Seeing as it’s June and the weather is getting hot, now is as good of time as any to present our woefully incomplete yet highly selective summer fun guide. I’m still pretty sore that I missed the amazing lineup at Terrastock last year, held here in Louisville (I was living in Chicago at the time), and unfortunately, they’re not doing it this year. However, there are a number of cool festivals in and around the area to take part in. In no particular order, here are a few that should particularly appeal to readers of this blog: 

Flyover Film Festival – 6.12 through 6.14 – Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts – Louisville, KY

This is the first annual Flyover Film Festival, and it looks to be a cool thing. It’s time the city began celebrating its filmmakers, and that’s exact what Flyover aims to do. All films shown are connected to the city, either by current or former residents. I’m not a huge film buff myself, so I don’t recognize many of the titles, but the synopses on the festival’s website look like Flyover is going to showcase some powerful, challenging movies. (Website)

Lebowski Fest 8 – 7.10 and 7.11 – Executive Lanes – Louisville, KY

This year marks Lebowski Fest’s Speed of Sound Tour, with the festivities making rounds through 15 cities. As many of you may know, Lebowski Fest originated in Louisville, and this is the eighth year (mark it 8, dude!) running. As an aside, the Lebowski Festival founders have a cool store to visit when you’re in town called WHY Louisville (see the Local Action links), with the absolute coolest, non-corny city souvenirs you can find. (Website)

Forecastle Festival – 7.10 through 7.12 - Riverfront Belvedere – Louisville, KY

Louisville’s Forecastle Festival is an affordable, activism-conscience, well assembled summer music festival, held on the Belvedere to give patrons a beautiful view of the Ohio River and Louisville skyline whilst enjoying a huge slew of artists. Unfortunately for me, I’m not super pumped about this year’s line-up, but Forecastle has delivered excellent artists in the past couple of years, including Tortoise, GZA, Band of Horses, Cheer Accident, Dr. Dog, Deltron, and more. If you do like the artists on this year’s bill, I can say that Forecastle is worth every penny. (Website)

Pitchfork Music Festival – 7.17 through 7.19 – Union Park - Chicago, IL

As easy as it is to make fun of Pitchfork and its hype machine, it’s really worth noting that they put on a hell of a music festival. I’ve been multiple times, and I’m always impressed by the little things – variety of meals under $5, bottled water for a dollar, lots of 312 and Goose Island on tap, clean facilities, two alternating big stages and a side stage so you never miss any of the action, the huge record and craft fair – it’s the perfect size and the perfect price. If you’re ballin’ on a budget this summer and want to attend at least one festival, Pitchfork is your best bet. Here’s some of my coverage from last year’s festival here and here. (Website)

Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival – 6.11 through 6.14 – Big Fuckin’ Farm  – Manchester, TN

Yaaaaawn. I’ve never been to Bonnaroo. I have no interest in going. Camping in humid-ass Tennessee – in the middle of June, around hundreds of thousands of people on peyote stoked to see MIA? No thanks. Besides, most of the artists I would want to see, I could enjoy for waaaaay less than $200 plus service charge. I’d probably go if I had free tickets, which will happen when The Decibel Tolls blows up. Actually, the main reason I’m mentioning Bonnaroo is because Louisville native Ben Sollee will be playing this year and is planning a bike tour on his way there. Yep, he’s biking from Louisville to Manchester, and playing small cities on the way. While I’m not paricularly a fan of his music, his musicianship and creativity with his weapon of choice, the cello, is bountifully impressive. This, coupled with his innovative bike tour idea; I had give Ben a shout. You can follow him here. (Website)

Lollapalooza – 8.7 through 8.9 – Grant Park – Chicago, IL

Lollapalooza has a better lineup than Bonnaroo, in my opinion, this year. So if you’re going to drop two Bens on a festival, I’d say go to Lolla. Besides, Chicago can handle a larger amount of traffic than Manchester, so you can avoid of hours upon hours in traffic. As a former Chicagoan, heed this advice – find a safe place to park and ride the CTA everywhere. Parking is a bitch, and the Department of Revenue (they, not the police, issue parking citations) are fucking fascists. Otherwise, you should have a great time. Email or Twitter me for recommendations on places to eat or hang out for cheap. (Website)

WFPK 91.9 Presents Waterfront Wednesday – Last Wednesday, April through September – Waterfront Park – Louisville, KY

I can majorly vouch for Waterfront Wednesdays, and not just because it’s free. Held in picturesque Waterfront Park on the Great Harbor Lawn the last Wednesday of every month, Waterfront Wednesday boasts big artists, good sound, a great atmosphere, and lot of cool vendors. I mean, shit, there’s this vendor there called Island Way (or something to that effect) that sells sorbet in the actual fruits they’re flavored after. For example, you can get a Pina Colada sorbet in a hallowed-out pineapple. Totally rules. Photo above by Lana. (Website)

Midpoint Music Festival – 9.24 through 9.26 – Various Venues – Cincinnati, OH

To end the summer, why not take the hour trip up I-71 to czech out Cincinnati’s patron-friendly festival Midpoint. The lineup details are still being revealed, but last year boasted the likes of Robert Pollard, Why?, Sonic Boom, and more. Plus, Scion provides car shuttles to get everyone between venues. Pretty rad. (Webiste)

::: And, of course, various shows I may be attending in the area – also in no particular order…

Bill Callahan – Mercy Lounge – Nashville, TN – 6.9

Bill Callahan, a.k.a. Smog, a.k.a. William Callahan has a smokin’ new jam hive out that will no doubt be awesome live.

