Tag Archives: chicago

Pitchfork Music Festival 2010 (& More) | Saturday

A post by - rccola3

SATURDAY | July 18 | DAY 2

After a good night’s sleep, we were back on the train for a pre-festival lunch with old friends at my girlfriend’s favorite eatery in Chicago: The Silver Cloud.  While their dinner is, in my opinion, their best menu (chicken pot pie, bone-in pork chops, Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings any day of the year), they boast the best damn sloppy Joe anywhere (don’t take my word for it; ask Zagat).  Again, this is a couple blocks off the Damen Blue Line (you see a pattern developing…?).  For the money, Silver Cloud has some of the best eats you can find in Chicago (and killer drinks, like my girl’s favorite: the pomegranate mimosa).

After lunch, we took a cab down to Union Park (about $10 for three people, not bad), arriving just in time to catch one of my all-time rock bands: the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion.  And they kicked royal ass — Spencer in black long sleeves and leather pants, like a “fuck you” to the blazing sun, and screaming “Blues Explosion!” at every opportunity.

Jon Spencer throwing off heat from the Connector Stage on Day 2 of the Pitchfork Music Festival 2010

Jon Spencer throwing off heat from the Connector Stage on Day 2 of the Pitchfork Music Festival 2010

I’d never had the good fortune of seeing them live until now, and despite playing in the hot light of day, JSBX brought equal heat, ripping through classics like “Flavor”, “Bellbottoms”, “Soul Typecast”, and “Afro”.  After all these years, JSBX is still Theremin-licking good.

Right after JSBX was the band I was perhaps most amped to see, for a fourth time, and the band I think definitely should have been playing later in the evening at least (one of the few scheduling missteps): Wolf Parade.  The last time I was them was their two-night stand at the Metro in early August 2006, when they were still touring as a five-piece (Hadji Baraka has left the band and is now pursuing a doctoral degree at the University of Chicago, where some guy named Barack something or other taught for a time), and those were two of the best live shows I’ve ever been lucky enough to see.  This set, thankfully, was not far behind.  They opened with one song from each of their first three albums, and played a healthy slice of their new sterling effort, Expo 86 (two shining moments being “Ghost Pressure” and “Cave-o-sapien”, a song Spencer Krug said the band was “drunk on playing”).

Wolf Parade on the Aluminum Stage way too early, Day 2, Pitchfork Music Festival 2010

A wildly precise version of “I’ll Believe in Anything” stood hairs on end and brought the crowd to the highest intensity I had seen to that point in the festival.  By its end, I didn’t feel alone in my feeling that their set was way too short, and happened too early, considering the quality effort the Montreal band threw down in the face of a shrinking sun.

Next were the one-man art-rock trippy pulsations of Panda Bear, member of Animal Collective.  While there was clearly a lot of anticipation for his set, I have to say it seemed like an odd marshmallow to the chocolate and graham crackers that were Wolf Parade and LCD Soundsystem.  Alas, the trippy screens were trippy, the more hippy hipsters seemed sated, and when it was over, I think everyone left in the park was ready to dance their asses off to LCD Soundsystem.  Me?  I was still jonesing for more Wolf Parade.

And dance everyone did.  James Murphy played like it might be his last tour, as rumors have circulated that it will be.  Their sound was crisp, the band was drum-tight and Murphy got down on some shout-out happy dance rock (though, in the dance vocal category, Murphy was a definite Miss Congeniality compared to Sunday’s sex house-disco juggernaut that was Major Lazer).  An early surprise was the favorite “Pow Pow” and from there, LCD Soundsystem rode a steady rhythmic wave to the end of the evening.  Their live sound reminded me of Stop Making Sense-era Talking Heads, the sort of sweeping percussive vibe and movement, but minus the lyrical content and strangeness of David Byrne.

Being satisfied, we danced out a few songs early, as we wanted to beat the rush to the Ashland Green Line and head back to the hotel for a bit before going out for a fine Chicago night.

A blurry look at the madness outside the main gate on Ashland Ave. after Pitchfork. A long wait for the train...

Once we cleaned up, we got back on the Blue Line and made our way to the Wicker Pak | Bucktown neighborhood.  Our first order of business was food.  Now, if you’re not always a fan of Chicago-style deep dish, it may be hard for you to find good thin crust in the city.  The place you are looking for is Santullo’s. Best New York style pizza in Chicago.  Do not be discouraged if you go there late on a weekend and it’s packed; the price is right, and one slice is plenty.  It’s busy because it’s good.

To close down the night, we headed up Damen to Lemming’s, a deceptively plain but fine place to enjoy a tall drink.  We debated between there and Danny’s, well-known for having great music and a world-class reading series.  But Danny’s, while fat with atmosphere, is light on space, and after swimming through crowds at Pitchfork all afternoon, we opted for the cooler, more roomy Lemmings, to have a couple night caps with friends old and new.

We took our time walking back to the train.  One of the great small joys of living in Chicago is being able wander around anytime of the day or night and feel the activity.

Good advice | street art near an underpass between Lemming's and the Damen Blue Line

We enjoyed the late night breeze and movement on the street (we also saw some cool art along the way) before heading back up north to rest for what was the longest, and perhaps best, day of the Festival: Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!

Pitchfork Music Festival 2010 (& More) | Friday

Pitchfork Music Festival 2010 | You Can Go Back Home

Here’s the news: Chicago can be expensive.  It can also be not-so expensive and still above excellent, if you’re willing to get out of your hotel, look around and avoid the obvious spots.  It also helps if you’re not a total douchebag: if you’ve ever heard anyone rave about going to Pizza Rio Uno (it’s all about Lou Malnati’s) and, in the same breath, bitch about how much they hated the public transportation they had to take to get there, you know the kind of people I’m talking about.  Ignore everything they tell you about their “trip to the city.”

