What better way to spend the hottest heat wave in years than standing outside in a field with thousands of other people for 9 hours!!! 🙂 Luckily, the acts at Pitchfork this year were worth it. I managed to shoot the festival all weekend and grab some stellar shots. In case you missed this years music explosion here are some highlights.
HITS:
– Tyler from Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, deemed it appropriate to perform multiple stage dives WHILE wearing a knee high pink and blue hard cast from a broken leg incident! It got the crowd going wild and then members of the group couldn’t stop flying into the crowd. This energetic and passionate hip hop collective from LA knows how to put on a show admist the afternoon heat.
– Twin Sister‘s hair. Green and floor length. If you didn’t like the show, you would have surely been entertained by her swaying locks and bare feet hopping around the stage like a little fairy nymph.
– LA noise band HEALTH gave a fantastic performance, proving that they really are one of the hardest bands out there. Guitarist, Jake whipped his long brown hair back and forth in a somewhat alluring and mezmorizing manner while the ferocious beats rocked on.
– Cut Copy didn’t disappoint, as they had the whole main stage jumping and pumping their fists. Once “Lights and Music” came on the entire field seemed to move together in harmony. Check these guys out live for sure if you get a chance.
– Tuneyards was surely a “do not miss” show on my list. After seeing her at Lincoln Hall this year, I knew she would put on a memorable show at Pitchfork. The sounds, beats, echoes that came from her voice seemed like they could only come from an instrument! It still amazes me. The crowds energy fueled the atmosphere and everyone was on their feet dancing.
– And lastly we can’t mention the “hits of Pitchfork 2011” without mentioning the amazing Pitchfork staff. I was surprised at how awesome the festival management was with making sure that everyone had water on these three grueling heat-soaked days. By the second day, the festival heads were handing out free water from the front photo pit and back as well as offering bins of ice cold water near each soundstage. While the crowd danced, moshed and screamed, festival management was right there throwing water to cool the relentless heat and handing out bottled water by the handfulls. Even sweat-soaked crowd surfers were greeted by a bottle of water as they limped off from the photo pit. Bravo management, bravo….
MISSES:
– Animal Collective. Now I’m a fan of the band but their performance left me wanting for some reason. It could have been the fact that I was in the back, but I was more interested in the neon-colored set design than the actual music.
– High waisted shorts. There were too many to count. I’m sure American Apparel sold out.
– Since when was Pitchfork an open call for teenagers under the age of 16?? I saw so many young kids clad in Kanye West sunglasses and short skirts. Save it for Lolla peeps…
– The heat.