Pitchfork Fest '18 Bands I Filmed/Saw
Second year now, I'm a camera assistant for Pitchfork's music fest, which means I can get up close and personal with the artists, many of which I've never heard of before. Anyway, here's my take aways from them after a long day of work/fun. (For clarification I work the Red Stage, the main stage--Green Stage--is right across from me. Our shows don't overlap because of the closeness so I get to listen to most of their sets too.) |
| 1 |  | The Curls
Super Unit
-FRIDAY-
These guys started the day Green Stage, playing an increasingly bizarre blend of dance-funk-pop-rock that was ridiculously fun and built more and more layers upon itself as the show went on. Regardless, they put a lot into it and I feel like a lot of you guys would like them, so check them out because I had to add them on here so they clearly don't have enough fans. |
| 2 |  | Melkbelly
Nothing Valley
Spazzy noise rock with doomy spaced-out interludes. They had some great screamed/sung vocals, and the drummer was absolutely amazing and I was lucky to be able to tell him so. Bassist was great too, would definitely listen to this band more even if they could decide to either be a little more out there or focused. |
| 3 |  | Joshua Abrams and Natural Information Society
Simultonality
Their set was literally just a half hour jam session, and then another shorter 5 minute one. I'm not complaining, though, the music was layered, rhythmic yet melodic, and beautiful even if got less engaging as it went on. They had a strange and damn awesome mix of instruments, and I hope that if I dig into them I hear something as interesting and moving as this. |
| 4 |  | Julien Baker
Turn Out The Lights
They switched the stage I was supposed to be working (Blue) to the Red one, which meant that I wouldn't have been able to see Julien play. Luckily they let me switch stages so that I could help film her, which means that I essentially got to watch her show from the pit. I'll admit I was a bit starstruck when I saw her walk by backstage and that didn't really let up. The thing about her that really gets me is the fact that she's my age and she's thriving as an artist. I don't mean that in this jealous "I wish I was her" thing, but in the way that I'm used to the musicians I love as being like twice my age. She's proof that I've reached the point that the artists I relate to are now my peers. If anything, that's just exciting to me. Anyway, the show was phenomenal. I've heard people say she was timid onstage before, but she wasn't here. She oozed confidence and seemed really at ease most of the time. At the same time she seemed amazingly raw, as if there was no veil between what she was |
| 5 | | Julien Baker
Turn Out The Lights
feeling and what she was showing, even when she got frustrated with the equipment a couple times it was written all over her face. Or maybe I'm just not used to being that close to an artist. Either way it was perfectly humanizing and really helped me connect with her performance, which was breathtaking. She's an even more powerful vocalist live than on record. She hit every single goddamn high note that she did on this record, and then some. Her jaw opened so wide it looked like she was gonna swallow the mic. I also think we made eye contact a few times but for all I know I could've just been imagining it. I was hoping to say hey to her after the show but she didn't stick along for long and she looked busy when she was. I'm a bit bummed about it, but I think I got what I wanted from it. Actually talking to her would've just been surreal. |
| 6 |  | Syd
Fin
I didn't film this one, just heard it, but I liked what I heard a lot and will probably jam this at some point. |
| 7 |  | Courtney Barnett
Tell Me How You Really Feel
So I didn't like her as much as I thought I was going to, or as much as you guys seemed to. She had a crazy amount of energy live and put a lot of passion into the songs, but in my opinion she was at her best when she kept it restrained and thoughtful ("Depreston" and "Need a Little Time" come to mind) or turned it into full blown agressive rock (idk there was one with an insane guitar solo for no reason and then another with near-rapped verses). The in between of half-hearted pop rock anthems didn't do anything for me at all. However, after the day was over I listened to this album on my way home and really liked what I heard, so maybe it was just the plainness of the live setting or the fact that I was literally on the stage with them so the sound was terrible. |
| 8 |  | Tame Impala
Currents
Thought about staying for this whole show (I did dig the first 45 minutes or so), but after that I just was too tired to get into the never-ending wave of dance rocky goodness as much as I wanted to (sorry Con.) |
| 9 |  | Paul Cherry
Flavour
-SATURDAY-
Super chill and fun psych-y vaporwavey poppy rocky stuff. Awesome intro music to the fest that got people in a great mood and got even more enjoyable as it went on. Y'all need to get on this, had to add it to the catalogue. |
| 10 |  | Berhana
Berhana
Just straightforward poppy R&B, liked it better than I thought I would though. Good energy and lots of positive vibes, just cool to watch and he seemed just glad to be there. Seemed like pretty solid Drifter-core. |
| 11 |  | Zola Jesus
Okovi
I didn't get to see much of her because I was off buying cds but what I heard was just incredible. For the finale she jumped into the open aisle for camera and security and started hugging fans and running around. From what I could hear her stuff was extremely varied, scary, and moving. Her vocals were excellent of course (that's all I knew about her from the only prior knowledge I had, the "Intro" M83 track). Idk. She was just crazy. Gotta check more. |
| 12 |  | Nilufer Yanya
Do You Like Pain?
