Pitchfork Music Festival review: Saturday

Saturday, July 19, 2008, Pitchfork Music Festival, Chicago, IL

There were a lot of great moments from Saturday. Caribou put on a surprisingly cool set. I had never heard of them before, but will definitely check them out further. Their spacey, experimental style was something I hadn't expected to hear much of at this festival. It was a nice surprise, especially since it was the first act I caught.

Next came Fleet Foxes. I looked forward to seeing if they could pull off the magic of their recently released self-titled debut. They really exceeded my expectations. The vocals sounded amazing; their harmonies were dead on. Any doubts of FF being able to nail the harmonizations were washed away right from the start. They opened with an all-vocals number, and it just sounded great. This group is only going to get better. A little more experience and a little more variance to the types of songs, and these guys are going to be a can't-miss. "Blue Ridge Mountains" made for a great closing song.

While waiting for !!! to come on I was completely underwhelmed by Vampire Weekend's set. Not really sure what the hype is all about with this band. !!! was pretty good, a lot of energy. Their set really hit full stride with the last few songs. Vocals were kind of hard to hear, but that's not really what !!! is about, so it can be overlooked.

After checking out The Hold Steady (eh...) and Atlas Sound I waited for No Age to take the small stage. I planned on checking them out for a half hour and then heading over to Animal Collective. Unfortunately, they went on 20 minutes late. So after two songs (in which I could hardly hear the vocals, performed by the drummer) I had to leave to catch Animal Collective.

AC was definitely the highlight of the festival for me. I've never seen a performance like the one they put on. They played for the first 25 minutes straight, said a quick hello, and went back at it. They didn't stop again until the end of the night. I can't explain what they sounded like; it was music from another planet. A lot of loops and noise and lights. I couldn't stop smiling because it was something I've never heard before. This was one of the best performances I've ever seen. Period. I will definitely be catching these guys the next time they come to town. The worst part of the show was the very end, when they had to stop playing at 9:56 because of a "curfew."