Pitchfork Music Festival:

The 3rd Annual Pitchfork Music Festival was held at Union Park over the weekend. It is a three-day event showcasing over 40 of independent music’s best bands and artists on three stages. The idea was inspired by producer Mike Reed. With all the over-priced and over-crowded music festivals that take place across the country, Pitchfork is something different. It is a reasonably priced summer music festival that provides an overwhelmingly positive, comfortable and fun festival experience for both attendees and musicians. Chicagoactor.com was there to experience this unique festival firsthand.

The first reaction one gets from walking in to Union Park is one of ease and comfort. Having attended Lollapalooza last year this was definitely a different atmosphere. You could actually walk around! You could actually get a drink or food in less than 10 minutes! This was definitely a more people friendly environment. Promoters encouraged people to pick up after themselves and most of the staff was volunteers.

The first day Pitchfork tried a very interesting idea. They had only 3 bands, but every band was to perform one of their albums in its entirety.

First up was Slint performing Spiderland. Tempo changes, volume changes, and key changes are Slint’s backbone. Musically it is very interesting to listen to although it may take a few rewinds to get used to. Diehards seemed to know every chord. An album that is over a decade old now appeared to be released yesterday if you were to look at fans in the front row.

Next up and the highlight of the night for us at Chicagoactor.com was The GZA doing Liquid Swords. The GZA is the oldest and most lyrical of the infamous Wu-Tang Clan. He uses nasally, rapid-fire, battle style rap and it works to this day. Improvising to get the crowd swaying The GZA performed Liquid Swords with a new flare. Dropping samples, insisting everyone wave their hands from side to side, and even giving a shout-out to the late Old Dirty Bastard, The GZA proved that his rhythms can still get a crowd going.

The last act of the night was Sonic Youth performing Daydream Nation. This transition of music showcased exactly what Pitchfork was to be all about. Every kind of music under the sun! Sonic Youth is what some would call The Independent Band of the 90’s. Daydream Nation was released under Geffen Records in 1993. It is an album that showed us that being an indie band with a punk edge and a pleasure for distortion can be fun. The lyrics of this album are essential because at times they seem innocent and unfamiliar and at other times they seem sinful and dark. The album is filled with strange chords and pulsating drums. The album is evil and merciful at the same time and performed live you could definitely get a grasp on both.

The next 2 days the Chicagoactor.com staff came and went, as was allowed at Pitchfork. Acts ranged from the famous Yoko-Ono to the emerging Sea and Cake. The park remained clean and sunny for the whole weekend. An estimated 47,000 + people attended the fest and little complaints could be heard. There were some sound problems here and there, but nothing too distracting. A highlight people did not expect at such a small festival was the additions of jumbo-trons next to the stages. This was especially important for the always entertaining Of Montreal. With costumed aliens, a girl in gold body paint and some off-kilter, glam-rock inspired pop tunes, the band looked as spectacular as it sounded. Singer Kevin Barnes even stripped down to a leather S&M outfit.

The final night closed out with old school rappers De La Soul. They performed a good mix of old and new and even added a little comedy in-between. Long time producer and friend Prince Paul joined them on stage for most of their set. They were the tip of the party iceberg.

Chicagoactor.com is guaranteed to attend Pitchfork next year as it is Chicago’s must up and coming music scene that is always going to be different than any other fest you might attend.

Daniel Haas
Chicagoactor.com Staff