I lived in Chicago for several years, as an “itinerant poet” and musician.  I know my way around.  I don’t usually care for music festivals (I’ve never been to Lollapalooza, for example), but when Pavement was announced as the headliner the Pitchfork Music Festival, I knew a pilgrimage was in order.  Now, it’s been three years since I moved out of the city; three years since I last attended Pitchfork.  This time, my girlfriend (who I met in Chicago) and I stayed way out on the northwest side of the city, close to O’Hare, right off the CTA Blue Line.  And loved it.  Now, Pitchfork was not always our first priority, but we feel like we covered our bases pretty well.

So, in the spirit of giving, I offer this rundown of our weekend back home, complete with links to places you want to visit, food you want to eat, and set reviews for every act we caught at the Pitchfork Music Festival this past weekend…

FRIDAY

We found probably the only hotel in the O’Hare area with free Wi-Fi and free parking, and thanks to my diligence, we scored a bunch of other deals (like free CTA day passes) at the Holiday Inn off North Cumberland Ave., across the street from the CTA Blue Line (note: this is blocks away from where one John Wayne Gacy had his infamous residence; it’s been torn down and re-numbered, but it’s easy enough to find.  Also nearby is the Northwood Lounge, a bar where Gacy used to drink with a unique décor—and cheap drinks).

We headed straight into the city, lucky enough to find a seat on the train during rush hour, which is always great people watching, especially taking note of people who don’t have their train legs.  We got to Union Park, and just missed Wyatt Cenac performing on the Balance stage, the Festival’s last addition to the bill.  We got an earful of Robyn, rockin’ the Swede pop like it was a dusty Stockholm on the main Aluminum Stage.  But it wasn’t, and while she did her thing, we found sustenance.  And what we had to eat turned out to be, for us, one of the stars of the festival: chicken dumplings.  Or, as I wrote in my post-pot sticker stupor, “dumblings.”  Respect = Star of Siam.

Broken Social Scene on the Connector Stage at Pitchfork 2010

Then it was guitar time with Broken Social Scene.  Sweet, sweet Canadian rock—a theme to be re-visited the next day.  BSS broke out a solid mix of old & new, with cellist Alison Chesley (a.k.a. Helen Money) and violinist Susan Voelz, both of Chicago, sitting in.  Also sitting in was the mighty John McEntire, who produced their new Forgiveness Rock Record at his Soma Electronic Music Studios.  Definitely a quality set, highlighted by “Stars and Sons” and “Cause=Time” off 2002’s You Forgot It In People.

Then we had to hustle to catch Eugene Mirman back at the Balance Stage, which was well worth the effort.  Despite the fact that he felt like he was battling a “rock n’ roll spaceship” for much of his set, he killed.  From Jewish board games to “grammatically ambiguous protest signs”, he managed to cram a lot of funny into a short set under distracting circumstances.  Two of the best bits involved a “What I Like About You” cover/homage to Joe Piscopo, and the slogan, “Religion: it’s not a leap of faith, it’s high-functioning autism!”.  Mirman was well worth missing the end of BSS’s set.

Modest Mouse was the headliner Friday, and while I’ve seen them seven or eight times now since 1997, my girlfriend had never seen them.  It was probably the most polished I’ve heard them play, and I have to say I particularly loved the two-drummer line-up.  They opened with “Tiny Cities Made of Ashes” and “Here It Comes”, which I found to be a nice surprise.  While being more of a fan of their back catalog, I would have liked to see more of the old stuff (my personal favorite of this set was a gorgeous version of “Dramamine” into “Life Like Weeds”).  The encores, “Gravity Rides Everything” and “Black Cadillac”, were an excellent close to Friday.

After the festival, we headed up north to Logan Square, where I discovered two old friends of ours are now roommates, and live across the alley from one of my old band’s practice spaces, circa 2006.  O nostalgia!  Their place is also near one of my favorite bars in Chicago: small Bar.  While the kitchen was closed, this location is my favorite of the three for the atmosphere and the jukebox.  And it’s just a couple blocks off the Belmont Blue Line stop…

A post by - rccola3

AL Central Offseason Moves

Post originally by – Pigpen

A look at the moves made so far this offseason by AL Central clubs…

White Sox

  • Acquired/re-signed: Mark Teahen, Omar Vizquel, Andruw Jones, J.J. Putz, Freddy Garcia, Juan Pierre, Freddy Dolsi, Jacob Marceaux, Wander Perez, Ryan Braun, Miguel Negron, Dylan Axelrod, Freddie Bynum, T.J. Bohn, Greg Aquino, Erick Threets, Mark Kotsay, Alejandro De Aza
  • Lost: DeWayne Wise, Scott Podsednik, Josh Fields, Chris Getz, Jon Link, John Ely, Wilson Betemit, Jerry Owens, Octavio Dotel

Juan Pierre, Andruw Jones, and Mark Teahen are 3 of the 25 players on your roster?  As a Tigers fan, that is great news.

Replacing Scotty Pods with Pierre makes sense, if that’s what you’re going for, though Podsednik was actually quite good for the Sox last season.

I just don’t understand why the team would rather have Andruw Jones than Jim Thome at DH.

The rotation should be awesome, as their 1-4 (Peavey, Buehrle, Danks, Floyd) is better than anyone outside of the AL East.  Maybe Putz can be a reasonable facsimile of the recently departed Octavio Dotel, but I have my doubts.  Hopefully the White Sox actually gave Putz a physical, unlike the Mets.

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