life thru my lens

March 27, 2015: Diarrhea Planet at Lincoln Hall

Hello VMP’ers. This last weekend I attended Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago, and after three days, two camera deaths, and sunburn, we’re still smiling. 

I arrived in time to see Sharon Van Etten on Friday, late afternoon. I was just a moment too late to be able to head to the photo pit, but even from a small distance, she still wowed me with her soothing, swooning voice, and her heart wrenching lyrics. Particularly powerful was her rendition of ‘Serpents,’ that one always gets me.

From there, Sun Kil Moon took to the Green Stage and converted a whole slew of new fans with Mark Kozelek’s emotionally charged brand of folk rock. The bands’ set was near perfection, with moments of one-sided audience conversation, and the heavy air that is bound to accompany one of their sets. 

It was then time to patiently wait for Beck. The temperatures were absolutely perfect. I can’t remember the last time there was a festival in Chicago that had ideal weather for 2 out of 3 days, yet alone three perfect days, but Pitchfork had just that in 2014. Once Beck took the stage at 8:30pm in Chicago’s Union Park, we all knew that we were in the right place, at the right time. He started with “Devil’s Haircut,” weaved in and around his albums, throwing “Loser” in eighth, and included a three song encore, ending with “Where It’s At.” The set was near perfection, and really, if you haven’t seen Beck yet, please do whatever it is you need to in order to.

Friday night ended at Chicago’s own Lincoln Hall for the Mutual Benefits/Wild Beasts show. Something I’d been looking forward to for quite a while. Wild Beasts have always been a band that’s hard to pinpoint, and they’re so brilliant at whatever it is they do, that no one has succeeded at copying their sound - which is a great thing. The dual vocals of Hayden Thorpe and Tom Fleming make them the ideal band. So ideal, the plan was to see them again in just over 12 hours after their Friday evening post-Pitchfork show.

Saturday started off with Twin Peaks on the Green Stage at 1:00pm, where the heat was already intense, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Singer Cadien James was wheeled out, broken foot and all, just a few days after ending up at the hospital for having seizures. You couldn’t tell he had experienced any medical issues, and broken foot, cast, and all, rocked out that stage like Twin Peaks has been known to do.

Brooklyn MC Ka took the Red Stage immediate after Twin Peaks set, and played a chatty set to a fairly large crowd as well, once his set was through, (my obvious favourites) Wild Beasts took the Green Stage again. Charmingly English, they played a 45+ minute set that wowed my socks off again, had I worn any. It was enjoyable to hear the crowd chatter of those who hadn’t been familiar with them talk about their enjoyment after the set.