Pitchfork Fest '19: Bands I Filmed
In one of the better successes of my film career so far, I've been selected to be a camera operator for the Pitchfork Music Festival's blue stage (the smallest stage). Here are the bands I've filmed so far: |
| 1 |  | Rico Nasty
Anger Management
Friday:
She put on a hell of a show. I had only jammed this once in preparation but the energy she brought to the stage was way beyond anything on the record. She was super showy and played to the camera super well which was a lot of fun. |
| 2 |  | Grapetooth
Grapetooth
Friday:
These guys were pretty good, they brought on a shit ton of friends and co-vocalists onto the stage which made navigating everything really crazy but pretty fun. I didn't love the music but it was enjoyable, I especially like the repetitive jammy stuff they would do that I don't think would fit well on this record (I haven't jammed it yet though so who knows). |
| 3 |  | Julia Holter
Aviary
Friday:
Man I wasn't the biggest fan of this record but she kicked so much ass. I really hurt my neck during this one because of the weight of the camera and I was her main close-up from the pit, but even through that, I thought her show was rad. All of the weirdness of the record worked way better on stage, and her live version of "Les Jeux to You" was fuckin bonkers and it rocked my socks off. |
| 4 |  | Soccer Mommy
Clean
Friday:
Okay I'm not gonna brag but I brought my A-game to this show and got some dope-ass shots for Soccer Mommy. She was one of those people that I think is just awesome enough that I got a bit of a star-struck thing goin' on, but still she kicked some major ass. Her show was really damn good (they ended on Scorpio Rising which made me so happy), and they played a new song which sounded awesome from what I could hear (I was right next to a bass amp) and was a lot more alt-y than her usual stuff with some awesome bass stuff. Oh and also I said words to her afterward and she acknowledged my existence which was amazing. |
| 5 |  | Low
Double Negative
Friday:
These guys were so rad. Again, we did some absolutely amazing stuff camera-wise with their light show, and I think that I almost had an epileptic attack at one point. Either way, their droning music felt insane that close, and complemented the shots we got so well. The show overall was just incredible. |
| 6 |  | Bitchin' Bajas
Bajas Fresh
Saturday:
These guys were pretty fun, they just sat at their keys for the entire show, except for one guy who also played the flute and sax. They played about three really drawn out songs which were really pretty and melodic electronic-based stuff, super chill vibey stuff. I dug it a lot. |
| 7 |  | Jay Som
Everybody Works
Saturday:
Pretty solid, straightforward indie rock band. The guitars were great and the vocalist had some serious talent, she made a hell of a front woman. Still the tunes themselves didn't stand out too much and overall they weren't super memorable, but I think they're really someone to watch like Nilufer Yanya last year. |
| 8 |  | Amber Mark
3:33am
Saturday:
This show got canceled due to rain, we evacuated and had to hide in some restaurant's storage space for an hour. Ended up being a nice break actually. |
| 9 |  | Freddie Gibbs
Baby Face Killa
Saturday:
Yeah this guy was a lot of fun, his music was crazy generic but the crowd just loved him and he played so well with them. He was fun to watch, not great to listen to but I got the appeal, especially in a live setting. He was bouncing all over and literally sang half of his closer leaning in the crowds arms. It was a hell of a sight. |
| 10 |  | Jeremih
Jeremih
Saturday:
This guy brought it. Again didn't love the music but he brought it crowd-wise. He was all over the place, he had a great band that you couldn't even see thanks to the lighting, some crazy background dancers, etc. He threw roses into the crowd, sprayed champagne everywhere (most of it got on my arm/camera), and just put on such a show. The light design rules too. |
| 11 |  | Tasha
Alone at Last
Sunday:
This was really nice, but didn't strike me as much as the rest of the day so it's a bit hard to remember. Her voice was wonderful and both her and the bassist were like crazy nice. I really enjoyed their laidback music and it was a super chill way to start the day. |
| 12 |  | Ibeyi
Ibeyi
Sunday:
Holy hellllll these guys were insane. They were like anthemic globalist hip-hop pop-rock. Idk, but everything they touched turned to gold. They were a pair of French-African twins with incredible vocals and ridiculous talent in percussion and keys, they rocked my world and the crowd was eating literally everything up, they had a massive crowd just hanging on their every word. These girls kicked ass and I hope their studio stuff captures their energy. |
| 13 |  | Amen Dunes
Freedom
Sunday:
These were a pretty straightforward indie rock band. Nothing super interesting but the guitars sounded super nice. I really enjoyed the instrumentals but I'm not sure the music lent itself super well to a live setting, I'll probably check his latest just because I know the genre is really up my alley. |
| 14 |  | Neneh Cherry
Broken Politics
Sunday:
Holy SHIT this ruled. There were so many musicians and instruments on the stage like two percussionists, two DJs, a guitarist/programmer, a harpist/keyboardist/bassist, and Nenah herself. There were some seriously bassy freakouts, and I can't say I've heard anything that sounded quite like this. Her show was so wonderfully eccentric and her vocals were amazing, might've been my favorite show next to Ibeyi and Soccer Mommy. The drummer was like 50 with a goatee and was rocking it, he was the coolest. |
| 15 |  | Snail Mail
Lush
Sunday:
Honestly she was lamer live than on her album. I enjoyed the album q bit (not nearly much as her sadgirl contemporaries), but the songs were even less able to tell apart live. She sounded super unenthused the whole time with the whole "I don't really care about anything" vibe that her and her guitarist were rocking (the drummer was the only one who looked like he was having fun). Clairo came on for the last song and sounded the exact same and ended everything on a lame note. Ultimately a sucky anti-climactic ending to the fest, esp after the last few ruled. Soccer Mommy came back to watch her show and they were fucking around backstage a lot, apparently they're good friends. |
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