Intonation Music Festival - Union Park; Chicago, IL
By: Jennifer Wagner |
Tuesday July 25, 2006 |
| We had chaperones at the Intonation Festival this year; the Sears Tower, distant and imposing, nodded paternal approval from the east. |
Photos By Patrick Sinco
We had chaperones at the Intonation Festival this year; an impressively large, stately couple who stayed on either side of Union Park the whole weekend, looking on and commanding respect. The Sears Tower, distant and imposing, nodded paternal approval from the east, and The Women's Treatment Center hugged the two-day indie music extravaganza almost a bit too closely across the street. A Benny Hill look-alike ran amuck under their gaze as a half dozen or so pony tailed, made up ladies dressed in tiny terry tanks and shorts chased him around. Then he chased them around, and everyone involved got a little confused so they sort of careened will-nilly back to the BBC America tent where they immediately looked much calmer. It was a nice tent, with some cushy chairs and dim lamps and books etc, sort of emulating a British library or a smoking room. Anyway, I soaked all this in as I located the press tent on that first day of Intonation, found my editor Brett and watched him slap on some greasy sunscreen. We made our way over to catch 90 Day Men, who bored and annoyed us frankly. A rotten 4-piece with keys, guitar, bass, lead, drums, the band squeaked out a feeble nod to early Robert Plant and the Violent Femmes. From insipid and dull to caustic, the set just got worse and worse. Jose Gonzalez's first song, "Dead Weight," was quiet, clear, and beautiful - a guy and his guitar. Intricate and lyrical, the set wove in poetic strands of gold like, "Stay in the shade until you reach the grave." A few songs further into the set Gonzalez treated us to the greatly composed "Bloodstain on the Ground" then took a moment to delicately tune. He wasn't satisfied with how "Heartbeats" was going at one point and apologized, took a pause, then continued. He's got a bit of Sufjan Stevens as well as a bit of James Taylor in him and the proceedings picked up a little towards the end when he covered Kylie Minogue's "Hand on Your Heart." The Stills sounded clean; they're a young and trendy Montreal four-piece with a big sound and they began their set with a big buildup on "Changes Are No Good." "We've got a beautiful day," vocalist Tim Fletcher said. When they played "Helicopters" from their new album Without Feathers, there was some impressive harmonizing and some soulful rocking for sure. Without question, Roky Erickson absolutely took the festival by storm that day. The opportunity to see this gloriously mistreated and misunderstood performer play is so rare he almost needs to be critiqued separately from the rest of the festival. Erickson had never even performed in Chicago before! He came out swinging a little like Muddy Waters with "Jesus Coming to Your World." We will never see the likes of Erickson again - I really hope that girl in the khakis in front of me and the one in the green pressed shirt next to her knew what they were getting...I got the feeling that they didn't. A quick visit to his demonic internal world was all we had, punched with lyrical bits like "The neon from your eyes is flashing into mine." The band nailed "Starry Eyes" and with an awesome rock and roll blue Fender resplendent in sparkles, Erickson dug into a couple from his 1987 post-electroshock therapy rant I Think of Demons, including the title track and "Red Temple Prayer (Two-headed Dog)." The band's sound stayed tight, and was just fucking incredible. They were old, they were nuts, and they just did not stop. There's a comfort and wisdom with Erickson and crew that simply supercede all ego. This performance of Erickson's wasn't simply the best of the fest, it could very well be the best seen in this city all year and may indeed become the stuff of legends.  Ghostface Killah - good shit, tight, clear sound and energetic. Oversized golf shirts and hip hop still get along quite well. "Everybody's talking about da Wu-Tang Clan," "Make money money, make money money!" During "Call Your Bluff," Ghostface's crew had everybody raise one finger in the air for Ol' Dirty Bastard. "The Wu-Tang Clan ain't nothin' to fuck with!" Indeed. "For those who don't know, I'm Lady Sovereign! For those who don't know, I'm Lady Sovereign!" She was tiny, but she really meant it. "This goes out to all the fake tanners!" and she burst into "Orange." She wore a big orange/red tee-shirt and jeans, her hair put up in a ponytail to one side. She implored the audience to "Get loose, can't you?" She played a new one called "Love Me or Hate Me" with great lyrics: "If you love me then 'fuck you', if you hate me then 'fuck you'"; and "I don't have the biggest breastesses, but I have the bestesses!" "Love me or hate me, I'm still an obsession." A lot of fun, a lot of energy, she's the baby London underground. Totally missed the Streets. Intonation Day 2 I showed up in time for local punk band The Tyrades on the second day of Intonation. The band were repetitive, monotonous, and really, really boring. They were loud and smashed up their set and all, but all for not...simply uninspiring. Panthers were thrash-y and sort of whiny. The lead singer sounded like Ozzy Osbourne, eventually producing a decent screech. Their fourth song really sounded like Black Sabbath. On "Unknown" and "Our Gardens Grow," Constantines featured tribal drumming, heavy guitars; the band were really together and synchronized. "Hotline Operator" was creepy and cool; Bryan Webb went from a rasp to a scream; they played with volume and style. "Workin' Full Time" featured uniquely original guitar playing, efficient and how I like my rock. Ended with the band covering The Modern Lovers' "Roadrunner." Yeah! Rhymefest is a bunch of hip-hop goodness - "It's in my DNA nigga, it's in my DNA!" "Get you a slice..." Fest freestyled, then jumped into the photo pit and grabbed a camera and put that into the bit. Then he moved into the crowd, took a guy's hat and put that on. "Bullet," the song at the end of the set, was a hard nosed, political statement. "Drive a Hummer for a Summer" was the slogan of an army-recruitment kiosk at the mall. Overall, a lot of connection, affection, and love. Annie & the Animals started off with "The Wedding." They featured a simple set up of keyboards/mixer/synthesizer and a small drum set, with Annie singing and bouncing about the stage. They moved into "Me Plus One," a little Bjork, but more slick Euro-techno French Disco than wildly experimental-Swan dress as fashion. Moving into "Chewing Gum," I came to the realization that Annie is a really hot blonde. "Chewing Gum," a popular number by Annie's declaration of: "some of you may know this one..." "Oh no, oh no, you've got it all wrong - you think you're talking but you're chewing gum!" Sweet, slick and sticky. Yum. Lupe Fiasco was simply mesmerizing onstage, delighting the audience with his quick wit, smooth lyrical flow and engaging smile. There was skateboarding back and forth onstage, social awareness and a lot of smiles all around. Ending on Fiasco's "Kick Push," the crowd wanted more...they'll just have to wait for Lupe to come back for his inevitable headlining slot. The Sword - hard and heavy...like a good lay. The band is dark and on top of their shit. Blue Cheer were good and heavy as well...for a bunch of old men. Dickie Peterson had on this ridiculous sort of hippy-looking brown suede vest with fringe and lots of beady/medallion thingies. "I was sick, and an angel came and nursed me back to health, and I got laid." They're pretty good, with lots of guitar, and they did a hardcore, funny rendition of "Summertime Blues." 
