I haven't seen David Yow on a stage since 1990, and it was almost as if nothing had changed. Same ol' Yow. That alone was worth the price of admission, though clearly there were scads of cool things about this event.

Kudos to all of those responsible for pulling it off so well!

I got into chicago at 3pm Friday and got home this morning at 4am. Amazing weekend. More in the meeting people thread (which I didn't, but I did see you.)

Got there during Girls vs Boys. Never heard any of their stuff and I can't say I was that enthralled. Sorry.
Ted Leo + the pharmacists put on an amazing show in my opinion. And because I'm such a sucker for SLF, they got me dancing and smiling and singing with Suspect Device.
!!! - I don't get it. They were bad, and abusive. Lame.

I'm sad I missed the friday night shindig but I was tired and my hosts wanted to go back to morton grove and I followed them for they were my ride out of the city.

New Year - I was very bored with it.
Uzeda - They were amazing!!! Somebody recommend albums to me for I have none.
Tim & Andy - Very very sorry I missed it, I was on a cigarette run unfortunately
The Ex - Perfect
Killdozer - I was laughing through their whole set. In a good way. Because they were fantastic.
Jon & Kat - Very nice.
The Didjits - I'd never heard them before and I think I shall find some albums.
I missed PW Long, or I was bored, I don't remember.
Negative Approach - Holy shit!! I don't know why I sold their anthology back in high school. I need to re-buy it.
Sally Timms - meh.
Scratch Acid - Amaaaaazing. I was pretty drunk at this point and was up front for the first half of their set and then got distracted. Boo on me.
Man or Astroman - they had me dancing. Fantastic.
Big Black - What can I say? High point of the weekend.
Shellac - Perfect way to end the best full day of music I think I've ever seen.

I missed the Monorchid unfortunately because I was getting lost downtown.
Enon - very interesting, something else I must check out.
Three Mile Pilot - blech.
Seam - Did they sound like the pixies to anyone else? I thought it was pretty good.
Brick Layer Cake - I wish he had played longer because
The Black Heart Procession - sucks.
CocoRosie - I didn't get it...
Pinback - Ugh.
Calexico - We didn't stay for it but what I heard walking back to the car was good.

I hope you didn't just read that.

Saturday was too cool for words. If I tried to explain it all here I'd run out of superlatives. I'm still trying to wrap my brain around what it was I witnessed: great music, great people, great environment. There was just a general feeling of joy and it was awesome to be part of it.

I could try and explain the excitement in the air before Big Black started, or the weird and wonderful feeling in my stomach as Scratch Acid took the stage and how that feeling stayed there through the entire set, or how lovely it was to look up at the clouds for a while as Shellac played "The End of Radio", but I'd fail miserably. It was just a day that I will cherish and hopefully remember in extreme detail for years to come.

I was a little surprised to realize that I'm still just a giant fan-boy, but I'm kind of glad that I am.

Thanks to all.

Best...show...EVER...

oh yeah, uzeda was terrific.

MTAR wrote:oh yeah, uzeda was terrific.

Yes. Yes, they were. As soon as they were done I grabbed my wife's hand and walked directly to the record booth and picked up the latest Uzeda album. Agostino makes the best guitar faces.

I was on the verge of tears for at least half of The New Year's set. I had never seen them before this weekend, and as "The End is Near" has completely taken over my CD player this past year, they were my main motivation to go this weekend. FACE. SLAYED.

And Arcwelder. Holy crap. I knew only one song of theirs before this festival, but this will be changing very soon.

It was so great to see how many of the band members were hanging out watching everyone else's sets. This was the first time I've ever been at an event this large and actually felt any sort of companionship with strangers. Very cool.

Kayte R. wrote:Uzeda - They were amazing!!! Somebody recommend albums to me for I have none.

Different Section Wires is an amazing record. There is a new one coming out. Is it already out? I don't know.

Tom wrote:

Kayte R. wrote:Uzeda - They were amazing!!! Somebody recommend albums to me for I have none.

Different Section Wires is an amazing record. There is a new one coming out. Is it already out? I don't know.

I'm partial to the "4" EP. Fantastic debut. And one of my favorite Steve recordings (at Black Box in France, I believe).

What did Tim and Andy play?

Mama Clortho wrote:What did Tim and Andy play?

one beautiful soaring eulogy about arrows and clocks. Biznono played keys. Colossal and epic and terribly emotional.