Art Brut, the Futureheads and More Rock Pitchfork Fest

Pitchfork Music Festival: Rating 8.1

There's really only one way to rate this past weekend's inaugural Pitchfork Music Festival held at Chicago's Union Park: fuckin' hot. Put together by the folks at the uber-indie online zine Pitchfork Media, the two-day festival drew sold-out crowds (at 18,000 both days) with a roster that included Yo La Tengo, Spoon, the Walkmen, Devendra Banhart, the Futureheads, Os Mutantes, Silver Jews, and Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, among others.

But when we say it was hot, we mean literally. Temperatures reaching into the mid-Nineties coupled with the Windy City's trademark humidity meant the beer was warm by the second sip and people were waiting in line to get a couple of seconds beneath the spouts of the fest's sole misting tent. Note for next year: more misting tents and beer cozies.

"Sunstruck -- I felt sunstruck onstage. Is that even a word?" Art Brut guitarist Jasper Future told Rolling Stone of the heat during his Saturday afternoon set. That wasn't the only thing Future and his bandmates would make up. Along with songs off their debut, Bang Bang Rock & Roll, the U.K. art-punk band sampled their latest jingle, the way-ironic "Unwritten Hit," which vocalist Eddie Argos -- fresh off the "best haircut of [his] life" from a Polish barber down the street for only five dollars (a price rivaling the thirty-dollar price tag for the festival's two-day pass) -- continued to vocally improvise during the song's first-ever live performance.

The ultimate punk-rock move, however -- and the first artist casualty of the weekend -- came during Ted Leo's set, after Leo headbanged his mike repeatedly, leaving the frontman and guitarist with a bloody gash on his forehead. Also bringing the unusually frat-tastic Saturday crowd out of their sun comas were Seattle psych-rockers Band of Horses and angular pop outfit the Futureheads -- who opened with their breakthrough hit "Decent Days and Nights" and continued to please with their cover of Kate Bush's "Hounds of Love" and tracks off their latest release, News and Tributes.

Otherwise, attendees lounged on blankets, picked at the grass and did crossword puzzles during mellow sets from singer-songwriter and college radio favorite Destroyer, who at times was inaudible due to the nearby passing Green Line El train, and the storytelling song-speak of Mountain Goats frontman John Darnielle, whom many ditched to check out the dirty beats of Canadian DJ/producer Ghislain Poirier from the nearby Biz3 tent. That setup showcased turntable-ism throughout the weekend -- by way of MCs and DJs including M.I.A. partner-in-crime Diplo -- and would become the site of the next major artist casualty.