Sunday afternoon at Pitchfork 2015, just after the gates opened
Another Pitchfork Music Festival has come and gone. There were highs and lows both musically and logistically, as usual; wacky weather, as usual; and the camaraderie of a park-full of joyful music fans connected by the power and raw energy of live music. As usual.
Click on the pictures to enlarge and read the captions.
Click on the pictures to enlarge and read the captions.
I’ve previously shared my festival strategies, most-anticipated artists and playlists. Today comes the round-up and report-out. I’ll share photos and a few bullet points of my own and also link to some great festival coverage from others. Please come along for the Recap Ride, won’t you?
I mentioned the highs and lows of an outdoor festival, so let’s address the Big Low right away: Saturday afternoon’s torrential thunderstorms that prompted the organizers to close the festival and evacuate the park. At that point we’d endured sideways rain for over 20 minutes and the lightning strikes were getting closer, so Ilise and I and about 15,000 other soggy poncho-people did a slow exit march through the gates onto the flooded streets surrounding Union Park. We trudged half a mile to our car, lugging our waterlogged chairs and blankets and bags. Just as we got there, the Pitchfork app pushed a notification that the festival would resume at 4:20.
Read the Chicago Tribune's account of the storm and evacuation
See photo gallery from Chicago Reader
The downside to our festival basecamp strategy – travelling for comfort as we older rockers prefer to do – is lack of agility. If we had never left the festival grounds (I hear some folks refused to go) we would’ve happily stayed until the end. Or if we were spry young things with fringy hobo bags and ‘up for whatever’ attitudes we would have totally gone back in – never mind the mud covering everything or the potential for more rain. But instead we were two middle-aged women, drenched to the bone, schlepping a ton of equally soaked stuff. I wish I could say that we got a second wind and renewed spirit of adventure and returned to the ‘fork. I really do, because from all accounts the rest of the show was amazingly great. But we went home to recover with warm showers and chilled wine plus the chance to dry out every blessed thing in the damn survival kit. Good news is, we survived to rock another day.
Click on the pictures below to enlarge and read the captions.
Click on the pictures below to enlarge and read the captions.
Observed:
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- Clever sponsor tie-in: Flor carpet tiles as free giveaways. Portable sit-upons for those without a basecamp. They were also put to use for mud abatement on Saturday and Sunday.
- Man buns (not the butt)
- Under cheek (yes, the butt)
- Silver hair often tinted with lavender, aqua or sea green streaks (mostly young women but a few dudes too)
- More old people than usual (I’m definitely in that camp). More parents-with-teenage-kids than usual.
- Wine! Yes, they finally heard those of us advocating for the grape!
- As previously predicted, flower crowns and babies in giant headphones
- It was much too hot for the usual parade of funky fashion, but thankfully a few beautiful souls brought their style to the fest regardless. Check out this gallery from Chicago Magazine
Click on the pictures below to enlarge and read the captions.
Musically speaking … there were several pleasant surprises and a few highly-anticipated artists who were perhaps not best-suited to this venue. Let’s face it, outdoors in a city park with sweltering heat and thousands of overstimulated revelers moshing in front of the stage can be hard to manage for bands that sound best in a small, dark club or in an acoustic coffee shop/book store environment. So let’s break it down for you. Here's the line-up.
Overall: Expected Greatness and they Did Not Disappoint
Overall: Expected Greatness and they Did Not Disappoint
Saturday: Didn’t Get to See but Heard they Rocked Really Hard
Overall: Pleasant Surprises
- Bully
- Bitchin Bajas
- The Julie Ruin – Note: everyone except me knew in advance they would be awesome. And they were. All I can say in my defense is that some bands – including a lot from the Riot Grrrrl movement – sound a lot better live than recorded.
- Jamie xx
Overall: Slightly Disappointed due to Festival Setting
- Mr. Twin Sister
- Natalie Prass
- Perfume Genius
- How to Dress Well
So the 10th anniversary Pitchfork is one for the record books. We came (early and nabbed primo real estate), we saw (some great people watching), we conquered (extreme weather of many stripes), and we heard some great music. Does it get much better than this? Maybe not until next year.
For additional festival reading check out these interesting write-ups from Chicagoist, Gapers Block, Time Out Chicago, A.V. Club, and the New York Times.
Click on the pictures below to enlarge and read the captions.
For additional festival reading check out these interesting write-ups from Chicagoist, Gapers Block, Time Out Chicago, A.V. Club, and the New York Times.
Click on the pictures below to enlarge and read the captions.
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