There's more of a slump of the shoulders, a bleariness in the eyes. On the last day of music festivals, there is often a tangible exhaustion in the air. And when temperatures climbed to nearly triple digits on Sunday at Pitchfork, the weight of the weekend fell on the collectively, sweat-drenched backs of festival goers.

Admittedly in the midst of a debilitating hangover, Alex Zhang Hungtai, Dirty Beaches lulled the crowd into a fall sense of security with gentle dissonance only to rile their own hangovers, drenching the audience with harsh ambient noise.

Alex Cohen of Olympia lo-fi punk outfit Milk Music belted through a roaring set, carelessly casting off errors from his group.

The only moment Elias Bender Ronnenfelt of Danish punk collective Iceage was silent was after a bass amp blew out, after which the band proceeded to stare at the crowd offering no explanation as to why they stopped playing.

Ragingly loud multi-instrumentalist Ty Segall issued blood-curdlingly awesome screams during his incendiary playlist.

Mark Perro and Ben Greenberg of The Men sharing mic duties as the punk-filled afternoon waged on.

Martin Courtney embodied Real Estate's chill easy nature in the blazing sun's glow.

With no ornamentation or hype men, Kendrick Lamar brought the soul from Section 80. Not to mention Lady Gaga was in attendance. But her presence pales in comparison to that of Chief Keef, who not only randomly showed up but also performed everyone's chant-along favorite "I Don't Like" during the AraabMuzik set.

Oneohtrix Point Never perched at his electro-composition headquarters.

The artist formerly known as Zoo Kid, British youngster King Krule performed his uniquely strange brand of music influenced by a wide range of artists including Fela Kuti and the stylings of 50's rockabilly sounds.

Alex Scally of Beach House decked out in formal wear befitting of the band's brilliantly beautiful sound. Draped in fog, closing in on the winding hours of the festival, the Baltimore duo (performing with a drummer as well) may very well have put on the best show of the weekend.

Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend was happy to return to Pitchfork after playing there four years ago, this time around closing the weekend's festivities.
All photo credits: Gideon Resnick
Follow on Ology: Gideon Resnick | Pitchfork Festival 2012
Follow on Twitter: @GideonResnick
Comments (0)
Be the first to comment!