An Indie Night

After waiting out the heat for most of the day, Jason and I headed out to the Pitchfork Music Festival on Saturday. The Pitchfork Media festival was one of the surprises of moving to Chicago, as Jason had followed indie music news on their website from Columbus. Seeing the acts they promote live was a treat delivered by our new hometown. Pitchfork can lay claim to bringing many small-time indie bands to mainstream fame. (This NPR story tells the story of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and how Pitchfork can change your life.)
I must concede that I'd never heard of most of the bands, but $30 for a two day pass makes the risk acceptable. (Even better when your boyfriend is actually the one who paid for the ticket!)
Since music can be enjoyed by ear, we spent most of our time entertaining our eyes wandering around the poster booths that made up the Flatstock 9 Convention that accompanied the music fest. Silkscreened posters, saturated with intense colors, often borrowing from comic or tatoo art traditions, promoting band gigs across the country. Our neighbor's cousin is an artist himself whose portfolio includes the Maroon 5 album cover, as well as the Dog the Bounty Hunter logo. "Tough Chick" t-shirts supplement the poster business too.
We saw about 10 posters we liked, and art like this is certainly more appealing, with more street cred, than the posters of Tuscan hills or softly-lit flowers you'll find at Bed, Bath & Beyond. (But still go there for the comfy bath rugs.) We were held back by the amount of cash on our person, as well as Jason's turning to me and asking, "Are we too old to have an apartment full of rock and roll posters?" Hey, my college professor dad cranked up Blondie and Queen when my mom was out of the house and took my sister to a Bowie concert.