Photos courtesy Eric Uhlir, Blake Gordon and Trent Lesikar.

The Twilight Sad

This years Monolith Music Festival was another huge success, and the success of the WOXY stage continued as well. With another slate of excellent bands, we saw a full room for almost every act on both days. Here are photos from Day 2 at the WOXY stage, which featured A Shoreline Dream, We Were Promised Jetpacks, Bad Veins, The Twilight Sad, Neon Indian and Deer Tick. Have a peek below at a slideshow of the photos, or head on over to Flickr and view them there.

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

This years Monolith Music Festival was another huge success, and the success of the WOXY stage continued as well. With another slate of excellent bands, we saw a full room for almost every act on both days. Here are photos from Day 1 at the WOXY stage, which featured Generationals, These United States, The Antlers, The Answering Machine, Cymbals Eat Guitars and Cotton Jones. Have a peek below at a slideshow of the photos, or head on over to Flickr and view them there.

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

We had a fantastic time at our party Sunday night, and it was a success in no small part thanks to all of you. We met Ohio transplants who had been listening to us for years, locals who are just finding us now, and everyone in between. We had a blast — and we hope you did too!

Thanks again to Waterloo Records, Ruby’s BBQ, Scoot Inn, Austin Visitors & Convention Bureau, Hole in the Roof and the bands (TV Torso, Black Before Red, Martin Crane and English Teeth) for helping us throw such a great party. Check out more pictures from the evening at Austinist.

There’s also an interview with Joe at the Onion’s AV Club to check out — see how he does with his Austin Orientation.

CONTEST CLOSED – THANKS FOR ENTERING!*******
It’s time! Time for the 2009 Monolith Festival in at beautiful Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrisson Colorado! This is the third Monolith Festival, and the third time WOXY will be affiliated with the fest as well. Have a look at some of our great experiences from 2008 and from 2007. The WOXY stage will be rocking again this year as well, with a stable another great bunch of bands playing September 12th and 13th.

And again this year, we want you to come to the festival, for free. That is correct, we have tickets for the festivities to give away, here is what is up for grabs.

A Pair of VIP GOLD Passes
2 Sets Of Tickets To Saturday & Sunday

All you have to do to qualify is hit up the good ole contest email address at woxycontests at gmail dot com. Give us your most sincere plea and we will announce a winner in about a week! Good luck!

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

(The Flaming Lips)

(all photos by David Evans)

Sadly, I was unable to stick around Chicago for Day 3 of the Pitchfork Music Festival. I had to get back home and to the friendly confines of WOXY.com for my air shift on Monday. On the positive side though, our photographer for the weekend, Dave Evans, was able to stick around. He took another batch of great pictures that you can see in this post, or just hit up the entire photoset here.

(Frightened Rabbit)

(Grizzly Bear)

(The Walkmen)

(M83)

(Blitzen Trapper)

(Pharoahe Monch)

(The Flaming Lips)

(Japandroids)

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(The National)

As I awoke in my hotel and pondered the second day of the Pitchfork Music Festival, I got pretty excited about the prospects. Because after all, not only was Day 2 the first “full” day of music, but it also was the first opportunity for the younger bands to shine. The bands that Pitchfork often champions are the up-and-comers, and there were plenty on deck for Saturday at Union Park.

When I arrived, I could already tell that a great deal more people were there than the previous night, which speaks to the fact that Saturday might be the best attended day overall. I knew what I wanted to see on Saturday, and thanks to only having to worry about 3 stages, I was confident I could pull it off. First up for me was a no-brainer: Cymbals Eat Guitars. The band from New York have been one of the more talked about groups to hit the scene this year and WOXY.com was at the forefront of that buzz, playing their debut album, Why There Are Mountains, months before most got a hold of it. Playing to what may have easily been the biggest crowd in the band’s young history, lead singer Joseph D’Agostino was clearly a bit shellshocked at the sight of such a large crowd. That said, he pulled things together and they ripped through a set that was not without its flaws, but was really fun to watch. You could tell the band was having a blast as well. When I spoke with the guys afterwards, they mentioned that there were “zero fails” and it’s hard to disagree.

