Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: awesome, Battles, Blitzen Trapper, Bristol Palin, Cold War Kids, Dr. Strangelove, Grizzley Bear, heckler, m. ward, music, Pitchfork, Pitchfork Music Festival, screen prints, The Flaming Lips, the national, The Walkmen, Yeasayer
How could I have forgotten to post this? This dude was ridiculous!
During The Flaming Lips’ set at Pitchfork Music Festival last Sunday, some d-bag help his middle fingers in the air and kept yelling about how shitty The Flaming Lips are.
After some intense FL love from the croud, and almost fist fight and a lingering cheeriness from the sound and sight of a great set, Shmucky McGee left… dignity not quite intact.
The back right of the crowd rejoiced as we were freed from the tyranny of the party pooper and resumed our festivities with a “Yoshimi” sing-a-long, lots of talking by messianic front man Wayne Coyne, and a well recieved finale of “Do You Realize?”
We were far since Grizzly Bear’s set was right before on another stage but it was still hella fun and, accoding to Kliph, the band had fun, too.
So, back to the beginning.
Saturday was sick. First, we checked out the posters and screen prints which were amazing. B.Mac met his inspiration, Jason Munn of The Small Stakes and got a great Battles poster, while I made away with a Dr. Strangelove inspired Cold War Kids poster by _____. Then, we checked out a great set by Yeasayer that started out with a hysterical sound check (Bristol Palin, check), continued with a light shower that really riled up the crowd (including one dude who beckoned God to bring back the rain) and ended with my favorite tune, “Sunrise” during which the friggin’ sun came out! It was magic.The day ended with a high energy set by The National where violinist Padma Newsome ripped up his solos and front man Matt Berninger belted out his lyrics with such intensity, his fell down (on purpose?) towards the end of the set. With crowd pleasing renditions of “Mistaken for Strangers,” “Squalor Victoria,” “All the Wine,” and “Fake Empire,” the concluded the show with an epic “Mr. November” where Matt ran of stage and stood on a trash can, later explaining to the crowd that it didn’t turn out as cool as he thought it would. What a charmer.
On Sunday, Blitzen Trapper played a good set, after which there was some more poster shopping (I got a beautiful M.Ward print and B.Mac got the official Pitchfork Grizzly Bear poster). Then, a great set by The Walkmen which was higly complimented by @Edward Droste, after which he and the rest of Grizzly Bear took the stage. The most anticipated set of the weekend, they did not disappoint and delivered a crazy awesome performance! Opening with “Southern Point,” they kept the momentum and navigated their way through a perfect set list including every one of my favorite songs. Regardless of a few technical difficulties (“This is the part where the stage hums and we all meditate”), they played stellar renditions of “Two Weeks,” “The Knife,” “On a Neck, On a Spit,” “Cheerleader,” and the always incredible “Ready, Able.” Plus, Droste is great with audience interaction; he’s a performance gem!
Overall, a great weekend. Can’t wait to immerse myself in hipster land again next year!
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Cold War Kids, music, song of the week, The Keg
So as to stop The Keg influence I decided to pick the song of the week before any night time festivities and make it a legitimately good song.
After marvelling at their latest masterpiece, I went back to the basics and happened upon a delectable favorite. Every element of “Hang Me Up to Dry” is magnificently done and stands together briliantly. From the varying tone of the vocals to the steady bass to the chaotic piano its another one of those encumbering songs you just get lost in. The fabulous lyrics are easy to relate to as well and as I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned before I’m kind of a sucker for well done metaphors. Enjoy the magic!
In the Cold War Kids’ newest album, Loyalty to Loyalty, the Kids utilize an interesting mix of dark images and construct notions of loss and confusion. It is, to say the least, really really awesome.
Their neo-jazz/rock embodies everything that is great about modern music. It is the fusion that our society can’t live without. It’s the stuff that you can listen to walking aroung on your iPod, in a dark underground bar, while stoned, or just chilling in your room.
In “Dreams Old Men Dream,” Nathan tells us to “meet the media black sky” and it is probably my favorite line in the whole album.
“Mexican Dogs” is another great tune where Nathan’s belts really take you away along with Jonnie mad crazy good strums.
There is just so much wonderful wonderfulness I can’t keep writing I must go listen more so maybe there’ll be a follow up or maybe I’ll have something else to write about, we’ll see.
Here’s the first music video from the album to tide you over.
