| Festival of the Fork |
[Aug. 14th, 2005|05:44 am] |
I've put this off for too long...the week after Intonation Fest,
the 'fork put up a comprehensive summary of the proceedings.
Kind of propaganda-ish (especially considering the pithy, irreverent tone
pitchfork is known for), but there are some cool pictures and
behind-the-scenes anecdotes.
My journey began, as most of my journeys do, at Sam's Club. Apparently
Westland is packed to the brim with Wolverine backers (no Spartan fans
here!), as the only collapsible chairs available were plastered with the
U of M insignia. I should've snuck some Ohio State gear in and played
the Buckeye bunny, scattering TOSU merchandise throughout the warehouse.
Next came the drive there.
5 hours through rural Michigan and Indiana is self-explanatory.
After arriving at FuR's place and talking for a bit, I slept the sleep
of the exhausted and the next afternoon got on the El to Union Park. The
fest wasn't particularly overcrowded, but finding a place in the shade
was a bit of a trick. Once I found a suitably shadowy space for my seat,
I settled in and started gawking at the leftist hippies who surrounded
me. They certainly seemed like nice people, but the on-stage leftist
hippie rhetoric between sets pissed me off. Go down the checklist, let's
see...there's the anti-Bush shit (subtly euphemized by the phrase "our
current government"). Perhaps my memory deceives me, but wasn't there an
election last year? Didn't the pisspot liberals lose specifically
because they: a) refused to stop bitching about the ways things are, and
b) refused to offer any sort of coherent plan to make life in America
better? My favorite rhetoric of the day, though, was the anti-capitalist
screeds about corporate malfeasance (the festival was co-sponsored by
that shining light of benevolent monopolism, Micro$oft).
Anyway, on to the music: the first act I was interested in seeing was AC
Newman. I don't have his solo CD, but I enjoyed both New Pornographers
albums, and "The Town Halo" sounds similar to their work. Despite these
pleasant associations, however, his set was surprisingly underwhelming.
I heard none of the sublimely over-the-top harmony-laden pop that makes
the NPs so enjoyable.
The next set I tuned into was Four Tet. He started off by blasting the
audience with white noise, and then methodically turned the static into
slammin' grooves. The entire set it seemed as if Kevin Drumm was
fighting for possession of his body. Fortunately Mr. Tet overcame the
marauding spirit and pulled each song back from the brink of glitchy
electronic chaos. Four Tet's set was pretty darn good.
After Four Tet came Canada's latest collective, Broken Social Scene. Now,
I thought You Forgot it in People was way overrated, but their live
set has made me rethink that, as their show was every bit as enjoyable as
AC Newman should have been. Nothing too fancy, just good old-fashioned
meandering indie pop. As to the album, it's much better when I skip "Looks
just like the Sun". Oh, and at the end of the set, the lead singer offered
some sage advice: "Don't kill your friends. They're too important."
Next came the Go Team. I spent their set setting up in a good spot across
the field for Prefuse 73's concert (the fest featured two stages next to each
other, and the concerts alternated stages throughout the day, which sped things
up considerably.) Anyway, the Go Team's set was energetic and fun, in a
"waiting-for-Prefuse" kinda way. In case you haven't gathered by now, I was
"looking forward" to Prefuse like a desert nomad "looks forward" to water.
And thus did Atlanta native Scott Herron man the wheels of steel. Well,
not really. He started off on drums (his backing band featured a DJ,
bassist, keyboardist, and another drummer) and spent the evening as either
a second DJ or second drummer. And it was good. Sweet everlovin' Jehovah was
it good. For y'all who don't know Prefuse's M.O., they basically chop up
hip-hop tracks, then force all the pieces back together like a fucked-up
jigsaw puzzle. With some electronic squeals and snarls worked in, too. At
times he sounded like a more ADD version of DJ Shadow (with a focus on sounds
from '95-present), other times he sounds like rap's answer to Richard D. James.
And unlike a lot of other electronic music (Squarepusher, for example), Herron
knows how to kick out the jams live. So I liked it.
Death From Above 1979, who came after Mr. Herron, wasn't bad, but they were most
definitely a victim of timing. New England noise-rock would have been more
welcome earlier in the day before the heat and the sets sucked my energy reserves
dry, but after the energy of the aforementioned bands, DFA 1979's abrasive
sound left me feeling pulverized.
Tortoise, the final set of the evening, were pretty darn good jazzy instrumental
space-rock. I was digging the screen-saver-like projections on display behind the
band as well as the odd-sounding progressive jams enamating from the stage, but I
was also too tired to stand, so I left halfway through to beat the crowds to the
train.
After realizing how tired I had been Saturday evening, I came to the decision
the following morning that I did not, in fact, wish to meet my end in a flaming
carwreck on the side of I-94. And so I bid adieu to my intrepid hostess, picked
up some Chicago-style pizza for the fridge, and started the journey home. Of
course, I managed to get sucked in (again) to the vortex that is a Chicagoland
traffic jam. I persevered, however, and arrived home tired but happy. I still
regret not seeing The Wrens and Les Savy Fav, but I guess I've gotta leave
a few bands to see if Intonation 2 ever rolls around. :-)
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