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.

Devendra Banhart and Gilberto Gil at the Hollywood Bowl, 6/29/08

Devendra Banhart

And from the furthest
Corners of the bowl flowed all
Hippies, young and old!

Gilberto Gil

Brazil's national
Treasure schooled us in how to
Do the summer right

The Fleet Foxes with The Duchess and the Duke and Frankie Fairfield at the Echo, 6/28/08

Frankie Fairfield

So authentic that
We swore he was as blind as
Lemon Jefferson

The Duchess and the Duke

Liam Gallagher
And happy couple jangled
With harmonies rich.

Fleet Foxes

Barbershop quartet
From a woodsy thicket like
Crosby, Stills and Nash!

Hayes Carll and the Old 97's at the Crash Mansion, 6/19/08

Hayes Carll

Sharp, creased jeans bely
The "good-ole-boy-from-AK"
Drinkin' anthem lyrics.

Old 97's

Ashton Kutcher of
Alt-Country howlin' his
Way into my heart.

Erykah Badu at the Greek Theater, 6/12/08

Cornell West suit with
Interludes for each era
Of her heritage.

Beck at the Echo, 6/9/08

Shoe-gazey surf rock?
Indeed, interwoven with
Back-catalog's best.

Abe Vigoda and Mika Miko at the Smell's Vegan Pancake Breakfast, 6/8/08

Abe Vigoda

"Turn Into Something"
The A.C. track that inspired
Their live repertoire.

Mika Miko

Rachel Dratch and co.
Shouting of sandwiches and
Boasting flannel pride.

The Cure at the Hollywood Bowl, 5/31/08

Soaking in the love,
Goth Messiah seemed comfy
In his own thin skin