Pitchfork Music Festival is small in stature but not in prominence – held in the cozy Union Park on the West side of Chicago, a variety of artists from across the globe come to play on one of three stages set up between shady trees and an old baseball diamond. Pitchfork, a Chicago-based online music magazine, incorporates music of all styles and genres into their brand. This is one reason why I always love reading their material and why I, a Chicago native, look forward to attending Pitchfork every summer over Lollapalooza.
Despite being a music festival, Pitchfork very much turned into a fashion show, with festival attendees exhibiting all sorts of styles. From the more classic festival wardrobe of crochet, lace and jean, to DIY and punk, Pttchfork truly welcomes all walks of life due to its eclectic range of artists they bring. Peep this article by The Mat Magazine for a more in depth look at the outfits some were trending.
Moving back to the main event, the music: I was lucky to catch a number of amazingly talented artists. Here is a ranking and description of some of my favorites.
5. Nao
London singer, Nao, put on a celebratory performance. Her floral romper paired with bare feet expressed her style that merges natural and manmade – her recognizable voice rings out in her music, paired with electronic beats that drive the music forward. Her voice called forth a large crowd combined of people from all ages, including a very young girl dancing with her dad for the entire set. Their joyous interaction exhibited what Nao’s music is all about – relationships, love and smiling. Her spunky and down to earth personality made the crowd so happy, especially when she announced an upcoming US tour. Be on the lookout for this breakout star this year.
4. Blood Orange
Dev Hynes, the name and brains behind Blood Orange, was a magical human being to witness live. Going shirtless in jogging pants, his set was no nonsense. He began straight away by playing the audio recording form the first song off his latest album Freetown Sounds, which contains a woman performing slam poetry about media representation of women and what feminism truly means. He then proceeds to walk on stage and sit quietly behind his keyboard. As the sun is slowly dipping it casts a shimmery spotlight onto the red stage. He gets up as the rest of his band walks on stage to dive right into one of the most popular off his new album, “Augustine”. The beautiful notes echoed across the whole park and swelled emotions. His interest in representing female voices in his music was not absent, as he had two strong backup vocals and a guest appearance by recent collaborate, Carly Rae Jepsen.
3. Brian Wilson performing Pet Sounds
At 74 years of age, musical genius Brian Wilson brought Pet Sounds back to life on Saturday evening. Despite hiding behind his piano for the length of his set, Wilson, along with the support of his band, still created an atmosphere that took me back to when I would listen to the album on my record player in my childhood bedroom. Their sound was nearly identical to its recording, including all the random pet sounds incorporated into the music. Chicago celebrities John and Joan Cusack came out to perform alongside Wilson and his band for “Sloop John B” – John Cusack played Brian Wilson in the film Love & Mercy. Pet Sounds hasn’t lost any of its beauty over the many years since its release in the 60s, if anything it has only gained more.
2. Anderson .Paak & the Free Nationals
I may be biased because I listen to him everyday, but Anderson Paak puts on the best performances out of anyone right now. Not only does his music hold a wild amount of levels, but his energy is so high and so contagious that it truly is impossible to not enjoy yourself. He came running onstage spitting crazy fast to “Milk & Honey” before his band, The Free Nationals, joined him. As the opening line for the song “Drugs” dropped, the crowd went insane and so did Paak. He hopped onto a speaker next to me and sang right into my lens before literally stepping over my head to transfer to another speaker. He sarcastically feuded with his band-mates as they pushed each other around and combined their energy. Not long into his set Paak jumps behind his drums and escalates the energy even more as he holds the beat and continues to rap and sing into the mic. Paak demonstrates how big of an artist he can actually be while on stage, and there’s very little time left before this becomes a reality.
1. Miguel
Despite being one of the headliners on Sunday, my expectations for Miguel were not as high as they should have been. Preparing for his entrance on stage, his band, decked out in all white, was straight up rocking on their own. One of the guitarists’ had a smile that never wavered from his face, and he would aggressively stick his tongue out in an old school rock-and-roll style. As Miguel made his entrance to the stage, I could feel every single person in the crowd melt as they fell in love with him. However, Miguel greatly contrasted what I was expecting – I had anticipated in my mind that he would use his crooning voice and killer good looks to ride on for his performance – and despite having those, he proved me wrong. He pushed his vocals to their strongest edge and showed off dance moves reminiscent of Michael Jackson in the 80’s (i.e. dropping into the splits for a minute before popping back up). In-between a few of his songs, Miguel stopped to preach to the crowd about the importance of integration in our society and the act of doing rather than simply posting. Though I often find it cheesy when artists lecture to the crowds, Miguel pulled it off beautifully. As he looked out onto the multi-colored crowd, he voiced into the mic, “This is the kind of solidarity and unity we crave…let’s continue connecting, gathering gathering gathering, that’s the only thing that’s gonna heal off this separation…” At that moment I looked across the crowd to find people of all races, genders, and backgrounds, standing together to experience the same music. Miguel brought all those people together, and was trying to keep up that unity far after his set.
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