[Moshe]

http://www.dailyherald.com/story.asp?id=331532

Alt-rockers join boomers in waxing nostalgic at Pitchfork's opening

By Mark Guarino
Daily Herald Music Critic
Posted Saturday, July 14, 2007
The so-called alternative nation of the late 1980s and early 1990s finally caught up with the baby boomers.
Even though the Lollapalooza generation sneered at Roger Daltrey singing "hope I die before I get old" while dying his hair, Sonic Youth is stuck having to perform their hit anthem "Teen Age Riot" as middle-age parents who are in their early 50s.
The occasion was the second annual Pitchfork Music Festival that opened Friday in Union Park, near the United Center in the city's far West Loop neighborhood. The festival has quickly become the summer's most affordable and quirkiest music weekend, with a roster of three days' worth of music ranging from electro-pop to alternative hip-hop to veteran rock icons.
Opening day was designed as a special event. It was patterned after All Tomorrow's Parties, the U.K. festival known for requiring artists to reproduce a seminal album from their back catalog in its entirety.
Pitchfork organizers requested the same of three different artists: the experimental rock band Slint, Wu-Tang Clan member the GZA and New York City alt-rock pioneers Sonic Youth.

 

 

Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth performs at the Pitchfork Music Festival 2007 at Union Park in Chicago Friday. (Brett Nadal/Daily Herald)

 

For Sonic Youth, that meant recreating their 1988 double-album "Daydream Nation" (Geffen), regarded as a milestone of its time. One reason for turning back time is practical - a deluxe CD reissue of "Daydream Nation" was released in June and its vinyl counterpart is out this month.
But even though nostalgia was the primary driver for Friday's kick-off, it was surprising how much the album sounded fresh, not just to the people playing it, but the audience, most of whom were still in diapers when it first hit stores. For a generation that seems to value downloadable singles rather than full albums, their enthusiastic reception of having to listen to a full set of music performed live for 75 minutes was a revelation.
The other revelation was of Sonic Youth as the original alt-rock jam band. What made "Daydream Nation" different in 1988 was its long, complex and often spacey instrumental sections. Pairing Lee Renaldo and Thurston Moore, the guitars linked into rhythm, one slightly echoing the other as they wound up tightly before cathartically releasing into noise or an energetic pop chorus.
Songs like "Hey Joni" were suspended with drama until their breaking point. The music kept swinging back and forth from gentle plateaus - with the guitarists gently playing bobbing rhythm - to messy and loud breakouts. Performed live, it was exhilarating to keep up although, like most potential epics, some editing could have tightened the experience. A song like "Rain King" was stuck in pure rhythm and felt more like a cold exercise.
Ironic detachment was a significant factor of Sonic Youth's era. For this band it comes in the guise of Gordon, not a particularly good singer, but a shouter whose girlish exaltations teased. On the album's prog-rock finale - three segments labeled "Trilogy" - she twirled in place at length for music that, 19 years later, is still worth celebrating. For coverage of Pitchfork's remaining two days, see the Monday and Tuesday print editions of the Daily Herald.

[Moshe]

http://www.timeout.com/chicago/outandabout/?p=2503

Sonic Youth - Tuten introduces Sonic Youth with a quip about a “middle-aged riot,” which says something about the appeal of tonight’s Don’t Look Back series acts. Sonic Youth goes on to recreate its album Daydream Nation with little of its vitality lost–even improvising many of the song’s middle-eights. The album could easily have been interpreted as a look back in itself when it came out, a touchstone for the hardcore and experimental rock eras with the kind of memorable songs that opened the doors to the mid-90s grunge hits. In Union Park, Lee Ranaldo swings his Fender guitar toward his amp at the end of “Teenage Riot.” Kim Gordon, in Jackie-O-worthy mini stalks the stage and sings tunes like “Kissability” with proto-Riot Grrl spunk. Though the stage sound system was woefully underpowering the band that brought its 20-plus guitars, the noise-loving New Yorkers had the exponentially more visual appeal than the preceding bands. They wrap with an encore featuring “Incinerate” off their previous album, and some new songs with Mark Ibold from Pavement on bass. Late breaking news of the night? Thurston Moore will guest with Yoko Ono on Saturday night. —John Dugan

