5. Future Rock @ Abbey Pub (10/6)
4. Battles @ Metro (11/8)
3. The Disco Biscuits @ Canopy Club [Urbana, IL] (10/19)
2. Daft Punk @ Lollapalooza (8/3)
1. Muse @ Lollapalooza (8/4)

Honorable mention:

The Presets @ Metro (3/24)
Cornelius @ Park West (5/7)
Arcade Fire @ Chicago Theatre (5/18)
Black Moth Super Rainbow @ Schubas (6/23)
of Montreal @ Pitchfork (7/15)
Silversun Pickups @ Lollapalooza (8/3)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs @ Lollapalooza (8/4)
Girl Talk @ Camp Bisco [Mariaville, NY] (8/17)
Future Rock @ Kinetic Playground (12/31)

(all shows in Chicago unless otherwise noted)

After a year plus of being annoyed by classical radio with brief interludes of XRT, I have a day job where there's something resembling consensus on office music, and it's acceptable to wear headphones. Even while I was (briefly) freelancing, I was listening to my music out loud, so I could hear what Lux was up to. I forgot how much headphones change the space that you work in. I've always had "work music", stuff that I work better too. I'm remembering what it's like to just put on headphones, and lose all sense of time and just focus.

I bought Circa Survive's On Letting Go when they released it DRM-Free and launched a wordpress-powered blog, but nothing about it immediately grabbed me. It's too delicate to be really appreciated in the car or on the El. As work music, it's brilliant. Progressive, dense, urgent: all the things that keep me focused and undisctracted. Travel Hymn is so perfect: "...in this particular place, time seems to disappear"

I'm also finally getting into Battles. Not as much for the headphones, but the changing modes did help. I saw them at Pitchfork this year, and they were kind of annoying, even just wandering around waiting in line for food. Mirrored is totally different. It's awesome, and danceable and interesting all the way through.

My new love, though, like everyone else, is Burial. The reviews on amazon say things like "Massive Attack c. 2020" and "as life-changing as Entroducing...". I hate "sounds like" reviews. It's very cool, although i think of it more in terms of like... gangsta ambient. It most reminds me of Hedphelym from Aphex Twin. It has shades of trip hop, but I wouldn't say it's the defining characteristic.

Fri 13 Jul – Pitchfork Music Festival

My most recent adventure included a healthy seven and one-half hour drive to Dekalb, Illinois to visit a friend and ultimately frequent Chicago for a weekend music festival they were throwing. By my calculations, the tolls alone ran me $17.70 one-way. So where was this money spent? Well, I felt comfortable accelerating at a breakneck speed of 80mph most of the way (apart from work zones and heavy traffic). One last note before I begin the musical assessments: Chicago is the antithesis of ultra-clean Denver, Colorado. I guess I'd live there if I had to since it is a booming center of the States, but I prefer Colorado.

Why You Should or Should Have Went to Pitchfork Music Festival:

1) Cheap water and Fuze (one dollar each). Average priced food vendors. Good beer and several shows would hand out water bottles before an act went on.

2) Friendly fellows everywhere you go. I even engaged in what turned out to be one of the nerdiest conversations prior to Junior Boys hitting the stage. Oh, we touched on all the topics: Harry Potter (one girl was reading it), Lord of the Rings and Star Wars. Of course, there are always ignorant blokes at shows. Sure, we're all tiresome of the "I'm a small girl and should be escorted straight to the front of the stage" bit, but one guy was actually shoving and yelling at anyone who stormed the Girl Talk stage. Give it a break. It's just a guy and a laptop. Oh, and a dance party extravaganza.

3) Small park. Distance-wise, the stages aren't far from each other. So, if you've decided to sacrifice one show to catch the next on the opposing stage, you can still enjoy the other act from afar. So, the two main stages are expertly positioned.

4) The Twilight Sad was a great Saturday opening band. Sure, I missed the great Sonic Youth goodness that was to be seen the previous night. But you can't complain with the caliber of Saturday/Sunday acts. And the Twilight Sad was a great opener.

