Pitchfork Festival Highlights

One word comes to mind when speaking of the Pitchfork Music Festival: Discovery.

2009 was not lacking in that department. Whether eager indie music fans came to discover new music, rediscover their favorite bands of the past (The Jesus Lizard, Yo La Tengo, etc.), or multiple treasures from the wide-spanning vendors, everyone was guaranteed to walk away with something new in their media player, hands, or tummies.

Three stages were set up so there was always at least one band playing starting at 1 p.m. and going until 10 p.m. - when everyone had to leave Union Park. If one band wasn't doing tickling your fancy, there was the option to head over to another, browse the tables of record labels like Sub Pop and Polyvinyl, check out what local artists and craftspeople had to offer, or dine on some above par festival fare.

Unique to the festival was its Write the Night: Set Lists by Request. Bands including Yo La Tengo, Tortoise, Built to Spill, The Jesus Lizard and The Flaming Lips played sets voted by the fans.

Here are some highlights from the shows:

-F***ed Up Vocalist Damian Abraham tore apart beach balls with his mouth and put one over his head, prompting the handful of children at the Festival to follow suit while saying to their parents, "Look! He didn't die."

-The Universal Record Database challenged people to break existing records - or break their own. I set the record for the amount of elbow licks in 30 seconds (it was 45).

-Matt and Kim finalized its set with a killer rendition of Europe's "The Final Countdown."

-M83 won for biggest dance party of the weekend with its electropop set.

However, the set that made it to many people's "number one live band" spot - at least unanimously in my caravan - was The Flaming Lips. Of course, there was Wayne Coyne's Bubble, but also confetti showers, bedazzling lights, and a band entrance through a particular location on the female anatomy (we'll let you guess where) on a giant video screen.

Stay tuned for a picture slide show of performances and highlights.