The weather was glorious for the first day of Pitchfork Music Festival 2024. That’s something to be grateful for. Strong performances, that’s another thing to be grateful for. New VIP “tower” viewing areas by the Red and Green stages blocking views from a distance? Not really grateful for those. I suppose if these sorts of inconveniences are what’s required for this festival to survive, then the pain and frustration are worth it. But enough about that mess, let’s talk about the messes that happened on stage. Okay, so there weren’t very many of them, but there was one critical one that made the day just a bit disappointing in my opinion. What was that mess and how did it all turn out in the end? That’s a mystery you’ll need to read onward to solve. Join me as I recap Friday at Pitchfork Music Festival, with all the requisite highs, lows, and in-betweens.
Category: live music Page 1 of 17
If you’ve been attending a music festival for two long days already, chances are by Sunday you’ll start feeling the wear on your body and mind. Self care is essential, especially in a situation like this. If you’re not well-rested and keeping cool, then you’re going to have a bad time. Might even end up in the medical tent. Stay hydrated, wear sunscreen, and if you’re feeling out of it, find a spot to relax for a bit. Thankfully the first half of Sunday’s lineup seems built for those in need of a slow start. Model/Actriz will probably throw a small wrench in those plans around 3:20, but you won’t need to worry about going hard and fast until two hours later when Grandmaster Flash and Mannequin Pussy face off. The lineup for today is kind of a random grab bag full of jazz and folk, but the rock and pop acts are likely to wrap up the weekend in a delightfully crazy way. Here’s a lengthy guide to help you figure out who to see and enjoy for the final day of this year’s Pitchfork Music Festival!
While one could argue that festival days are like children and should all be treated equally, I’ll be honest and confess to being a bit partial to Saturday’s lineup. In my opinion it’s stacked from start to finish, but everyone’s tastes are different and I totally understand if you disagree. Fans of noisy, energetic rock music will be buried in good stuff, and that includes the pair of cult bands from the ’90s closing out the Blue stage. And of all the conflicts to deal with this weekend, perhaps the hardest will be Water From Your Eyes vs. Wednesday. If you’re familiar with both acts, I wish you good luck splitting your time. But that’s pretty much the whole point of this preview guide – to help you make those tough decisions to the best of your ability. The more you know about the artists, the easier it will be to choose (…or in some cases, harder?). Join me past the jump, and I’ll attempt to carve some sense out of what promises to be an epic Saturday.
Friday at the 2024 Pitchfork Music Festival is set to be an interesting one! The shifts in tone and energy will likely be wild, but I might argue that’s a good sort of problem to have. For example, you get to go from formless, genreless experimentation one minute to heavy-hitting, aggressive rap the next. You can let yourself be awash in synths, or go for a jaunt with some alt-country textures. Spend a little time dancing, and a little time moshing. This day contains the first-ever Chicago performance from Jai Paul, which of course you shouldn’t miss. And we kick things off with two impressive local Chicago artists! I’ll have some thoughts on Friday’s headliner down below, which might be worth a read depending on your personal feelings about them. There are a couple of tough conflicts this first day, and I try my best to help you navigate through them. Click on past the jump to get the full preview guide for Friday!
The actions and behavior of a crowd often dictate how well a particular performance goes. Inattentive, unenthusiastic, or just plain rude concertgoers can have an effect on the entire show experience both on stage and off. Last year for example, I saw The Smile perform at The Riviera Theatre and a self-professed “massive fan” of the band standing behind me proceeded to add running commentary through the entire set before someone eventually got security involved. It turned what should have been a transcendent show into a bit of a nightmare.
Thankfully, the opposite is true as well. Great enthusiasm and energy inspires others to match it, and possesses the ability to push a strong performance to an even higher, more transcendent level. The great concertgoing experiences far outnumber the poor ones. At Sleeping Village on Thursday night, I was lucky enough to catch another great one courtesy of Jessy Lanza.
High energy, great artist performance days are the sorts of things music festivals are made for, in my opinion. That’s the ultimate combination of factors that result in a wildly fun time for all involved, but particularly the crowd. Sunday at Pitchfork Music Festival managed to conjure a largely rich and special collection of sets that wrapped up the weekend with a delightful little bow. Read on and embrace the recap, which is packed with more good stuff than any reasonable person would expect!
