Pitchfork 08 in Brief

I was expecting less, given the allegedly cramped location and not-so-cooperative weather. But the location was very convenient, mostly clean, and not as wet as it could have been. I'll continue to wear my Wayfarers in selected situations, but it's pretty clear at this point that the trend has peaked. Also, being able to get fresh fruit for decent prices at a music festival is a very nice thing indeed. Scattered thoughts:

• Public Enemy seemed kind of weak and drained. I guess it has been a long time for them. Couldn't really shake the feeling that the majority of the crowd was there to see the guy from VH1. Oh well.
• Caribou put on a pretty amazing show for early afternoon. Almost made me forgive them for getting injured an not coming to Charlottesville, which caused me to skip the show that would have featured...
• Fuck Buttons, who didn't seem quite suited to an outdoor atmosphere. I thought they were good, but the crowd lacked energy. I suspect many people there were curious to see the band with the expletive in their name. That's totally fine, as festivals are meant to widen horizons. But it's also going to make the actual performance less fun than if it were an intimate show with a bunch of people who really like the band.
• This was also true of Animal Collective. They were incredible, of course. Not really suited to mass audiences, in my opinion, though.
• HEALTH are kind of interesting kids, but I'm not really into anything LA.
• Ghost and Rae are always fun to watch but seemed a bit bored and I can't say that I blame them. Of course, it would have been nice if they got excited when I saw them last at an actual Wu-Tang show... but they didn't.
• I really like Spiritualized but haven't been as up on the new stuff, and my enjoyment suffered because of it.