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Category: music festivals Page 5 of 12

Pitchfork Music Festival 2016: Sunday Preview

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On 07/14/2016

In chicago, lineup, live music, music, music festivals, pitchfork music festival, pitchfork music festival 2016, show preview

pitchfork 2016 logo
Sunday at Pitchfork Music Festival is set to be just about the sexiest day of any music festival ever. To quote Tracy Morgan, “Somebody’s gonna get pregnant!” The lineup is stacked with all kinds of R&B and freeform jazz that’s designed to put you in the mood for some lovin’. Not sure how perfectly that pairs with sun and 85 degree temperatures, but we’ll find out, right? At least things will be steamy one way or another. If you’ve been to the fest for two days already, the generally slower and more relaxed vibe on Sunday should be a nice change of pace. The slightly later start time than usual is an added benefit. Gates may open at noon, but the first music doesn’t start until 1:45, so sleep in an extra 90 minutes or at the very least stay off your feet for that period of time. As with the other two days though, there are some serious benefits to showing up early and catching those first bands of the day. Join me past the jump for the hour-by-hour breakdown of who’s playing when, and what artists you simply can’t miss.

Also, in case you missed them, here are the Preview Guides for Friday and Saturday as well as audio streams from every artist on the lineup.

Thanks for reading. If you’re headed to Pitchfork this weekend, I’ll see you in Union Park!

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Pitchfork Music Festival 2016: Saturday Preview

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On 07/13/2016

In chicago, lineup, live music, music, music festivals, pitchfork music festival, pitchfork music festival 2016, show preview

pitchfork 2016 logo3
Let me use today’s introduction to offer a few festival tips and tricks to help you survive the weekend at Pitchfork Music Festival. Six years of coverage has helped me get this down to a science, so if you follow my lead I guarantee everything’s gonna turn out great for you (you know, within reason). First, the general outdoor festival stuff. Stay hydrated. Drink at least 3-4 full bottles of water each day. That is a minimum. I know it’s tempting to have a few beers, and you realistically still can, just don’t make that the only liquid you drink all day. You’ll sweat tons in the 80+ degree heat and will be on your feet pretty much all day, so those fluids need to be replenished unless you want to wind up in the medical tent. Next up, sunscreen and bug spray. Use both liberally. If you get sunburned on Friday, the rest of the weekend will be painful. You also don’t want to scratch a bunch of bug bites either, so protect yourself.

Don’t overexert yourself. There’s a temptation to go hard and try to see just about every band. It’s possible too! Union Park isn’t that big, and with three stages you won’t need to do that much walking. Just remember to take breaks and sit down from time to time. Eat food – probably more than you’d otherwise have – to maintan energy while you burn calories. Explore! There’s plenty of fun things to do, including the CHIRP Record Fair, the Flatstock poster sale, Book Fort, Craft Fair and Kids Area. A bunch of brands have tents/booths where free food and merch is given away. Lifeway frozen kefir bars are typically being given away near the basketball court, so that’s a nice cool treat on a warm day. You can probably screen print a t-shirt for free too, if that’s an interest. If you’ve got some down time or don’t like any of the artists performing, wandering around the festival grounds can make for a great time.

So that’s about all I’ve got in terms of tips. Well one more – be good to others! In my experience, everyone at Pitchfork is very chilled out and friendly, so treat them in kind. Join me past the jump for an in-depth, hour-by-hour look at the schedule for Saturday. There’s plenty of great stuff to recommend.

Also, in case you missed them, here are the preview guides Friday and Sunday as well as audio streams from every artist on the lineup.

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Pitchfork Music Festival 2016: Friday Preview

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On 07/12/2016

In chicago, lineup, live music, music, music festivals, pitchfork music festival, pitchfork music festival 2016, show preview

pitchfork 2016 logo2
So you’re planning to attend the 2016 Pitchfork Music Festival. Congratulations! You have made a very wise choice. It promises to be a great time in a great city with a great collection of artists. Speaking of those artists, one of the challenges with any music festival is looking over the schedule and trying to figure out who to see when. In the cases where you only like one artist performing at a particular time, the choice is easy. In the cases where you like two artists performing at the same time, the conflict can be tragic. But what about the artists you’re not familiar with? There’s always at least a few at any large festival, and even the most avid music fan has some knowledge gaps. The great news is that it’s easy to learn, and maybe just a little easier to make a crucial decision about a conflict, if you’ve got some outside help. Welcome to the first of three installments of the 2016 Pitchfork Music Festival Preview Guide! Here you can find out information about every artist on the lineup, and see recommendations on who you should be seeing at any particular time. So if you wouldn’t mind, please join me after the jump to check out the comprehensive guide to who’s performing on Friday. Let’s go!