Black Moth Super Rainbow – Newport, KY – 6.21

I’ve already talked about Black Moth Super Rainbow way too much on this site. You can ascertain what you expect here. Cincinnati’s Mallory is quite good, too.

Sunn O))) – Southgate House – Newport, KY – 7.12

Smoke machines, dudes in robes, and your demise. Nothing says summer fun like doom drone.

The Jesus Lizard – Exit/In – Nashville, TN – 7.14

David Yow still gots it.

Deerhunter with No Age and Dan Deacon – Southgate House – Newport KY – 8.4

Deerhunter, No Age, and Dan Deacon are doing what’s known as an “in the round” tour. In other words, all the performers collaborate, instead of traditional headliner/support live shows. They’re only doing a handful of dates, so you should be extremely excited that they’re playing Newport at the nation’s most awesome venue, The Southgate House. I’m cool with No Age and Dan Deacon, but I will go anywhere, at any time, for Deerhunter. I can’t wait! Tickets are not yet on sale, but they will go fast, so check the Twitter for more information. I will try to have some tickets to give away on this blog, as well.

Phantom Family Halo, The Black Hollies, and Trophy Wives – Cahoot’s – Louisville, KY – 6.20

One of Louisville’s best. Highly recommended.

Bonnie Prince Billy with Bachelorette – Red Mile – Lexington, KY – 6.13

To be honest I’m actually more excited about Bachelorette than ol’ Willy O. You probably gleaned that from my recent album review.

The Dirty Projectors – Wexner Center – Columbus, OH – 6.21

Man, I saw these guys with maybe 20 other people at an old venue in Lexington called The Ice House. They grow up so fast.

Sword Haven, Psychedelic Horseshit, and Wet Hair – Skylab – Columbus, OH – 6.28

You can’t find a better lineup with better band names.

Bert Jansch and Alasdair Roberts – The Dame – Lexington, KY – 8.12

Saw Roberts open for The Incredible String Band. Dude rips.

Find the most up-to-date and complete concert listings for the area courtesy of Backseat Sandbar.

After two months of flawless weather in Chicago, the climate waited until the most excellent of weekends to unleash her fury, with downpours on Saturday and oppressive, Biblical heat on Sunday. Despite that, Pitchfork Music Festival, by and large, ruled. Though we were all very privileged to see some excellent performances (sans Vampire Weekend… the Decibel Tolls is the only blog with an official “VW sucks it” philosophy), this whole festival belongs to one man, in my opinion.

And that’s Mr. Jason Spaceman…

Remember when I said Boris would be the loudest band at PMF? Wrong! Spiritualized was loud enough to decimate the festival’s PA system in the middle of “Take Me to the Other Side.” Mr. Pierce was so distraught over the whole predicament that, well, he took it upon himself to knock over their mic stands with his guitar and send his vintage (I think it was a) Telecaster through his amp head. It’s good to see psych dudes go delightfully apeshit every now and again. He wasn’t too upset about the whole thing, as he came back on stage to wave bye to the crowd and take a humble bow.

I was hoping that Spiritualized would roll through with an extra ensemble or two, and they delivered. The crowd roared when the Spritiualized gospel singers took the stage for some very intense, wall of sound plus gospel renditions of “Come Together,” “Soul on Fire,” and more. Pierce even brought out the big guns and dusted off “Shine a Light” from 1991’s Laser Guided Melodies (my favorite Spiritualized album)! This is the closest I’ll ever get to taking drugs inside a church.

Animal Collective brought a whole slew of new material during Saturday night’s performance. Actually, they premiered one song in the middle of a 20-minute rendition of “Fireworks” come to think of it. AC also brought out one of their newest fan favorites, known as “House” and “Simple Things,” depending on what you read. Avey Tare sported an awesome bucket hat. Unfortunately, none of my photos turned out that well, so I won’t post them. I had amazing photos of their performance last May at The Dame in Lexington, but unfortunately, my camera went AWOL shortly after. Moral of the story, unload your shit early and often.

Caribou was the other sick performance that stood out from the weekend. The rain hit right when Caribou started at 2:15, but the music was too sunshine-saturated to make you take notice. As I discussed in the Pitchfork preview, Caribou is an exercise in percussive fortitude. Dan Snaith performs with a full band, and bangs the shit out of the drums for each song’s climax.

