My first trip to Chicago was, at the very least, busy. After spending about 24 of the 60 total hours in the city I can honestly say I was exhausted enough to fall asleep between two large seatmates on the flight home. After seeing Art Brut at the Empty Bottle on Friday we were off to visit the Pitchfork folks at Union Park. Day one went off without too many scrapes. There were many great bands playing on the first day and we didn’t want to miss any of them, so it was very draining. You can read about both of these events by the posts directly below, but we will look into day two.

First off I would like to congratulate Pitchfork in planning this event. I was very impressed with a few things that they had to offer. The first being the prices. Not only was the ticket to the two-day festival very economical, but also the entire festival saw prices that were very reasonable. The staff of Pitchfork invited an array of food stands that all saw prices that were only slightly inflated from the outside world. They also had a huge assortment of local businesses selling novelty items around that were also realistic. I did not feel like I was getting ripped off at any point during the festival, which is surprising at these events, since you are forbidden from leaving.

The second day started off on shollen and I walking around to find water to bring into the show, which probably was cheaper at $1 per 20 ounce bottle inside. We walked into Tapes ‘n Tapes slightly late, but did not miss much. I am a pretty big fan of Tapes ‘n Tapes and enjoyed their show, but I have to say that it wasn’t incredible. They had pretty good chemistry on stage, but haven’t found their showmanship quite yet. I would like to catch them at a smaller club and see how they differ from the large crowd.

Danielson were all cute in their little police outfits. The slimmed down version of their album version of the songs didn’t sound all that different. Daniel Smiths’ voice was perfect for the outdoor event, carrying his lyrics throughout the entire venue. Overall their show was good, but not great.

Jens Lekman was one man I did not expect to light up the stage. On his album he often sounds disinterested in the lyrics and certainly not energetic. I didn’t know what to expect of his band when they first walked on stage. I am pretty sure he recruited not on musical talent, but on a mixture of talent and looks. Every band member was at least attractive, if not gorgeous. I think this helped the lead man win over some of the fans. I was also expecting Jens to be slightly pompous, but it was quite the opposite. He seemed surprised and genuinely touched by the fan support. One of my favorite parts of his set was a song I had never heard. It was about a pen pal he went to visit only to find out that she told her parents they were engaged, even though she was homosexual. He was very engaging through the song, breaking up lyrics to explain what was going on. If this didn’t actually happen to him, then he is quite the storyteller. Surprisingly I thought that Jens had the show of the day.

I will skip ahead a bit and just say that the National was spent getting lunch, Liars were insane and Aesop Rock was Atmosphere. We left during Mission of Burma to get dinner at a place downtown since no one was really feeling up for the rest of the show. Luckily we had press passes so that a couple people could get back in if they wanted.

After dinner downtown afischer and I made it back for Spoon. Both of us had press passes at this point and were front row because of it. The first three songs were spent in the front row and it was a pretty good perspective, but also a bit odd since no one seemed that into the music. We were ushered off the stage after the songs and for some reason were sent backstage. This was also an odd place to watch a concert. It still sounded fine, but there was a lot of space and members of other groups watching. The bassist from The Mountain Goats was completely into the music. It was a different concert experience, but I think it may even be more fun with the fans, mostly because they are all into the music.

The last show of the evening was Os Mutantes. It was their first show in something like 30 years, but they definitely still had it. The band loved being on stage and was cracking jokes in Portuguese that no one understood, except the press and fans from Brazil who came to watch the legends. I was a little disappointed in their song selection, and also a bit tired from the events, so we left this show a bit early.

All in all I will say that Pitchfork must really care for the fans to put on a show like this. For such small bands and a pretty small venue for a music festival they really put in a lot of work. I don’t think I can handle another music festival for a long while, partly because they are exhausting, but mostly because I don’t know if I will be satisfied with the production and price of another festival.