Check out the preview guides for Saturday and Sunday as well as audio streams for every artist on the lineup.

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Pitchfork Music Festival 2016: Hear the Lineup

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On 07/11/2016

In chicago, lineup, live music, music, music festivals, pitchfork music festival, pitchfork music festival 2016, show preview

pitchfork 2016 logo
As is tradition, I’m very pleased to welcome you to yet another year of Pitchfork Music Festival coverage! Once again there will be a full week’s worth of focus on Chicago’s premiere boutique music festival, complete with day-by-day previews, recaps throughout the weekend, and plenty of photos so you can see some of the action too. It’s extremely comprehensive, so if you’re planning to attend or just wish you could, I hope you’ll keep a close eye on the site to learn more about the lineup, who you need to see, as well as reports straight from the festival grounds.

We begin with an audio introduction to all the artists performing at this year’s fest. Those familiar with Pitchfork know they carefully curate the lineup every year to highlight important, often up-and-coming acts. That inevitably leads to a fair amount of obscure names you might not recognize. For example, you may be wondering, “Who is Jlin? What kind of music does he or she or they make?” Well, hopefully this post answers those questions with relative ease.

After the jump, you’ll find a full list of every artist performing at this weekend’s Pitchfork Music Festival, complete with links to their website or Facebook or Tumblr or Bandcamp or whatever their primary web presence might be. You’ll also find links to stream two songs on YouTube or Soundcloud from each one, so you can get a basic idea of what they happen to sound like. Artists are grouped by the day they are performing and arranged in alphabetical order. If you prefer to stream your music using Spotify, you can find a full playlist at the very bottom of this post, also featuring two songs from every artist on the lineup. Those are grouped in order by day and set time.

Really what I’m saying is, no matter your audio preferences, there should be a format here that will give you access to the music, which is of course the most important part of this whole festival equation. So sit back and get familiar before spending the weekend in Union Park, so you can go in with a head full of knowledge and impress your friends.

Check out the preview guides for Friday, Saturday and Sunday!

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Lollapalooza 2015: Preview Guide

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On 07/30/2015

In chicago, class of 2015, lineup, live music, lollapalooza, lollapalooza 2015, music, music festivals, show preview

lolla2012
Are you prepared for three days of music madness right in the heart of downtown Chicago? Yeah, me neither. Every year Lollapalooza starts out so promising, the sense of excitement palpable in the air as you walk onto the grounds of Grant Park. But if you take this music festival seriously, and you should, then by Sunday night you’ll be about ready to collapse, practically wishing for the sweet embrace of death. It sounds terrible and in many ways it is at the time, but once you’ve had a couple days to recover only the fondest of memories will remain. You’ll have seen many of your favorite artists perform, and might have even been introduced to a few new ones along the way. You’ll have eaten some delicious food, sipped some delicious drinks, spent quality time with friends and maybe even made a new friend or two as well. There’s so much to be gained from the pain and punishment we put our bodies through at this festival, especially walking back and forth from one end of the park to the other. If you play it right so you’re not running all over the place, and you’re cool with sitting down and taking a breather a couple times each day, the experience actually becomes quite pleasant. So beyond tips to minimize walking, I’ll also say to wear plenty of sunscreen and drink plenty of water. That’s just a rule of thumb for life in general actually.

But what about the music? Sure, you know at least a handful of artists playing each day of the festival, but there’s likely to be times where either you’ll be clueless about who you should see or two (maybe even three) of your favorites are all on at once and choosing between them seems too difficult. Fear not, loyal reader! I’m here to help. After the jump you’ll find an advice guide recommending artists worth seeing every hour of every day, all weekend long. You’d have to be some sort of superhuman to see all of these sets, but if you’re smart and economical enough you can catch most of them and wind up having a spectacular time. So enough with the chit-chat, let’s dive right in. Brace yourselves, this is going to be a bumpy ride.

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Pitchfork Music Festival 2015: Sunday in Photos

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On 07/20/2015

In chicago, live music, music, music festivals, photos, pitchfork music festival, pitchfork music festival 2015


Join me after the jump for a collection of photos that I took on Day 3 (Sunday) of this year’s Pitchfork Music Festival. Photos are arranged by set time. They are also available in higher resolution on Facebook. Check out my full recap of the day, as well as all the rest of the coverage, by going here.

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Pitchfork Music Festival 2015: Saturday in Photos

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On 07/20/2015

In chicago, live music, music, music festivals, photos, pitchfork music festival, pitchfork music festival 2015


Join me after the jump for a collection of photos that I took on Day 2 (Saturday) of this year’s Pitchfork Music Festival. Photos are arranged by set time. They are also available in higher resolution on Facebook. Check out my full recap of the day, as well as all the rest of the coverage, by going here.

