| « Pitchfork Festival 2011: Friday, Part 2 | Pitchfork Festival: Saturday, Part 2 » |
Pitchfork Music Festival Sun Jul 17 2011
Pitchfork Festival: Saturday, Part 1
Saturday at Pitchfork meant interviews all day for myself; meanwhile Bonnie caught a good mix of acts gracing the stage at the festival. The day kicked off with weather warnings from festival officials, and they installed two cooling buses, passed out free water to the first 6,000 attendees, and had the security barricades stocked with water to hand out and pour on the packed crowds. Heat or not, it didn't hold back artists from dishing out a day of solid sets.
Saturday started more leisurely than Friday, as people stretched out on blankets listening in the shade and relaxing. Except at the Blue Stage, where Chicago via Kansas City, MO's Chrissy Murderbot and MC Zulu were handing out lip-shaped kazoos and energizing an otherwise lethargic crowd with a high amount of bass. Murderbot, the sometimes ghetto house sometimes juke DJ, wrapped in old-time Chicago house favorites ("It's Time For The Percolator") and gave a nod to DJ Funk ("There's Some Hoes In This House"), before pushing pulsating break beats and expansive bass lines onto the eager Saturday afternoon crowd. -Bonnie Page
Next up at the Blue Stage were the light hazy indie pop sounds of Sun Airway. Joaquin Phoenix look-alike lead singer Jon Barthmus battled heavy reverb and over the top bass on first song "Waiting On You." Luckily the sound guys fixed the levels prior to the end of the song, and well in time for the second track, "Oh Nako," and the tender yet danceable "Your Moon." The guys also played a couple of tracks with simple drum and bass patterns but a majority of their set was off their catchy new 7". -Bonnie Page
One of the heavily anticipated shows of the day held down the 3pm at the Green Stage; the synth-pop Philadelphia leather-clad band Cold Cave. The foursome came out, in 80+ degree heat, in true New Order/Cure/goth band fashion -- head to toe black with leather jackets. Which was oh-so-fitting to their straight-out-of-1982 sound mixed with a little bit of noise and reverb to keep it new. Keyboardist Dominick Fernow looped his synth sounds so that he had plenty of time to erratically dance around stage, even possibly doing the monkey at one point. Feeling the heat of the day, lead singer Wesley Eisold ripped one of the shoulders on his shirt while screaming along the lines "I feel so good on the outside" from their track "Confetti." With heavy lyrics and a thick sound, it was clearly a heavy hitting day two set. -Bonnie Page
Keep checking back all weekend and next week for more Pitchfork Festival 2011 coverage from Gapers Block.