[Moshe]

http://17dots.com/2007/07/14/816/


var so = new SWFObject('http://17dots.com/wp-content/themes/unsleepable_v16/images/17-dots-2.swf', 'logo', '311', '128', '8', '#ffffff'); so.write("flashLogo");

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pitchfork music festival, day one

14Jul07

 

Friday was nostalgia night at the opening of the Pitchfork Music Festival, a chance to for-reals out-dork, out-know and out-class everyone on music snobbery and it be (somewhat) accepted. Quick: who most quickly identified the closing, non-Spiderland track of the Slint set? Who could identify more than three people on stage while the GZA played? Who knew the tunings of every one of Thurston Moore’s guitars?
This is a little bit snotty, but the lineup for the opening night — Slint playing Spiderland, GZA playing Liquid Swords and Sonic Youth playing Daydream Nation — definitely lent itself that sort of vibe. These were Important Albums that must be Appreciated. It was at times a bit stifling. And listen, this is coming from someone for whom all of these albums meant a tremendous amount. We’re talking prime high school era: headphones in the bedroom, hurt feelings, salvation. Just to hear “Washer” from Spiderland — one of the most emotional songs I have ever heard — I was a bit worried that I might break out in acne, gain 40 pounds and start wondering why my parents got divorced, right in the middle of everybody.
So let’s start with this: Spiderland is not an outdoor record. Shit, it’s not even a live record. The best way to consume and enjoy Spiderland, based on my 13 years of experience listening to it, is late at night, driving too fast on way off-the-grid roads either alone or with your best friend. There are many ways to listen to it, but notice how different that is from outside in the late afternoon at a music festival with thousands of people standing around. It just doesn’t translate.

 

The band played well, this is for certain. I really dug the performance, but if anyone was supposed to, it would be me. Outside of “Good Morning, Captain,” the poppy cut that closes the record, I really don’t think Slint newcomers enjoyed the set all that much. We should ask Joe: he had never heard Spiderland before yesterday, and he walked away halfway through the set.

GZA playing Liquid Swords followed Slint. This was much improved, with some really — excuse the hyperbole — transcendent moments, especially “Shadowboxer” and “4th Chamber.” The set pretty much lived or died by his hype men — as is too often the case, they didn’t have any pitch or volume control of their voices while using a microphone. Their guest lines and backing support was way too shout-y, lousing up the sound mix, drowning out the RZA’s backing tracks and even swallowing the GZA’s smooth baritone pretty easily.

The GZA knew exactly what he was doing. One of the hardest things for a hip-hop artist to do is rap live while maintaining their normal pitch and timbre. It’s hard to not resort to shouting or barking — I have seen very few do it, but GZA was fantastic in this regard. Needless to say, folks went nuts during his set — shouts of “WU! TANG! WU! TANG!” rang out regularly — and parts of it definitely deserved it.

 

 

Finally, closing the night’s festivities were Sonic Youth playing Daydream Nation. It was, without reservation, perfect. The sound was huge, the songs were (still) ridiculously amazing and absolutely everyone in Union Park was transfixed. I was pinned to the side of the stage where it was impossible to see all that much — and the sound wasn’t that great either — but even from that poor vantage point it was astounding. More to come tomorrow.

[Moshe]

http://chicagoist.com/2007/07/14/pitchfork_day_1.php

 

And then came Sonic Youth.
While the crowd paid attention to Slint, and grew more energetic for GZA, it was obvious just about everyone was really there to Sonic Youth's performance of Daydream Nation. And the older art-rockers did not disappoint. When they ripped into "Teen Age Riot" to start the set, the crowd exploded, attempting to match the furious guitars, rolling bass, and cacaphonic drums leaping off the stage with an equal return of energy. But the crowd was no match for Sonic Youth massive presence and submitted happily to the band's attack. The energy seeped all the way around the park, and the backstage area was packed with musical luminaries (including Spoon's Britt Daniel, making a stop on the way to his own show at Schuba's later that night) held captive by their heroes.
BEST LINE OF THE DAY: As Time Tuten tried to introduce Sonic Youth to a hostile crowd he said, "What are you going to do? Start a 'Middle-aged Riot?'" Sadly we think the joke was lost on most of the audience, but we thought it was pretty darn funny.
Photo of Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore by Jim Kopeny. See lots of pictures from Day 1 of the Pitchfork Music Festival at the Chicagoist Flickr page.

