Pitchfork Music Festival Union Park Chicago, IL July 15-16-17, 2011

Sorted, I made my way to another main stage (Green) to catch Battles. The three-piece (once a quartet before founding member Tyondai Braxton left to pursue a solo career) incorporated elements of math rock and dance music into a mix that favored percussion over the rather reedy sounding keyboards. I enjoyed how the band used video projections of the guest vocalists from the new Gloss Drop album, especially when synth rock pioneer Gary Numan took virtual lead on the single “My Machines.”

I hung out on the main field to take in Thurston Moore’s Red Stage set, but the Sonic Youth front man sounded like he would have been more comfortable in a theater setting. He and his backing band played material from the new, Beck-produced Demolished Thoughts, but folk tunes performed on acoustic instruments (including harp and violin) didn’t translate well to the festival setting. Moore’s hushed vocals and pretty arrangements were easily drowned out by the rhymes and beats coming from Curren$y’s set on the Blue Stage.

A prior commitment across town meant that I only had time for one more partial set on this first Friday of Pitchfork. I was fortunate, then, that Guided by Voices were up next on the Green Stage. The reunited mid-90’s line-up of this classic band brought a punk energy to fan favorites “Exit Flagger,” “Gold Star for Robot Boy,” “Jane of the Waking Universe” and “Kicker of Elves.”

On Saturday, I returned to Union Park in time to hit the CHIRP tent and grab a beer at the air-conditioned Heineken bar (one of several corporate installations erected to beat the heat and sell product) before Off!’s late afternoon set on the Blue Stage. Led by the mercurial Keith Morris (ex-Black Flag/Circle Jerks), Off! specializes in one-minute blasts of hardcore without any of the usual macho posturing. Their set was energetic, but marred by technical problems and Morris’s penchant for longwinded rants.

I caught a bit of Dismemberment Plan on the Green Stage and decided to cruise the Flatstock poster booths, where limited edition silkscreens from the likes of Bird Machine, Will Ruocco, Delicious Design League and The Decoder Ring were on display for purchase.

I hooked up with Billy G. from the Chicago-based photography and music blog The Minimal Beat, and got close for DJ Shadow’s 7:25 p.m. set on the Red Stage. Shadow (A.K.A. Josh Davis) greeted the crowd before disappearing behind a giant white orb at center stage. Although it was still light out, two projectors bounced video off of the sphere’s exterior before the large screen on the field flipped to an interior camera input. Damn, the DJ was inside the space globe, manipulating a turntable and mixer! Old-school hip-hop and eardrum-piercing bass screamed from the speakers and, to up the wow factor, the orb spun 180 degrees to reveal a cracked eggshell opening and Davis smiling out to the audience.

While it seemed that DJ Shadow was the act to beat on day two, Seattle’s Fleet Foxes took the Green Stage at nightfall to massive applause. They opened with the baroque “Grown Ocean” from the new Helplessness Blues and were nothing short of magical throughout a set that also included old favorites “Mykonos” and “White Winter Hymnal.” There was just enough electric buzz to amplify the traditional instruments (mandolin, bowed upright bass, organ, acoustic guitar) so that the songs sounded big enough for a festival. I cut out during a set-closing take on the title track from Helplessness Blues and headed to Cobra Lounge and then Lincoln Hall for the evening’s unofficial after shows.

I arrived at Pitchfork on Sunday at 2:45 p.m. to brutal heat. I grabbed a bottle of water and caught a couple of songs by the ethereal Twin Sister on the Blue Stage before heading over to the Green Stage to catch the tail end of Kurt Vile & the Violators.

Less than an hour later, I was struck by the irony that Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All (the festival’s most controversial act for well-documented reasons) chose Bob Marley’s “One Love” as an intro track for their set. From there, the beats got grimy and the shout-outs became nasty and aggressive. From a visual standpoint, this SoCal collective was all about inverted crosses and gangster shades, which would have been a lot scarier if they had not been playing for a bunch of waifs in Tune-Yards inspired face paint.

I headed over to my corner HQ in the CHIRP tent and had a can of beer with the crew from Midwest Merch. I was instantly thankful to whoever invented coolers and electric fans. Hydrated, I headed back out into the sun to catch Superchunk on the Red (hot) Stage. Cited as a seminal indie rock band, Superchunk has always been pop punk at heart and the tunes “My Gap Feels Weird” and “Crossed Wires” were pogo-friendly.

Deerhunter was on the (wilted) Green Stage next and I braved the heat for a few songs, including the dreamy “Little Kids” and fan favorite “Nothing Ever Happened.” On my way back to the shade, I ran into Off!’s Steven McDonald. We spoke briefly about his other band, Redd Kross, who has a new album that is nearly finished.

I bought a spinach feta pie from Big Bite Catering and scarfed it down at the Chicago Mixtape table, where I again ran into Billy G. We waited until the sun was setting and headed out to a much-cooler Red Stage to catch the Australian synth-pop act Cut Copy. The highly danceable band channeled Gang of Four, Human League and Ultravox with just enough nu rave energy to keep the kids moving.

TV on the Radio headlined the final hours of Pitchfork Festival, 2011, with a galvanizing set on the Green Stage. The group, making its Festival debut after four critically-acclaimed albums, played a soulful amalgam of prog, psych and post-punk complete with trombone and keyboards. Vocalist Tunde Adebimpe and company led the audience with rhythmic handclaps and they even managed to throw in a funky cover of Fugazi’s “Waiting Room,” which was a very cool way to close out an extremely hot three days.

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