Pat Duffy, formerly of Pop Tarts Suck Toasted (RIP), checks in for us! Heading to a music festival one might expect to find lots of rock star personalities in attendance, but that’s not what Pitchfork is built on. Instead they load the bill with smaller bands that have a big sound and lots of potential. Jon Spencer is not one of those dudes. He is a rock star and if there was any doubt about it let the leather pants in the 90-degree heat put that doubt to rest permanently. That and the rocking set he and his Blues Explosion put on yesterday of course. Following the technical problems Raekwon suffered through it was awesome to see a three piece rock band plug in and get to it with no delay. And get to it they did, launching into the set and immediately taking over the scene for the day. The set was powerful and intense, loaded with the fine rock stylings of a master of the art. They took over and for the rest of the day any time the “who was the best act” question was posed, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion was one of the first answers on everyone’s tongue. More bands should take note and learn from Jon Spencer. You don’t need to be excessively flashy or rely on any sort of tricks, you just need to go out there with great tunes and play them as if it’s going to be the last time you’ll ever play them. Do that & you’re well on your way to attaining rock star status as Jon Spencer & his cohorts already have. SPTR: 9.0.
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Pat Duffy, formerly of Pop Tarts Suck Toasted (RIP), checks in for us! Over on the Balance Stage, things were not going well for Dam-Funk. 20 minutes into their set and they still hadn’t played a single note. Such is the problem sometimes with unrelenting heat and outdoor festivals, and those technical problems followed us as we abandoned the B stage to catch one of our hometown heroes – Raekwon. For seemingly half a set, Raekwon’s DJ battled a melting audio card and warping vinyl before the rhyme master finally and triumphantly took the stage. “Imma give y’all some of these here classic”, Raekwon told us, “will you let me do that for you?” This was of course met with cheers and Wu Tang hand sign galore and then Raekown launched into some of his classic catalog and kept the party going as best he could as the technical problems persisted intermittently through the set. Raekwon was undeterred by all these little snags and that alone catapulted him into warm favor with the sweltering crowd. Well that and the classic tunes pumping out of the PA. For his last few songs, Raekwon brought out some little, local dancers who tore up the stage and got some of the best cheers of the day for their efforts. Seriously, these little 10-year olds just upstaged a living legend, a member of the Wu no less, by twirling and spinning like no one else in that audience could. It was a rousing set despite all the technical snafus, marking the highlight of the rap performances yesterday and setting the bar high for Big Boi and the rest today. Raekwon was legit yesterday and as a native Staten Islander, I couldn’t be happier about it. Slutty Pop Tarts Rating: 8.4.
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Pat Duffy, formerly of Pop Tarts Suck Toasted (RIP), checks in for us! Delorean has it going on right now! This Spanish quartet is taking the music world by storm, dropping crazy good dance pop on every stage they happen to take. Saturday it was the main stage at Pitchfork and these young dudes didn’t seem phased by the size of the stage, the enormous crowd, or the heat in the least. Instead of wilting in the sun, Delorean made things hotter cranking up the volume and getting the folks up front dancing right from the start of their set. Keyboardist Unai Lazcano joined in with the dancing, bouncing around on bare feet that must have felt like walking on hot coals on the hot, black stage. The rest of the band is a little more stationary, but you can still feel the energy pouring from the band and out into the sea of people. With sweat pouring from the band and fans alike, the music continued blaring in the midday sun. It was an excellent set with some of the most innovative sounds being displayed at the fest this year. It’s pretty safe to say that Delorean are a must see band right now, so don’t miss them when they hit the Jelly Pool Parties later this summer! Slutty Pop Tarts Rating: 8.4.
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Pat Duffy, formerly of Pop Tarts Suck Toasted (RIP), checks in for us! At a festival full of artists lauded with the coveted Pitchfork “Best New Music” tag, there weren’t a lot of acts that we hadn’t heard of or seen yet. One such act was Sonny & The Sunsets, but after catching their charming set it’s easy to say they were the best new artist of the fest so far. Like Real Estate, Sonny & The Sunsets make the sort of warm, summery music made for hot summer days like Saturday. But they do it a little differently, opting for a more traditional rock sound that dates back well into the 1950s. It grooves, it swings and gets people to do the same and that’s the sort of thing you just can’t ignore. It was a charming set all around with gentle harmonies and the sort old fashioned rock music that used to make kids scream. On Saturday, they weren’t screaming but they were getting down with the music and it seems like these guys are on the fast track to whole other level! SPTR: 8.7.
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Pat Duffy, formerly of Pop Tarts Suck Toasted (RIP), checks in for us! With temperatures in the mid-90s and a sun beating down on the crowd, Day 2 at Pitchfork Music Fest felt like a battle against the heat. Real Estate didn’t seem all to phased by this. And why would they? There tunes are meant for warm, sunny days spent frying in the sun and early Saturday afternoon they shared their chill sounds with the sweating crowd hoping to cool things off just a bit. As far as buzz bands go, Real Estate seem to be getting lumped in with all the chillwave acts and it may be fitting but there’s something a little more permanent in their sound that separates them from the pack. Their music plays like a sound from another time, instantly timeless by refreshingly unique and with the sun beating down on the stage they showed off the goods to a swelling crowd. We’ve been lucky enough to see Real Estate a few times before so other than a few new tunes there wasn’t anything truly new about their set, but watching them command the stage in front of one of the largest crowds they’ve played to was pretty damn impressive. They dominated the heat right from the start and made some people forget their already perspiring bodies enough to dance in the crowds of people. Real Estate’s music is warm music meant for sunny days, and it was really bright out yesterday! Slutty Pop Tarts Rating: 8.3.
