nerd alert/john darnielle gave me a hug!

first off: taqueria super burrito? at 10 pm? on a sunday? manna from god's own heaven. that's why i have their number in my cell phone, no joke.

second: no, that's not a typo! pitchfork day one was ridiculously hot, but well organized, all things considered. met up with christine and her friends just in time for the mountain goats. since the goats weren't their thing, i thereupon promptly ditched said group, but i feel entitled. dudes opened with "jenny," which for whatever subjective reason had been pretty much the one song i really wanted to hear from anyone all day, and which obviously made me happy. "dance music," "cubs in five," "the fall of the star high-school runningback," and an excellent franklin bruno cover ("houseguest") were also played. not everything translated in the space and the heat, but it was pretty awesome nonetheless. later on, up close for art brut (who for whatever subjective reason make christine very happy), we found ourselves near some of the musician and writer intelligentia. i had a very pleasant exchange with jim derogatis about how awesome his lester bangs book was and why he's not on tv anymore, and stood next to the aforementioned mr. bruno, whose take on "armed forces" for the 33 1/3 series was one of my favorite books of last year and whose old band made me very, very happy many years ago. i think i saw the divine ms. jessica hopper too.

anyway, at that time, john darnielle and friends moved past us, and i was compelled to pat him on the shoulder and give a quick "great job today!" because, you know, i really felt that way. he said thanks, prepared to move on, then paused, smiled at me, and gave me a hug. it really meant a lot. not in the thirteen-year-old-omg-i'm-never-washing-this-dress-AGAIN! sense (although, shhhyeah, i definitely felt that way for at least five minutes afterward), but more profoundly. i realized, once again, that if someone does or says something nice for you, you can either give a cursory, if acceptable, thanks, or take a second to do it one better. if you choose the latter, then it will probably make both of you feel that much better.

otherwise, it was obviously great people-watching and a very mixed crowd. there were folks in breathtakingly weather-inappropriate attire, and others who could stand to cover up a bit. there were hipsters and fratsters (one dude, returning from the beer tent, notably exclaimed, "dude! this is the one song i've recognized all day!" when "the rat" came on....but if yr gonna know a song, i guess that's not a bad one!) and in-betweeners like me, who really shouldn't judge.

it was a great day, but even above and beyond the hug, the silver jews were the highlight. oh my. gorgeous, completely gorgeous, and that's not really an adjective i would have thought to apply to them before now. cassie berman is probably the most elegant woman i have ever seen in real life. (one of the most beautiful too, but i mean to refer to something beyond that.) and obviously, she totally wails. best stage banter of the night, bar none, including but not limited to berman's thoughts on his recent trip to the middle east and his issues with brian wilson as musical inspiration. the languid guitar, the lush keyboards, the backdrop of the moon and a beautiful church cast against the night sky, and most importantly, the amazing songs: it was lovely.

today?

mission of burma. oh my g-g-g-g-g-g-g-o-d-d-d. they opened with "that's how i escaped my certain fate," in my opinion, the best punk song ever written, and one of my favorite songs, generally. their sound, especially circa 2006, is so relentless, yet so nuanced. i defy you to find a more relevant, rocking and tuneful band right now, especially as compared to some of their past contemporaries orchestrating lame "reunions" these days. it was a little weird how many teenagers were in the audience. i mean, kids who absolutely had to be eight to ten years younger than me, but who recognized and responded to most of the songs, even from "vs." did it make me feel old? sure, yeah, briefly. but if the high-schoolers are listening to burma, then maybe we're not so fucked after all.

then i spent an hour on the phone talking with my brother and with jess, both to catch up with them and to avoid devendra banhart's set. what little i heard made me shudder.

then there was yo la tengo, perenially cute, pop historians, masters of the rock song in all its forms. who else could go from a garage-rock frug to an extended noise jam to a positively yacht rock lite-funk groove without missing a beat? they leaned a little heavy on the jamz at the end, but it all sounded good. several new songs were played. from what i heard, their album really ISN'T afraid of you and it WILL beat your ass.

other highlights:

• quasi-celebrity sightings: aziz ansari, fred armisen (twice), mark greenberg of the late lamented coctails walking with his wife and kids (so cute), the dude from the m's wearing a questionable sombrero (not so cute), the kid who works at jmls bookstore.
• the FUNNEL CAKES. oh, man. i've had some good ones, and i've had some horrible, rubbery ones, at fuck, i don't know, worlds of fun or wherever, but these were amazing. the one i had saturday was so good i had to buy one on sunday. am i a tool for spending five dollars on a piece of fried dough? probably. do i care? not really. i am a slave to the carbs, what can i say?
• the kids that gave me a free cab ride on saturday.
• seeing the aforementioned mr. darnielle pumping his fist and singing along to "that's when i reach for my revolver" and several other burma songs, not five feet away from me. does somebody have a crush? yeah, probably, kinda. as if his writing hadn't already accomplished that.
• finding out that the aforementioned aforementioned mr. bruno has a new musical concern! while wandering the indie-rock flea-market tent, i came upon the tight ship records booth. i guess it's a new label, run by barry phipps, ALSO of the late lamented coctails, that puts out rare/exclusive/left-of-center recordings by chicago musicians. they had bbc sessions from archer prewitt, something or other from the like young, and then they had...the human hearts. franklin bruno, jean cook (now of the beauty pill), mark greenberg, and some other guy. of course i totally bought it. i've listened to about half of it and it's totally nothing painted blue v. 2.0 in the best way, i.e. hyper-literate power pop. love it love it.

yeah, so, and, there was also ted leo (who debuted "army bound," a new, chisel-esque song that excited me in that the melody was more sophisticated than most of the last album, and the drumming was killer too , the walkmen, spoon (who also debuted a cool, promising new song), etc. etc. and the futureheads, who i'd never heard before now, but whose singer distinctly resembles paul weller. well done all around.