Pitchfork Festival 2009

So. Pete and I went to the Pitchfork Festival for the THIRD summer in a row this year! It was a ton of fun (although tiring at some points).

Some highlights:

Seeing Final Fantasy (Owen Pallett) tear it up with his violin on stage. He was so cute! He was so nervous! I fell in love.



Getting some sweet parking spots each day that we went.

Winning three FREE t-shirts. Two were from Threadless. However, the other one was from T-Mobile, where there was a text-messaging contest. I schooled Pete, won a shirt, and then got to bang a gong (they whole gimmick was "Thumb Fu" so there was a guy dressed up in kung fu gear and a gong to hit).

Walking into the festival, taking ten steps, and then seeing Charlyne Yi being interviewed. Yi is the main character in the upcoming movie Paper Heart, and she was in an episode of 30 Rock and Knocked Up. Crazy!


Getting this adorable headband from etsy sellers CutieCooties.


Seeing this crazy band (excuse the language) Fucked Up crowd surf, get everyone crazy, and THEN the lead singer hung out afterwards for pictures. He looks scary. But he is the nicest guy EVER. Also, Pete and I were hanging out towards the back for their set (mosh pit? No thanks) and this teenager came running past us, blood all over his face from the crowd surfing, I imagine...scary.


Beginning and almost finishing Assassination Vacation. Our friend Matt graciously allowed us to stay with him for the weekend when we were in Chicago and he recommended that Pete (as a history major/teacher) read it. I read it first. Couldn't put it down. Even when The Thermals were on stage. It's SO good. I would recommend it to pretty much anyone.



And last, but not least: seeing the Flaming Lips again. I had seen them back in 2006, at the Pageant in St. Louis. Sonic Youth opened. There was confetti. I cried. What else is new? However, seeing them big and out in the open was insane. It was like the entire festival had shut down. No one was doing anything but watching Wayne Coyne & Company get down. The food was all gone, no one was selling posters/crafts/records anymore...they were all just in awe (as they should be).




We were pretty far away...and there were a LOT of people.




Really, confetti should be an everyday experience. It should be shot at you when you get off the bus, or go for a run, or walk into work. It would really be an enjoyable experience...

And, just because you should know who the Flaming Lips are, if you don't already...here's a video of their most popular song, "Do You Realize??" Jump ahead to about 1:40. This was them at Pitchfork. Oh, and I should mention that Wayne Coyne (lead singer) totally choked up at the end. Which (duh) led me to choke up. It was...amazing.