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Pitchfork Music Festival 2015: Friday in Photos

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On 07/20/2015

In chicago, live music, music, music festivals, photos, pitchfork music festival 2015


Join me after the jump for a collection of photos that I took on Day 1 (Friday) of this year’s Pitchfork Music Festival. Photos are arranged by set time. They are also available in higher resolution on Facebook. Check out my full recap of the day, as well as all the rest of the coverage, by going here.

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Pitchfork Music Festival 2015: Sunday Recap

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On 07/20/2015

In chicago, class of 2015, lineup, live music, music, music festivals, pitchfork music festival, pitchfork music festival 2015, show review

chance1
With the rain completely out of the forecast and temperatures dipping back into the 80s, things were certainly looking up for Sunday at Pitchfork. Just about all of the muddy spots in Union Park from Saturday’s storm were now cleverly covered up with some quick dry solution and a whole bunch of carpet square samples. One of the big product placements over the weekend was a company freely handing out recycled carpet squares so people could sit on the ground without getting their pants dirty. I doubt becoming patchwork quilts atop mud pits was their original intention, but at least it was functional and made walking around easier. There was plenty of great music to watch as well, so join me after the jump for a recap of the third and final day at Pitchfork Music Festival.

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Pitchfork Music Festival 2015: Saturday Recap

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On 07/19/2015

In chicago, live music, music, music festivals, pitchfork music festival, pitchfork music festival 2015, show review

sk1
What’s a summer music festival in Chicago without a little rain? Or a lot of rain? This year marked the first time in its 10 year history that Pitchfork was forced to evacuate the grounds due to severe weather. A similar incident happened at Lollapalooza a couple years back. Unlike that event however, organizers waited until seemingly the last minute before pulling the plug. That’s not intended to say that they did anything wrong, but rather tried as hard as they could to keep things going until they simply couldn’t anymore due to safety concerns. They made the announcement to please exit the park, and then less than two minutes later a massive, bone-soaking rain poured down complete with a lightning show for the ages. People gasped at the sky lit up while also running with panic due to the extremely intense downpour. Of course minutes after evacuating the rain stopped and about 30 minutes later Union Park reopened and the day continued. The grounds were a bit muddy in spots for the rest of the day, as one might expect, but overall the schedule wasn’t disrupted much and the situation was handled with relative professionalism. But what about the music? Read on past the jump, and I’ll share those details with you, dear reader!

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Pitchfork Music Festival 2015: Friday Recap

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On 07/18/2015

In chicago, class of 2015, live music, music, music festivals, pitchfork music festival, pitchfork music festival 2015, show review

wilcoday1
Ah, the hallowed grounds of Union Park. How nice it was to return for yet another year, this time in particular to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Pitchfork Music Festival. Upon my entrance to the park I took a little tour, primarily to get the lay of the land and see what was new compared to years past. In short not much, though the smaller Blue stage has been angled a little differently this year, made a little larger and given a video screen. As a result of the small tweak, what was once a largely shaded area thanks to trees now has a bit more sun but also a bit more space to accommodate larger crowds. That aside, it’s everything in its right place. Here’s a recap of all the music I saw today, which was more a tasting portion of a lot of artists rather than full meals. Details after the jump…

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Pitchfork Music Festival 2015: Sunday Preview Guide

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On 07/16/2015

In chicago, class of 2015, lineup, live music, music, music festivals, pitchfork music festival, pitchfork music festival 2015, show preview

p4k
If you’re attending all three days of this year’s Pitchfork Music Festival and are anything like me, by the time Sunday rolls around you’ll wake up even though your body will definitely not want to. The thought that you’ll have to spend another full day standing around will seem like the worst idea in the world. Take an extra hour to rest if you must, but then you’ve got to push through and get moving, because music waits for no human. Which brings me to a couple of quick tips on surviving your weekend at Pitchfork without winding up in a medical tent or the hospital. Priority one is hydration. It’s going to be hot outside, and you’ll be standing on your feet for extended periods of time, so do yourself a favor and drink plenty of water. Save the majority of your alcohol consumption for the early evening hours when it starts to cool down. The next tip is to sit and find shade whenever possible. Yes, you want to see as many artists as up close and personal as possible, but don’t put your body at risk any more than you feel you have to. You know your limits, so be sure to keep close attention on how you’re feeling and rest when and where you can. You’ll still be able to hear the music while seated under some shady trees, even if it’s across the big field in Union Park. Wear sunscreen and bug spray. You know why, and will pay the price for forgetting. Lastly, be prepared for weather. I’ve already mentioned the heat, but currently the forecast is suggesting scattered storms pretty much the entire weekend. Definitely don’t forget a poncho, and consider an umbrella too even though you’ll likely annoy fellow fest-goers if you leave it up while standing close to a stage. Also, mud. If it rains, Union Park will turn into a large mud pit, so wear appropriate shoes you’re okay with potentially trashing at the end of the weekend. So that pretty much wraps up my Pitchfork tips. Join me after the jump for the Sunday Preview Guide!

