Concert Review: Pitchfork Music Festival 2007: Day 1

Last weekend I whisked myself away to Chicago (sans Mrs. Hops) to visit My Buddy Brad (MBB) and check out the Pitchfork Music Festival in Union Park. Pitchfork, for those of you who only get their music news via this website, is really the king of all internet music sites. In fact, you could argue that after some of the major print publications like Rolling Stone, Pitchfork is the most influential music source in America. The combination of their reputation, the festival’s reputation (they held it in 2006 as well) and the $35 price tag for two days brought out all the hipsters Chicago has to offer. Now, as an aging yuppie (by their standards) this sea of indie kids is really difficult to describe. Dudes with cut off jean shorts, girls just not really caring what they look like, lots of pot bellies (both sexes), guys wearing the gym shorts that a girl probably wore in 1985, “ironic facial hair” and of course the ever present battle of the coolest t-shirt. I’ve seen this battle occur at the Black Cat quite a few times but never at such a scale. You know the shirts – where they are clearly trying to be cool, but not too cool like ones that say “achiever” on the front (I saw 4 guys wearing this “indie” shirt) . Or the shirt is so clearly uncool that it is now cool (see anything at Urban Outfitters). And of course the battle of who has the coolest band t-shirt. Some, like the Arcade Fire, say “I’m into the indie mainstream”. Some shirts, like The Thermals, are saying “I’m indie, but not too mainstream”. And some are saying “I’m so cool that I’m wearing a band t-shirt of a band that doesn’t even have an album out yet – they’re so indie that you don’t know about them yet – in fact, they don’t even exist yet”. Fantastic. You can see what I’m talking about below, including my own attempt at battling away (I can’t tell you how many people took the time to read my shirt, which I wore as my own personal inside joke that only I get). For the record, on the second day I wore a pink long sleeve button down, making me the preppiest guy amongst thousands. It felt good.

Indie plumber girl, gym shorts boy, Hops before he was rushed by hundreds of fans and My Buddy Brad grimacing at the outfits.

Anyway the Festival was a good time. There weren’t a ton of bands that I was dying to see so we were able to really relax, sit in the shade, drink some beer and enjoy the tunes (and the crowd). They even had good food! I wasn’t blown away by any of the bands but some of my favorites were Ken Vandermark's Powerhouse Sound, Menomena and the New Pornographers. The only band I didn’t see that I wanted to was Cat Power, but I don’t think she would really translate as well to a large festival atmosphere because she is too mellow. The park had two main stages set up, with bands alternating between stages so you could just hang out there and see a new band every hour. The side stage was in the back of the park, past the record fair, poster fair and food tents. We saw a bunch of bands back there but the sound just wasn’t as good which was a shame. Here is a rundown of the bands we were able to see.

Day 1

Ken Vandermark's Powerhouse Sound – Fantastic! Vandermark is an amazing sax player and the group ripped through a set loaded with jazz and funk. We missed the very beginning since they were the first band of the festival and on the side stage and I regret that now. Good stuff.

William Parker Quartet – a more traditional jazz quartet fronted by Parker on trumpet. They lost me a few times in their jams but usually brought me back at the end.

Beach House – I started listening to them in anticipation of the weekend and I am into their sound. However they’re SUPER mellow and atmospheric. Not really an outdoor concert band.

Fujiya and Miyagi – This was the band I was most disappointed in. Perhaps it was the bad sound of the second stage but they just seemed off. They didn’t add anything to their recorded music, which I dig, and the packed crowd wasn’t really as into them as you’d expect considering the rush to the side stage to see them play.

Grizzly Bear – Didn’t get to see much of their set so it’s not really fair to comment. I know the indie music crowd loves them, but I haven’t gotten into them yet. They’re pretty mellow and we were way in the back of the lawn so hard to really get a good feel of their set.

