Hideout Block Party, Day Two: The New Pornographers, Michael Jackson Tribute and more

[Above: The New Pornographers.]

Ahhh, the CTA. Gotta love those delays and train station closings, right? The two-hour travel time to Hideout prevented the chance to see The Uglysuit and those that played before them, but nothing cools off an angry commuter like some free watermelon and a playful game of Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes with Tim Fite on a lovely Sunday. His lively hip-hop performance was one of the weekend's many kid-friendly offerings, which also included crafts, a Wee Hairy Beasties performance and a puppet show whose theater was rigged to a bike.

Chicago’s Mucca Pazza maintained the lighthearted vibe of the day, a great celebration of the end of summer. The 25-plus marching band members (I lost count) split off into groups and scattered about the Hideout parking lot, conducting their own separate parades before converging onstage. The ramshackle crew, all dressed in mismatched band uniforms and complete with cheerleaders, played some rollicking marching band music. They were a riot-- maybe not a great listen on record, but worth seeing live.

Dark Meat’s hypnotic, jammy Southern rock swirl may not mirror Mucca Pazza’s sound, but with 13 bandmates-- including a tuba player who served double duty as a confetti blower-- there's an obvious kinship. Frontman Jim McHugh invited Mucca Pazza to play with them on the spot, saying, “All our songs are in A and E.” Dark Meat, too, were more spectacle than musically exciting.

One of the highlights of the fest came by way of Robbie Fulks, who, in celebration of the 25th anniversary of Michael Jackson’s Thriller, brought along special guests to mine the King Of Pop’s catalog. It was part concert, part theatrical production: Numerous props abounded,  Fulks’ kids paraded across the front of the stage holding Liza Minnelli, Diana Ross and Elizabeth Taylor masks, Nora O’Connor dangled a baby overhead, and a reenactment of Princess Diana’s car crash ensued, followed by her ghost rising from the stage.

Launching with O’Connor singing “Ben,” the setlist included “She’s Out Of My Life” sung by Fulks’ son, a duet on “The Girl Is Mine,” an Eagles-by-way-of-Santana “Billie Jean” fronted by Fulks, Steve Frisbie’s rendition of “Wanna Be Startin’ Something,” “Black Or White,” and “Man In The Mirror.” It culminated with a rapped reprise of Fulks’ opening tune, “Going Back To Indiana,” where he managed to work in the the name of every single participating artist. But the climax was Rhymefest joining him onstage for “Thriller” as the staff of Hideout, dressed like zombies, reenacted the famous “Thriller” dance.

Fulks’ ensemble performance seamlessly transitioned into Rhymefest’s set, which was far from well-choreographed-- a disappointment, as he's one of the burgeoning talents from Chicago's fertile hip-hop scene. He delivered one of his raps from his album Man In The Mirror, wound around Jackson’s original version, but something was amiss. Later, he flubbed a few lyrics, then abruptly stopped the song to deliver a poem about growing up on the hard side of town in Chicago. A kid in the front started yelling “Fuck that, play a song, play a song,” which may have been intended as encouragement, but instead prompted Rhymefest to leave the stage. “Fuck that? Okay,” he said, walking over to talk to his DJ before ducking backstage, not to return.

Though Ratatat and a Hercules And Love Affair DJ set were scheduled later in the night, The New Pornographers were rightly billed as Sunday's headliner. Joined by Saturday evening's main act Neko Case, whose appearances with the band have grown fewer and far between as her solo career has taken flight, the band was in pitch-perfect form despite another bad mix from the soundboard. Typically, there is a lot of witty banter between singer Carl Newman and Neko Case when they play together, but it was pretty minimal this time as they delivered their tunes with clean efficiency. Launching with “My Rights Versus Yours,” the set favored the band's Case-heavy songs, such as “Mass Romantic” and “These Are The Fables.” Parking lot-wide sing-alongs came by way of “The Bleeding Heart Show," “Sing Me Spanish Techno” and the show closer, a revved-up cover of ELO’s “Don’t Bring Me Down.” It was a nice surprise and a buoyant way to cap off another great Hideout Block Party.

Related links:
Hideout Block Party, Day One: Neko Case, Monotonix, Black Mountain, and more
Hideout Block Party features the New Pornographers, Drunken Spelling Bee, Michael Jackson tribute and more
New Pornographers' A. C. Newman thinks new solo album