Pavement band member quashed Pitchfork stream of festival set
Pavement performs at Pitchfork 2010. View more Pitchfork 2010 photos. (Christopher Smith, RedEye)
Editor's note:
Updated 4:30 p.m. Wednesday with response from Pavement's Scott Kannberg
Updated 1:30 p.m. Tuesday with comments below from Pitchfork promoter Mike Reed.
Though the Pitchfork Music Festival streamed video of virtually its entire main-stage lineup last weekend, enabling fans to watch the festival as it happened around the world on their computers and cellphones, one notable band was not included: festival-closing headliners Pavement.
Why was Pavement excluded? One band member has a beef with Pitchfork's editorial department. The band’s longtime booking agent, David Viecelli, explained Monday that “one of the band members has some issues with (the Pitchfork e-zine), comments that were made (in past articles) that demeaned that person in the context of Pavement.”
“Some of the things he objected to were bitchy, personal attacks that, if someone had said them about me, I wouldn’t have been happy either,” Viecelli said. “Because of that, he had a problem with the video being streamed not just on the festival Web site, but on the editorial side as well. It was a last-minute thing and I wasn’t able to stop it. I apologized to (festival promoter Mike Reed). I don’t think it hurts Pitchfork – if anything it hurts Pavement because fewer people got to see them. But to me the biggest damage was that the fans couldn’t see it. I wasn’t happy with (the decision), but these things happen.”
Viecelli would not name the band member, but sources familiar with the situation say it was not singer Stephen Malkmus.
Pavement guitarist Scott Kannberg responded Tuesday to Vanity Fair after the magazine's Web site speculated that he was the culprit, responding to negative reviews of his solo work in the Pitchfork e-zine. Kannberg issued the following statement: "Regardless of my thoughts about the Pitchfork e zine, myself and the rest of the band had a great time playing the Pitchfork music festival. The crowd were super enthusiastic and we couldn’t have asked for a better day. We only found out the day of the show about the live webcast and I personally thought that it was not something that Pavement should do. We apologize to the fans for pulling out at the last moment and hope that you’ll come and see us in September. We’d gladly look forward to playing the Pitchfork festival in another 10 years."
Pitchfork promoter Mike Reed noted Tuesday that other acts have declined to be videotaped, including Broken Social Scene last Friday, the festival's opening day.
"With all of the artists I make the offer to include the ability to stream the show," Reed said. "Some artists take their time responding and some want it taken out right away. The main goal is to have the performance, the webcast is secondary. (Broken Social Scene) said no to the webcast from the start. We did not tape them.
"It's very common that these things happen and even in some cases get axed at the last minute. Talking to other festival producers it's common that come the day of the show the manager or a band might say no, for a variety of reasons."
Pitchfork also issued the following statement in response: "We were thrilled to be able to showcase so many of the performances throughout the weekend on the festival webcast, but ultimately, we were focused on every one of these great acts playing their best show possible for the festival's attendees. For those acts that chose not to participate in the webcast, we were of course disappointed that its viewers did not have the opportunity to watch their set. That said, we very much respect the wishes and decisions of all the acts that play our festival."
A number of acts in past festivals, including De La Soul, Cat Power and Sonic Youth, have declined to be videotaped. And last weekend Big Boi and Panda Bear projected their own visuals on the video screens to accompany their sets.
For the majority of acts, video was streamed live from the festival in Union Park of the two main stages. Performances on the smaller Balance stage were also videotaped, and will be made available on the Pitchfork TV Web site in a week, said video coordinator Johnathan Crawford.
greg@gregkot.comSponsored Link: Amazon's Pavement Store
They also didn't webcast Broken Social Scene's set. It just played their stock video over and over during their time slot. Greg, do you know anything about that one?
Greg replies: I have a call in to Pitchfork about it. Hope to hear by Tuesday.
Posted by: Eric H | July 19, 2010 at 07:43 PM
Greg - interested to hear your thoughts but it seems a little hypocritical to take the 6 figures I am assuming they were paid by Pitchfork to play the set and then not let their fans enjoy their performance. They didn't hurt Pitchfork since they helped the show sell out, they just hurt all those people that couldn't make it or couldn't afford it . This is a pretty lame move. If you don't like the publication then don't play their fest
Greg replies: I agree, lame. Some miscommunication, apparently, but c'mon, get over it. One band member, very sensitive guy apparently, quashed what would've been a cool event for a lot of people who couldn't attend.