[Moshe]

http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.c...ork-day-1.html


Pitchfork Day 1: Slint crawls, GZA meanders, Sonic Youth screams

 

The three-day, 39-band Pitchfork Music Festival opened Friday night in Union Park with three acts (including Sonic Youth, at left) each performing one of their classic albums. Here’s how it looked and sounded:
6:30 p.m. The layout of Union Park is pretty much the same as last year’s festival. Two stages, one on the north side of the park, another on the east. A tent at the south end will hold a third stage, starting Saturday. One difference from last year’s festival: a big video screen for each of the two main stages. It’s a welcome addition, given the size of the crowd. Once again, the corporate advertising presence is pretty low key.
6:45 p.m.: Louisville’s Slint takes the stage with the sun hovering just above the tree line on Ashland Avenue. Glorious. It’s likely that the audience of 13,000 exceeds the total number of people who saw the band perform during its first incarnation, which ended in 1991. That was the year “Spiderland” --- tonight’s main course --- was recorded.
7:02 p.m.: The musicians are seated for “Don, Aman” and the crowd’s attention drifts. Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo strolls by yakking on a cellphone.
7:28 p.m.: The quintet works through its disquieting, meticulously arranged songs with the look of condemned prisoners about to be led to the gallows. Their claustrophobic songs are allergic to sunshine; they’re more suited to a quiet, dimly lit room. That said, the execution can’t be faulted; it’s methodical, flawless. Close your eyes, and it might as well be the CD. The five musicians, fanned out in a half-circle on the stage, work out intricate guitar figures. Even the drum parts sound carefully orchestrated, right down to each tom-tom rumble and cymbal wash. The aura of remoteness is finally shattered with singer Brian McMahan’s cracked cry of “I miss you” on the finale, “Good Morning, Captain.”
7:50 p.m.: Wu-Tang Clan rapper GZA tells the crowd he’s blowing off a Wu-Tang gig in Amsterdam to be here. Big cheer.
8:05 p.m.: GZA leads the first of many “Wu-Tang” chants during his set. He’s here to perform his 1995 solo album, “Liquid Swords,” but he shares the MC chores with at least three other rappers, including Cappadonna. The crowd up front looks pumped and chants along, but the sound mix is poor for those of us farther back. One of the allures of “Liquid Swords” is its sinister RZA production, but it’s reduced to a thump and a bump in Union Park, the backbeat for a party. Except “Liquid Swords” is anything but a party album. It’s creepy, in an utterly nuanced, carefully detailed sort of way. Like “Spiderland,” it sounds best oozing out of headphones in a basement, not booming outdoors over a dodgy sound system.
8:15 p.m.: “Gold” proves to be the high-stepping highlight of GZA’s set.
8:32 p.m.: I never paid much attention to Cappadonna’s erratic solo work until now. With a furious freestyle, he upstages GZA, and salvages what is otherwise an unfocused set.
8:50 p.m.: Long, slow-moving, 20-people-deep lines at the toilets at the southeast end of the field. An outrage! I walk a little further west, and problem solved: The wait is considerably shorter for the portable restrooms ringing the softball field. The same cannot be said for the beer lines; they’re long everywhere as everyone tries to stock up for the night’s headliner.
9:05 p.m.: Sonic Youth rolls into “Teen Age Riot,” the first track from its 1988 double-album, “Daydream Nation.” The chords bring a cheer from the crowd, but the sound is muted, and the energy quickly dims. Dissatisfied, frustrated, and ticked off that what I see on stage is not translating through the speakers, I work my way from the north end of the field to the south side, and finally to the side of the stage. This should be much, much louder, but at least now I can see the band work up close, and they’re obviously into it. It’s a shame that energy is not translating to the far corners of Union Park.
9:14 p.m.: The mid-song meltdown in “Silver Rocket” is vintage Youth, with Thurston Moore torturing his guitar against an amplifier and Lee Ranaldo throttling a foot pedal. In the middle of it all, bassist Kim Gordon sways front to back, as if trying to stand her ground in the hurricane of guitars.
9:30 p.m.: “Cross the Breeze” sounds positively visionary: jazz intricacy at speed-metal velocity. Ranaldo and Moore weave single-note lines in and around each other, while drummer Steve Shelley lays down an impossibly fast groove, yet somehow manages to toss in subtle syncopations.
10:15 p.m.: “Eliminator Jr” sends Gordon into shivers, gasps and groans. Moore channels the boogie of ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, double-time. Ranaldo rubs his sleeve up and down the neck of his guitar as if applying barbecue sauce to a side of ribs. “Daydream Nation” goes down screaming.
Readers, now it's your turn: Got any questions about what happened on stage or behind the scenes at Pitchfork? I'll read and discuss them in a live video chat at noon Monday at chicagotribune.com. What was the best band? The worst? Strangest moment? How well was the festival run? Any hassles getting food or water? Tell us about your experience in the comments below. I'll be blogging all three days in this space, and then we'll wrap it up at noon Monday. Thanks for the feedback.