Iron and Wine – A nice surprise. I enjoy Iron and Wine’s music, but I assumed that they music wouldn’t translate well live. Instead of just Sam Beam solo acoustic, which is what I was expecting, he had a band backing him. They had elements of folk and America which I really liked. The highlight had to be his solo closer – which was a cover of “No Surprises” by Radiohead (the original can be enjoyed on Episode 6 of All You Need Is Hops)

Mastodon – Heavy metal noise. Time to go. I was just too worn out to have my bones rattled by Mastodon at that point. To be fair the crowd seemed to love them.

My Legacy

As you may or may not know Mrs. Hops and I are proud graduates of Washington University in St. Louis - or as most of us call it Wash U. Now in addition to mailing our $10 alumni donation every year for a free hat and to ensure that we remain a Top 15 school (take that Emory!) I like to brag about being a graduate. However, I often worry that I didn't leave enough of a legacy at the University. I did ref Freshman girls soccer games (still the best job I ever had), co-hosted a cooking show (Students of the Corn!), occupied the 3AM Monday DJ slot on KWUR with My Buddy Brad (see photos below) and I even once danced on stage with De La Soul at W.I.L.D but I've never thought I was truly remembered. However, I just read an article in our school newspaper, Student Life, which made me realized that my influence is still being felt today. Enjoy:

Student tasered at Gargoyle concert while resisting arrest

Man was intoxicated and naked; onlookers angry with police's actions

Drunk tasered dude... you've made me proud. You've made us ALL proud. Go Bears!

My Buddy Brad DJing at KWUR 90.3FM. Notice the sign saying that KWUR is "now online".

Hops giving the Wash U students all that they need...which is Hops

EDIT: For the record I never had a problem with the Wash U police. Dave the bike cop used to hang in our apartment and drink beers....while on duty.

A Young Man's Perspective

I just did a Google search and found this post:

Date: Tue, 23 Mar 1999 20:52:25 -0600

Subject: Younger perspective

About a month ago I stood up for the younger fans on the digest by declaring our legitimacy as Bruce fans. I got tons of positive responses from younger fans on the Digest. All the discussion of us being younger (myself being a 20 year old college student) has led me to wonder if we have a different perspective on Bruce. For example, I don't listen to Greetings and Wild and Innocent in context. They aren't the first two Bruce albums I owned and I don't have any nostalgia attached to them. I just hear a Bruce that is slightly different from the Darkness sessions. The release of Tracks and my own collection of Brucelegs have allowed me to hear the different stages of Bruce's career in a different perspective. I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Does Tunnel of Love sound different to me because I don't remember what Bruce's personal life was like at the time? I am able to group Nebraska with Tom Joad because I bought them within months of each other. I can't listen to Nebraska and remember the stark contrast to Darkness and his other albums of the time. I think (and hope) that my later introduction to Bruce has let me listen without many of the biases of an older fan. Do you agree or disagree?

And do you know who that astute author was? It was none other than your truly, Hops. As you can read it was written when I was only 20 – once I turned 21 and could legally drink beer I had no reason to completely geek out and post on a Bruce Springsteen discussion board (or as they called them back then Zines). But back then it seemed like a good idea.

Despite by nerdiness I still think I made an excellent point. Music can really be interpreted differently when you have the perspective of where that artist was in their history. For instance much of early rap music, like everyone’s favorite tune “Rapper’s Delight” or even the Beastie Boys, they seem really silly today. The lyrics are bad and it all comes off a bit juvenile. However, when you consider that those songs were written at a time where a music art form was emerging then they suddenly have a lot more value. It’s not a coincidence that rap music became a full force in both the music industry and pop culture.

When you don’t have the perspective of the time and place an album was recorded you have the opportunity to listen to the music without bias. I remember getting Wilco’s Summerteeth album before I was really into the band. I thought it was fantastic – I was talking about it to my roommate, My Buddy Brad, and he told me it was a disappointing record (something he later took back by the way). The reason was that it was the follow-up to the epic Being There – and frankly it was hard for them to really top that album. This was the point I was making in my post way back on those Springsteen boards.

