxxxploitation"
etc

spankrock: "a rousing set of hipster-friendly party grooves"
tarantula a.d.: "loud but not incendiary"
dominik eulberg: "rhythmic and trancey"

etc etc

Agreed with the comment on Destroyer's guitar tones. Some of the best tones I've ever heard. "It's Gonna Take An Airplane" was probably my favorite moment of the festival.

Other highlights were energetic sets from The Walkmen, CSS, Liars, Mission Of Burma (despite the Trem Two bullshit) and Os Mutantes

The goddamn sound: I hope Pitchfork jacks up the ticket price an extra $5 next year and improves the sound system. This was a real frustration. If you were standing close to the stage, the sound was fine. If you were back in the crowd, you were SOL. The music played softly and had no punch to it. A larger bank of speakers placed higher off the ground would probably take care of this. I know it's a festival, but you shouldn't be required to stand within 30 feet of the stage to enjoy the music.

Ran into the Liars rhythm section at a Walgreens and Britt Daniels at a grocery store within 5 minutes of each other after the festival. The heat and music had dulled me beyond comprehension and I had nothing interesting to say to either. Just vague fanboy ramblings.

Chicago is unbelievable. Again I'll just echo the sentiments above. It's everything you could want in a big city without the obnoxious pretensions. As much as I loved the Pitchfork festival, I didn't have my mind properly blown until I visited the Art Institute a few days later. I'm still reeling. The only letdown was the King Tut exhibit at the Field Museum. Probably the worst case of false advertising ever.

I really wanted to see more dj tenting, but i couldn't get anywhere close to the tent, too crowded.

Who's all going this year?

Fwiw, single day and 3-day passes still available. Dunno if that's unusual with a couple of days to go ...

Unusual for 3-day passes.

I'll be there. FAP?