5) Grizzly Bear have a knack for re-envisioning and reconstructing their songs while still retaining the harmonies we've all come to love. Sure, they aren't Mastodon, who managed to dominate the entire festival with their aggressive attack on our ears, but Grizzly Bear did masterfully branch out of the small, yet spacious, Yellow House recording to launch a massive outdoor attack. I would've liked to see Beach House, who were on the side stage, and it's quite odd that they'd schedule two bands similar in aesthetic within the same time slot. But, I had to hear my second favorite LP of last year in a live setting. I've heard many live or acoustic sets of Grizzly Bear's and they still managed to put a fun spin on some of their new songs as well as revitalize their older catalogue. "Little Brother" faired the best in its new shape and form. Also, even though it was expected, I did enjoy the "Deep Blue Sea" cover.

6) I saw Battles from afar, but they were quite the act too. I'd definitely try to see them again. This bunch of sharp dressers is more than capable of replicating the complicated math rock stylings of their recordings.

7) Iron & Wine reminded me of how much I enjoy their upcoming album, which finds some slight experimentation into electro-folk/folktronica at times. And, I must give it them the award for delivering the most surprising and the best cover of the weekend: "No Surprises" by the greatest band alive. I'm also happy to have heard one of my favorite songs by Iron & Wine, "Woman King".

8) Clipse was my first hip-hop show, and I'm happy to report that. They greatly impressed me and seemed quite into being lumped in the Pitchfork lineup. I may have just joked around recently that nearly every hip-hop/rap act claims to be the best ever. You can't be a rapper without an ego. But when Clipse boisted that Hell Hath No Fury was the greatest album of 2006 despite what Pitchfork or anybody says, I had to smile at the obvious self-touting irony. I almost wanted to believe them for a moment.

9) Girl Talk's show, along with Grizzly Bear (who made an appearance on stage for Girl Talk's remix of "Knife"), was certainly a Pitchfork highlight. Greg Gillis' exhibitionist antics were just the kick in the ass that the festival needed to end Saturday night on a good note. Unfortunately, Yoko Ono was the closing act and I sacrificed seeing Cat Power again (she was a highlight at Bonnaroo along with Andrew Bird, Radiohead and others). The supporting musicians were great, but I couldn't endure more than a few songs. You bet I wanted to, though, because of the .0028% chance that the special guest/s would be Paul McCartney. He'd then proceed to whip out his mandolin and proclaim, "Everybody gonna dance tonight." This, of course, didn't happen. And I didn't stay to see it not happen.

10) Deerhunter was another great opener, being that they began sometime after 1pm on Sunday afternoon. They were even humorously and intentionally announced as Deerhoof instead. They Ponys were a fun post-grunge band that I don't care to listen to at home. Yet, they did score some cute points for the little kid with headphones, to protect his fragile ears, in the background playing the drums. I watched Menomena wow the audience for the second time this year, but this time far away at the front line of the opposing stage as I awaited Junior Boys.

11) Junior Boys morphed slinky bedroom electro-pop into danceable, afternoon delight. Their forty-minute set floated by fast, but it was a welcome set from the band tha composed my third favorite album of 2006.

12) Jamie Lidell was more bizarre than any of us that haven't seen his show could ever imagine. And, his music was much more adventurous than the pop incarnations on his album.

13) Stephen Malkmus played Pavement tunes. I really wish I wasn't waiting in line for the port-o-potty and then in the food line. We all have basic body needs. But his solo set seemed that it would've been much more interesting than his Bonnaroo set with the Jicks last year. Damn me.

14) of Montreal was up to their usual shenanigans. I still despise some of the extremely young crowd that this band seems to attract. But you can't argue with a new song, a fan-fave in "The Past Is a Grotesque Animal", a woman in gold, outrageous outfits, obscurity and a The Kinks cover for an encore. I'm not much for gimmicks and the glittery glam rock, but the announcer was right about one thing: they did bring to the stage things we've never seen before at this music festival.

15) The New Pornographers and De La Soul provided a fine close to a weekend of great acts. I may even find myself warming up to the new material of the Pornos. And, judging by the crowd's reaction, when they segued into "We Will Rock You", they probably should have won the award for most surprising cover song. Oh, and De La Soul reminded me of how much fun they can be. I seem to have forgotten that since I've aged and no longer listen to the Men in Black soundtrack or 3 Feet High and Rising. Oh, Pitchfork, you always leave me satisfied and smiling. Or, is that what she said?

