Concert Reviews

Pitchfork Music Festival 2017 Delivers Excitement & Emotion in an Easygoing Atmosphere

Fans cheer at Pitchfork Fest 2017 (photo: Meredith Mattlin)

Pitchfork Fest was a remarkably relaxed and fun festival. The only difficult part was—as cheesy as it sounds—choosing which sets from the vast and diverse array of options to watch. Luckily, Pitchfork happens to be the rare festival that allows you to bounce from set to set with relative ease: the stages are close together which means you don’t have to walk far; the Chicago weather made for an almost too-good-to-be-true forecast to move between outdoor stages; despite the overlapping sets, the times were strategically planned such that you could catch at least a little bit of all your favorites. It seemed, in short, designed to facilitate your having your best time.

Pitchfork Music Festival Saturday Highlights: A Tribe Called Quest, Angel Olsen, & More

A Tribe Called Quest at Pitchfork Music Festival 2017. Click to enlarge. (photo: Meredith Mattlin)

After an eventful day one, Pitchfork Fest day two promised an even more saturated schedule. And it certainly delivered on that promise: first of all, with A Tribe Called Quest headlining, all the other bands could have tanked and this day still would have been certifiably historical. Fortunately, however, we were lucky enough that not a single one of the other acts disappointed.

Pitchfork Music Festival Friday Highlights: Dirty Projectors, LCD Soundsystem

Dirty Projectors at Pitchfork Fest 2017 (photo: Meredith Mattlin)

Friday’s lineup promised an electric start to an action-packed festival weekend. Nashville’s own William Tyler played at 4 PM on Friday, followed immediately by Frankie Cosmos and Thurston Moore. The three of these provided a perfectly well-rounded, balanced trio of acts to precede the contrastingly high-energy Danny Brown, who flawlessly delivered intensity and famously rapid rap. Dirty Projectors’ intimidating, otherworldly sounds set a new kind of mood, one that held the audience rapt for a night that culminated in an impossibly fantastic performance by LCD Soundsystem.

Wet Talks Writing, Performing, & Pre-Show Prep in WRVU Interview

Wet backstage at Exit/In (photographed by Meredith Mattlin)

A while back, WRVU had the opportunity to interview Wet, the effervescent indie pop sensation that had eager Nashvillians lining up out the door to Exit/In in hopes of a ticket to the sold-out show. We talked before their Exit/In show about touring, new music, their writing process, being on the road and in the South, pre-concert rituals…to read it all, and watch for the first time/relive their show, check out the interview and concert footage below. (We also photographed the band backstage before the show, which you can check out below as well.)

A Very Metal Valentine’s with Alcest

Neige (right) and Zero (left) of Alcest trade off dense and dreamy guitar parts

To say the situation was “uncomfortably wet” Tuesday night as we pushed through clouds of cigarette smoke into the dark confines of The End would be a bit of an understatement, but for some reason the trudge through the cold rain that plagued most of Valentine’s Day was almost a welcome warmup for the experience that lie ahead.

Stop Resisting: An Interview

Photo credit: Chris Michel
Photo credit: Chris Michel

For those of you who missed it, Stop Resisting recently had a show in the basement of Towers. The set-up was great, with curtains over the door and multicolored lights playing off the walls. However, for some of us concert goers it was a little difficult to tell what exactly was going on with this new band. They played a mix of originals and covers, and while I was incredibly entertained, I needed to find out a little more about this new band. I emailed one of the band members, Will Braithwaite, and he got me the inside scoop. So without further ado, I give you Stop Resisting.

Catifish Takes Over Marathon

Photo Credit: Haley Brecher
Photo Credit: Haley Brecher

On Saturday night, I experienced one of my favorite concerts in my entire concert-going career with a band that I least expected. While I have seen Catfish and the Bottlemen perform live before and enjoy listening to their music, I would not place them at the top of the list of my favorite artists. However, I promised my friend and favorite concert-buddy Haley that I’d go with her because they were on her bucket list of bands to see live.