Silky vocals over dreamy folk and jazz soundscapes, each song deepening as it went along. She also had a great backing band (bass, sax, drums, some weird keyboard thing). Her music was very chill, but there was also a surprising amount of variety there. Did get to say hey to her afterwards which was great, I'm assuming she'll be huge at least in the indie crowd very soon. |
| 13 |  | Moses Sumney
Aromanticism
Started as more laidback R&B, but it got stranger and stranger as it went. Ending up being full of chanting, ethereal vocals, sounding drums, insane distortion. It was totally epic by the end of it, excited to check this record out now. |
| 14 |  | Raphael Saadiq
Stone Rollin'
I had heard of this guy before, but hadn't listened to him. He showed some incredibly diverse R&B/funk stuff that I seriously loved, but I was totally taken aback by his opener, which was a nearly ten-minute almost-post-rock jam. The dude was really funny and had some great audience interaction, awesome stage presence. The music was instrumentally masterful and super complex, almost entirely all live instruments except for one song that used DJ. He also had a painter on stage painting some random stuff which was weirdly awesome and I was standing right next to him so I got to watch closely. |
| 15 |  | Blood Orange
Freetown Sound
I realize this is a crazy mix of genres, but honestly I didn't notice until I really thought about it. And not in a good way. His music just didn't really grab me. It was cool and really interesting at some points, but oftentimes it just came off as generic even if it wasn't at all. Later on it dragged me in a bit more, I'll probably check his new album cause why no.t |
| 16 |  | The War on Drugs
A Deeper Understanding
Well this was the most excited I was for a band here aside from Julien, and they were great of course. Played "Stangest Thing" and it was amazing. Half the set was from Deeper Understanding and half was from the album before. Got to say hey to their saxophonist after the set which was cool. Also, anyone who says they're not shoegaze influenced should've seen the amount of pedals they had. They also had like three keyboard setups too. Plus they switched out the lead guitar every song and the rhythm every other one which was crazy. |
| 17 |  | Fleet Foxes
Helplessness Blues
Same mix of old timey folk and modern atmospherics in a way that sounds good but strangely disjointed to me. They played great but I still wasnt into it, just like I am with their albums. Despite having heard all the songs they played before I just couldn't get super into it. Loved the weirder, more psych moments but still hate the vocals. I snuck over to their stage just to get closer to it and stand on stage with them which was awesome but I still left early. Idk, I feel like I'm a bit lackadaisical when it comes to live shows than most of you. Like I love seeing artists I love, but even with seeing artists I like for free, once I've seen them for a while, I don't get anything else by staying through the whole thing. Like I got that memory and I won't get more, yknow? Idk. They were cool, just didn't make me like them more than I already do. |
| 18 |  | Nnamdi Ogbonnaya
drool
- SUNDAY -
Even he got pushed back 20 minutes late by Lauryn Hill's never-ending sound check, he still managed to create an aggressive and energetic blend of genres (especially rock, hip-hop, and jazz). It ended up being a lot of fun and just absolutely insane. |
| 19 |  | Irreversible Entanglements
Irreversible Entanglements
These guys were also crazy. Ahead of time, they demanded that we not get any close-ups of them or "they would walk off the stage," and then they put on one of the coolest and most bizarre performances I've ever seen. The instruments were used more for effect than for melody or rhythm, and the vocals were incantation-like spoken word segments that created intense reactions. At one point the band just started sifting through a suitcase through of percussion instruments and banging them randomly while the drummer and bassist kept chugging away. It was probably the furthest the festival came from actual music, but the closest it came to just pure art. |
| 20 |  | Kweku Collins
Nat Love
Mostly lame R&B/hip hop, but he brought a lot of positive energy. He just wasn't interesting enough compared to the artists surrounding him. |
| 21 |  | Ravyn Lenae
Crush
Amazing voice, great interaction with the crowd and she came across as very cool and caring. She had a great live band, and surprisingly introspective lyrics considering her pop/R&B sound. A cool mix of old-school/modern mix of sounds throughout the set. (Also just found out she's a year younger than me and got kinda sad). |
| 22 |  | Smino
Blkswn
Mostly lame R&B/hip hop [2] but he had some fun instrumental flourishes later on. Maybe I just mostly hated his name. |
| 23 |  | Noname
Telefone
She carried a great energy and exuberance with her, she was always smiling and just seemed like she was having a good time. Played with the audience a bunch and got a lot of genuine laughs. Smino, Ravyn, and Saba came on (much of the backing band was the same as Ravyn's). My only complaint is that I wasn't able to hear her rap so well over the bass, but that could've just been my positioning on the stage. |
| 24 |  | DRAM
Big Baby D.R.A.M.
Big brash hip hop that seemed more unique than it probably was, but the fact of the matter is that I liked this a lot more than a lot of the other hip-hop that played for some reason. |
| 25 |  | Chaka Khan
What 'Cha Gonna Do for Me
This show was awesome, but honestly she was the least exciting part of the whole show. She got overshown by her backup singers, and upstaged by her guitarists. Every single component of the backing band seemed more talented than her that night. One of the guitarists was so flamboyant and showy that if I didn't know better I could've thought he was Chaka Khan. Still it was great funk fun stuff. All the artists from earlier that day were watching her show, I even saw Chance the Rapper watching from backstage. |
| 26 |  | Lauryn Hill
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
Couldn't see too much of her show because I was helping the wrap-up, but what I saw was absolutely amazing visually. It sounded far more engrossing than the album itself (which I jammed the first time the night before). I snuck over to the pit right when she delivered some great insight into the meaning of the album to both herself and to the world, how hard it was to make it but akso how it belongs to the people now. All this should've been pretentious but somehow wasn't. What I saw and heard was incredible, and it made up for all the previous bullshit she pulled. (She was also 15 minutes late for this performance) |
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