Pitchfork Music Festival with A Hawk and a Hacksaw, Elf Power, The Hold Steady and Jarvis Cocker; July 19, 2008; Union Park, Chicago

I’ve never been able to stomach Pitchfork’s role as a hipper-than-thou tastemaker, but they still know how to throw a heck of a music festival. Where other three days fest like Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits overwhelm you with stages and bands, Pitchfork prefers to keep it small. Just three stages host a line-up to make an indie music geek wet himself, all within easy walking distance of each other. In fact, if you didn’t feel the need to be especially close, you could spread your blanket between the two main stages and stay there all day, only moving to fetch food or beer (both surprisingly reasonable in price). Of late, I’ve been avoiding festivals, giving away my ticket to Lollapalooza and just flat skipping Pitchfork last year. But this year had something I just couldn’t pass up, Jarvis Cocker.

Long part of a list of UK bands that were huge at home but never made it in the States, Pulp enjoyed a tiny bit of popularity with the song “Common People.” A tale of a rich girl slumming it with the narrator begging him to show her what it is like to live like a commoner, it is instantly addictive and a near perfect pop song (yet somehow William Shatner managed to better it with his over the top version). Several albums later Pulp quietly disbanded, leaving their larger than life lead singer to pursue a solo career. Jarvis was released in 2005, yet for some reason I haven’t bought it yet. Despite not knowing any of the songs in his too-short set (it was perhaps foolish to expect a Pulp song), I still enjoyed every perfectly Jarvis moment. That oh-so-distinctive sigh punctuated many a song, and his lanky frame was in constant motion. I’m usually not a fan of the singer who doesn’t play, but in this case I couldn’t have asked any more from him. Now maybe I will finally go get that record.

Jarvis wasn’t the only appealing name on the bill, the Hold Steady also made a pretty good case for buying the one day ticket. Returning to the festival where I had first made their acquaintance three years ago, the band found themselves playing later in the day to a much bigger crowd. The recently released Stay Positive is more of what the band does best- giant choruses over E Street rock riffs. Lead singer Craig Finn still only half-heartedly strums the guitar and only half-attempts to sing, but there’s a reason for that. You don’t really need to do much when you have Tad Kubler beside you turning out sweet riffs and massive hooks. And in respect to the latter observation, Finn would only be able to spit out half as many words per note if he actually sang. His wordy, rambling diatribes are actually a large part of the Hold Steady’s charm, the interwoven characters travel from song to song and record to record. I’d been spoiled in the past by being close during their shows, within range of Finn’s spit as he repeats lines and again and again off mike, and being further back seemed to take something away from the show.

Earlier in the day I’d wandered from band to band unable to get very interested in any of them. Jay Reatard had been talked up as the act to see, but after he screamed at me for three songs of nonsense, I decided to bail. Over to Hawk and a Hacksaw had played the Terrace the night before, and their claim to fame is that their leader Jeremy Barnes was the drummer for Neutral Milk Hotel. While I find their percussive, gypsy influenced music interesting, I found myself wishing again that they had more songs with words. In fact, nothing really even moved me until we saw Elf Power. Part of the Elephant 6 collective, they made catchy pop which had me smiling and bouncing up and down. I couldn’t get interested in tonight’s headliner Animal Collective and was happy to just wander around the park with them as background music. It was a pleasant day outside with just enough good music to keep me interested and entertained. As far as festivals go, this may be the only one I’ll keep attending.

Sarah Borges & the Broken Singles/Patrick Sweeney; July 16, 2008; High Noon Saloon

The last time the Borgeses (as we have affectionately taken to calling them) were in town, it wasn’t even to play a show. Only two weeks before they had played Summerfest and then had a couple days off before heading to Chicago to play Fitzgerald’s American Music Festival, so they spent them in Madison. They went to see Robbie Schiller and Blake Thomas play their regular Honky Tonk Tuesday gig at Mickey’s, they went swimming at “the pond,” and played ping pong in my basement. In short, they made themselves at home. Since they are some of the nicest, most genuine people I have ever met, I couldn’t have been happier to have them around. When they told me they were coming in a day before their first show at the High Noon, I knew we would be doing it all again.

While this was their first time at the High Noon, it was their fourth time playing Madison in just about a year, and Madison has definitely taken a liking to them, just as they have taken to Madison. “We’re getting our own apartment here,” Sarah claimed to the decent sized audience who cheered uproariously in response. “I’m sure Kiki will be happy to hear that,” Binky added. Sarah is breathtakingly gorgeous, but she is definitely not a girly-girl. You only have to see her play once to know that is true. She tears it up on guitar while facing off with lead guitarist Mike Castellano or bending backwards into bassist Binky. And her songs reflect it as well. “Open Up Your Back Door” is as full of double entendres as an old blues song.

As the last song of the night she used the obvious sing-a-long to get their friends the Blueheels and everyone else they know on stage to echo the lines “turn your lights down low, open up your back door,” handing her guitar off to Josh as she did so. The first single from the record, a cover of the Reigning Sound’s “Stop and Think It Over” is a natural for the band; it’s a super catchy tune with some attitude. Behind her the awesomely named Broken Singles are a terrific band. The rhythm section (Binky and drummer Rob) power the songs, while Mike dresses them up. A sublimely stylish guitar player, he had every guitar player I know claiming they weren’t worthy. I can’t wait till the next time they come to town, and they better not get their own apartment.

Co-headliner Patrick Sweeney was an equally impressive guitar player, even if his songs weren’t quite as memorable. He had a terrific smile that he flashed every time he said something he found fumy. “For this next song we need it to be completely quiet,” he told the crowd, waiting for them to fall silent before turning to the band with a stage whisper of “I can’t believe they fell for it.” Songs he called “serious” turned out to be silly little instrumentals, but even so his guitar playing was the focus of his set. While never as over-the-top as some, there was a hint of Texas-style blues in his music. I didn’t feel the need to buy a CD after, but I enjoyed him all the same.

