So, I just got back from Chicago. Here are my thoughts and bands I saw:
Friday
Slint- Really good, though I'd have preferred to hear/see Spiderland closer to night. Seeing them play it in sunlight was kind of odd. The music itself was note perfect from the album. It gave me chills often. Their encore was weird; I have no clue if it was just a made up jam or a song from their EP that I don't have or what.
GZA- I only half paid attention to this, but I'd never heard the album before anyway. It just wasn't for me. Every song felt the same.
Sonic Youth- Oh fuck yes!! As I was watching Slint, Lee Renaldo walked in front of me. I didn't realize who he was until a bunch of people followed him. But it was surreal to see him so close, and then up on stage playing Daydream Nation for the first time (ever??). Unlike Slint, they actually did some new things with the songs, such as extending out noise breaks and whatnot. Otherwise, they just rocked the fuck out. Even 'Providence' was cool. I left during their encore because I wanted to go sleep and lay down, and they were playing stuff I didn't know. But they did have Mark Ibold play with them like he has been recently during the encore. More on Pavement later.
Saturday
Califone- My friend and I took longer than we thought in getting to the park, so we missed The Twilight Sad. We only caught the last half of Califone's set, but their show was still pretty cool. It seemed like they mostly played stuff from Roots and Crowns, again changing the songs slightly to keep it interesting. I was surprised at the level of noise they seemed to add, though that might have been the sound system, which on the one stage seemed to add low end feedback to most bands.
Grizzly Bear- You could kind of tell which bands everyone was there to see, and Grizzly Bear was one of them. It felt as though the entire crowd converged on their stage at about the same time. And they were magical despite the one guy having some equipment problems (for some reason his clarinet created insane bass distortion). The way they once or twice segued songs together was genius.
Battles- I had listened to Mirrored enough to know the songs, but Battles live is another beast entirely. I was fucking blown away by this band: the energy, the musicianship, the sheer visceral impact of it all. This band is more than worth your money if they ever come to your part of the world. I was left wanting more.
Mastodon- Exhausted from Battles, my friend and I gulped down some pizza and water before satisfying our curiosity about Mastodon. Turns out we couldn't stand them for even one song. I don't know why so many hipsters and music critics have latched unto this band because they just sound like every other metal band to me.
Oxford Collapse- Tired of hearing Mastodon everywhere we went, we decided to give Oxford Collapse a try. I don't actually know why this band was invited because they seemed amazingly amateurish to me. It didn't help that their songs were boring and reminded me of 90s pop/punk. Ah well.
Cat Power- This was probably the saddest moment of the weekend for me because I realized that Chan Marshall is becoming something I don't like. What she wore shouldn't matter, but appearing on stage in a low cut 80s style top with black studded gloves was really stupid. The weirdest part was that I like The Greatest but live the songs weren't very good. It sounded like a boring R&B/country bar band with an apathetic vocalist. On album, her voice gives me chill and has a power to it. Live, it just didn't come off. I miss the drunken, crying over a piano alone Cat Power. Oh well. I was so fucking tired by this point we left, so I don't even know what Yoko Ono's crap was like despite some morbid curiosity.
Sunday
Deerhunter- Caught the tail end of their set, which was about two songs and then they invited from of the guys from Grizzly Bear to play with them, leading to a version of 'Stange Lights' that seemed to go on for 10 minutes and was even more intensely hypnotic than their previous songs.
Menomena- As I was going home on Friday night, I talked to some dude for a few minutes about the fest. He told he used to live in Portland, and somebody he knew went to college with the guys in Menomena. He was absolutely adamant that I go see Menomena, so I was waiting in place from the end of Deerhunter's set onward. However, they didn't actually play until almost 2:30, and when they did it was pretty boring. For as interesting as their album recording process is, their live show is a note-for-note reproduction of the songs. We left after 4 or 5 songs when it was clear they weren't going to do anything interesting.
The Sea and Cake- Funny story: the Sea and Cake rock the fuck out live!! I know, I was surprised too. Their albums are so ordered and airy, but live they were a genuine rock band. Other than 'The Biz' it was mainly new songs which I was only semi-familiar with. Still, it was a fantastic set, particularly the one song they added a breakdown/noisy section to before bringing it back to the song ala Sonic Youth's 'Silver Rocket.'
Stephen Malkmus- I have a hetero-man crush on Malkmus, so you know I got to his stage early and waited. He was the most personable of all the bands, talking to the crowd between songs and generally being his usual amusing self. Musically his set wasn't amazing; his voice sounded pretty shot (probably from recording) and he was fucking up guitar parts every so often. Still, he played a good variety of songs, including personal favorites like 'We Dance' and 'Blue Arrangements.' I'm sure he played some brand new songs too, but they could have been from his first solo album. Anyway, toward the end of his set he brought out Bob Nastonovich. I think this is the first time they've played together since Pavement broke up, and the fact they played two songs off Slanted & Enchanted was icing on the cake. For awhile I half expected Malkmus to bring out Mark Ibold to have a semi-Pavement reunion, but twas not to be.
Of Montreal- Sweet Mommy yes!! Of Montreal put on the best show of the festival IMO. And I really mean spectacle instead of show. There was a definite Flaming Lips vibe to it, with costumes and monsters and shit, but it was more surreal and sexual than just wholesomely bizarre. Everybody was dancing their asses off and they even let them come out for an encore of 'What I Like About You', during which what's-his-face appeared with assless man-panties. After they finished a long, worked up 'The Past Is A Grotesque Animal I thought I would pass out. A++ WOULD SEE AGAIN
The New Pornographers- You might expect from their albums that their live show would be pure dynamite energy, and you'd be right. If I had my druthers I wish they could've traded slots with Deerhunter or Grizzly Bear because after three days of seeing bands my body was about to die. I stayed long enough to hear them play 'Jackie, Dressed In Cobras' as well as play a new song which somehow found its way into 'We Will Rock You.' Assuming they ever toured with Dan Bejar in tow, I'd be all over it. Hell, even without him. I don't demand that bands change their songs or have crazy theatrics when they have such incredibly energy going on, and the New Pornographers did in spades.