Ah yes, the inevitable “weather” day at Pitchfork. Seems like it happens every couple of years. Storms roll through, a bunch of rain falls, and sometimes there’s an evacuation. Such was the case on Saturday this year. It started with an early afternoon delay that shut down Palm’s set. No rain fell, but there was apparently lightning in the area so the music had to stop as a precaution. A couple hours later, everything shut down again, but this time the entirety of Union Park had to be evacuated. That was a particular bummer for fans of Vagabon, Panda Bear & Sonic Boom, as well as Snail Mail. At least Vagabon got a song and a half in before the shutdown. Somewhere around 90 minutes later, the storms had cleared and the festival gates were re-opened. While rain did fall during the pre-headlining sets, the music did not stop, and I’d like to think it made the performances even better. More on that in the recap below. This has been a weather report, basically. Read on to hear about all the great sets that happened on Saturday at Pitchfork!
We’re officially one day into this year’s Pitchfork Music Festival, and above all else, it just feels great to be back in Union Park doing this all again. Of course if it was your first time, hopefully you enjoyed the day. It might not have been packed with super high energy and/or wildly engaging sets, but there were plenty of rich and rewarding performances if you were paying attention and giving everyone the benefit of the doubt. Seriously, of the nine artists I saw on Friday, none were terrible or (arguably an equally bad sin) boring. I quite enjoyed myself, even if there were very few moments that made my jaw drop and my spine tingle. Read the basic play-by-play after the jump.
What a weird, wild Sunday it will be at Pitchfork Music Festival 2023. Seriously, this is a perfect day for artistic outsiders who craft vital, world-bending music. You get the heavily experimental leanings of artists like Ariel Zetina, Rachika Nayar, Lucrecia Dalt, and Jockstrap to get things started. Then comes the heavy-hitters of noise and aggression as Soul Glo and JPEGMAFIA battle to see who will be louder and have the bigger mosh pit. Killer Mike will most assuredly slay too, because he always does. Then we get some fun pop-rock sort of acts courtesy of illuminati hotties and Hurray for the Riff Raff before things begin to cool down with Kelela and what should be a divine yet meditative set from Bon Iver. Of course Mdou Moctar is also in that mix to show off the incredible things that can be done with a guitar. I’m incredibly excited to see how it will all play out, and hope you are too! Let’s dive into the guide, shall we?
Previously:
Saturday at Pitchfork this year has the benefit of being one of the most balanced lineups I’ve seen in quite some time. It’s just heavy hitter after heavy hitter stretched across an entire day. There’s an unfortunate lack of hip hop (with the exception of 700 Bliss), but otherwise a solid amount of guitar-focused music rendered in interesting ways. Those who like a little experimentation in their rock can catch one of the final performances from the Philly band Palm, plus the unclassifiable Vagabon and the deeply moody melodies of King Krule. Black Belt Eagle Scout and MJ Lenderman do a ramshackle folk-adjacent thing, with a little more surging power later from Snail Mail and Julia Jacklin. You can also dance a bit thanks to Panda Bear & Sonic Boom as well as Charlotte Adigery & Bolis Pupul. Then to cap off the night with Big Thief? Chef’s kiss. It’s a bit tough to single out some recommendations out of all these great sets, but somebody’s gotta do it. Read on, and try your best to plan out your day.
One of the best things about the Friday lineup for the 2023 Pitchfork Music Festival is its unclassifiable nature. A lot of the artists on Friday don’t stick to a single genre or sound, and it’s exciting to have that unpredictability where you’re not entirely sure what you’ll be hearing from one moment to the next. A dose of R&B, rap, jazz-pop fusion, standard pop music, electronica, and lo-fi folk are all in the mix, and that’s just the first half of the day! If you need a little help navigating all of the various artists and time slot conflicts, read on. While I do have recommendations for every hour of the festival, please know the goal is to make picks that will hopefully result in the best overall experience throughout the day. You technically can’t go wrong checking out every artist on this lineup, but certain ones are better suited for an outdoor festival than others. If that’s how you think going into this weekend, you’ll end up in great shape. So without further ado, here’s the Friday preview guide.
In case you missed it: A Pitchfork Music Festival Playlist
Welcome to what’s become an annual tradition here at Faronheit – a week’s worth of coverage surrounding Pitchfork Music Festival! For the uninitiated, Pitchfork Music Festival is a three-day music and culture extravaganza that takes place at Chicago’s Union Park. It’s a smaller festival focused on up-and-coming acts with a few legends thrown in for good measure. You show up because of the names you recognize, but you stick around because you’re just as likely to discover something new and great you’ve never heard before. It’s a whole lot of fun, and the crowds are really cool too. If you’ve never been, I strongly recommend you check it out. This year’s Pitchfork Music Festival takes place from July 21-23 aka this upcoming weekend.