Posted by: Mike | July 19, 2010 at 09:41 PM
Could it be those 5.0, 5.2 and 5.3 ratings of Scott Kannberg (Spiral Stairs)'s various Preston School of Industry and Spiral Stairs solo efforts over the past several years? Hmmm....
Posted by: Bill | July 19, 2010 at 11:08 PM
Maybe it was this quote regarding the PSOI record Monsoon:
"...a tuneless, dreary mess, and it is undoubtedly the worst release ever to be associated with anyone having to do with Pavement. "
http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13547-the-real-feel/
Pavement are a great band and all, but they always struck me as a bunch of self important divas.
Posted by: j | July 20, 2010 at 08:25 AM
Greg,
Do you what song Modest Mouse opened with during their Friday set?
Greg replies: Sorry, don't have it.
Posted by: Steven | July 20, 2010 at 09:06 AM
Yea... has to be SS. No one in the right mind would ever say anything negative about Bob N, Ibold has all the indie love in the world for working with Sonic Youth, Steve ... meh, no way.
So yea, gotta be SS...
Posted by: The Troof | July 20, 2010 at 09:18 AM
The pitchfork review was unnecessarily rude. Just read the following quote from the review of Spiral's new album, "The Real Feel."
"The central problem with the Preston School of Industry albums is that the very things that made Kannberg an effective foil for Malkmus also made him exhausting and dull as the focal point of a band. Whereas he was once the Milhouse Van Houten to Malkmus' Bart Simpson, he had devolved into being an incoherent indie equivalent of Milhouse's dad mewling "Can I Borrow a Feeling?""
Still, it seems silly to cancel the stream with such short notice. Whatever happened to the slackers from the 90s that didn't care what the reviewers wrote?
Posted by: pavement-fan | July 20, 2010 at 09:46 AM
If it's Kannberg/Spiral Stairs that had the "beef", I don't blame him for being upset with Pitchfork. I am generally a a fan of their site, but lot of the reviews of his material focus more on demeaning him than describing/analyzing the music. See Exhibit A -- quotes from a 2009 Pitchfork review of Spiral Stairs' "The Real Feel":
"Whereas he was once the Milhouse Van Houten to Malkmus' Bart Simpson, he had devolved into being an incoherent indie equivalent of Milhouse's dad mewling "Can I Borrow a Feeling?" ...
"he still sings everything as if he can't stand to make eye contact with you" ...
"Kannberg remains an unambitious songwriter and underwhelming frontman"...
And that's downright flattering compared to Pitchfork's review of Preston School of Industry's "Monsoon" CD:
"This album has all the charm of a flaccid protruding out from beneath a fold of flesh on a balding, middle-aged man." ...
"Kannberg's voice renders every song nearly indistinguishable, each one a faceless victim laid out on the slab in this musical morgue."
And that's for an album rated as a 5.0 on a scale of 10. Just imagine if the record had been rated worse than average...maybe Kannberg should feel lucky they didn't trash-talk his mom, too.
Posted by: Pete | July 20, 2010 at 10:21 AM
I'm glad someone said NO to pitchfork. Pavement were all about mystery anyway. There was life before live streaming video and it wasn't that bad!! get over it people.
Posted by: ian | July 20, 2010 at 10:43 AM
Greg - thanks for all the great coverage and the timely responses to all your readers. I've become a regular fan of your blog and constantly look for your recommendations. I have not been disappointed. Thanks!!!!!!
Pitchfork - Thanks for the live streams over the weekend. I had a ticket for Sunday but could not make it. Thankfully, the web streams ameliorated my situation. Major Lazer was absolute dope!
Posted by: Neil Jestobal | July 20, 2010 at 11:14 AM
How about someone explaining why Big Boi chose to show his videos to the festival audience rather than letting the thousands of people who couldn't get close enough to see him a chance to participate. I thought that was pretty lame too. Fans have seen the videos and others will go find them if they are interested.
Posted by: John | July 20, 2010 at 11:14 AM
Man, I love Monsoon. Pitchfork is wrong about that one...but come on, Pavement, once again you're reminding me of why I hated you in the '90s.
