Les Savy Fav and the Wrens were so amazing

Broken Social Scene and Four Tet too

So many great things to say

OMG

Say more of them, please.

yeah, give us the lowdown.

Okay, I was only there for half of each day. I wish I could've been there for more.

On Saturday, I arrived just as The M's were finishing up. Couldn't really tell what they sounded like while making my way toward the entrance.

AC Newman started rather hilariously - his guitar was one step flat from the rest of the group. So my first song of the festival - the brilliant "On the Table"- sounded like a massacre. It was sooooo bad it was comical. I was looking around at people and wondering if they were hearing the same thing. I started dreading the sound issues. Anyway, they figured it out right after finishing the song, and started their set over again. The second time, the tune sounded a lot better. Overall his set was pretty good, but I really couldn't hear the backing vocals well at all. Also, hearing him solo live always make me want to hear New Pornographers, although I'm not sure if that's a testament to the mediocrity of the Slow Wonder or the brilliance of The Electric Version

Magnolia Electric Co. was not really my cup of tea, but I thought their set was fairly enjoyable for what it was. I think in a lineup dominated by either rock bands or noisy post-rock acts it's important to have a couple of songwriter driven bands if only to give people's ears a break.

Up next was Four Tet, and he was unbelievable. He breezed through versions of tunes mostly from his last two albums. I was extremely familiar with the material from "Rounds" and it was really interesting how he wove fresh nuances into the material. Essentially the album served as a base set of sounds that he wove new patterns into.

Then it was Broken Social Scene, who mixed new tracks with most of your favorites from "You Forgot It In People". Unfortunately, I was in a half-hour food line on the opposite side of the park for the first part of their set, but I was able to hear most of what was going on. They are a fantastic live band. Most people were chirping all weekend that the sound was horrible, but I thought they did a decent job compared to other outdoor festivals I've been to, especially with a 13-member band.

I was just NOT feeling the Go! Team at all. I have never heard their records - but live they just sounded terrible. I thought the singer was completely obnoxious and you couldn't really hear any guitars at all. Their fans were really getting into it....and the set was energetic, to be sure...but I just wasn't into it.

I left during their set. It was really hot and although I wanted to see Tortoise, I was not really that interested in the next two bands so I decided to call it a night.

On Sunday, I got there for the last four songs of the Hold Steady. I was immediately impressed. I wish I had gotten there just a little bit earlier, but unfortunately I had a rehearsal that ended up being cancel-able >: I really also wish I could've seen Dungen, Out Hud and Xiu Xiu...I heard Dungen's set was FANTASTIC.

Up after the Hold Steady was Andrew Bird. I had heard so many great things about him, I was prepared to be underwhelmed. If anything, I was the opposite. I don't think I took my eyes off the stage for 30 straight minutes. Everything about him was amazing. His sense of melody, his arrangements and of course his whistling...the crowd was also remarkably subdued and attentive for this particular set, which was nice to see.

Then it was Deerhoof. Not really a fan, although some of the set was entertaining. I'm not sure how long I could stand those vocals in a small club, especially with her yelling "BUNNY BUNNY BUNNY BUNNY BUNNY BUNNY" or whatever the hell that was. Kind of hilarious in some ways, and it was clear that silliness was part of the vibe. During the first half of their set, I was hanging out with some friends of mine and "King" Ed Roeser from Urge Overkill and his year old son. I really wanted to be up front for the Wrens so I staked out a spot close to the opposite stage for the back half of Deerhoof's set.

The Wrens were fantastic. Their opening song was a new one, and it blew me away. The Meadowlands was so fantastic that I feared a letdown on the next record...but that song is so incredible that it's mostly quelling them. Kevin broke the electronics in his bass rig on the first song, probably by slamming the bass into the stage several times, so he had to play keyboards-bass on "Per Second Second" and "Everyone Choose Sides" while they figured out how to fix it. They played most of the Meadowlands, "Won't Get Too Far" from Secaucus and two or three new ones. It was a phenomenal set. They were very gracious as always. They even got such a strong reaction from the crowd that they warranted an encore and were allowed one.

Les Savy Fav may have then stolen the show from the Wrens. Never has a frontman looked so different than I imagined. Seriously, do you imagine this guy as a bald fat guy with a long beard? He was captivating in every way. For one song, he had the entire audience sit down. He was nearly naked for most of the set, and during "The Sweat Descends" or thereabouts he stripped off a pair of short shorts to reveal just a speedo. At one point he put on a bathrobe. At another he was wearing pieces of a mariachi outfit. He had the entire crowd in the palm of his hand. He was fantastic, and so was their music. The crowd was pretty fired up, and they crashed the barricade in front of that stage and a couple of people started rushing the stage, so the police had to be onhand to restore some order. It wasn't riotous, it was just on the other side of being slightly out of hand.