Jon Brion - "Welcome to our soundcheck," just him and an electric guitar. Then
Brion said, quite endearingly, "Here goes nothin'..." He covered Billie
Holiday's "Foolin' Myself" which sounded really nice; delicately handled. He
had a sharp gray suit with a tee-shirt underneath, looking talented, cute and
fun. Then, he got on the drum kit and let go of the guitar. He did the
"Japanese Steakhouse-style" of recording his own drum work, looping it, then
moving to the keys where he recorded some there, too. Benmont Tench of Tom
Petty and the Heartbreakers came out and played piano/keys for a bit, and later
Wilco's percussionist Glenn Kotche played drums with Brion. It made a lovely
day even more awesome.
Robert Pollard does an awful lot of simple, three-chord stuff. "If you write dance numbers, you'd better be able to dance. Maybe I shouldn't write any more dance numbers." He's a real rocker, and his bass-playing, singing buddy really brought it on home. He also covered a Circus Devils song, "Dolphins of Color." Dead Prez quote time: "I love my baby girl," "We got locked up, but we back," "Where da west side at? Where da west side at? Where da south side at? Where da north side at? Where da east side at? Ain't no east side," "Fuck Da Police!" "If you're ready to get free right mother fuckin' now say Hell Yeah!" "Middle finger up to George Bush!" Bloc Party were, surprisingly, just good new rock and roll. They got fancy and had the smoke machine going. The band were in the states taking some time out in the middle of recording a new album. Once again, a good efficient four piece rock and roll band. Nice capper to a wonderful weekend of music. I saw the following clever, thought-provoking T-shirts: "U.S. Out Now!" "Jew for a free Palestine" "Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell" "Kill the Morning After Girls" (rorymahearn@yahoo.com) "Fuck Yeah We're Gonna Party Tonight" "Ice is Nice - Save the Ice - St. Lawrence River" "Perth- At least It's Not Adelaide" "Van Halen Kicks Ass" "AMUQ" "Future Stars Basketball Camp" "!Ya Basta!" "Bow Before Me, For I am Root" Brett Hickman, "the Captain," and I chatted the day after the incredibly diverse and enjoyable Intonation festival over a bottle of Smirnoff and some compressed lithium to talk about our feelings on the weekend. Brett Hickman - Intonation?! Did you say 'Intonation?!' What the fuck are we talking about again? Oh yeah...I thought the festival was a success overall. The music was extremely diverse, much more so than the upcoming Pitchfork Festival. My highlight for Saturday was Roky Erickson by far. High On Fire sounded good, but I was closer to the other stage. My highlights for Sunday were Rhymefest and Lupe Fiasco. I didn't think much of Jose Gonzalez (too laid back), Annie (no enthusiasm onstage), or The Stills (the epitome of lame-ass indie rock). BH - So how about the amenities? Both in the main park and for the press? What about the emcees for both days? I liked Sunday's a lot more. The guys from Saturday were ridiculously awful. Vice Recordings and the PR people really put on quite a nice spread, overall. JW -I actually don't have much recall on the emcees from Saturday, but I sort of hated them Sunday, they did a Mao thing and a "straight guy hand job" thing and a KKK thing. The amenities were great, all the way around. Lines coming in were much better controlled than last year, never really saw a big line at the port-a-potties, beer was local, chicken on a stick just rocks. First aid station, water station, all very well organized. The record swap meet from last year was conspicuously not there, nor was the DJ tent, and I think both were missed. Press amenities just kicked butt in my opinion - last year it was water and a port-a-potty and a tent with a few tables. The VIPs were in a whole different area, and I was thrilled to have everyone together this time around, with the beer and snacks and pretty bartender ladies. BH - I don't have last year to go by, but compared to the press amenities for Lollapalooza last year, Intonation rocked a lot harder. Free-flowing beer all day long? Probably the worst thing to have at the ready for journalists. Hahahaha...But yeah, it was like a carnival, but more organized. Nice job by the organizers on everything. JW - What I like about these festivals is that you can walk away and do something else. The music is the attraction, but the day out and the other things going on are worth enjoying, too. And I got a whole lot of reading done while waiting in the press potty line, as we're all so full of shit. I caught up on the Six Party Negotiations, for instance, and have to say that I think South Korea is really the only country who actually wants to stop the North Korean nuclear weapons program. I cannot wait to see what's in store next year. |