[Moshe]

http://blogs.courant.com/eric_danton...youth-at-.html

Sonic Youth at Pitchfork

Everyone knew what was coming when Sonic Youth took the stage Friday to close out the first evening of

 

this year's Pitchfork Music Festival, but the little forest of guitars, all lined up behind the amplifiers, only heightened the anticipation: "Daydream Nation," the band's 1988 masterpiece, its entirety. (Slint and rapper the GZA also performed.)
The Chicago Reader alt-weekly newspaper noted Friday that Sonic Youth has "passed indisputably into middle age," and it's true: The genre-defining alt-rock band no longer comprises a bunch of kids.
But middle age hasn't slowed Sonic Youth at all.
From the opening notes of "Teenage Riot," the quartet was a blur of energy. Guitarists Thurston Moore (at right) and Lee Renaldo leaped and thrashed around as the band altern

 

ated between chugging melodic passages and forays into feedback and noise. Bassist Kim Gordon, the den mother of alternative rock, paced back and forth, and the band's joyous churning set the packed-in crowd jumping up and down. (Moore and Gordon live in Northampton.)
Hearing a band perform an entire album from start to finish is an odd sort of thing. There are no surprises when the set list mirrors the track list, but witnessing it live offers a different understanding about how the parts fit together into a whole. Sonic Youth made it a thrilling experience.

[val-holla-ing]

oh great, moshe. now i'm gonna cry because i'll never get to see this :-(

it suuuuuure would be nice if they came back to new orleans one day.

[Moshe]

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/..._id=1003611780

Sonic Youth, GZA, Slint Kick Off Pitchfork Fest

 

Sonic Youth

 

July 14, 2007, 7:10 PM ET

 

Charley Rogulewski, Chicago
Performances from Sonic Youth, the Wu-Tang Clan's GZA and Slint kicked off the Pitchfork Music Festival last night (July 13) in Chicago's Union Park. In conjunction with ATP's Don't Look Back series, each act played one of its seminal albums in its entirety, with Sonic Youth playing "Daydream Nation," GZA performing "Liquid Swords" and Slint running through "Spiderland."

Slint played first but its set was plagued by sound problems, lessening the impact of singer Brian McMahan's ominous narratives about fortune tellers and Dracula. McMahan was also frequently drowned out by the band's distorted guitar attack. Slint sounded best as the set drew to a close with the mostly instrumental "For Dinner" and "Good Morning Captain."

GZA raised the energy level considerably with his delivery of the 1995 East Coast hip-hop staple "Liquid Swords." Having missed a Wu-Tang show in Amsterdam to make it in time for his Pitchfork set, the rapper was flanked by fellow Wu member Ghostface Killah for abbreviated versions of most of the album tracks. There were also samplings of Wu-Tang tracks like "Triumph," from the album "Wu-Tang Forever." "It was a very free spirited performance," Ghostface said afterward. "We were feelin' the crowd."