Now with the perspective of a man in 2008 I realize that I was a pretty smart kid back in 1999 – I just needed to go out more.

So which is better? Hearing the music the first time in the context of its time and place. Or hearing the music as it stands on its own without the bias of nostalgia?

World Series of Songs

I was going to post this for My Buddy Brad but he actually sent the exact same clip to me this morning. What are the odds? This is an all-time great song by The Mountain Goats. Basically he says that he'll love his girl again when the Cubs win the World Series. I guess they're not getting back together.



So here are my songs for each team in the playoffs. We then can do a musical baseball playoffs like we did for the World Cup where "My Way" by Frank Sinatra was crowned champion as the representative for Italy.

THE NATIONAL LEAGUE

Chicago Cubs:
"Cubs in Five" by The Mountain Goats.
See video above. The song is a bit outdated since the Tampa Bucs HAVE “made it all the way to January” but Bill Gates still has not “single-handedly spearheaded the Heaven 17 revival”. Is the misery of being a Cubs fan over? They have a shot.

Arizona Diamondbacks:
“Snakes and Martyrs” by TV On The Radio
"I hold you close and smile. Fake. Like they do way out west.” That says it all about these snakes. They’re not real contenders.

Philadelphia Phillies:
“Comin Back” by Citizen Cope
They just completed one of the greatest comebacks in sports history…which means the “Amazin’” New York Mets completed a historical collapse. I wanted the Phils to win only because it would mean that pain would be inflicted on Mets fans (Big Poppa Hops excluded). But now that they playoffs have started I could care less about them. Ryan Howard did go to the same High School as Mrs. Hops. She had no idea who he was.

Colorado Rockies:
“Thunder on the Mountain” by Bob Dylan
A good song for a team I don’t really see play very often. They wear purple, they play a mile up in the atmosphere and they can hit.
“Gonna raise me an army, some tough sons of bitches. I'll recruit my army from the orphanages”

THE AMERICAN LEAGUE

Boston Red Sox:
"War on War" by Wilco
As the song says: “You’re gonna lose. You have to lose.”
Let’s move on from the no good stinking Red Sox.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim:
"I Love L.A." by Randy Newman
They love LA so much that they call themselves the LA Angels… even though they used to be the California Angels, then the Anaheim Angels…and don’t play in LA. It’s a bit of a bait and switch.
“Hate New York City. It's cold and it's damp. And all the people dressed like monkeys.
Let's leave Chicago to the Eskimos. That town's a little bit too rugged”

Cleveland Indians:
"Scenario" by Tribe Called Queset
Cleveland was tough. What do you say about the “Mistake by the lake”? I have actually only been there once but I really liked it. The town gets a bad rap – and therefore I won’t make fun of the city. This is a perfect song for a team nicknamed “The Tribe”.
“Yes yes y'all - who got the vibe it's the Tribe y'all (Tribe y'all!)”

And for you Yankee Bastards (myself included):

New York Yankees:
"All or Nothing At All" by Frank Sinatra
I’m hoping the Sinatra streak lives on! The Yankees will accept nothing short of the World Series. So if we’re not going to win it… then we might as well lose to the Indians (though not the Red Sox… that would be a disaster).

Did you know that the home of baseball and the home of Frank Sinatra are both Hoboken, NJ? That is a fact.

Marching to the Beat of Your Own Drummer

You know who doesn't get enough respect? Marching bands. Yeah that's right. Marching bands, especially really good ones are laughed at. Why? The good ones are really entertaining and work really hard. Often, I enjoy them more than the football games they're playing at. Last week Big Poppa Hops' alma mater, Rutgers, played a tiny Virginia school called Norfolk State. The highlight according to both Big Poppa and Mama Hops? You guessed it - the halftime show. Yesterday I saw a posting about a highschool marching band playing "The Hand That Feeds" by Nine Inch Nails (view here - its not great but they're just in high school).