Maybe, because...

What Pitchfork Needs to Improve Upon or They Will Remain Faults:

1) Synaesthesia ran rampant among announcers and fans beginning with the pamphlet cover that read: Pour on the Music / Turn up the Beer. Crowd members even seemed to engage in the simple retooling of the senses. This is a petty nitpick, but I didn't enjoy it, damnit!

2) We were in the shadow of the 1st Baptist Church, as one announcer so put it. And who wants to see that towering over them all day? By the way, the two announcers were both fantastic.

3) Too few food vendors and port-o-potties led to extensive lines. I understand that this festival isn't even one-fourth the size of Bonnaroo, but even a couple more food vendors and maybe some expertly placed port-o-potties would quicken the pace. I'm not patient and I missed some of Stephen Malkmus because of you!

4) The sound quality at some sets left some to be desired. Iron & Wine's set, for instance, was drenched in feedback while the rest of us endured it under the warm Illinois sun.

5) The Balance stage was difficult to reach, not to mention countless threats of it being shut down before Girl Talk began. Apparently, they were concerned the fence would be knocked down and helpless hipsters would collapse into the busy street.

6) Voxtrot was a disappointment, just like their first full-length. Sorry, guys. Even the announcer jokes were at their weakest when we were told to pick up after ourselves because we weren't raised by wolves. Get it? I'll be the encouraging parent that Pitchfork plays in their review of the self-titled album: better luck next time!

Overall, the music festival was as warm and cuddly as the truck filled with stuffed animals that was leaking them all over the highway on our way back from Chicago. Sure, the festival wasn't as epic as 2006's Bonnaroo, but this is an impossible task- they didn't have a two and one-half hour Radiohead set. Better luck next time, Pitchfork! You know I'll try to be there. I'm still mad at myself for missing last year.

Pitch-fork, top of the pops!

Fri 13 Jul – Pitchfork Music Festival

Little late, but dig my impressions at my blog.

Fri 13 Jul – Pitchfork Music Festival

Not much of a post, but it's the only one i've got
exclusively about Mastodon, Voxtrot, and Menomena.

Fri 13 Jul – Pitchfork Music Festival

Sunday Review can be found here:
http://fightingtheyouth.blogspot.com/2007/07/pitchfork-music-festival-2007-sunday.html

Fri 13 Jul – Pitchfork Music Festival
As a sidenote, I'm loving all of the reviews where people are angsting about people they saw/heard/smelled at the festival. I actually thought everyone was way cool, but that's compared to Bonnaroo, 311 and Dave Matthews shows I've been to. Anyway, I had a great time at this fest. I came with pretty low expectations and they were pretty much trounced.

Friday actually 00:15 Saturday
The Blue Line trains didn't run at all between Western and some other stop the whole weekend save for my trip in Friday night. So there was much transferring to be done and I got pretty comfortable with the CTA.

Nothing really happened for me at Union Park tonight, I think I heard SY playing Silver Rocket . The beer tickets were gone so I checked vendors, bought some stuff from Absolutely Kosher guys, and walked off. Mr. Oizo was supposed to be playing Smartbar but had flight troubles so that was also a no-go for me.

Saturday
I had a killer location for The Twilight Sad and Voxtrot. I thought the Austin band killed, while the Twilight Sad pretty much split my eardrums in two, partly why I reconsidered seeing them at Schubas that night (also, I was exhausted by that time). Next was Grizzly Bear, which I skipped to phone home and get some lunch. Meanwhile, as Ed Droste & co. finished up, Battles treated their building crowd to a sound check of almost wholly sounds from Atlas.
22:00 - After being slayed by Battles I wandered around a bit. My next and final stop was the balance stage, which despite being overhauled from years past, still proved woefully inadequate for the dance-hungry crowd which formed to see Dan Deacon and Girl Talk. Deacon's iPod-intensive set, performed entirely offstage, incited crowd surfing and dance contests, which threatened to overshadow the might of Greg Gillis, until organizers forced a shutdown to alleviate compressed crowds up front. Girl Talk summed up: Ed Droste, Avril, Of Montreal.

