Pitchfork Paris Festival 2014 celebrated Halloween in style, as day two saw incredible sets from Future Islands, Chvrches, St Vincent, Belle & Sebastian and more last night (Friday 31 October, 2014).
After an early rush of adrenaline courtesy of Perfect Pussy, DD Dumbo and Son Lux, Future Islands were the evening's first highlight, rising to the occasion dressed as a vampire, werewolf and wicked witch.
"This song goes out to anyone who ever said I was a vampire," cackled frontman Samuel T Herring in booming Transylvanian accent. "You were fucking right."
Indeed, there's something superhuman about the way this man performs. As he prowls the stage, beating his chest, barking and flowing through his fluid, elastic dance moves, there's a primal sense of abandon to his presence - and the energy is infectious. Paris being united in song as we jerked our way through 'Seasons (Waiting On You)' is a memory that shall endure.
Across the Grande Halle De La Villette, MØ kept spirits high with a colourful, genre-defying burst from her stunning No Mythologies To Follow. However, it was Chvrches that would dominate the evening.
Taking to the stage with singer Lauren Mayberry painted as a skeleton, the Scottish electro-pop trio delivered a set worthy of headliners. Fresh from headlining London's Brixton Academy the night previous, they've evolved from those nervous ones to watch into a band with arena-ready potential.
Shimmering gems from their flawless 2013 debut The Bones Of What You Believe sounds as fresh as when we first fell in love with them, while new track 'Get Away' from the controversial BBC Drive re-scoring marks an adventurous leap into the future. With an absolute eyegasm of a sci-fi laser and light show, they have the songs, charisma and presence to match. Put bluntly, we never tire of seeing Chvrches - which is lucky as we eagerly await their ascent to stadium-filling greatness.
The electricity of anticipation for St Vincent hung heavily in the air, before the tension was burst with the arrival of her dystopian fever dream and the bubbling menace of 'Rattlesnake'. The wide-eyed firecracker adventure of 'Digital Witness', 'Marrow' and 'Cheerleader' held all present enraptured as Annie Clark and band artfully led through the clockwork-choreography of their alt-rock freakshow.
As the insanity of 'Krokodil' and 'Your Lips Are Red' brought things to a close as this future icon terrified the front rows, our only criticism was that it ended too soon. We could watch this all night.
If you can think of a more perfect place to see Belle & Sebastian than in Paris in the twilight hour of Hallowween, then we'd love to hear it. Opening with 'You're Just A Baby', 'Funny Little Frog' and 'Sukie In The Graveyard', their bookish romance and melodrama blossoms in the open arms of their madly doting following. The love is reciprocated as they ask those not in fancy dress to expose those who have made the effort, before inviting them on stage for a surreal dance-off.
The classics 'The Fox In The Snow' and 'The Boy With The Arab Strap' are welcomed as old friends, while the bongo-driven disco curiosity of 'Perfect Couples' and dancefloor-filling 'The Party Line' showcase a refreshingly surprising new direction on upcoming album, Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance.
Belle & Sebastian played:
You're Just a Baby
Funny Little Frog
Sukie in the Graveyard
Allie
Perfect Couples
The Fox in the Snow
Like Dylan in the Movies
I Didn't See It Coming
The Party Line
The Wrong Girl
The Boy with the Arab Strap
Sleep the Clock Around
Encore:
Get Me Away From Here, I'm Dying
Pitchfork Music Festival 2014 concludes tonight with sets from Jamie xx, Caribou, Four Tet, Jungle, Tune-Yards, Charlotte OC and more. Check back at Gigwise for the latest news, reviews, photos and more from Pitchfork Paris 2014.
Below: The best bits from Pitchfork Paris 2014 so far in photos