This got me to thinking about marching that play popular songs. I remember watching the Bayou Classic Battle of the Bands when I was a kid and seeing the Grambling Band play TLC's "What About Your Friends" (or was it Southern that played it?). It got the crowd fired up! So for you viewing pleasure here are some great clips of college marching bands. Before you laugh and call me a geek check them out.

The University of Arizona playing Radiohead:


Ohio State doing their famous "Script" (Michigan fans look away):


And because I didn't want to get My Buddy Brad angry, here is Michigan's band doing "Thriller":


You have to give alot of credit for the merging of marching bands and rock music to Fleetwood Mac. back in the late 70's they got the USC Marching band to help them with their song "Tusk". They even performed this live with the band on stage at their reunion concert. So if you're wondering where Kanye West and Jamie Foxx got the idea to bring on a marching band at the 2006 Grammys look no further than the video below:


For more amazing marhcing bands check out the Southern University Human Jukebox, the Norfolk State Spartan Legion, the Ohio University Marching 110 (doing Bon Jovi) and the Florida A&M Marching 100.

And for the record I was NOT in a marching band....ever. Though I did play the trumpet in my district band. I was terrible.

Merchants of Soul

My Buddy Brad sent me over this interesting article from the New Yorker magazine. It talks about how rock and roll, and specifically indie rock, has “lost its soul”. In the past rock music has existed in large part due to White musicians borrowing from Black musicians. Elvis, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin - A lot of the bands that really defined the rock genre were heavily influenced by, and openly took from Black music. Even Bob Dylan is guilty of this (and still does it). However, the author points out that this is no longer the case and the influence of Black musicians on mainstream rock (aka White music) has fell by the wayside. It’s an interesting read for sure.

The author mentions the lack of success by White people in the rap genre. One of the reasons it is really rare to hear of a successful White rapper is because fans and creators of that genre put a weight on the image of the artist. This really isn’t any different than most other styles in the past. Consider R&B and the Blues. The author points out that these styles in the past were picked up by rock music and incorporated into the style. However, rock music hasn’t really been able to capitalize on popular Black music in quite a while. Rock rap is the best offering and that is certainly open to criticism.

One thing I disagree with is this idea that rock is completely void of the influences he mentions. Certainly there are lots of bands incorporating a variety of styles. However, for some reason much of the more innovative and often popular bands out there have drifted away from this. I would venture this has more to due to a desire to create something completely unique rather than them intending to “play badly”. That said I can’t think of many concerts that I have ever been to that had a diverse audience. Its usually pretty segregated.

So a few questions I think should be raised – first should rap music be incorporated into rock? I would say absolutely not. In fact, I’d argue that rap music is a dying art. However, I would argue that hip-hop in general (pop rap) definitely has filtered into rock music or at least pop music. Most of what is on the Top 40 today is a combination or rock, hip hop and dance music. Now, most of it is terrible, but that has more to do with the industry and less to do with the quality of bands out there.

I also disagree that there is no soul in rock today. Even one of the bands he talks about as not having a Black influence, Wilco, has drifted towards a soulful sound. I just think that for whatever reason these bands aren’t as popular as the used to be. However, bands like Spoon, Gomez, Josh Rouse and Band of Horses are still popular and definitely borrow from soul.

Overall, the author makes some very interesting points most of which are quite valid. But what do you think? Do you think that rhythm and soul are no longer present in rock and roll? Do you think that rock is racially divided? I think that a lot of those styles will come back. Think of all the praise the new Dylan album or Amy Winehouse get just for hearkening back to music from the past. Its just that in the rush to create something new artists often try to strip away a lot of the things that sound too familiar.

Read the article or listen to the author talk about his hypothesis and let me know what you think by leaving a comment below or emailing me.