Sunday
This was another slamming day, possibly moreso. Feasted on a dinner of hot dog, fries, $1 water, and a $1 frozen banana from wholefoods (there's always money in the banana stand). I started the day with a ~5th row spot for Deerhunter, whose droning ambience raised a few eyebrows (not to mention frontman Bradford Cox's trademark antics). Skipped menomena, Ponys to charge my phone.
Then eventually crossed back for a sobered yet stomping set from Junior Boys. Tonight represents the festival's most difficult conflict for me. Of Montreal and (Dan Bejar-less) New Pornos, or The Field and Klaxons. Based on the rousing frenzy of last nite, I'm leaning towards the Balance Stage.
By the time the new rave messiahs took the stage around 21:00 (30 minutes off schedule) the audience was ready to maraud and ransack the place - and get crazy they did. Far from the actual rave that transpired during The Field's earlier set - a cool, composed set that brought a new level of dance fluidity the crowd - Klaxons opened with 'The Bouncer' and seemed to flaunt/give the finger to any semblance of safety/crowd comfort, inciting a riot in the first 20 rows. Things only mildly cooled to a disorganized slam dance venue before I had to step out.
In a testament to this band's relative youth and brief (heretofore) existence, they also played Magick b-side Hall of Records - care to guess the typical Klaxons slap-happy chorus? "Come on and dance with me."
After a poke to the eye that dislocated my contact lens, my phone taking a face plant, and my shirt being soaked and forcing a purchase of a girl's xl jersey to wear on the ride home, my time at p4k ended with me refueling on free water while De La Soul had what sounded like a good run on the main stage.

Since I waited for hours to see Klaxons (not bragging, but I had a sweet spot), I took in most of the other fare on the balance stage that afternoon.
Craig Taborn's Junk Magic - WTF
The Cool Kids - Chicago rap, fresh as anything, "with a little gold and a pager"
Cadence Weapon (Rollie Pemberton, ex-Pitchfork writer) with DJ Weasel

The Field got everyone moving in a blissful, possibly/probably effortless performance that incorporated samples of Heartbeat as well as original material. Back to Junior Boys - which consisted of J Greenspan on guitar / vox and I guess Matt Didemus on the knobs, they were also joined by a capable drummer who kept things interesting - top-notch stuff. They played Double Shadow, In The Morning, The Equalizer, and it all sounded great, if mixed a bit loud (I had my earplugs in).

Final Thoughts
- Battles were miraculous and are possibly one of the best things to happen to music in a long time.
- Girl Talk was every bit as fun as I'd anticipated + bonus: Dan Deacon
- The Pitchfork crowds know how to have a good time.
- Beer + live music = profit
- The biggest weekend negatives weren't festival related - transit and accomodation.

Festival Games while waiting between shows
- Skinniest Jeans
- Skinniest cut-off Jeans
- Skinniest shorts
- Most ironic T-shirt
- James Murphy lookalike contest
- Hippest sponsor (imeem, chipotle, whole foods)
- Lamest sponsor (scion, goose island)
- Washed up fest-goer
- Earliest drunk
- Latest drunk
- Not drunk
- Randy Johnson lookalike contest
- Eleanor Friedberger lookalike ocntest
- Frattiest guy / group of guys
- Name that skyscraper
- Guess the weather
- Find the balance stage
- Most excessive use of Spandex
- Most inappropriate use of time (possibly me writing this list on Best Western stationary while waiting to get in Union Park)
- Who can stand the longest with their hands folded
- Best / most free shit : def. imeem with their koozies that were around all weekend. Worst was probably Boost Mobile who wouldn't give me a free shirt when I came back drenched from Klaxons Sunday night.

Small fest (like this) vs. Large fest (like roo)
Small (city) Fest:
+ Easier to get good spot
- Expensive accomodation
+ Luxurious accomodation
- Far from fest site
+ Newer bands
+ Smarter fans
+ Requires less time off
- Not as easy to justify time off
- Kids from Dartmouth and Kenyon

Large (rural) Fest:
+ More shady areas / pavilioned shows !!
+ Low priced accomodation
- Primitive accomodation
+ Near all the action
- Kids from UTenn and Indiana

My rationale for ditching two of the best bands i know for a trendy new rave act.
You're only young once, y'know?
Will I be able to look in the mirror 5 years from now and say "I like/listen to Klaxons" much less "I stood for four hours to see Klaxons"?
While with the other bands, it's not as bad (OM possibly). Plus, these 2 bands have been around a long time, while I fear Klaxons may pull a Test Icicles. They also have not yet toured the US extensively, and are currently selling out shows in the land of the Queen, on whose hallowed ground I was standing just 2 weeks ago in the middle of Glasto, etc. And the weather's way nicer here.
Plus, the Girl Talk mania that ruled last nite was on the same stage. I actually think concrete is maybe better for dancing? Maybe people just sit less which lends itself to being crammed in.