(Cymbals Eat Guitars)

The next act I had a chance to catch was Plants & Animals, another band whose record we were really into at WOXY.com last year. The band played a very tight set and I was struck by how great some of the tunes sounded in a live setting, especially the long but incredible “Faerie Dance.” Although I had little to no intention to do so, I caught some of the set from Fucked Up next, who were playing the stage directly in my path between Plants & Animals and the press tent. Fucked Up sound mostly horrible to my ears, I have to admit, but the spectacle of lead singer Damian Abraham on stage taking every beach ball that bounced on stage and ripping them to shreds with his teeth was too hard to ignore. The hardcore band provided one of the most energetic sets of the day and even though I could care less for their music, it was hard to look away.

(Fucked Up)

I was unable to catch much of the set from The Antlers, regrettably, because I was now running back and forth between the VIP area to do interviews and the stages, but bounced out just in time to see The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart tear into their set as the clouds looked more and more threatening above. Pains, like many other bands that day, were playing to the biggest crowd in their lives as well, and despite the added pressure, seemed to not only keep it together, but shine in the face of the now oncoming rain. At this point in their young career, they seem incredibly confident on stage. While the sound might not be groundbreaking, they certainly deserve the attention they are getting this year.

More running back and forth allowed me to only catch the start of the set from Bowerbirds, whose new album Upper Air is nothing short of charming. Of course, Beth and Phil are charming as well, and even though I had to turn and leave halfway through their set, it was pretty obvious they were casting their spell on the crowd from the start. After fulfilling another interview obligation, I took a break with the first food of the day as Final Fantasy was playing. Owen does not do very many festival type things, at least in the US, so it was nice to hear some familiar and some new songs from the talented artist.

(The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart)

After some food and actually sitting down for about 15-20 minutes, I made my next stop the C stage, where Yeasayer was getting ready to play. I think I have been a bit of a casual Yeasayer fan so far, really enjoying some songs from their debut album but not really going out of my way to do much about it. Not only was this the most pleasantly surprising set of the weekend for me, it was close to the best overall. Yeasayer had all of the elements you look for in a good festival performance. The downside however, was that the rain was now coming down more than it really had been the entire weekend as well. I decided to stay though, and I’m glad I did. It may have been “the moment” of the day when the band was playing their song “Sunrise” and not only did the rain cease, but the sun actually peeked through the clouds in the midst of the tune. Perfect. Just perfect.

(Yeasayer)

From there I was able to catch an excellent performance from Beirut, who I had never seen live before. His stage setup, probably the only one all weekend without an electric guitar present, was not only unique in setup but also in sound. The brass section carried the songs, just as they do on record and Zach’s voice seemed even larger than on tape, floating above the mass of people gathered for the show.

(Beirut)

From there, I had my eyes on the prize. And that prize was The National. I mean, how can you go wrong with one of the best bands on the planet headlining after a great day of music? The Cincinnati-bred boys started the set off with a brand new song called “Runaway” and I was immediately hooked. I had seen and heard them performing this previously and seeing it live was a great. They then launched into a set full of emotion and raw energy that builds from meek and mild into a violent rage. Songs like “Mistaken For Strangers”, “Squalor Victoria”, and “Secret Meeting” still carry that sense of urgency that attracted me to the band years ago.

(The National)

And I have to say, the new song that is for now being called “Vanderlye, Cry Baby Cry” and has also at times been dubbed “Strum Club” may have been the best song of the set. Get a taste right here and enjoy the tune along with guitarist Bryce Dessner using a bow on his electric guitar. The guys finished their set and day two off with the epic live staple “Mr. November” and included “About Today” as an encore as well.

While exhausted from the previous two days, there is nothing quite like the satisfaction of hearing one of your favorite bands to close out a full day of live music.

(The Antlers)

(Matt & Kim)

(Plants & Animals)

More photos after the jump, or view our entire Day 2 photoset here…
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(Built To Spill)

(all photos by David Evans)

Weather can play a big role when it comes to how much you enjoy a music festival. Just ask the concert goers who attended the Pitchfork Music Festival a couple years ago, when temperatures in the Chicago area rose above 95 degrees for most of the weekend. So, as someone who prefers NOT to have to deal with that much heat, I was pretty happy to see that the forecast for this year’s festival, was much more welcoming. They had been calling for temps topping out in the mid 70s, but when I arrived in Union Park off of the L train, a light rain and cold breeze made me feel like I needed a sweatshirt rather than sunscreen.