The highlight for me was hearing an old favorite, “Skunks” off of 2003’s Up in Flames. Just like the recorded version, Snaith and Company laid the booty bass on thick. Though the Left Banke never received their due credit in the ’60s, their body of work is alive and well in Caribou. One interesting side note – Caribou seems to get 86 love in Chicago. At their Metro show back in November, they were opening for Battles (though they were great, Caribou was better). Otherwise, for their headlining shows, they’re generally plunged back into smaller clubs like the Empty Bottle. Their Saturday afternoon super-stoked psych-pop explosion blew the crowd away. You heard it from everyone in attendance, so methinks their Pitchfork appearance will reverse that current, and Snaith will receive his due props in the Windy City (though I do enjoy seeing Caribou in smaller rooms, he deserves a wide audience). Though the music was still sweeping and gorgeous as well, it’s the two drummer assault that takes emphasis live.

Also during Caribou’s set, hometown drank heroes 312 Ale / Goose Island flung about a bazillion beach balls into the crowd.

Though not related to the focus of this blog, my girlfriend (much to her delight) and I got to see our lil’ friend Jarvis, too.

Straight from my view from the cheap seats, here’s the Decibel Tolls’ preview for some choice artists I’m anticipating seeing at this year’s festival. My prophecies for these shows have been gleaned from my experience with a couple of these artists in the past, general intuition, and my magic 8-ball. First, it should be noted that the clouds are currently graying here in Chicago, and it looks like the first day of rain we’ve had in, oh I dunno, two weeks or so will conveniently happen during the festival. Just our luck, right? Should be a delightfully apocalyptic time!

It’s somewhat unfortunate that Caribou was slotted for a 2 p.m. show. As with any psych group worth their salt, Caribou offers very enthralling visual aspects including background images that look like they were taken out of a Julian House book. No matter, Caribou has the chops to engage with or without seizure-inducing lights. They hang tough with two drummers, including Dan Snaith himself. When I saw Caribou with Battles at the Metro in November, it was an exercise in percussive fortitude. Since he’s not promoting a particular album at this point, it’s a safe bet that Caribou will dig deep throughout his catalog, which is generally the preferred position for me. Caribou is absolutely not to be missed. [Saturday : 2 p.m. : Connector Stage]

I had the privilege of being involved with two different Animal Collective shows, and if I was smart, would’ve started this blog back then. When you help run a concert through either a venue or your college radio station, it’s easier to score interviews and sound bites. But enough about my stupidity… The first show was in the last wake after Sung Tongs in the spring of ‘05, right at the time the group was moving away from more acoustic material. Jane (Panda Bear and friend Scott Mou) was getting ready to drop the excellent but zoned out Berserker, and you certainly heard a lot of that. It was very droney, and the crowd seemed somewhat polarized by the lack of Sung Tongs songs played. It was great nonetheless, but would’ve been better to see in a theater instead of a standing room recital hall. Animal Collective understands this to an extent, so I would be surprised if the outdoor Union Park setting didn’t encourage the more pop-oriented side of their repertoire (with a little Here Comes the Indian thrown in for good measure and to draw a line in the sand). The second time was at The Dame in Lexington in May of ‘07. AC toured sans Deakon, and considering the electronic structures on what was to be Strawberry Jam, it didn’t much matter. The performance was unrelenting. They played non-stop, with all three members in queue facing the side of the stage instead of the front, and swaying in unison like a cult. It was a sinister, but dare I say, upbeat and almost danceable performance. Every song morphed into the next, and most songs were unrecognizable until Avey Tare throated out the first lyrical yelp. Every Animal Collective show is different, and that’s part of what makes them one of the most exciting, relevant groups of today. Panda Bear is a super rad dude, by the wayz. [Saturday : 9 p.m. : Aluminum Stage]

Boris has a wealth of source material to choose from, with their prolific output of releases and collaborations. Though some of their best stuff to date has come from their work with Michio Kurihara of Ghost and Sunn O))), Boris, either out of respect or functionality, will probably not perform these songs. And I certainly would be surprised if we heard anything from their Merzbow split Rock Dream. No matter what the show shapes up to be, Boris will be the loudest band, and most immovable object, at Pitchfork. I’m not a bettin’ man, but I would put money on that (unless Spiritualized shows up with, like, 30 goddamn dudes). If “Blackout” from Pink starts rumbling from the PA at 10,000 watts of evil, all bets are off. Shut down the park, call the police. [Sunday : 2 p.m. : Connector Stage]

This might be wishful thinking, but I want, as mentioned, Spiritualized [Sunday : 7 p.m. : Aluminum Stage] to show up with 30 goddamn dudes. Like this:

If you didn’t get tickets yet, well, they’re gone except for tonight’s performances. But, you can catch some streaming live intarweb action at the festival’s website.
Pitchfork Music Festival 2008