The Classic Tawnies; July 12, 2008; Emigail's Roadhouse, Edgerton

The Blueheels/Decibully/Jentri Colello; July 11, 2008; High Noon Saloon

After opening Blake Thomas’s CD release show the week before, Jentri Colello got her chance in the spotlight. Even though tonight’s show was billed as her EP release, she played first. It was a smart move. Sharing a bill with heavy-hitters like Decibully and the Blueheels guaranteed there would be a crowd, playing first insured they might be sober for her set, though I am not so sure she wouldn’t have been more comfortable in front of a bunch of drunks (for instance the group that the Blueheels played for later in the night). It is often hard to tell if her disconnectedness is from musical aloofness or nervousness. Either way, the way she gazes over the top of the audience’s heads, not making eye contact with anyone, save occasionally with her boyfriend (Blueheels’ Robbie Schiller who sang backing vocals on “Bird of Prey”), seems to make her songs all the more powerful.

And there is some weight behind them. From the ache of “Black Daisies” to the longing of “Texas,” these are tales of betrayal, lost love and infidelity, and every word seems true. Even though there isn’t a lot of range in her voice, which has been compared to Cat Power’s Chan Marshall minus the drama, it is absolutely what makes the songs and the band so quietly addictive. She has assembled a terrific band, friends of hers who are also terrific musicians. I’m not sure she could do it with out them.

I have come to the realization that some bands are indoor bands and some are outdoor bands, and it truly was a Eureka! moment. Prior to tonight I wasn’t sure how I felt about Milwaukee’s Decibully. I had seen them twice on the Terrace and been unimpressed, even bored, same could be said for their performance at Summerfest last weekend; however their opening set for Califone last summer had been amazing. Halfway through tonight’s similarly high-energy, musically dense set I figured it out, they are an indoor band. While there is no reason for a band like Spoon to not be good in the fresh air, other than Britt Daniels’ fair complexion, it is easy to see how Decibully could get lost where there are no walls to contain their sound.

Despite having at least seven guys on stage at all time, their sound is never overpowering. Instead, with several of them playing percussion instruments at any one time, it is smart and spare and enveloping. I can’t wait to see them again, as long as there is a roof over our heads.

The Blueheels had just played perhaps the biggest show of their life less than a week before on the Potawatomi stage at Summerfest and didn’t turn down the intensity at all for this show on a slightly smaller stage. Granted, there were no decapitated Bratz dolls flying through the air, or rubber chickens rocketed off the end of a pitchfork, but it was plenty entertaining all the same. A crowd that had been quietly respectful during Jentri’s set were now boisterous and quite likely drunk, singing along loudly whenever they knew the words and sometimes when they didn’t. As many times as I have seen the Blueheels, this is only the second time I have seen them play the High Noon. As their popularity continues to increase I expect to see them there a lot more.

The Classic Tawnies; July 7, 2008; Crystal Corner Bar

Blueheels; July 6, 2008; Summerfest, Milwaukee

I hope the Blueheels enjoyed their time at Summerfest, because I’m guessing it is unlikely they will get invited back. The “few surprises” that Robbie had promised turned into something so ridiculously over the top that I had to wonder what those unsuspecting folks who wandered in out of the sun for the band’s two hour set on the Potawatomi stage thought. The last time they played the House of Righteous Music they came with a gigantic bag of bubble gum that they scattered into the audience. For New Years Eve there were glowing rubber skulls. So why was I so surprised when halfway through the show a cardboard box full of mini-Bratz dolls, followed by a case of rubber chickens, were emptied into the audience by keyboard player Teddy Pedriana?

The audience responded by promptly tearing the dolls into pieces with gleeful abandon and volleying them back to the stage, where a Union-suited, cone-head wearing, pitchfork wielding Chris Billingsley tossed them right back. Well, when he wasn’t too busy dancing like a man possessed or playing air guitar next to lead guitarist Justin Bricco. The first several rows in front of the respectably large stage were populated by Blueheel loyalists, most giddily drunk, all happy as hell to see their favorite band playing their biggest gig yet. Yeah, I was right up there of course, but I have to confess, as fun as it was, it was hard to concentrate on the show with all the arms and heads and rubber chickens flying around.

But there was no doubt it was a rocker. It’s one thing to play three sets in four hours at Cranky Pat’s, but quite another to play one marathon set. When Bricco handed the guitar over to his dad, who was also serving as guitar tech, it may have been as much for a break as it was to give Dad Bricco a chance to show what he can do. The new record Lessons in Sunday Driving was well represented of course, title track “Lion and the Lamb” as fiery as I’ve heard it, while a few oldies like “Tennessee” and “Red Pajamas” also snuck in. The latter had been mostly absent from their sets lately and I couldn’t be happier to see it back. Also suspiciously absent on that song was Billingsley. With its chorus of “the Devil’s in red pajamas,” I can’t imagine a better song for a guy with a pitchfork wearing all red to be dancing on stage to.

For the end of the set the band invited everyone up, filling the stage with their fans who screamed the chorus of “Twist and Toil” in unison. Its mantra of “get up, go to work, go home, go to bed” seemed an unknown routine for them. As they filed back to their places on the other side of the barricade for one last song from the band, I was asked why the hell I wasn’t up there. I responded that someone had to be taking pictures, and I wouldn’t have missed that spectacle for anything. And as it turns out I can see it again next year, the Summerfest folks have already invited them back. Well, how about that, I was wrong. I guess they are cooler than I thought.