Pitchfork 2008

I went to Pitchfork today. It was nice to go and some of the bands were cool to hear but I'd say overall the Festival on Sunday was average.

I got to the festival around 12:30, with definitely enough time to see the Dirty Projectors. I saw them live awhile ago with a friend and I liked them a lot more than what I heard of them on an album that was recommended to me by a different friend. At Pitchfork they were just as good as they were the last time I saw them live. They have an interesting sound. A lot of bands lately have both guys and girls singing the words together but with this band, they do it in an unconventional, almost staccato harmony style rather than the cutesy style other bands go for.

The food was good and well priced. Over the course of the day I helped myself to ribs, pulled pork, corn on the cob, pizza, beer, and water. Lots and lots of water. The sun was shinning and it was pretty hot. Not crazy hot like it was 2 years ago. But if you were in the sun, you definitely felt the heat. In the shade, the temperature was perfect. And towards dusk the temperature fell slightly enough to make it pleasant even if you were in the sun.

I saw only a couple of fellow improvisers and my friend Jon came later in the day with his girlfriend and friend. The festival is much better if you have a buddy. I was alone for much of the first half of the day. I'm fine with being by myself. I'm by myself a lot and I'm cool with it. You get used to it. But there are some places where the feeling of being alone is more pronounced. Concerts and festivals are definitely those places. So once I had friends to hang with, I felt much better.

In addition to the Dirty Projectors (good), I saw Apples in Stereo (okay), King Khan and his Shrines (interesting, but in a good way), Spiritualized (naptime), the Dodos (i liked them but their songs were SUPER long), and Bon Iver (okay). I wanted to see Cut Copy but there was some sort of delay at the airport they flew into so they were super late. I figured that meant they weren't coming so I left while this crappy pick-up band played. My friend Jon told me later that they did actually show up and play about 4 songs. So it sucked that I missed them but I was glad to be home after a long day in the sun.