The Antlers @ Pitchfork Music Festival 2009
The best thing about an outdoor festival is the intangibles that can take a show and push it to another level. Where a dark, sterile nightclub offers no variation of settings, outdoor shows can occasionally provide a moment where the stars seem to align to match a band’s sound with a transcendent moment. In these times, a band’s songs can mesh with a particular situation to enhance the experience in a way that could never be imagined in a normal venue. In the same way that a pop band (lets take the easy path and choose the Beach Boys) seems keenly matched to play a sunny afternoon, the Antlers seem destined for a rainy day. The three piece group, that released its crushing debut album Hospice earlier this year, crafted a somber and depressing album the likes of which I haven’t heard since the Eels’ Electro Shock Blues. Hospice tells the story of watching a loved one succumb to cancer over whimsical and dramatic pop music. I was a little worried the album, which is a slow grower that takes a while to hit you, would not come across in the live setting. This ended up not being the case at all.
Near the end of the set, when the group played Hospice highlights “Bear” and “Two” back to back, the clouds that had been gathering all afternoon finally opened up and the rain started coming down. The two songs, which are the the cornerstone of the disc and are tracks that cut pretty close to the bone, found an extra dimension of earnestly to them; standing in the cold rain added an extra poignancy to these already great songs and made it nearly impossible to miss the crushing weight of their melancholic lyrics. The bands short six song set also included the moving set opener “Kettering,” a powerful and propulsive “Atrophy” and the sensational set closer “Epilogue.” With lyrics like “You’ve got no interest in the life you live when you are awake,” the track was a fitting end to a sad and moving set. The Antlers proved more than adept at translating the band’s amazing album in the live setting with their great set Saturday afternoon. With a little help from mother nature, the Antlers provided one of the more arresting moments of the festival and showed that the hype surrounding this young band is well deserved.
[Review and videos by Josh Keller, photos by Jon Behm.]