If you missed my previous Pitchfork Music Festival 2015 posts, go here to hear/see/download songs from every artist on this year’s lineup. If you’ll be at Union Park on Friday, you may want to look over my preview guide for that day by going here. Last but not least, go here for my preview guide for Saturday.

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Pitchfork Music Festival 2015: Saturday Preview Guide

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On 07/15/2015

In chicago, lineup, live music, music, music festivals, pitchfork music festival, pitchfork music festival 2015, show preview

p4k
Saturday was the first day of this year’s Pitchfork Music Festival to sell out. When you take a close look at the daily lineups, it makes perfect sense as to why. While the entire thing is pretty stacked, Saturday in particular looks extra heavy on quality. This is both a good and a bad thing. On the one hand, you get to see all this great music in one day, meaning if you don’t have a ticket for the entire weekend it seems like the best deal for your time and money. On the other hand, you can’t see everything, leading to a nasty pile-up of conflicts that can be problematic. If you’re concerned about that, and you should be, allow me to offer some help and guidance to make the most of your Saturday at Pitchfork. Join me after the jump for the hour-by-hour breakdown of who’s playing when, complete with recommendations on what you can’t/shouldn’t miss.

If you missed my previous Pitchfork Music Festival 2015 posts, go here to hear/see/download songs from every artist on this year’s lineup. If you’ll be at Union Park on Friday, you may want to look over my preview guide for that day by going here.

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Pitchfork Music Festival 2015: Friday Preview Guide

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On 07/14/2015

In chicago, class of 2015, lineup, live music, music, music festivals, pitchfork music festival, pitchfork music festival 2015

p4k
As we continue Pitchfork Music Festival Week here at Faronheit, it’s always a pleasure to offer a closer, more in depth look at not only the artists on the lineup, but some analysis as to the scheduling so you can make the most of your weekend. There are always inevitable conflicts with artists you might like to see, as well as times when it might feel like a dead zone where there’s nothing to interest or inspire you. Fear not! There’s plenty of fun to be had every hour the gates of Union Park are open, whether you know it or not. Sure, there may be some tough calls to make at times, but one of the best things about Pitchfork is that there are never more than two stages going at once. They’re also not that far from one another, meaning that if you really want to see pieces of different sets, it’ll be a five minute walk to pull it off. Minimum effort for maximum musical reward. So without further ado, please join me after the jump for an hour-by-hour look at what Day 1 (Friday) has to offer.

If you missed yesterday’s post featuring audio and video streams/downloads from every artist on this year’s lineup, you can find that post right here.

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Pitchfork Music Festival 2015: Hear the Lineup

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On 07/13/2015

In chicago, class of 2015, mp3, music, music festivals, music videos, pitchfork music festival, pitchfork music festival 2015

pmf2015
Welcome once again to Pitchfork Music Festival Week here on Faronheit! Each year, I’m proud to provide extensive coverage of the Pitchfork Music Festival in the form of previews, recaps, photos and much more. It’s all part of a grand plan to ensure you’re fully prepared for all of the must-sees and must-dos at Union Park this weekend, or to at least give you a strong idea of exactly what went down if you can’t be there in person. For those unable to attend, either due to geographic location, financial issues, previously scheduled engagements or inability to buy tickets (only Friday tickets remain), I sincerely hope you’ll follow along this week to hear about all the gritty details.

As it is every year, the lineup for the 2015 Pitchfork Music Festival is stacked with a who’s who of indie talent, along with a whole bunch of new and rising artists on their way to stardom. I’ll have plenty of details in the coming days surrounding who you shouldn’t miss each day and when they’re performing, but for today I hope you’ll take some time to explore and learn more about the lineup on your own. All of the resources you need to do so can be found right past the jump. Stream and download some songs. Watch some music videos. Visit some websites. This is an interactive journey, and I have high hopes you’ll make some fun and interesting discoveries as a result. There are clickable Soundcloud, YouTube and other links for every artist in alphabetical order by day. If you’re a Spotify user, you’ll also find a 92-song playlist (organized by set time) embedded at the very bottom of this post for your convenience. It contains a lot of the same material you’ll find below, only you won’t have to click as much.

So there you have it, please enjoy responsibly. Starting on Tuesday there will be day-by-day previews leading up to the start of the festival on Friday, so keep checking back as we progress throughout the week!

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