Posted by: LAG | July 20, 2010 at 12:08 PM
Someone wrote: "No one in the right mind would ever say anything negative about Bob N."
I will! I thought he ruined Sunday's performance. Anyone remember Bez from Happy Mondays? Bob Nostanovich is just a preppy jock version of Bez. I've long since come to appreciate their records, but seeing Bob N. do his tuneless b.s. over the top of good songs on Sunday wrecked it for me and, once again, reminded me of why I hated this band when they were current.
Posted by: LAG | July 20, 2010 at 12:09 PM
Steven - Modest Mouse opened with "Tiny Cities Made Of Ashes."
Posted by: Brendan | July 20, 2010 at 12:37 PM
Why did he even agree to PLAY at Pitchfork if he's got such a beef with them?
Posted by: jen | July 20, 2010 at 12:38 PM
I can't believe people are whining about no free stream of a concert that 18,000 people paid good money to attend. If you wanted to see the band, go to the show. If you couldn't afford the show, stand on Ashland. If you were out of town, go the Pritzker show in September. If you can't afford that show, stand on Michigan.
Between stealing music and poaching concerts, the internet has given music fans a ridiculous sense of entitlement.
Posted by: Kevin | July 20, 2010 at 01:37 PM
Jen - $$$$
Posted by: LAG | July 20, 2010 at 01:42 PM
I was mainly just disappointed that they were listed as being webcast and THEN it got yanked right before their set. I wouldn't have been as disappointed had, from the get go, they just didn't agree to it, instead of it being nixed, quite literally, at the last possible second.
Posted by: Jim | July 20, 2010 at 01:44 PM
Ditto the above. What a half-assed protest. Why play at all? You're mad enough to object to streaming, but not mad enough to opt out of, what, $100,000? It would have to be Spiral Stairs. And his solo albums are atrocious. The Flaming Lips and Sonic Youth got 0.0 from Pitchfork. They're good sports.
Posted by: Brent | July 20, 2010 at 01:44 PM
Greg - I don't understand why it's lame that they didn't want it webcast? They took the money from Pitchfork because it was a paying gig, and in turn Pitchfork made money off Sunday being sold out, so nobody was getting the shaft here. If you couldn't make it travel-wise or money-wise, why does Pavement have the responsibility of giving you a free webcast? To paraphrase Louis CK, don't act like the world owes you something for nothing.
That said, that bs low-rent poor man's Andy Kaufman routine at 8:30 is likely what caused the band to run out of time to get an encore in before the 10pm curfew, and that sucked.
Posted by: ravenswood | July 20, 2010 at 02:06 PM
Other than it being 10pm on a Sunday in a city park, is there any details on why Pavement did not play an encore?
Greg replies: Curfew at 10 p.m. Festival would incur a fine for any music after that.
Posted by: Jay | July 20, 2010 at 02:08 PM
Whatever, all the bands were lame! Especially tired, 1990's Pavement. They have always been over-hyped crap!
Posted by: URUnWashed | July 20, 2010 at 02:25 PM
"Man, I love Monsoon. Pitchfork is wrong about that one...but come on, Pavement, once again you're reminding me of why I hated you in the '90s."
Posted by: LAG | July 20, 2010 at 12:08 PM
Wait, you love Monsoon and hate Pavement? Wow.
Posted by: Rambo | July 20, 2010 at 04:19 PM
"Whatever, all the bands were lame! Especially tired, 1990's Pavement. They have always been over-hyped crap!"
Posted by: URUnWashed | July 20, 2010 at 02:25 PM
Billy Corgan, is that you?
Posted by: Rambo | July 20, 2010 at 04:20 PM
Has to be Spiral. On his blog, he took a shot at Pitchfork for a line in their review of "Quarantine the Past" (can't remember the line right now, but you can look it up).
Agree with Jen, too, which is why Rian Murphy's introduction was great. If you watched Pavement's DVD "The Slow Century," then you saw this routine before. Apparently almost all of the 18,000 hadn't seen it because he got mercilessly booed. Allowing him to set the stage was classic Pavement... they haven't lost the smirk.... although yeah, it did cost us another song... probably "Summer Babe." Still can't believe they skipped that one. "The Hexx" was anticlimactic but it's OK, pavement were never very good about pacing a set.
Posted by: Bill | July 20, 2010 at 06:44 PM