Pitchfork Music Festival, Union Park, Chicago, Illinois

Chicago music festival, a preview of things to come

Of course if I was in Chicago over the weekend of Pitchfork Music Festival, I would find the time to go check it out. Turns out that Sunday was my only day to do so, but it was enough to have the experience. I funneled into the venue with the rest of the festival goers and made my way to New Jersey indie rockers, Real Estate, nothing special but a good start to the day. Afterwards, I headed over to revitalized math rock band Chavez, who had recently begun playing again after a long hiatus. Their mostly instrumental post hardcore music fit well with the daytime atmosphere. Unfortunately, I was not really feeling that well for some reason, perhaps a little too much walking around in the heat all day, so I did something I almost never do at music festival, lay in the shade and take a nap. After I got over my initial grogginess after waking up, I found it hit the spot (a concoction of caffeine, water, and Advil might have had something to do with it as well).

Next up was trance/electronic musician AraabMuzik. In my previous listening, I thought AraabMuzik was a duo or small band, so I was a little surprised to find just one guy with a laptop onstage. However, unlike some other electronic dance music DJs, he was more than just pulling samples. Though plenty of samples made up his beats he was also playing a small pad on his laptop such that when he would drum his fingers, the laptop would provide corresponding instrumentation.

As the hot afternoon lingered on, the indie pop band Beach House was on deck. They were mellow but enjoyable, playing a lot of good songs from their recent album, Bloom. I cut out of their set early to venture over to the third, smallest, electronic-focused stage for The Field. Recently, their newest album, Looping State of Mind, has been a go-to choice for me. However, their show was a little disappointing. Their set was essentially fairly low key jamming and beats. I guess I do listen to their album mostly as background music at work, so I shouldn’t be that surprised that I didn’t get that excited about it. I didn’t stay very long and instead wandered back to catch some more of Beach House as the sun was starting to dip down to the horizon.

It was dark by the time that indie rock headliners Vampire Weekend started their set. They were the big draw of the day for me and it appears many others as well. I was a bit worried that Vampire Weekend would be hit or miss, but was quickly relieved that they hit. They brought good energy to the tired crowd at the end of a hot weekend and you could tell they were excited to headline Pitchfork even though they haven’t toured extensively recently.

Vampire Weekend Setlist:
Cousins

White Sky
Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa
M79
Run
Holiday
California English
A-Punk
Horchata
I Stand Corrected
I Think Ur a Contra
[Unknown New Song]
Diplomat's Son
Campus
Oxford Comma
Giving Up the Gun
Encore:
One (Blake's Got a New Face)
Mansard Roof
The Kids Don't Stand a Chance
Walcott

Not being a camping festival, Pitchfork seemed to lack a character or vibe of its own that other festivals like Bonnaroo or All Good seemed to maintain. There were people of all ages, but mostly a younger crowd in their 20’s, including lots of college aged kids and young professionals. As expected because it was the PITCHFORK Festival, there were lots of hipsters. Probably lots of people who like music festivals but are scared off by the idea of camping for a weekend. So I get to cross Pitchfork off my bucket list, even though I’m not sure the small, urban festival really deserved a spot there to begin with.