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!
Category: pitchfork music festival 2023
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?
