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Pitchfork Music Festival 2024: Friday Recap

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On 07/20/2024

In lineup, live music, music, music festivals, pitchfork music festival, pitchfork music festival 2024, show review

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.

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Pitchfork Music Festival 2024: Sunday Preview Guide

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On 07/18/2024

In lineup, live music, music, music festivals, pitchfork music festival, pitchfork music festival 2024, show preview

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!

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Pitchfork Music Festival 2024: Saturday Preview Guide

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On 07/17/2024

In lineup, live music, music, music festivals, pitchfork music festival, pitchfork music festival 2024, show preview

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.

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Pitchfork Music Festival 2024: Friday Preview Guide

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On 07/16/2024

In lineup, live music, music, pitchfork music festival, pitchfork music festival 2024, show preview

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!

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Pitchfork Music Festival 2024: The Playlist

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On 07/15/2024

In chicago, music, music festivals, pitchfork music festival, pitchfork music festival 2024, playlist

Welcome once again to another year of coverage for Pitchfork Music Festival here on Faronheit! Every July, we spend one week diving into the various musical aspects of the Pitchfork Music Festival lineup. This comes in multiple forms. There’s the playlist featuring every artist on the lineup, which is what always kicks off the coverage so you can hear music from every artist performing and get a better sense of what you might like and who might be worth checking out over the course of the 3-day weekend. More on that in a minute. But other coverage will include day-by-day preview guides to give a little more context to the artists and schedule matchups that can cause some serious conflicts if you know and like multiple artists performing at the same time. Then we get into the daily recaps, which deliver a lot of the play-by-play looks at exactly what happened, what songs were performed, and what crazy thing that one artist did on stage. Whether you’re going and want to learn more about this year’s Pitchfork Music Festival itself, or aren’t able to attend but would love to hear about what’s happening in Union Park from July 19-21, this coverage will provide all of that and more.

As I previously mentioned, Pitchfork Music Festival week always starts with a playlist. Two songs from every single artist on the lineup. It’s arranged by date and set time, so for example Black Duck starts things off on Friday afternoon so they are first on the playlist, while Alanis Morissette closes out the weekend on Sunday so she’s last on the playlist. If you listen in order, you’ll journey through Friday, Saturday, and Sunday over the course of about five hours. Easy peasy. Jump into it, get familiar with a bunch of artists you haven’t heard before or have only heard a song or two from. A big part of this festival is discovery of great up-and-coming artists, so get started on that process right now with the playlist below. Sadly it’s only available through Spotify, so if you prefer a different streaming service you’re out of luck. But since most everyone I know has a Spotify account, hopefully it won’t be too much of a lift. Please enjoy, and come on back tomorrow for the start of the preview guides!

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Pitchfork Music Festival 2023: Sunday Recap

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On 07/24/2023

In lineup, live music, music, music festivals, pitchfork music festival, pitchfork music festival 2023, show review

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!

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Pitchfork Music Festival 2023: Saturday Recap

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On 07/23/2023

In chicago, lineup, live music, music, music festivals, pitchfork music festival, pitchfork music festival 2023, show review

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!

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Pitchfork Music Festival 2023: Friday Recap

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On 07/22/2023

In chicago, live music, music, music festivals, pitchfork music festival, pitchfork music festival 2023, show review

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.

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Pitchfork Music Festival 2023: Sunday Preview Guide

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On 07/20/2023

In chicago, lineup, live music, music, music festivals, pitchfork music festival, pitchfork music festival 2023, show preview

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:

A Pitchfork Music Festival Playlist

Friday Preview Guide

Saturday Preview Guide

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Pitchfork Music Festival 2023: Saturday Preview Guide

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On 07/19/2023

In chicago, lineup, live music, music, music festivals, pitchfork music festival, pitchfork music festival 2023, show preview

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.

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Pitchfork Music Festival 2023: Friday Preview Guide

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On 07/18/2023

In chicago, lineup, live music, music, music festivals, pitchfork music festival, pitchfork music festival 2023, show preview

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

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Pitchfork Music Festival 2023: The Playlist

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On 07/17/2023

In chicago, live music, music, music festivals, pitchfork music festival, pitchfork music festival 2023, 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?

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Pitchfork Music Festival 2022: Sunday in Photos

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On 07/20/2022

In music, music festivals, photos, pitchfork music festival, pitchfork music festival 2022

Here’s a collection of photos taken on Sunday (7/17) of Pitchfork Music Festival 2022. It includes the following artists, in order of their set time: Injury Reserve, Erika de Casier, Joshua Abrams & Natural Information Society, Noname, Xenia Rubinos, Earl Sweatshirt, Tirzah, Toro y Moi, Cate Le Bon, and The Roots. Continue past the jump to see them all!

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Pitchfork Music Festival 2022: Saturday in Photos

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On 07/19/2022

In music, music festivals, photos, pitchfork music festival, pitchfork music festival 2022

Here’s a collection of photos taken on Saturday (7/16) of Pitchfork Music Festival 2022. It includes the following artists, in order of their set time: The Linda Lindas, The Armed, Hyd, yeule, Dry Cleaning, Magdalena Bay, Iceage, Lucy Dacus, Japanese Breakfast, Low, and Mitski. Continue past the jump to see them all!

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Pitchfork Music Festival 2022: Friday in Photos

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On 07/18/2022

In music, music festivals, photos, pitchfork music festival, pitchfork music festival 2022

Here’s a collection of photos taken on Friday (7/15) of Pitchfork Music Festival 2022. It includes the following artists, in order of their set time: Monaleo, Wiki, SPELLLING, Indigo De Souza, Tierra Whack, Camp Cope, Parquet Courts, Dawn Richard, Amber Mark, and The National. Continue past the jump to see them all!

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