LIVE REVIEW: INNERVIEW AT PITCHFORK FEST, DAY TWO

At 1:45 Saturday afternoon, Girl Band took the Red Stage in an electrical storm of frustration and confusion. Meanwhile, it was hard to tell whether RP Boo was really good at pulling people to the Blue Stage or if the crowd was just trying to get a bit of shade. Saying that one has “commanding stage presence” is admittedly sort of a cop-out, but goddammit, the second Savages’ Jehnny Beth stepped onto the Green Stage she owned the place. Within minutes she was soaked with sweat, flinging her hair out of her face and alternating between a wail and a whisper with their set highlighted by one seriously breathtaking moment when she waded out into the crowd to finish a song like some biblical prophet preaching among the people. After that it was almost time for Blood Orange, whose set got crazy whenever Dev Hynes got ahold of a guitar or spun around in circles like the needle of a compass dropped down the shaft of an iron mine. Brian Wilson needed a little help on vocals here and there (he’s in his ‘70s), but it was still great to stand among the strollers and lawn chairs watching a legend in motion. As he finished with Beach Boys classics like “Barbara Ann” and “Surfin’ U.S.A.”, things started to get weird on the Blue Stage. About 20 minutes before her set was scheduled to end, Holly Herndon and her team started to set up. Then, just when it finally looked like we were almost ready to begin, technical difficulties torpedoed their set and they had to exit the stage, offering the crowd little more than a few tracks played from a computer and an apology. BY WILLIAM LENNON–PHOTO BY MATT LIEF ANDERSON
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