Pitchfork Friday, The Only Day That Mattered...
I took my broseph to the Pitchfork Music Festival for the Friday night show, the first of three. Pitchfork had a great concept for the opening night; have three great artists play their greatest releases, and keep the whole thing simple. Slint performed Spiderland, GZA performed Liquid Swords, and Sonic Youth performed Daydream Nation.
I could give a shit about any of the other bands playing Pitchfork, but I'll take any opportunity to see SY, and I used to dig Slint too. I was excited. After knocking a few back on the roof at Twisted Spoke, we safely ditched our ride and walked down Ogden to historic Union Park. I was impressed with what I saw. There were no bullshit lines waiting to get in, and the admissions staff was quick and competent. Oh yeah, and Friday's ticket was only $15. The evening didn't appear oversold, which is becoming the norm for outdoor music festivals. I could easily walk over to the beer line, and get a coldy in about 5 minutes. As for pissing, there were ample not-that-disgusting-yet Porto potties, whose waiting times were comparable to those of the beer lines. The weather was gorgeous. Clear, cool and breezy.
Super-important shit after the jump...
Slint been-there-did-that-before-you-did, and it was excellent. GZA sucked because all rap shows suck. Sonic Youth, however, played the best show I've ever seen them play. They rocked almost all of Daydream flawlessly, but not exactly, allowing for all sorts of signature improv and freeform antics. Standouts were The Sprawl, Total Trash, and even Candle no less. I've seen them play many times, but this time found them ultra energized, somehow reclaiming that assaulting stomp from (I'm imagining) early years. Maybe I was half in the bag, but it seemed like they were enjoying their flawless performance as much everyone else. I swear to God that Sonic Youth is still the best and most unique band in music today. If nothing else, they've always been a beacon of hope and affirmation for DIY artistic dedication. They wrote Daydream Nation 20 years ago for fucksake, finally booted Jim O'Rourke, and have a combined age of 400,000 years. Wow.
Sure it was all too quiet, but what the hell. Here's a link to better pictures than mine, which you'll find after the jump...