But Sonic Youth was by far the evening's highlight, despite admitting from the stage that its members had no idea how many years had passed since they'd played every song from "Daydream Nation" in one show. Throughout, numerous tracks were extended with jams ("The Sprawl," "'Cross the Breeze") and added guitar work ("Silver Rocket," "Total Trash"). Sonic Youth also played several songs from its most recent studio album, "Rather Ripped," including "Incinerate," "Reena" and "Jams Run Free."

CM8ShowAd("Middle");The Pitchfork Music Festival continues today with performances by Iron & Wine, Cat Power, Mastodon, the Clipse, Girl Talk and Yoko Ono.

[Moshe]

Videos:

Teenage Riot
part of Silver Rocket

[Moshe]

http://www.suntimes.com:80/entertain...dero15.article


Fest revives album concept
(http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/derogatis/468697,CST-NWS-dero15.article)

July 15, 2007

BY JIM DeROGATIS Pop Music Critic

Conventional wisdom holds that the twentysomething rock fans of the download generation cherry-pick their favorite songs and set the soundtracks of their lives by random shuffle. But the opening of the third Pitchfork Music Festival, which drew 13,000 fans to the West Side's Union Park on Friday night, was devoted to that most old-fashioned of rock 'n' roll relics: the album.
Presented in conjunction with All Tomorrow's Parties, a London-based traveling rock festival, Pitchfork's first evening was devoted to ATP's "Don't Look Back" concept, which is actually a misnomer since it involves bands looking into their back catalogs to play one of their cult-favorite albums in order in its entirety.
"In the age of the iPod shuffle, the true art form of a whole album tends to get left behind, so this is why 'Don't Look Back' celebrates the seminal/influential records that should never be forgotten," ATP's Barry Hogan wrote in the program notes. But he also confessed that "this music probably wasn't intended to be played at festivals."
Indeed, while it's a promising idea -- and I'd love to hear Mudhoney play "Superfuzz Bigmuff" and the Melvins do "Houdini" at the Los Angeles ATP in September -- two out of the three acts on Friday were disappointing duds.
Kicking things off was the often-imitated and seriously overrated Louisville quartet Slint, one of the pioneering bands of emo, a sound defined by its loud/quiet dynamic shifts and oh-so-sensitive introspective lyrics. The group played its second and last album, "Spiderland," released in 1991 by Chicago's Touch and Go Records, and the fans greeted it as manna from heaven.
Cliched chants
For a nonbeliever, however, the musicians' fragile, intertwining guitar lines, mumbled attempts at poetry and uninspiring shoe-gazer personas were poor matches for the setting and the occasion, especially during the static, percussion-deprived "Don, Aman" and the bloated anthem "Good Morning Captain."
The second act was just as lame, for different reasons. "Liquid Swords," the 1995 release by New York rapper GZA or Genius, is the best of any of the solo offerings from the uniquely atmospheric gangsta rappers the Wu-Tang Clan. Every member of that crew appeared on the original, yet while they've reunited for several shows this summer, they are currently touring Europe, which left GZA recruiting a group of nameless friends to help re-create his masterwork.
That wasn't the biggest reason the performance fell flat, though. Some of the album tracks were truncated; others were padded out with cliched chants of "Hey Chicago" and shout-outs to the missing Wu-Tang members, and most of the moody sound clips from kung-fu films interspersed throughout the album were missing. In the end, GZA turned a recording best known for its creepy, ominous vibe into just another attempt at a good-time house-party soundtrack.
Closing out the first of Pitchfork's three nights was another legendary New York act, avant-garde guitar-rockers Sonic Youth.
Although it isn't my favorite entry in their lengthy discography, "Daydream Nation" (1988) turned out to be an inspired choice, representing the bridge between the often free-form noise of their earliest efforts ("Confusion is Sex," "Bad Moon Rising") and the more song-oriented material of the alternative-rock era (including "Goo").
Tracks such as "Teenage Riot," "Silver Rocket" and "Kissability" retained all of their tuneful but potent intensity onstage, and the set built to a frenzied climax, just as the album does, with the disorienting swirl of the three-part suite "Trilogy: The Wonder/Hyperstation/Eliminator Jr."
In the end, despite the uneven lineup, Pitchfork's sound, sight lines and reasonably priced amenities were once again second to none Friday.
And with two full days of music yet to come, the community-oriented underground fest was on track to being the best deal and the most rewarding experience of Chicago's summer concert season.