The Decemberists were very good, but I think a poor choice for a closer. They play great music, but after the high-energy of the last two acts it was hard not to be a little let down by a set of middle of the road, nicely arranged acoustic-guitar driven songs. I stayed for about half their set, then around 9:15 I decided I wanted to beat the exodus and get home at a reasonable hour. During the Decemberists set I wandered over to the DJ tent to catch Diplo as he completely LITERALLY overheated the speaker system. The crowd in the DJ tent was in a literal frenzy for the last 10 minutes of his set and was a totally different vibe from the rest of the festival, which was really cool to see. It was like walking into a different world.

Overall, the crowd was much cooler and much more into it than you would've expected. The food and drink wasn't horribly expensive, I think I spent maybe 20 bucks each day on a pretty full range of stuff. There was a ton of stuff to do, and it wasn't so crowded that you were constantly shoulder to shoulder with people unless you were 20 feet from the stage. The sound wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible either. It was pretty good sound for most of the artists I saw.

well done, sir. All we're missing is pictures.

Apparently, webshots won't let me put photo's up here, so here's my album w/ a couple shots. I also have video of both the Wrens and Les Savy Fav and a write-up of my 2-days coming.

http://community.webshots.com/album/398254724CIVLXk?246

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I was able to view that particular shot by right clicking. Some bald dude with a camera.

Shit. It's a public album. Anyone should be able to see it. Anyone want to host some photo's and a couple of AVI vids? I got one of Tim Harrington doing Slip'n'Slide in the crowd...

That's the lead singer of Les Savy Fav

Try this:

http://community.webshots.com/album/398254724CIVLXk?246

I know James (Z) got some photo's and vids too.

Spencer, I was literally less than 15 feet in front of you for that Wrens shot (that was while they were setting up, right?) and probably about 40 feet to the left of you for the Andrew Bird shot. How did I NOT see you.

I don't know, but after a while, everyone started blending in.

In brief, did you enjoy yourself? Were you there all day both days?

I was about 15-20 yards back center stage for the Wrens and even closer left stage for Les Savy Fav. It was pretty wicked. Les Savy Fav was easily the best show I've seen this year.

I've got a write-up in the form of an email to my friends that I'll post on here. Yeah, I thought it was pretty great. There were some disappointments, but that was to be expected. Namely, Broken Social Scene and Death From Above 1979 (but that was due to the sound engineer fucking up). I'll post my write-up soon. I've got it about 3/4ths done.

In the spirit of Pitchfork-

Intonation Music Festival 2005: 7.8

Saturday:

Kelly and I got back to Chicago late from my parents house, we had a wedding to attend the night before and had some trouble getting up before noon. We arrived at the first day of Intonation around 4:30 PM enough time to catch Four Tet begin their set. After watching Four Tet perform one song, Kelly and I decided to get some pizza, which proceeded to take roughly 1.25 hours. As Broken Social Scene started their set on the second stage around 5:30, Kelly, God bless her heart; let me leave the pizza line to see the show. Unfortunately, BSS sounded a bit disjointed and uninspired due to a run in they had w/ the New York Police the night before and in which they proceeded to talk about for the remainder of their set. In another life, I like to believe I saw BSS play without such hindrances and they proceeded to rock my socks off.

After BSS, The Go! Team played the main stage (roughly 6:30 pm) and picked up my spirits from the disappointment that BSS had been. I’m not sure if it was bubbly personality the lead singer had, her dance moves, or the 10+ inner city Chicago kids she brought on stage to break it down old school that refreshed my faith in humanity, well not really humanity, but, I guess, music festivals. But I was renewed.

After The Go! Team, Ted, Jeff, Ranjan, Kelly, and I staked out prime seating for Death From Above 1979 (to go on at roughly 7:30) at the Main Stage while Prefuse 73 dropped beats over on the second stage. It was nice to sit down in the 95+ degree heat to rehydrate and relax. Unfortunately, we staked out seating at the wrong stage and arrived at DFA1979 in the back near the sound tent. The nice part about being by sound tent was that I was able to yell and give dirty looks at the sound engineer for screwing up the vocals and volume during the majority of the DFA show of which to this instance I am still bitter about.

After the DFA1979 show, most of us were exhausted from the heat, the food lines, and crappy sound engineers and retired for a night cap or a full night of sleep.

