J. Neas reporting again from Chicago. After a bit of late start due to some brunch navigation around closed lines on the L, I arrived at the festival in time to catch Fucked Up. Having grown to enjoy the layered and complex post-hardcore of their recorded material, the live show was a bit simplistic, but still powerful - whether it was lead singer Pink Eyes, ripping beach balls open with his teeth or parading around with a sunflower tucked in his shorts, and his howling menace or the three guitarists, bass player and a drummer behind him pounding out the cadence for his barks. I'm still at a bit of a loss for why they need three guitarists on stage - I couldn't hear anything that lead me to believe much was going on that needed them all - but it was a powerful blast of a show and the front of the stage became somewhat of a pit for the first time all festival.
I had one serious worry about seeing the Pains of Being Pure at Heart. I saw them on some late-night talk show and had thought their performance was somewhat lacking. A bit low-key, not very loud, really not what I was hoping for out of a band that seemed to craft C86 music like nobody's business. But I was completely taken with their performance. It was catchy, loud, energetic and really one of the highlights of the festival. They did a giddy rush through of "Come Saturday" that had people dancing throughout the audience. Best comment, from lead-singer Kip Berman: "We got some great advice from Pink Eyes [of Fucked Up] - he told us we should sound more like Weezer."
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