[Moshe]

http://mjfoucher2.blogspot.com/2007/...n-to-love.html

Like I Needed Another Reason To Love Thurston Moore


My housewarming party was awesome. More later on that.

What should have been the greatest show I've ever been to was a total let down. I am trying not to be all devastated and whatnot. I went to see Sonic Youth last night and it was a disaster. It wasn't their fault. Lee Renaldo is the man. He is awesome and he tore it up. Thurston Moore is as tall as ever...still quite hot as well. Kim Gordon is still the love of my musical life. They didn't deserve the crowd they got. The crowd was horrible. They were not sufficiently enjoying the fact that my mother fucking BAND was playing my motherfucking ALBUM for them. It was mother fucking Sonic Youth and according to the crowd, no one cared as much as I did and yet they impeded me from having the awesome time I should have. Here's the rundown:

I went over to the beer area after The Gza's set because my friends wanted beer. I do not like beer but I went anyway. Jamie and I planned to just plow through the crowd and get to the front like we always do when it was time for Sonic Youth. We're chillin and sittin... All of a sudden I hear the familiar chords of "Teenage Riot", my absolute favorite SY song. I saw co-worker Kim and talked to her for two seconds before running off. Jamie and I ditched everyone by accident and took off running and pushing through the crowd. It was nearly impossible. We got to a stand still at this one point and I thought I was going to die. I was pressed in from all directions by human walls. You know the type, they are dudes who may as well be built of brick and would fit in just fine on any high school football team. I could not breathe. Jamie said I would be fine and that we would keep going in a second but we were pretty much stuck. Then this HUGE sweaty long haired guy came drunkenly slamming through the crowd. Everyone was pissed except me and Jamie. We saw an opening and followed him through the path he was creating. On the way, people were getting mad at us. This one dude is like "Hey not cool! What the fu--" then he stops short and says to me "Heeeyy... I really like your hair."

I said "thanks. I like it too."

"I REALLY like it!" And then he hair raped me. He just started ruffling his horrible hands all through my hair and I was totally helpless to stop it

We wound up in a decent spot for being able to see but our neighbors...Ugh. The spot Jamie and I found was smack dab in the middle of the worst of the crowd. No one was having a good time. No one was moving. Everyone was stone faced. It was like that Dido show I got dragged to years ago where everyone was sitting and she kept asking people to stand up and they would do it only for the one song. So Jamie and I were just like "If you aren't gonna have fun, move out of the way so that we can." It was a kind of sad evening. Plus this chick and/or her brick wall of a man kept farting. At least the girl was dancing around like an idiot and having fun though.

Saturday on the other hand...awesome. I wasn't expecting it to be great because there were only a few bands playing that I cared about. I actually would have sold my ticket except that Ellen was coming and she doesn't know about a lot of bands and I wanted to go to a show with her. On the way in, they were giving out "flashlights for Yoko Ono's set later". I was smug about how I can't stand her but I love flashlights. So we sat on the grass and listened to Califone and then went to watch Voxtrot. Voxtrot was adorable and fun. Then we managed to get prime spots for Grizzly Bear. Awesome. Morgan and Natalie showed up then. After Grizzly Bear, we couldn't decide if we should go over to the stage where Battles were playing or if we should hold on to our awesome spot for Iron and Wine. It was tough but we opted to stay put and just watch Battles on the screen. Iron and Wine was awesome. Guess who popped his head out? Thurston Moore. AUGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! Then he disappeared. Then Jamie showed up. So as I said, Iron and Wine was great. He did "No Surprises" by Radiohead as the encore. Let me say this about Iron and Wine. Someone needs to write a children's book about Sam's beard. It is the stuff of myth and legend.

We continued to hold our spot while Mastodon played the other stage. No interest whatsoever. Tony then arrived. Time for Clipse. It was amazing how many blonde White youth and White nerdy hipsters were getting extreme workouts pumping their fists and singing every single coke dealing, house robbing, random shooting word along with them. The highlight of course was Thurston Moore standing right by me bobbing his head too. He came out of his little hiding place for Clipse. I love that man more than most things... but not as much as I love his wife. If Kim Gordon stands anywhere near me on Sunday I cannot be held responsible for my embarrassing display of shameless star struck gushing.