Festival Playlist
Silver Rocket
That Summer, at Home I Had Become the Invisible Boy
The Start of Something
Tonto / Atlas / Just buy the album
Ankle Injuries
The Crystal Cat
Knife (Girl Talk Remix)
Strange Lights (feat. Grizzly Bear!)
The EqualizerDouble Shadow
Gold And A Pager myspace.com/gocoolkids
Silent
Hall of Records
Cadence Weapon - Pink Triangle (weezer cover)

Seen and Heard
- Bradford Cox walking around festival grounds Saturday
- Grizzly Bear guesting on not one but 2 additional performances in 2 days
- Battles' Tyondai Braxton changing a string mid-show and later apologizing
- Rollie Pemberton's opening monologue
- Dan Deacon's pleas to the sound booth - actually most everyone on/at the balance stage requested this as well: GT, Cadence, Cool Kids
- Klaxons' road crew taking care of business
- Ice cream vendors selling on Ogden Ave through the fence along balance stage

Pitchfork Music Festival

Friday: All Tomorrow's Parties/Don't Look Back
I feel so ~*un-indie*~ for knowing the only thing about Slintis that they had their equipment stolen that last time they reunited 2 years ago. Overall, definitely saw where Tortoise & Mogwai got their influences from, definitely can tell that they practically invented post-rock. From what I heard, it's a really dark intimate album that should be heard...in the dark...with shadows of light from the window, sitting in a corner. Nonetheless, as an ardent Sonic Youth supporter, I didn't stand at the Connector stage, opting to get in the very front for Sonic Youth. Anyways, I've never gotten into post-rock but I don't know, I want to give their album, Spiderland (of which they played) a chance.

When Slint was performing, I was literally a foot from Thurston, who was walking to go backstage to hang out with Slint. I was of course, speechless & frozen, therefore saying nothing. While this girl in front had the guts to say "Thurston!" & he courteously waved, smiled & said hi.

I feel so uncultured for not having gotten into Wu-Tang, because I guess I like my rap/hip-hop conscious & political. Nonetheless, GZA's performance of Liquid Swords was really entertaining & fun. It makes me want to check out his album as well. I loved how you could tell those who were there for GZA & those who were there for Sonic Youth (because SY were going to go after GZA on the same stage).

They really should have alternated stages, so that it would be Slint, then GZA on another stage & then Sonic Youth afterwards on the same stage Slint was on.

Sonic Youth, I mean there's already enough said on them. Fucking brilliant, definitely one of the best shows I've ever been to. People could tell they were really into it & they brought their A-game. They really enjoyed being there & Thurston even quipped they'd be here for the whole weekend to see other brilliant bands. It's so funny because I've never had goosebumps while seeing a band but I had them throughout the whole show. I guess I was just a little bugged by the moshing but luckily, I wasn't in the middle of the crowd (Isn't that how it always is? Sides =/= moving, middle = goes ape-shit crazy). They did an encore of three songs from Rather Ripped: Reena, Incinerate & Jams Run Free (I'm so obsessed with JRF now :P) & even better, they were joined by Mark Ibold formerly of Pavement (who is their touring bassist).

The little things: Lenny Kaye (of Patti Smith group!) was amongst the throng as well as Britt Daniel of Spoon.


Saturday:
Didn't see that many compared to Sunday, which was jammed full of more well-known bands.

Came just around the time when Grizzly Bear took stage. I stayed around for about a song or two because of the sun but I liked their stuff. Very hypnotic but at the same time, had natural, earthy sounds to them.

Iron & Wine, to me put on a good show, with all of his songs being very catchy & none of that boring acoustic musicians there usually is. I wish I didn't leave from the encore, which was a Radiohead cover of No Surprises.

