Pitchfork

Chicago got the royal treatment when it came to indie-centric festivals last summer, with more beloved bands gracing our fair city's parks and parking lots than most two-bit hipsters-- and their paychecks-- could handle.

But if you made just two festivals last year, hopefully this was one of them (and this was the other): Capping off the delirious festival season, the Touch and Go Records 25th anniversary bash-- held in early September in conjunction with the Hideout's 10th annual Block Party-- provided a hearty share of the summer's best rock memories: Scratch Acid reuniting for a ferocious performance, Big Black teasing us with an EP's worth of songs, Negative Approach whipping the kids into a frenzied whirlpool, the original Man or Astro-man? lineup launching us into the retro-cosmos, and current T&G acts like Calexico, Ted Leo, and CocoRosie serving up their best-- and the list goes on.

Since Touch and Go 50 is a little ways off, why not relive those memories from last September's bonanza in fancy video format? Beginning today and continuing for every Monday for the next 32 weeks or so, Touch and Go will post choice performance footage on their website from pretty much every single performer on the venerable label's festival roster. Today's installment serves as an overview/introduction, including some words from T&G founder Corey Rusk and the Hideout's Tim and Katie Nicholson Tuten, along with a medley of concert snippets-- and let us say, the footage looks fantastic. Tune in next week for Ted Leo, and come back each week to follow for new audio-visual surprises.

In case you missed them, do scope Touch and Go's festival photo gallery and Pitchfork's photo coverage. And don't worry-- while the label is looking back, they're still looking forward too: Ted Leo's previously reported Living With the Living goes live March 20, while CocoRosie's third LP, The Adventures of Ghosthorse & Stillborn, arrives April 10.