We met this dude who writes for Pitchfork and his girl. They were fairly awesome. We made fun of people's unfortunate attire (coonskin caps, winter boots, galoshes, glittery gold leggings, wedding dresses, terrorist scarves...OK we get it. Irony as defined by hipsters mixed with poor fashion sense...) and unfortunately I am afraid the girl w/ the coonskin cap we kept seeing was "Rabob" from Brightblack...I fucking love them. Stacey and I did our Yoko One impression and realized we should have had a tip jar. We actually gave her too much credit. Our rendition was too much like musical whale/birth/death noises rather than whale/birth/death noises that reveal you as the biggest fucking asshole in the universe. We went to get funnel cake when Cat Power played. Booooo-ring.

We went to see Girltalk on the small stage and it was impossible to get close but it was cool where we were. We planned to get out of there during Yoko Ono's "performance". She had on a fucking fedora and sunglasses. And proved that Stacey and I were not exaggerating about what as asshole she is. Whale/birth/death noises...check. It was funny how many people were leaving. They really should have put Girltalk on that stage instead of her. Girltalk was awesome.

Until Sunday

[Georgekrz]

what a fucking idiot that last guy was. fuck that idiot.

ny times review:http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/16/arts/music/16pitc.html?ex=1342324800&en=31ff91349af630bf&ei=5 124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

also check out jon pareles's blog there he mentions sy as well. thurston with yoko is reviewed there as well, i think pareles forgot to mention thurston also joined yoko for encore, which was "dont worry kyoko" more rocking version (the song was also played earlier in her set). on their noise piece "mulberry" yoko said she did that song before with john, then sean, and now with thurston and that this would be it, this would be the last time. it was kind of sweet. thurston seemed touched. forgot to add, they also did war is over if you want it chant to end her set, and if i remember right this one thurston played on his knees, just destroying his guitar.

going back to ddn night before it was amazing performance, the whole band just nailed it, and all the little changes the little jams just added for me to the magic of the thing (so i disagree with pareles a bit here). a HUGE ovation at the end, with thurston saying "i love you" to the audience like a little kid, embarrased by the ovation it seemed. it was just uplifting, almost hard to describe. definitely worth the trip to chi and looking forward to mccarren pool.

[greenlight]

nice info about Yoko set, with Thurston. sounds deadly. I wish somebody have recorded it. that would be amazing if yoko's set surface on dime. if so, let us know.

[Moshe]

some pics here:

http://pitchforkmedia.com/article/fe...-friday/page_3

 

[Moshe]

 

http://www.youaintnopicasso.com/2007...tchfork-71307/

[Moshe]

Thurston with Ono:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5syT47c8lMU

[pbradley]

"Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo strolls by yakking on a cellphone."

What a dick thing to report.

[greenlight]

Originally Posted by Moshe

Thurston with Ono:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5syT47c8lMU

exelent!
thanks for da link Moshe!!

[Ono Soul]

I'm still bumming about not being able to make it to Pitchfork. I had the absolute time of my life seeing SY at Lolla last year and it was only my second time seeing them live after almost fifteen years of fandom. I tried to get tickets but they had sold out the day prior to my attempts. Tried bidding on a pair on ebay after that but that fell through to. I know, I know. It's my own fault for not getting tix sooner. Seeing Yoko would have been awesome to. Especially with Thurston backing her. I had a recording session for that day though. It ended early enough that I probably could have still made it for her set but I didn't know if was worth making the trek without a ticket in hand. Oh well. I'm grateful for the youtube clips. Next best thing to being there I suppose. And somebody did just send me the entire "Trees Outside The Academy" album last night which I'm lookin' forward to delving into. Hopefully Thurston will do some sort of solo tour after it's release. That I won't miss!

http://www.samsaunders.com
http://www.myspace.com/samsaunders

[max]

I think everyone interested in this festival should check out this very cool podcast here:

http://downloads.pitchforkmedia.com/...Backline05.mp3

check out minute 02:53 for something bizzarre, too