For nearly every year at Pitchfork, there’s been a fantastic trend. The first band I see on Saturday always blows me away, both with the quality of their show and the energy which they throw into it. I can’t remember every example of this, but I do know the trend started with Thunderbirds Are Now! many years ago. This year that pattern was continued — and topped — by Cymbals Eat Guitars.

For over half a year I’ve been enjoying Cymbals Eat Guitars’ album, all the while being told how great they were live. I believed it, because the album seems like it would lend itself to a good live show, but was somewhat shocked because they’re so young. It seems like being a young buzz band goes hand-in-hand these days with an inexperienced and somewhat boring live show. Not with Cymbals Eat Guitars, though. They sounded every bit as good, and often better, than their fantastic debut. The only thing they lacked was horns on “Wind Phoenix” to make their show every bit better than the record.

CEG started off with “And the Hazy Sea” and followed into the recent bside “Tunguska.” There weren’t any clunkers (much like their album), but “Cold Spring” and “Wind Phoenix” were two of the best songs I heard at the festival. The former’s slow build and Modest-Mouse-like fast sections were great to hear outdoors with a large crowd. I get the feeling that Cymbals Eat Guitars (like most bands) are better experienced at a smaller indoors venue, but they’ve at least elevated themselves up to being a group with a lot of festival potential.

More photos after the break.