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Pat Duffy, formerly of Pop Tarts Suck Toasted (RIP), checks in for us! For this year’s Pitchfork Fest, a lot of emphasis is being put on the headliners, and why shouldn’t it be with acts like Modest Mouse, LCD Soundsystem and Pavement wrapping up the action each night. To end things the first night Pitchfork brought out Modest Mouse, a band with perfect albums, radio friendly singles and a reputation for solid, if not spectacular shows. Friday night they fit right in with the mellower acts Pitchfork had booked for the day. As good as their music is, Modest Mouse never fully bring it on stage – though you probably shouldn’t tell the kids up front that. They play the songs the way they recorded them, they do it well enough and they feel that should be enough. For some it is, for others it’s not, and we’re finding ourselves somewhere in the middle camp. The band really sounds great, but at this point in their career would it kill them to be a bit more engaging on stage? Modest Mouse didn’t kill it on Friday night but they rocked us gently into the night allowing us to retain our hearing going into Day 2 of the festival. Day 1 was a bit light overall, only 8 bands hitting the stages and most of them going for gentler sounds than what we’ll see on Day 2, but it was a good night overall & the tunes were definitely solid all night long. SPTR: 7.8.
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Pat Duffy, formerly of Pop Tarts Suck Toasted (RIP), checks in for us! After sitting through sets from two solo artists, seeing Liars was almost like visiting another planet. Loud, abrasive, and as enjoyable as always, Liars crushed the crowd with their weird anthems and the shuddering volume of their set. It was a good set for sure, but it seemed oddly out of place at the opening day of Pitchfork. Maybe because they were the only band who fully utilized the enormous PA, or maybe because everyone else focused so thoroughly on traditional song structures with lots of melody. But I suppose that’s just what the Liars do even when they’re not surrounded by the bands they were last night. Towards the end of the set, I made my way over to the comedy stage and as I walked through the festival grounds the noise from Liars never seemed to vanish. In fact, as Hannibal Buress started cracking jokes you could still hear the music almost perfectly. “Liars are totally upstaging me”, Hannibal said & really they upstaged everyone last night. SPTR: 9.1/10.
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Pat Duffy, formerly of Pop Tarts Suck Toasted (RIP), checks in for us! When the 2010 Pitchfork Fest lineup was announced we were a bit surprised to see two solo artists kicking off the festivities back-to-back. Perhaps the Pitchfork staff was trying to offset all the band members Broken Social Scene were bringing to the festival. Whatever the reason actually was it gave two fantastic musicians a chance to perform at a festival and show off their talents for a huge crowd. Like Sharon Van Etten, Kristian Matsson (aka, The Tallest Man on Earth) was more than capable of taking over the massive festival stage all by himself. Showing off his quirky voice, lofty wordplay, and genuine guitar skills, Kristian was positively magnetic in the late afternoon sun. As good as the music was, the truly amazing thing was his ability to not get lost on such a big stage. Lesser musicians would have stood at the mic, sang their songs, and left, but Matsson manages to captivate all by his lonesome. As strange as it may have been to see two solo artists back-to-back at a festival it totally worked for today. Rather than being immediately blasted by deafening music, fans were eased into the fest making for as gentle a start to a festival as we’ve ever seen. With acts like El-P, Liars & Robyn following those gentle moments wouldn’t last but they were certainly enjoyed while they lasted. SPTR: 8.2.
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Pat Duffy, formerly of Pop Tarts Suck Toasted (RIP), checks in for us! Kicking off a festival is never easy. Doing it on your own must be downright terrifying. Sharon Van Etten can handle it though, and kicking off the 2010 Pitchfork Music Fest she did just that. With fans slowly trickling in and folks just getting situated on the festival grounds, Sharon played a set of coy, gentle tunes, destined for her Ba Da Bing Records debut this fall. As is her style, Sharon kept things light and breezy, a perfect mid afternoon set of tunes that calmly introduced our ears to the festival sized speakers. For the last song of her set Sharon hit her only snag of the afternoon, a broken string, that almost cut her set one song too short. Luckily someone was on the ball and before you knew it Sharon had another guitar in her hand and was again rocking us gently through the last song of her set. With a light night of music, only 8 musical acts were hitting the stage last night, SVE set the table for what was about to come. It was a moving and passionate set from an artist who is about to launch into another stratosphere! Slutty Pop Tarts Rating: 8.4/10.
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Pat Duffy, formerly of Pop Tarts Suck Toasted (RIP), will be covering this year’s event for us! Expect a series of live reviews over the next few days. Here’s his first installment. This year’s Pitchfork Music Festival is loaded from head to toe. Three days, 42 bands, a comedy stage, a record fair, a poster fair and more food vendors than you could hope to plow through in one weekend. It’s gonna be an awesome time, but it also has the potential to be a bit overwhelming for anyone trying to navigate the waters for the first time. With that in mind we’ve created this handy, slutty, Absolute Must list for you to live the next 3 days by! We also compiled a mixtape of all 42 acts to get you in the spirit of one of the best, most affordable fests going these days! Make sure to listen & follow our advice for the optimal experience this weekend!
View the full rundown & grab Pat’s stellar compilation AFTER THE JUMP…
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