Family time continued after my niece’s visit, heading back home for my nephew’s graduation party. While this would have not traditionally made my music blog, we were all treated by a performance by a family friend! I had caught a short clip of him singing on social media a couple weeks back, and was surprised to even know he was a musician! After some setup hurdles (note the mic stand!), Nick performed quite a few songs for us - including some of my favorites below! Nice job Nick!!
So I mentioned I’ve been busy right? Right after shows in Chicago and San Francisco, I then hosted my Niece for her annual visit to Cleveland! She continues to grow up (too quickly) and I thought this would be a good year to introduce her to the Beachland Tavern! I double checked the age restrictions, confirming all shows are all ages unless specifically noted.
Technically this was one of the Lighthouse & the Whaler residency shows, though we only stayed for Holden Laurence’s opening set. I’m not entirely sure she was as charmed by the place as I was - but you have to start them off seeing live music at a young age! Oh - and Holden was good as always. :-)
One of the things I’ve always enjoyed about going to Pitchfork is the exposure to new artists. That’s where I had first heard about Nilüfer Yanya and got to see her perform. She’s since released a brand new album and I was thrilled to see her coming to the Grog Shop, particularly with an all British bill! She put on a great set, and I’d highly recommend you check out her new album (embedded below).
Opening was Pixx who has her own unique electro/pop sound.
Right after my trip to Chicago for the Pitchfork Music Festival, I was off to San Francisco to visit a friend for their birthday. Coincidentally, after having already purchased our flights, we were alerted to Robyn playing in SF on the day we landed! Tickets purchased.
This show was at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, which I thought would be a little bigger - and a little more full. Still Robyn put on yet another great set - and the audience showed their appreciation. It’s been a great year for Robyn, and I was glad to have been able to see her 3 times!
The bonus for this concert was that Troye Sivan would be opening! He played his hits, but actually seemed a little disconnected - or maybe tired from his endless round of touring on his album. Still, it was fun to hear his songs live.
I have attended (almost) every Pitchfork Music Festival since 2007, only missing 2010 - the year Robyn played! That’s a dozen years and it feels like my run is coming to an end. This has been such a Summer mainstay for me, but it feels like it’s time to move on and try something new - besides, my favorite place to stay in Boystown is going to be sold and I’ll have to find a new place to stay. Also symbolic is that this is the year I was able to finally catch Robyn closing the festival! It feels right.
This year saw its challenges with heat and weather. The first day we left early because of the heat, missing out on Mavis Staples (meh), Low, and HAIM (who I hear were really good). I did catch Sky Ferreira who wasn’t particularly captivating. Grapetooth was a good time though! On the second day, I really enjoyed Ric Wilson, Bitchin Bajas, Cate le Bon and Parquet Courts - that is until we were thrown out of the festival because of lightning. We missed Kurt Vile, Stereolab, Belle & Sebastian and the Isley Brothers (yay!). Sunday was the best day with a surprisingly enjoyable set by black midi, as well an extended stay over at the blue stage to see Tasha, Ibeyi and Amen Dunes! I did pop over and catch an *amazingly* fun set by Khruangbin! The festival ended with back-to-back performances by Charli XCX and Robyn. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to end this festival - and my attendance at it.
Check out some of the photos & video (including an impromptu dance mob for Robyn!):
"Over the course of its three days, Pitchfork Music Festival 2019 had a good amount of variety. Though fans of heavier music or more experimental electronic artists might’ve been out of luck, the lineup otherwise was a good balance offering up something for everyone, and not just in terms of genre. You had legacy alternative acts like Stereolab and Belle & Sebastian on the same day as the Isley Brothers; you had reliably crowd-pleasing festival acts like HAIM headlining over ascendant songwriters like Soccer Mommy or buzz-y young bands like Black Midi. And then, closing it all out at the end, was the pop one-two of Charli XCX and Robyn.
This was a smart bit of booking. Not only are both those acts somewhat unifying draws that go over particularly well at festivals, but it was also a way to make a kind of statement — these are pop artists with big choruses, but they are still left-of-center. Both Charli XCX and Robyn have either released or been involved in some very famous songs this decade, but neither is exactly a ubiquitous household name. They are pop artists outside the usual mechanisms of the pop world. So, if Pitchfork strives to provide a festival a little to the side of a normal American festival, in many ways Charli and Robyn were the ideal options to close this year’s iteration."
(Via Pitchfork Music Festival 2019 Review: Charli XCX And Robyn - Stereogum.)
To cap off my annual experience, here are my previous years’ posts: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018.
But then again - by next year I may be game all over again… to be continued.
I’m back from several back-to-back trips and ready to get caught up! Right before I left, I was able to swing by the House of Blues Cambridge Room to catch Oliver Hazard (TZA House Concert Alums!) coming back to town and opening for the Michigan Rattlers. It was great to see the crowd really getting into these guys.
Michigan Rattlers took the stage, but I wasn’t able to stay for much of their set. They sounded pretty good, but seeing them in a more conducive venue for their sound would be better.
You can actually catch both of these bands at Oliver Hazard Day back over in Waterville, OH if you’re up for a little road trip!
The Lower Dens reignited my interest in them with their last Young Republicans video, and it’s still goin’ with this new one for I Drive, talking about the power of choosing your family for queer and trans people. Along those lines, Ezra Furman is wanting to be your Girlfriend with his new video. Charli XCX joined up with Christine and the Queens for their pop-licious song Gone.
Bonus: I’m not sure what to think about this new Alex Ebert manifestation, with his new video for Gold. He’s had several representations, with of course my favorite being Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros. This time he has a couple of unique songs/videos. What do you think?
Holy Ghost! keeps the new music coming with their new video for Do This. The Chemical Brothers continue to impress me, this time by including some vocal stylings by k-os in their new single/video for Get Yourself High. Miley just put out her her video for Mother’s Daughter which definitely has its share of political statements and inclusivity.
Bonus: I didn’t know who this Eugene Lee Yang was before, but this video is AMAZING. He’s not a performer, but this video to a song by ODEZA is totally worth a bonus listing.
Golden Vessel was a surprise, late-addition to my TZA calendar. Crawling the Beachland website, this show popped up and was instantly intrigued by this pop / electronic artist from Australia. His album is full of guests vocalists, and each song would just get better and better with every listen. I was curious how this was going to translate into a live performance. His stage mate (the guy on the left) jumped on the tour and took on all the vocal parts - very well I might add. Overall, the show didn’t have quite have the quicker tempo of the album, but I was still very satisfied with the performance.
Opening was Instupendo out of Philadelphia. Very low key set, which was very appropriate for the Rostam vocals he brought in, and I recorded, below. He had also scored a guest spot on the newest Toro Y Moi album - so there’s something going on there, I just missed it I guess.
There were a lot of options for live music on this night. Not only was this City Stages event happening at the Transformer Station, there was also the Eilen Jewell show at the Beachland and And The Kids were at Mahalls. Bergen’s attendance was requested, so i just stuck with this Tal National show. The weather was superb, friends were plentiful, and the music played the perfect backdrop to a perfect Summer evening.
