Pitchfork Music Festival Paris, Day Two
Somethingyousaid.com’s Carol Bowditch saw a bunch of ace bands at the Pitchfork Music Festival Paris:
Having made my way through day one, impressed by the spot-on sets by No Age and Warpaint, today’s lineup in comparison would require more of a trial and error approach. I hadn’t heard of many of the artists on the bill and found myself asking strangers, “so, will like Danny Brown?”, which was stupid, because strangers don’t know how picky I can be; And I would soon learn that Danny Brown was totally not for me.
Warpaint were my first act of the evening in the Grande Halle. The female quartet dressed in plaid and velvet, flicked their hair as they performed their delightfully moody numbers; Undertow and Beetles were memorable among their setlist. Their voices sounded perfect, as did the accompaniment, they were completely captivating for a young band within the big space.
Jagwar Ma were the hot favourite of the evening. Most people I met, all from strange corners of the world were quoting the troppo groovers from Sydney as their ‘one to see’ or ‘act of the night’. Granted, they are a fantastic live band, their record, Howlin’ is packed with solid, festival worthy bangers. I liked how the closing track, What Love, was mixed into a rendition of the Cardigans’ Lovefool in the last few reverby minutes of the set.
I chanced upon Connan Mockasin’s set soon after. The kiwi with striking white blonde hair, dressed in a black kimono, with a strange likeness to Phillip Seymour Hoffman was relaxed with the crowd during his set. He urged them not to clap as it was too loud, but rather rub their fingers together silently to show their appreciation.
His childlike voice in numbers like, It’s Choade My Dear have left me amazed a fortnight later, I have since actively searched the internet for music videos, interviews and his back-catalogue; I have totally fan-girled out on this one.
During the final ten minutes of stage time, Mockasin became horizontal and requested for “a hundred or so” people in the audience to take it easy and be seated. With the entire crowd of thousands now squatting, he performed the Prince-like, I Wanna Roll With You. Which was basically an extended pick-up line, with call-and-response verses including the lyrics “I wanna roll with you- oh my love, you’re such an easy flirt”.
Following the whimsical seated set of Connan Mockasin was Danny Brown. Having never heard the artists’ name prior to the night I waited with fresh ears waiting for something that I could, based on strangers’ suggestions, possibly really like, or not. The American producer who has collaborated with Charli XCX and A$AP Rocky, smashed out aggressive bitch slamming tracks for forty-five minutes. I heard him shout “if you smoke too many blunts”, repeatedly followed by “you gonna go into a KUSH COMA!”. No thanks, Brown. The crowd, pictured right with some serious ‘O’ faces, seemed to see some substance in the set though.
Disclosure rounded off night number two. My booze and enthusiasm levels were outweighed by lethargy and I was finding it difficult dance like a madwoman along to tracks like You & Me and the house smasher, When a Fire Starts to Burn like the young lovely things around me. Occasional head bobbing showing my appreciation was found with White Noise, to be followed by my stealthy exit.
I left to dream about Connan Mockasin and his lady voice that I’d fallen for hours before and would soon find myself back in the Grande Halle for the third and final day.
If you missed my review of day one at Pitchfork Music Festival Paris, see it here. There’s also a full photo gallery from the second day, see it here.
Words by Carol Bowditch.
