17th
Built To Spill - Liar
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Built To Spill opened their Pitchfork Fest set with Liar, and it was exactly what I needed to hear.
I’ve only been to one indie/rock concert in the past way-longer-than-it-should be (and that was The Daredevil Christopher Wright, who I’ll probably blog next week but you should check out now) until tonight’s night-before-P4K outdoor awesomeness. And Built To Spill just brought back all the greatness that was my uber-indie-rock days, which probably hit their apex during my last (and only other) time at P4K Fest, back in ‘06.
The amazing thing about outdoor concerts, to me, is that they’re amazing. They tend to be subpar sonically — the open field definitely wasn’t built to conform to and enhance acoustic properties. You also often end up way further from the band than you would in a closed-venue show.
But what it lacks in what you would normally hope for, it makes up for in sheer… magic. The feeling of being outdoors, with the wind in your hair, and the constantly changing backdrop is musical beauty.
One of the most beautiful moments I’ve ever had at an outdoor concert, possibly rivaled only by Built To Spill’s rendition of Conventional Wisdom tonight, was when I saw The Smashing Pumpkins at VFest Toronto 2007, performing what was either Bullet With Butterfly Wings or 1979… to be honest, I just can’t remember, and it doesn’t matter.
What was special was that I saw and heard it from this unique perspective: across a river, through trees, under a starry sky. How many others can claim to have witnessed that?