DIIV Lights Up High Watt on November 12

DIIV's Zachary Cole Smith at the High Watt, November 12. (photo: Meredith Mattlin)
DIIV’s Zachary Cole Smith at the High Watt, November 12. (photo: Meredith Mattlin)

One thing that DIIV has undeniably cultivated is a certain, for lack of a better word, aesthetic—that quintessentially millennial, carelessly cool, baggy-shirt-baggy-pants-European-jazz-shoes Brooklynite look that perfectly matches their laid-back, yet guitar-heavy, washed-out sound. Despite their niche persona (or perhaps because of it), they have wide appeal, and wowed the crowded High Watt last night at their show.

Wild Nothing Comes to Nashville

Photo credit: Haley Brecher
Photo credit: Haley Brecher

My Wednesday started last week with my professor cancelling my 6-9pm class so that he could watch the Cubs game.  I was pretty pumped because having a three hour class on Wednesday nights is beyond brutal, but on top of that, I received a text from my friend Haley begging me to go with her to see Wild Nothing perform that night. While I had never heard of the band before, my love for discovering new music inclined me to say yes, and I am so glad that I did.

Saint Motel’s High-energy Visit to Nashville

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Last Tuesday night, droves of Saint Motel fans packed into the dim, cozy space of Cannery Ballroom, anticipating the eclectic show that was to come. Among those fans were fellow Vanderbilt students, high schoolers, and even a few parent-aged folks. Despite Saint Motel’s indie-pop label, this diverse crowd is a testament to the wide-ranging appeal of their high-energy sound and quirky stage performance.

Big Sean and A$AP Ferg Mark a Return to Form for Quake

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Vanderbilt’s annual fall concert has traditionally been headlined by at least one hip-hop act. Last year’s lineup of The Band Perry and Third Eye Blind broke this trend, leading to a confused and disinterested student body. Music Board this year had the task of bringing the crowd back to Memorial Gym. Given the full floor and general campus excitement, it seems like Big Sean and A$AP Ferg accomplished just that.

Pilgrimage Music Festival

Cake at Pilgrimage Festival (source: Mickey Bernal Photography)
Cake at Pilgrimage Festival (source: Mickey Bernal Photography)

Pilgrimage is a Franklin music festival that seems to be themed around largely AC/DC rip off bands. That said, for a music festival in its second year, they attracted some big names: Violent Femmes, Cake, and Beck, to name a few.

Whitney Brings Energy, Tears, & Flowers to Exit/In

Julien Ehrlich at Exit/In
Julien Ehrlich of Whitney at Exit/In, Oct. 3rd.

Everyone’s new favorite band, Whitney, has captured the hearts of many an ironic-flower-crown American millennial with just half an hour (exactly half an hour) of recorded music. At Exit/In Monday night, they recaptured those same hearts during the first show of their fall tour.

Indie Folk Band vs Beyonce: A Comparison

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Photo credit: Jeff Lombardo

Last night I had the honor of being graced by the presence of Queen Bey herself. Hitting Nashville as part of her Formation World Tour, the show was nothing short of spectacular; there were fireworks, pools of water, and instantaneous costume changes throughout the course of the performance.

St. Lucia Kicks Off Their Fall Tour In Nashville

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Last Friday, I got the opportunity to see my favorite band, St. Lucia, perform for the third time. When I say favorite band, I mean more along the lines of obsession, so this concert was something that I had been waiting for since the last time that I saw them in November 2014. I saw them open for Foster the People in 2013, and something about their tropical, 80’s-like vibes just got to me, and I fell in love with their colorful, vibrant music.

Miike Snow’s Second Coming

Miike Snow lights up the stage at Marathon Music Works
Miike Snow lights up the stage at Marathon Music Works

I was justifiably skeptical in my approach Marathon Music Works for Miike Snow’s return to Nashville after their three year hiatus to pursue personal projects. My sentiment was further warped upon waiting in line to receive my ticket and photo pass, when I was eavesdropping on a woman behind me that was ‘desperately in need of a sitter.’ It was in that instant that I was struck with the realization that I was utterly companionless, afloat in a sea of financial-independence. The late-twenty to late-thirty-year old crowd filled up all the space around me and I buckled in to receive whatever was coming my way.