Over the weekend the festival descended upon downtown Chicago. I found the event to be very well run and an overall success. Despite 60,000-ish attendees every day I never had to wait in line for the bathroom or beer. And the weather cooperated. Some of the bands I saw and my thoughts follow.

Cursive - Bitchen. They completely rocked with a mix of their new cd (which totally kicks ass) and The Ugly Organ.

Panic! at the Disco - These guys are fucking weird. They had three Vaudevillian (sp?) dancers on stage for a lot of the show and enough eye makeup that the Killers were jealous. Despite that, their songs were solid and they played a great cover of Karma Police and an okay cover of Tonight Tonight.

Ryan Adams - Basically sucked. Played 4 covers out of 12 songs (3 Dead songs which was cool) and didn't play any of my favorites. Interestingly though, he appeared to be pretty much sober (of course he played at 430) and I'm always impressed by his ability to smoke cigarettes while leading a rock band.

My Morning Jacket - My favorite set of the weekend. So good I felt okay about skipping the Racounteurs to see them.

Death Cab for Cutie (I skipped Ween to see this, bring on the "Do you know how I know you're gay" jokes) - Enjoyable set. They seem to really be coming into their own as a band. Starting to be able to keep a large crowd excited. They've moved on from the Bait Shop.

Flaming Lips - I've never seen them before and I was doing myself a disservice. One of the most fun sets I've ever seen. Confetti, dancing Santa Clauses, dancing aliens, big blue balls everywhere, and more. The visual stimulation was awesome. Not to mention the singalong to Yoshima with a nun puppet on Ben Coyne's hand.

New Pornographers - Seemed good, but the chick didn't appear to be Neko Case. I could be wrong though, I'm a jackass.

Kanye West - Didn't realized they stopped selling beer at 930, fuck. But still good.

The Redwalls - Missed about half of the show b/c Jim and I misestimated how long it would take us to ride our bikes the 8-ish miles to the park. The answer, nearly an hour.

Ben Kweller - I was a bit unimpressed. The highlight of the show was Jim asking me he was a guy or a girl 3 songs into the set.

The Shins - A wind kicked up and the sound sucked, but once we moved it was enjoyable.

Wilco - Characteristically awesome, including 4 new songs that I'm giddy for.

Other Bands I saw that don't get full reviews:
Iron and Wine - good, but overpowered by a shitty rock band on an adjacent stage, The Frames (I'd never heard them before. Great enthusiasm, I'm a convert), Pepper (I think that was the name, great Sublime ripoff), Reverend Horton Heat (good times, as per usual)