Pitchfork Music Festival: No Age, Off!

Los Angeles drum-and-guitar duo No Age bashed out punkish songs on Saturday’s Red Stage in a set that just got more chaotic as it went. Drummer Dean Spunt is also the duo’s singer, and watching him flail at his kit and still try to keep his mouth on the mike is entertainment alone. Meanwhile, guitarist Randy Randall ping-ponged back and forth on the stage, nearly toppling over during oldie “Neck Escaper.”

Throughout the No Age set, water — and water bottles (empty, the ones I saw, thank goodness) — flew everywhere, in impressive fountains shooting straight up from the crowd or in thrown spray. Later, at the Blue Stage, Keith Morris of the punk band Off! advised his similarly inclined crowd: “Don’t throw stuff around! That’s not cool. DRINK the water. Stay hydrated.”

After an opening homily — in which Morris warned, in the understatement of the day, “We’re gonna bring a different flavor to the party today” — Morris and his band, a supergroup offshoot of the Circle Jerks, bashed out a ferocious set of hardcore and speed metal. Rare was the song that passed the two-minute mark, propelled down the fast lane by riffy guitarist Dimitri Coats (Burning Brides) and bassist Steven Shane McDonald (Redd Kross). The particular flavor added by Morris was his occasional off-the-cuff homilies (“F— people” from a guy who actually seems so nice …) and unearthly caterwauling.

Keith Morris lets us have it Saturday afternoon at the Pitchfork Music Festival.

(Scott Stewart/Sun-Times)