Well, I was just about to write up my diatribe about how I'm feeling a bit underwhelmed about the Pitchfork lineup, but then they go and add Yoko Ono and I'm a little less underwhelmed. Not that I can call myself a huge fan of her work or anything, but I recognize what a coup that is and think it would be pretty frickin' cool to see her. She is one sassy lady. And I think it's safe to say that Cat Power will be joining her on stage for a duet. Is anyone else on Yoko's recent album at the festival this year? I can't remember who all the guest appearances were.

Obviously, what makes these festivals so great is when they break out those artists that have been in hiding or rarely tour; aside from Sonic Youth and Yoko Ono (and yes, some of the more legendary hip-hop acts I'm not mentioning because they're just not my thing, though I of course respect the diversity etc. etc .etc.), the lineup is otherwise made up of bands that have played in Chicago in the last few months and will probably be back again soon. Slint would be a bigger deal if they didn't just do a big reunion tour, where I'm sure they played most of Spiderland anyway (plus I just haven't been able to get super into Slint; maybe seeing them live will help?).

Part of me wonders if it's more just me, and that the idea of a festival isn't as exciting as it once was precisely because I now live in a city where I have access to all these bands almost every night of the week. If I was still living in Madison, where we had to beg bands to make the stop between Minneapolis and Chicago, the idea of getting to see all these bands at one time would be amazing- I know it was when I went to Coachella back in college and I hadn't yet seen most of the bands that were playing.

Obviously the fact that I'll get to spend a summer weekend hanging out with friends and listening to good music for $50 shouldn't be denied- much like with the Modest Mouse show last weekend, I just need to accept that I've become extremely spoiled with my constant access to great music and that my expectations for things are beginning to become unreasonably high. Maybe I need to go live in Madison again for awhile so I can come back and re-appreciate how lucky I am to be in this city and get such constant exposure to awesome music?

Yeah, no.