The Hold Steady at the Avalon, 7/30/08

Midwestern man's men,
Foppish gesticulation
Only adding style

White Lies at the Echo, 7/30/08

Will not write off as
A fetal Franz Ferdinand...
These kids have got soul!

Gnarls Barkley at the Hollywood Bowl, 7/27/08

Rotund minister's
Hallelujahs in the form
Of sweaty hymnals.

The Pitchfork Music Festival (Sunday) at Union Park in Chicago, 7/20/08

Times New Viking

Surprise! A lady
Raged through their cacophony
Of an arrangement

The Dirty Projectors

All could fail around
This band and they'd save the day
With their loveliness

High Places

I volunteer my
Service as your bass player
Take it. You need me.

Boris

See-through magenta
Not just a kit, but a sound
Coupled with burning

HEALTH

Nomenclature to
Shed a tear to, they blew out
An eardrum or two

Les Savvy Fav

Oh, dear. Joke's on me
For judging books by titles
Small French chicks they're NOT!

M. Ward

Youthful finger work
Octogenarian soul
Sepia photo songs

The Dodos

Would not have taken
Meric to be such a ham...
Jumbo-Tron grin!

Spiritualized

Liam Gallagher
But with power, focused force
Unleashed unto us

Dinosaur Jr

I sacrificed my
Body so that Barlow could
Bless me with his smile.

Spoon

Quite keyboard savvy
These days, perhaps to distance
From Vampire Weekend?

The Pitchfork Music Festival (Saturday) at Union Park in Chicago, 7/19/08

Titus Andronicus

Rambunctious Persians
Remarkably melodic
In the warm downpour

Jay Reatard

Ted Nugent-tastic
With the hair and the gut and
Utter gnarliness

Caribou

Never would I have
Predicted such jam band force
Unleashed by duel kits

Fleet Foxes

Their bashful nod to
Pitchfork's power endeared them
To all in ear-shot

Dizzee Rascal

Granted, I may have
Snoozed through his set, I heard him
Demand his name lots.

!!!

Holy daisy dukes!
Shameless flaunting backed by beats
To weaken morals

The Hold Steady

Commiserating
In the major key with the
Broke-down in us all.

Jarvis Cocker

I was not pre-warned
Of the hips that would haunt my
Dreams for nights to come!

Animal Collective

Sanguine, raw, glowing
Emoting like a poker
Slicing through a cloud.