Another year, another Chicago music festival... yea yea yea maybe I'm feeling a little jaded, but this year's Pitchfork Music Festival had some memorable moments. Here's my top 5:
5) Mission of Burma - After all these years, Mission of Burma still have it. Performing Vs as part of Friday night's ATP "Don't Look Back" series, the guys nailed the record from front to back. The band looked to be having a lot of fun, which always makes a set that much more entertaining to watch. They were a tad self deprecating when it came to the whole age thing, but I've seen kids half their age play shows that have been completely uninspiring... so at least MOB still has the energy and passion on their side.
4) Dinosaur Jr - If you were there, I'm sure you noticed the 4 full stacks for J. Mascis. Yep... 4. He even had one on Lou Barlow's side of the stage (my guess was in case Lou had trouble hearing what J was playing). Joking aside, how can you not like what Dinosaur Jr has done over the years? Heavy distortion, riffs awash in their fuzzed out glory, Murph back on the kit, and J's signature solos made for a set that reminded me just how much ass this lineup kicks.
3) Extra Golden - Of all the bands playing over the weekend, Extra Golden was the set I wanted to see the most. Although they played on the smallest of the Pitchfork stages, the people who were there all seemed genuinely interested to listen. Lately I've become borderline obsessed with African music, so I was particularly interested in seeing how this collaboration between American and Kenyan musicians would transpire live, and the results were fantastic.
2) Torche - Ok, so this show wasn't officially a Pitchfork sanctioned event, but it was an excellent way to cap off the weekend. The Empty Bottle hosted a Pitchfork Afterparty where Torche pretty much took my face and melted it off. It kinda bums me out that there isn't more "aggro" type music at these festivals, but that is neither here nor there. At some point, when metal becomes even more fashionable than it seems to be right now... perhaps my wishes will come true. Until then, I should probably just stick to Milwaukee Metal Fest, right? Ok, where was I? Oh yea, so Torche pretty much ripped through a set comprised of songs mostly from their new record, Meanderthal. As of now, this record is my frontrunner for best of 2008, but we are only in July and the new Melvins record is still growing on me. I also hastily purchased a tshirt at the end of their set, which at the time, unbeknownst to me, has a rather noticeable silhouette of a penis that I happened to completely not see... and then wore to work a few days later. Ooops.
1) Public Enemy - Public Enemy was the reason why I bought tickets for the entire weekend. To me, the cost of the weekend would justify itself, even if I didn't go back for another second after Public Enemy was finished playing It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back. I can't even begin to explain how much influence this record had on me as a kid growing up in the suburbs, with no sense of where hip hop was coming from, or no easy way to identify with just about anything most rappers of the 80s and 90s were singing about. Although I still probably don't have much of a personal perspective on it, Chuck D did more to at least grab my attention and let me know that he was pissed off, and do it in such a commanding and, more often than not, poetic way. That being said, I had one great fear... as I'm sure many others who probably came out did, and that was the chance that Flava Flav was going to come out and completely make an ass of himself (ala his completely sad/whack VH1 tv shows) and ruin the reputation of a once mighty machine that was Public Enemy. Other than the fact that he showed up late and completely missed "Bring Tha Noise", Public Enemy completely killed it. I've heard conflicting reports that Flav was lip syncing on a few songs, and while I definitely did notice some of his vocal tracks from the record were present, I don't think it was done to cover his live track up... but what the hell do I know. I do know that he completely nailed "Flavor Flav Cold Lampin'", and the way they switched up "Black Steel in The Hour of Chaos" (maybe my favorite Public Enemy song ever), was completely amazing. I'm glad that those who stuck around expecting to see a train wreck were shown why Public Enemy is perhaps the most important, and still relevant, groups in rap history.