(The Jesus Lizard)

This is my first Pitchfork Fest, and after attending Bonnarooo, Lollapalooza and SXSW, I can appreciate the smaller feel that P4K resonates. Union Park after all is really a sports park, with baseball fields and basketball courts and tennis courts that get covered with hipsters one weekend a year. The first evening of the festival also allows you to ease into things, since there are just 4 bands playing and none of them are competing with another stage. Tortoise kicked off the festival and was just a few songs into their set when I arrived. Plenty of new tunes from Beacons of Ancestorship were present, but I felt that at times these guys had very little to offer visually and strode off before the set ended to check out the remainder of the festival grounds.

(Yo La Tengo)

One of the best things about the festival is the merchandise area, which is an independent aritist’s dream. Covering what is usually the tennis courts is a full-on art fair, complete with t-shirts, jewelry, clothing and tons of vinyl records. Indie stalwarths like Sub Pop Records are represented, as well as plenty of local indie labels pushing their artists as well. This is the anti-mall. This is the anti-corporate paradise, where there are just as many handmade items as shoppers. After perusing the area and finding some cheap sunglasses that fit me better than anything at a gas station could, but not costing any more, I moved back to the music and got a nice spot in front to the stage for Yo La Tengo.

The New York trio are really some of the more unassuming musicians I have seen despite their indie rock god status. They, like many of the other bands playing Friday night, had put out a ballot of sorts allowing fans to vote on their setlist for this performance and so it was obvious we would be getting some of their most well known tunes. Among the hits was “Autumn Sweater”, “Tom Courtenay”, “Cherry Chapstick” and “Let’s Save Tony Orlando’s House.” But I really got a kick out of a new song, “Periodically Double Or Triple”, which Ira dedicated to former Chicago Cub legend and broadcaster Ron Santo “wherever he is.” It made me even more excited for the brand new album, due out this fall. YLT are able to not only perform a delicate ballad as easy as a guitar shredding 8 minute jam, as evidenced by fan favorite and set closer “Sugarcube”, which left me reeling.

(The Jesus Lizard)

After YLT, it was time for The Jesus Lizard, a band that I have to say, I have never really been a huge fan of. That being said, I can totally respect and appreciate the fact that they are indie legends and this set would be important. After all, this was the first performance from the band in nearly 10 years! As soon as frontman David Yow hit the stage, the energy within a a wide portion of his epicenter turned from a cool summer evening into a drunken sloppy mess, complete with indistiguishable lyrics, thick pulsating guitars and a stage dive during set opener “Puss” that lasted for the entire song and at times had folks wondering if and when Yow would emerge from the pit to finish the show. It was hard to deny the energy the Lizard was dishing out, and I would say that for fans of the band, this set would be a highlight difficult to top for the whole weekend.

(Built To Spill)

Built To Spill were the final act of the night, and I was more than ready to hear yet another indie rock legend dish out their hits. Doug and company have just about the opposite energy level that the Jesus Lizard employ however and opened up things with “Liar” to the biggest group of people all night long. Here is the thing about Built To Spill, they are an amazing band on record, some of their songs, as evidenced by the setlist for the night, belong in the canon of indie fame forever. My only complaint is that the guys just don’t make me want to stick around and watch anything. They sound great, but there is something about a live performance that makes me yearn for stage banter, energetic band members pushing the energy out and letting the crowd push it right back, and sorry to say this, but Built To Spill do not do that.

That being said, I am really happy I got the opportunity to see them do their thing live this weekend, and despite my objections, “Goin’ Against Your Mind” was brilliant live, as were many of the other tunes in the set. I left the festival on day 1 and jumped back on the L headed toward my hotel. The waterside view from the pink line is hard to top, and so was the fun that I encountered on the first day of the 2009 Pitchfork Music Festival.

(Yo La Tengo)

Lots more photos after the jump of Tortoise, The Jesus Lizard, Yo La Tengo and Built To Spill.
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It’s here! The WOXY.com iPhone application for your iPhone or iPod Touch is now available for free download in the App Store! We are pretty excited about this and hope you will love using it. This is the first version of the app and we hope to add new features down the road to continue to bring you more and more of WOXY.com on the go!

Here is a link to grab the brand new WOXY iPhone App!

Joe gave you this quick preview a few months ago. Have a quick look….

WOXY iPhone App Preview on 12seconds.tv

If you are unable to use the iPhone app though, there are still other ways to stream WOXY.com and WOXY Vintage from your mobile phone. Have a look below at some of these options after the jump…
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WOXY SXSW 2009 Photos Collection….