Willis Earl Beal won Day One. Also… Feist was pissed at the photographers and sang about it. Purity Ring must be the biggest band in the world that I know so little about. The kids were going crazy for those two. I dug their Chinese lanterns. Outer Minds played like hungry fiends. Lower Dens sounded like they were playing one song over and over. I can’t bring myself to care about Olivia Tremor Control. The [...]
Willis Earl Beal is a revelation. Growling and grinding, he’s all blue jeans and cowboy boots, and everything your grandma feared in rock n roll way back in the day. Also telling is that he started and ended his set a capella. This guy’s power is in his voice. Stomping the floor, dropping to his knees, accompanied mostly by a reel to reel, Beal unleashed a voice that was forceful and mesmerizing.
It’s been a whirlwind day getting into Chicago, getting my gear together, and getting ready for my favorite fest of the year. But Intelligentsia has me twitching, so I’m ready to rock. Here are five acts I’m really excited about today. Willis Earl Beal He’s a total mystery to me. I can’t wait to find out what he’s all about. A$AP Rocky Super strong buzz about him. New hip-hop acts always take the stage with [...]
Tyler the Creator Robert Pollard waltzed out, sporting a well-worn Ohio t-shirt, and asked the crowd, “Are you guys ready for some quality, professional rock ‘n’ roll?” The festival stages at Pitchfork increasingly seem designed to separate the professionals from the up-n-comers and ever more so from those not yet ready for prime-time. The sure-fire professionals: Guided by Voices, Neko Case, Superchunk, No Age, James Blake, Off!, Yuck, Kylesa, Deerhunter. That list represents the groups [...]
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