Bbbbut being the Cat Power-addict, I had to be in the front row. Thus I had to sit through Mastodon's set. Now pardon me, I pretty much hate hipsters & their indie precociousness but I've never been a fan of metal. Furthest I'll go is stoner metal like QOTSA. I just didn't get into it & you could tell those people who just came to see Mastodon because they were the ones with Faith No More shirts & had baggy shorts, big shirts, the look of no showering & shaggy, grunge-era Eddie Vedder hair. God I feel so lame right now xD. It's like I don't feel open-minded but I really tried listening to this "indie metal" but I guess I'm not ~cool~ enough :b

Well anyways, I was lucky enough to get in front for Cat Power & I thought she was great. She really was into it & was smiling & laughing a lot. It made me really happy, plus she looked great (Karl Lagerfeld is definitely showing his influence). Although she didn't play any songs pre-The Covers Record but still, it was a wonderful set. Imagine this: 3 feet away from the Chan Marshall ^__^

Yoko Ono was on afterwards & although I didn't get into it at first, Thurston came onstage & all the sudden she changed. She was more energetic, more talkative & funnier. I like Yoko & I honestly think she gets a lot of shit she doesn't deserve. As I said to friends, it's like if Kim Gordon married Mick Jagger, majority of the population don't really understand the less-known so they'll think it's shit. True she screeches & yells and some of it is a bit much & annoying but she also is releasing her pain. For someone like her, she should be bitter & mean but really, she was sweet, funny & nice plus she had so much energy (at 74!). There were these lights they gave out throughout the day for her performance. She did this sort of morse code (it was Onochord ;]) with the lights, basically "I Love You" (Flash lights: i, ii, iii) so near the end, since there was a jumbotron, everyone could see just lights glittering.


Sunday:
I came a bit earlier than before so I could see the first act, Deerhunter perform because I heard the shows are so interesting. Brett Cox, the frontman wore a glittery dress & draped his arms like on a cross with his lanky arms. I liked them, who were a bit like Grizzly Bear but more out there & more like noise rock.

Saw two songs of Menomena, who sounds insanely catchy & the typical catchy indie pop band. Not to say that they weren't bad but the damn heat stopped me from catching more of them.

The Sea and Cake were a nice chillout band that had nice toe-tapping beats to them. Definitely swayed my head & closed my eyes with their nice music.

Junior Boys - well I didn't plan on seeing them but I was hearing this great beat so I had to check them out. Needless to say, I couldn't stop dancing & was loving the whole set. Definitely a good find for me :D (although I despised these two girls in front were just talking & LAUGHING OUT LOUD to the point I wasn't able to hear JB)

Jamie Lidell - looked pretty crazy & sounded so energetic. I lied down for the majority of his set & just soaked in the music. When I left 2/3 of the way & watched on the other jumbotron, it seemed pretty rad stuff.

Left because of Stephen Malkmus, heck yeah! I got near the front & I just hated this one guy who looked like an asshole version of Kevin Smith. He kept elbowing all the people around him when he kept taking pictures every 2-fucking-seconds. Seriously, photographers are not allowed to even take that many. Stephen was just solo & did a nice job, good when it came to covering Pavement songs because the crowd (including myself) were loving them. During the Pavement songs, Bob Nastanovich, former drummer of said band came out. Other than that, I thought Stephen was pretty funny & when somebody yelled Gold Soundz!, he goes "No...not playing that".

Hah also just wanted to point out that I was practically the only teenager in that crowd. Seriously, that's depressing because it goes to show my generation can't even look back 10 years ago to great music. Why do I make this comparison? Well because...

After Stephen, I went into the heavy, packed crowd for of Montreal & all of them were these lame hipster poseurs who were all my age more or less. These are the idiots who spend daddy's credit cards getting those Pumas they need but have to lyke cheyk the laytst Death Cab allbumm ouht -___-. I didn't really get to much into the set but I liked the 3 songs I stuck around for.

I left early because of Klaxons, & whilst waiting I saw Cadence Weapon who was this beat-heavy rapper that definitely knew how to stir up a crowd. He did a funny cover of Weezer's Pink Triangle that really got the crowd stirring. Funny how I found out he collab'd with Final Fantasy and writes for P4K (as a side job of course ;D).

