The Jesus Lizard rules at Pitchfork fest

JIM DeROGATIS Pop Music Critic
As the fifth annual celebration of music's cutting edge got under way in Union Park on Friday, day one of the Pitchfork Music Festival belonged to the Jesus Lizard, newly reunited noise-rockers and hometown heroes taking the stage here for the first time in a decade.

During the alternative-rock '90s, singer David Yow earned a place on a short list with Iggy Pop and the late Lux Interior of the Cramps as a force of nature who courted chaos whenever he picked up a microphone.

As he prepares to celebrate his 49th birthday next month, Yow has mellowed a bit: Unlike many shows in the past, where he spent most of his time atop the up-stretched arms of the crowd, he only dived into the seething mass of humanity a few times. He kept his clothes on -- there was no reprise of the infamous "Tight and Shiny" routine of old -- and he didn't pop any of his limbs out of joint.

But it really didn't matter. The relative absence of outrageous antics allowed fans to focus on the fact that, while Yow is by no means a great singer in any traditional sense of the word, he is a unique and unforgettable one, with a voice one alt-era critic described as a hostage screaming through the duct tape over his mouth, and another said evoked a preacher speaking in tongues.

Meanwhile, bassist David Wm. Sims and drummer Mac McNeilly showed they hadn't lost a beat, with an undeniable James Brown swing under their ferocious punk-rock-meets-John Bonham bombast. And cool as ever through it all, Duane Denison churned out spare but indelible riffs without ever breaking a sweat.

Such was the Jesus Lizard's power that the other bands on opening day may as well not have bothered to play, especially since day one's "Write the Night" concept, which involved ticket buyers voting online in advance for the songs they most wanted to hear, largely fell flat -- or at least yielded essentially the same sets fans would have gotten anyway.

Never a very inspiring presence in concert, the sleepy instrumentals of the Chicago quintet and opening act Tortoise prompted one festivalgoer to quip, "I'm just going to consider this like that music they use to test the P.A."

The second act, long-running Hoboken, N.J.-based guitar-rockers Yo La Tengo, also started out sleepily, but guitarist-vocalist Ira Kaplan, drummer-vocalist Georgia Hubley and bassist-vocalist James McNew kicked into gear about 20 minutes into their set with a ferocious noise-guitar blowout, and from that point on, they proceeded to alternate some of their most straightforward and winning pop tunes with chaotic Velvet Underground-style noise rock.

Following the Jesus Lizard as day one's headliner, you had to pity Built to Spill, another act that made its name in the '90s with a postmodern update of classic Neil Young and Crazy Horse guitar jams. Doug Martsch and his bandmates tried their best, making impressive use of dramatic dynamics shifts with quiet interludes exploding into six-string rave-ups. But it was sort of like following a gourmet meal with a Twinkie for desert: It might have been fine as a snack at a different time, but after what had come before, it just seemed pointless.