Sunday:

After getting some well needed sleep, I awoke Sunday and planned out my day w/ Kelly over enchiladas at Jalapeno Sombrosa. It was decided during said enchiladas that I would begin my day of musical mayhem at 3:30 to catch The Hold Steady and that Kelly would go to the beach to catch a tan. I arrived at 3:30 on the dot just as the first crunchy riffs of The Hold Steady started to ruminate through out the park. Having never seen The Hold Steady and being fairly unfamiliar with there work, I was pleasantly surprised at their rock-ability. It was impossible for me to keep my feet from a stomping during songs like ‘Your Hood Rat Friend’ and ‘The Cattle and the Creeping Things’. But, due to the 100 degree weather and the gallon of sweat I just shed, I had to move to the shade before the end of the set.

After the Hold Steady, I met some friends in the shade and caught part of Andrew Bird (at 4:30 pm on the main stage), who sounded amazing. During Andrew Bird’s set a familiar face showed up from the day before…who could it be? It was our Indian representative Ranjan Ginde. Ranjan came to brave the heat with me as I had found out earlier in the day that neither Ted or Mikey had the ‘energy’ to make it. Translation: We got really F’d up last night and feel like crap today so we won’t be making it. But that would be to their misfortune because the best acts of the festival had yet to pass.

After Andrew Bird, Ranjan and I decided to reserve prime standing room for The Wrens while Deerhoof bellowed and moaned away on the second stage. 25 yards back, center stage, and The Wrens makes for a really good show…a great show….well a f’ing awesome show, but, alas, we had a difficult dilemma on our hands. Do we stay for the entire Wrens show? Or do we leave early and try to get prime real estate for Les Savy Fav? A band who I love and who Ranjan assured would not disappoint live. Luckily, the friends I hung out with before left the Wrens after the first song and saved Ranjan and I a spot 15 yards back left stage for Les Savy Fav. To assure that we would be able to enjoy Les Savy Fav to the maximum, Ranj and I reluctantly left the Wrens early and met my friends over by the second stage.

As we arrived to the second stage, the lead singer (Tim Harrington) of Les Savy Fav was in the crowd hanging out, taking pictures and having civilized discussions with fans. It was quite a relief to see a lead singer who was humbling and thankful…and who was fat in red shorts, really short shorts. Then, as Les Savy Fav was introduced, I could feel my skin start to goosebump and I knew this would be a show that I would not forget. Crunchy riffs came over the speakers and bodies around me started to jump up and down, shake and sway as if they molecules being micro-waved. Soon enough, props were being thrown out in the crowd like candy at a parade. Many events happened, too many to list so I’ll summarize: Slip’n’Slide…CHECK, Pool floaty thing….CHECK, Sponges soaked in water and sweat…CHECK, Sombrero while wearing a shaw and a speedo…CHECK, Getting the entire audience to sit in dirt…CHECK, Wrapping head in foil…CHECK, Geeky kid doing Napoleon Dynamite dance during last song….DOUBLE CHECK. Most of Inches was played and some new tracks and old tracks thrown in for good measure. Needless to say, Les Savy Fav stole the entire festival and made me leave Union Park with a large, stupid grin on my face.

I’m still not sure if all this really happened or if I was hallucinating from the heat. I wish I could have video taped the entire awesomeness of the Les Savy Fav show because my description of can’t even come close to how it really happened.

Note: I did catch the Decemeberist and thought it was a good come-down act for what was a great weekend in music, but I left early due to the exhaustion of the weekend. I assure you I will be at Intonation Fest 2006.

Sincerely,

Spence

nice send-up, spence

there was so much good music all weekend, often times you really had to decide to ditch one awesome show early just to get close for the next one. What an great set of dilemmas to have.

The festival was definitely run well and I was mighty impressed. I'm not really super into any of the bands that were there and I was pretty much in the back the whole time, so I think I was more there for the vibe than anything. I loved seeing the different kinds of people there.

I finally got to meet James after being at the same shows for the past few months without talking to one another. Great guy.

I skipped out on Sunday's show because of the weather. I'm disappointed I missed Diplo's set though. My post is kinda pointless because for some reason I don't have much to add. The fest was definitely worth my time.

np: Mellowdrone-Demonstration EP

so jealous... i've been dying to see les savy fav live.

good reviews, glad you guys had an awesome time.

I bowed out at the last minute and decided not to go. My girlfriend was there for Four Tet, BSS, Go! Team, Prefuse 73 and DFA 1979 who she said rocked her bra and panties off (she didn't say that, but if she had, I would've laughed).

I'll concur on Les Savy Fav and Tim Harrington. What a great live band. The two shows I've seen from them have been two of the most fun out of all the concerts I've attended.



I think they've pretty much broken up with the exception of the occasional one-off. The guitar player lives in Carrboro, NC now. I'm pretty sure I saw Tim Harrington at the Comets on Fire/Growing show I saw a couple of weeks back at The End. Either that or he has a even quirker dressing twin.

uh, i was that friend! how about some dap for me bailing on a band that could be enjoyed from a few hundred yards away to one that made us part of the show?!