For those planning to attend this year’s festival, or maybe even those who can’t make it but still want to learn a bit more about the lineup, I’m thrilled to help you prepare with a series of preview guides. The week of coverage always begins with a playlist. Reasonably speaking, that’s the best way to familiarize yourself with the lineup. Listen to a song or two from every artist set to perform, so you can gain a sense of what they sound like and the kind of energy they might bring to a festival stage.
This 84-song playlist takes a little over five hours to listen from start to finish, and includes two tracks from every artist on the lineup. The order has been determined by the festival schedule, meaning the playlist begins with Nourished By Time who kick things off on Friday afternoon and it ends with Bon Iver who wrap things up on Sunday evening. Of course if you’d prefer to mix things up and let the chips fall where they may, shuffle is always an option. Also, apologies if you prefer to use a non-Spotify platform to stream your music. Unfortunately I didn’t have the time to redo this playlist for additional streaming services.
All that said, please enjoy the playlist! I hope it inspires you to check out some performances you might have otherwise skipped. Tomorrow I’ll be sharing a preview guide that digs a little further into all of the artists on the schedule for Friday, with recommendations on who you should see each hour of the day. Join me, won’t you?
Pitchfork has essentially established a tradition by having a majority of black artists on the lineup perform on Sundays. It’s not so much a purposeful segregation as it is trying to book similar artists across a day to satisfy fans of particular genres or styles of music. That’s how you get rappers Pink Siifu, Injury Reserve, Noname, Earl Sweatshirt, and The Roots together and make it worth buying a ticket to see all of them. But also don’t sleep on the pop/R&B material KAINA, Erika de Casier, and Tirzah will be bringing to the festivities. The experimental folks can have a little treat with sets from L’Rain, Xenia Rubinos, and Cate Le Bon, and the alt-jazz fanatics can get their fix thanks to BADBADNOTGOOD. Not much in the way of straight up rock music on Sunday, but there’s more than enough on Friday and Saturday for those who want it.
Mostly Sunday at Pitchfork should be all about good, occasionally sexy vibes you can coast on to close out the weekend. It will satisfy in that respect. So join me once more after the jump, and I’ll break down all the artists and set times for the day so you can figure out who to see and when to see them. Then join me all weekend on Twitter and Instagram for some highlights and recaps direct from the grounds of Union Park. Hope to see you out there. Don’t forget to wear sunscreen and stay hydrated!
Previously…
The Pitchfork Music Festival 2022 Playlist
Pitchfork Music Festival 2022: Friday Preview Guide
Pitchfork Music Festival 2022: Saturday Preview Guide
Saturday at Pitchfork is going to be a very fun day. It’s also going to be a very weird day. If you like fun and weird, you’re in for a real treat. There’s a taste of jazz thanks to Jeff Parker & The New Breed, as well as a reunited Karate. Strange pop music will come from Hyd, yeule, and (to a degree) Magdalena Bay. In the mood for some absolutely filthy rap? Chicago’s own CupcakKe has you covered. Toss in some strong, energetic rock from The Linda Lindas and The Armed to get people moving. Dry Cleaning and Low take more angular and oddball approaches to rock music, which is its own reward. Then the singer-songwriter contingent gets the back-to-back-to-back combo of Lucy Dacus, Japanese Breakfast, and Mitski. Who could ask for more?
After the jump you’ll find the Saturday Preview Guide, featuring an hour-by-hour breakdown of the day, along with a bit more information about every artist to help you manage those conflicts and learn more about the names you haven’t heard before. I hope this is helpful as you prepare for a weekend of fun at the 2022 Pitchfork Music Festival!
Previously…
The Pitchfork Music Festival 2022 Playlist
Pitchfork Music Festival 2022: Friday Preview Guide
One of the absolute best things about any Pitchfork Music Festival lineup is the eclecticism. There are only 14 artists each day and no more than two stages operating at the same time, allowing you to get exposed to all sorts of music you might not listen to otherwise. Sure, not everything will be to your tastes, but there’s also joy in discovery and the chance to broaden your horizons just a bit.
There are a whole lot of great artists packed into Friday at this year’s Pitchfork Music Festival, and plenty of rewards for those willing to show up early and ready to explore. Below you’ll find an hour-by-hour guide for the day, complete with a little information about each artist as well as recommendations on which ones you absolutely shouldn’t miss. Let’s dig in!
Previously…
The Pitchfork Music Festival 2022 Playlist