I really really liked The Field & although he didn't say anything & just played with a laptop (unlike Girl Talk, he didn't go CRAZY!). He did this great remix of Annie's Heartbeat & that was really the first time I was going really got to dance. Good find for me definitely.

Of course after like..fucking 45 minutes, finally Klaxons came on & the show was absolute nuts! Everyone was dancing & practically moshing while the band were just hyping everyone up & really tore it up. I thoroughly enjoyed them & really did think they put on a great show, unlike those who said they were disappointed by previous shows of theirs. They played nearly all the songs from Myths of the Near Future a favorite of mine, except a favorite of mine, Isle of Her. Cadence Weapon came out I think for Gravity's Rainbow but I could be wrong but anyways, it was pretty awesome actually. Too bad he didn't stay for another song :(.

Regrets/Misses:
Girl Talk
Dan Deacon
New Pornographers
Professor Murder
Fujiya & Miyagi
No fucking Cat Power OR Klaxons shirts -_____-
Forgot to get a Sonic Youth shirt too -_-

Bands I met:
Voxtrot - although I've only heard Kid Gloves, friends of friend's cousin were with me & they were nuts over them. Saw two of the guys & they talked with us on Saturday & the other two talked with us on Sunday.
Deerhunter - friend was rushing to get a New Pornographer shirt & I said hi to Brett Cox & said nice show
Thurston Moore - OK, this was just unbelievable. When I missed the chance to talk to him on Friday & I thought I wouldn't see him. I turn around while in the huge record tent & there he is! 4 feet away from me. I was just shaking with goosebumps & freaking out while trying to find my copy of Daydream Nation & a freakin' marker (that took 3 minutes of longest moment of my life).

Me: Thurston?
Thurston: *turns around*
Me: Hi! :D Could you sign this?
Thurston: "Sure, no problem" *moves amazing shaggy hair out of his face*
Me: Yeah sorry the cover is cracked but yesterday was really crazy
Thurston: "Oh it's fine :)"
Me: Yeah we tried to get backstage but they wouldn't let us in at all
Thurston: Aww that's a shame but yeah, definitely was fun yesterday
Me: Yeah :DDDDD definitely was, thank YOU!!
Thurston: No problem, anytime :)

Seriously I was shaking for five minutes afterwards & I couldn't even remember where I was for a minute. He was so nice & courteous but I didn't want to bother him too much either (but I was too stupid to not get a picture with him >_<). Haha & yes I do know I said "Yeah" a lot...it's my version of "like".

What pissed me off?/Other likes?
- I honestly thought the coolest ones there were those in their late 20s'+, they seemed the most chilled & weren't faddish. They always picked the cool bands out & were ready to dance around, not crossing their arms or just slightly dancing that obviously exposed they were only there because it seemed "kewl".
- Teenagers were all hipster poseurs that name checked every single 5 seconds & it almost seemed jokish (encompassing the older ones/those in early 20s') while younger ones dressed like they were fucking clowns who thought they were ^*unique*^ & had indie cute to them.
- Cheap food! Water = $1 xD
- HOT on Sunday
- During Junior Boys, I saw the most adorable hipster guy who was really knew at being one & constantly looked around while smiling to others. I wanted to tell him he looked liked Simon of Klaxons..that would have made his day xDD.
- People TALKING, oh lord that was a big one
- Great atmosphere where there wasn't too much distinction between artists & festival-goers besides a pass around their neck.
- I basically would talk to older people because they really seemed the nicest & weren't stuck up/had elitism. It was great to talk about bands weren't necessarily for hipster yuppies of today.
- Met Laura, who was extremely nice, fun to talk to & very cool in general, kudos to her boyfriend also who was a really sweet caring guy who was trying to help get this paraplegic to be by us because he was a huge fan of Cat Power (sadly it didn't go through :( ).

To sum it up...
Best each day:
Friday - Sonic Youth
Saturday - Yoko Ono
Sunday - Klaxons

Definitely come in the summer: YES! =D

Plus if you're up for it, stay around 2/3 weeks for Lolla & you can take in all the greatness of Chicago in-between ;)