Titus Andronicus
Pitchfork Music Festival is always one of my favorite weekends of the year and it’s the place to be if you’re into indie rock. Over 45,000 music fans attended the Chicago festival which featured performances from hugely successful artists like Modest Mouse, Big Boi, and LCD Soundsystem, upcoming acts like Local Natives, Sleigh Bells and Free Energy, plus a headlining spot by reunited indie rock gods, Pavement. The bands endured scorching 90+ degree heat to play for the sold-out crowd and there was plenty of fantastic performances.
Friday was dominated by Swedish electro-pop artist, Robyn who wouldn’t have been high on my list of anticipated acts going into the weekend yet absolutely blew me (and judging by crowd reaction, everyone else at Union Park) away with her spectacular performance. She took the stage in her cut-out grey mini-skirt and over-sized leather shoulder pads and commenced the non-stop dance party with her single “Fembot”. Robyn bombarded the crowd with big synths and even bigger hooks all while putting on a vigorous dance clinic that dwarfed any attempts I’ve seen from most mainstream pop artists. I may have started the day as a Robyn newcomer but I left a full-fledged enthusiast.
The best set I saw on Saturday was from New Jersey bar-rock band Titus Andronicus who put on a face-melting, life affirming performance that was perhaps the most talked about set of the weekend. When lead singer / guitarist Patrick Stickles wasn’t diving head-first into the crowd to scream out the anthemic choruses while the crowd fist-pumped in unison, he was delivering sharp quips. He mused to crowd about the post-modernism of society while observing his face on one of the jumbotrons before telling us “he’s sweating like a pregnant nun meeting the pope”. Basically he’s the awesomest of dudes.
Hip hop troupe Major Lazer wasn’t my favorite music from Sunday (that honor would probably go to Local Natives who absolutely killed it) but as far as visual stimuli go I don’t they could possibly be topped. DJ / producer Diplo brought out an assortment of performers including men in dragon costumes, booty-shaking girls, sexy ballerinas, and Skerrit Bwoy who is possibly the most ridiculously insane hype man I’ve ever seen. I don’t know if some of the stuff he was doing on stage is safe to print but let’s just say he taught the whole crowd what daggering is, frequently sprayed the crowd with Champagne, and at one point let one of the dancer girls climb a ladder and body slam him all while yelling to the audience “Are you entertained?” (to which the obvious answer was “Hell yes!”).
Altogether it was a phenomenal weekend and I can’t wait to see what Pitchfork has in store for next year. I’ve selected some of my favorite pictures I took from the festival which you can see in the slideshow below and you can read some more coverage of the event at my blog, Music For Ants. Enjoy!
