The Mae Shi: Three dudes with spastic middle school energy. Apparently they’re forming a different band after today’s set? I’m not too clear on that.

Totally great moments of this early afternoon gig. They threw a giant tarp in the audience that we covered ourselves with, and the vocalist walked right through the audience singing one of their jams.

The Mae Shi brought some of their friends out, rap duo Yea Kid and Big Static to help them finish their set. The band’s singer came into the crowd yet again for the finale, and plopped down right in front of me. I took some video I’ll upload later.

Overall, it was bit silly, but a fun way to kick off the afternoon.

Frightened Rabbit: Definately the favorite for those who aren’t here to see the Flaming Lips. I was a bit far from my vantage point, but their mix sounded poor. I admire the band’s earnestness, but again, I think it would be best to see them in a small space. Heartbreak is personal. Not for thousands in a field.

The Thermals: I’ve wanted to see them quite a while, so I got a good position center-left about 40 feet back. The highlights of the set were the band’s four covers from the 90′s: opening Sonic Youth’s “100%”, Nirvana’s wonderful b-side “Sappy (Verse Chorus Verse)”, The Breeders “Saints” and hilariously (but totally straight faced) “Basket Case” by Green Day. Also, there were kickass cuts from their last two records, including “A Pillar of Salt” and ending their set with the ‘woah-ay-oh’s’ of “Now We Can See”.

Grizzly Bear: I didn’t see much else on Sunday before I got in position for these guys. One thing is for certain: they’ve grown immensely as a group since I last saw them two years ago. Their material is so delicate and complex it sounds almost impossible to replicate live. Not true. “Knife” sounds just as hollow and haunted as it does on wax, “Southern Point” retains that strange bounce, and those four-part harmonies? Astounding.

The Flaming Lips: Don’t get me wrong, I love the Lips, but if you’ve seen it once, you’ve seen it enough. I didn’t stick around too long, but it’s nice to see that they were trying out some material from their new record due this fall. I still geeked for the confetti explosions and balloons. It’s always a spectacle. Wayne’s ball and the customary “Race For The Prize” was fun too. I had my front row Lips experience already, and I don’t think I was ready for one today, though.

Final Thoughts:

Pitchfork 2009 was probably the most pleasurable, drama-free festival I’ve been to. Musically, most acts were exciting, the crowds were relatively friendly and the food and drinks were cheap. The kiosks and booths were relevant too. Great time this year. I’ll be back tomorrow with a supplemental portion with videos.

I’m looking forward to next year already.

Photos:

PLUG THIS: It was getting scary there for a bit. After doing some site upgrades in the past couple of days, we hit a snag with one of the plugins and it was making the site load all weird. What we found is that the Last.fm plugin was causing all the issues, so for the time being, it’s gone. I know, you’re really sad that you can’t find out what Prince song I’m listening to. Womp womp.

LATENIGHTOLOGY: So, last night, my obsession with late night TV (specifically the NBC variety) reached it’s fever pitch. The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien finally made it’s debut. It was fantastic. The new set looks gorgeous too. It feels a lot classier than Leno’s waiting room on steroids. With Leno gone for three months, this means we have three uninterrupted months of Conan and Jimmy. I’ve been noticing the Jimmy backlash is growing, but I’m not going to defect. It will find it’s footing eventually. My lovely ladyfriend and I got tickets for Jimmy on June 10 in New York City, but we have a conflict that day – a conflict in the form of a Hold Steady show. We still haven’t completely decided what to do. Stay tuned, folks.

SWEAT AND WET CONFETTI (LITERALLY): Speaking of The Hold Steady, over at Pitchfork.tv, they’ve got a seven-song live set from last year’s Pitchfork Music Festival. Myself and friends (and future girlfriend) are featured in several clips. See?

and

MAGIK MAN: Big ups to the Orlando Magic for making it to their first NBA Finals since 1995. Kim keeps making Shaq references even though he hasnt played for them in well over a decade. The reason I want them to beat the Lakers? Well, there’s two, really.

1. I don’t like the Lakers.
2. Patrick Ewing will finally get a ring.

GRIZZLY SCARED: I’ve been spinning Veckatimest, the new Grizzly Bear album. Still on the fence about it, save for the fantastic “While You Wait For The Others” and “Two Weeks”. I’m COMPLETELY terrified of the “Two Weeks” video. Find out for yourself why.

OH, BILLY: For almost a week now, I’ve been trying to get through this New York Times Magazine piece called The Mellowing of William Jefferson Clinton. It’s a long one, but a really great read so far.