Here’s a short recap of the action on Friday, Day 1 of 3.
The Tallest Man On Earth [Connector Stage, 4-4:45 PM]
Kristian Matsson, also known as his stage moniker The Tallest Man On Earth, hit the stage in what seemed high noon with the sun beating down upon the whole crowd. “I haven’t slept in two days so I hope you can be patient” Matsson said as he addressed the rest of the festival-goers who were fighting off the heat. The set consisted of songs from his new and critically acclaimed The Wild Hunt as well as others from 2008’s Shallow Graves. To the average festival attendant, the set would’ve seemed a bit difficult to enjoy completely due to a few mistakes made during a few of the songs. Aside from a few slip ups, “King of Spain” and “The Gardener” were clear standouts, and a great part of his live show is the fact that Matsson makes you forget there’s only one man on stage the whole time. Overall, a very redeeming show. – Patrick Singer
El-P [Aluminum Stage, 4:30 PM]
I had never listened to El-P, aka Jaime Meline, before so I didn’t really know what to expect from their show, but I am glad that I came out to see them. I’m not usually the type of person to enjoy seeing rap in person, but El-P impressed me. Meline’s style was original and his lyrics showed a vast knowledge and intelligence of the world around him. At times he would spit about women and love, but at others he would go on otherworldly rants about the state of humanity and politics. At one point, the music dropped out all together for a good three minutes to focus on Meline’s lyrics alone, which for the most part focused on the apathetic state of society and the problems we create for ourselves. However, despite the heavy tone of some of the songs, El-P kept the crowd satisfied with big bass beats and club dance tracks. Overall, the experience was well worth venturing out of my element, and I would suggest both rap fans and those who are not so well versed to see El-P. – Dylan Sutcliff
Liars [Connector Stage, 5:30-6:15 PM]
Liars are difficult to understand at certain times. Their style mixes abrupt and unsteady time signatures and much of the time, the lead singer distracts you from everything the rest of the band brings to the table. They played songs throughout their catalog, but at times it seemed like they almost dismantled anything they built up with vocalist Angus Andrew’s abnoxious stage antics. As the last song came to a close it was just him at the front of the stage with the microphone head in his mouth. I left the show feeling pretty empty. – Patrick Singer
Robyn [Aluminum Stage, 6:25 PM]
I have a great respect for well made pop music, and Robyn did nothing but enforce this feeling. Despite being from Sweden, Robyn has made a huge impact on the indie community of the U.S., which was made evident at Pitchfork. Her band consisted of two keyboardists surrounded on all sides by synths and two percussionists on kits, all of them were dressed in white overcoats despite the heat. When Robyn entered the stage she made it clear she wasn’t messing around by starting off with “Fembot” from her latest album Body Talk Pt. 1. Wearing black tights and a semi-sci-fi long gray shirt with heavy brown shoulder pads. Throughout the show Robyn would constantly be dancing to her songs, prompting the audience to do the same. She controlled the stage by running back and forth between singing, dancing and beating symbols on her percussionists’ drum kits. She satisfied the crowd by playing both new and old material, giving it her all to make sure that the audience had a great time, and from what I can tell she was fantastically successful. My only problem with the performance was that it seemed that Robyn could not do all that she wished in the festival setting. It seemed as though she would prefer a private setting in which she can execute more of her creative ability rather than just playing a show in the sweltering heat at 6:30 p.m. on a Friday. But despite this, Robyn was still my favorite performance of the day, and I hope that I get the chance to see her again. – Dylan Sutcliff
Broken Social Scene [Connector Stage, 7:20-8:30 PM]
Arguablly the largest band (we’re talking band members here) of the festival, Broken Social Scene, took the stage just as the sun was going down and spirits were still high as the Canadian group gave us a taste of their newest and stellar Forgiveness Rock Record. Many of their impressive assets were missing from the outfit, with Emily Haines, Feist and Amy Milan all absent from the lineup. Even with these absences, the band gave us their best and was solid all the way through their set. Opening with newest album opener “World Sick” and followed by “Stars and Sons” from the stellar You Forgot it in People, the band mixed up the set quiet well. Even though a different female vocalist took the place of Feist or Milan, “All To All” was a standout, as well as breakthrough track “7/4 (Shoreline)”. I couldn’t think of a better way to bring the afternoon into the evening than with this band. – Patrick Singer
Broken Social Scene [Connector Stage, 7:20 PM]
It can’t be argued that Broken Social Scene are one of the premier performances that anyone will get from a band. Sporting anywhere from six to 10 people on stage at one time, playing a range of instruments from guitars to cello and piccolo, it is a unique experience when it comes to rock groups. BSS played both songs off of their new record Forgiveness Rock Record, and some from their previous LPs, switching instruments and lead when the time called for it. Although the likes of Feist were not there, the show did not suffer. Kevin Drew called out the side groups of Brendan Canning and The Apostles of Hustle throughout the performance, sometimes leaving the spotlight for others to fill it. In the beginning of the show there were some technical difficulties with some of the instruments and sound equipment, but the band stayed in good spirits to the tune of Drew telling the crowd that the difficulties “came with the name” and that the problems were planned for the show. I have seen BSS before and I can say that it seemed as though they brought out all of the stops for Pitchfork, overall the show was very impressive. – Dylan Sutcliff
Modest Mouse [Aluminum Stage, 8:30-10 PM]
The Pitchfork crowd moved from one side of Union Park to the other in preparation of Modest Mouse on the Aluminum Stage, At 8:30 the band started with a more low key opener (“Tiny Cities Made of Ashes”) getting the hipsters to move their hips a little. By “This Devil’s Work Day” both crowd and band energy was substantially up, sustained through “Autumn Beds” from their latest EP No One’s First and You’re Next and “Satin in a Coffin”. The set felt like a sampler platter from most albums, noticeably ignoring “Float On” as well as other breakthrough single “Ocean Breathes Salty”. Going this route gives the crowd a different taste of what a set is usually like at a festival. High Five. – Nick Jones
Modest Mouse [Aluminum Stage, 8:30]
As someone who hasn’t listened to a Modest Mouse album since Good News for People Who Like Bad News, there is not much that I can say about the Modest Mouse show, and it seemed that I was not alone. Halfway through the set, a chant went through the crowd of “Play old shit! Play old shit!” and Modest Mouse hardly obliged – and I don’t really blame them. I understand that bands want to promote their new music as much as they can, and that it must be frustrating for audiences always wanting to hear songs off of albums that were written a decade before. And even though they did not play too much of the earlier songs, I thought that Isaac Brock did a good job of keeping a good face. Brock showed great enthusiasm throughout the entire show and in between songs tell stories from past shows, but overall I wasn’t too impressed. Perhaps it is because I am not as big of a fan as is required to fully enjoy it, but I found myself to be a bit underwhelmed by the performance as a whole. To their credit, many people in the crowd seemed to be having a fantastic time, but I wasn’t really one of them. – Dylan Sutcliff
Come back tomorrow for our continued coverage of the Pitchfork Music Festival!
