The annual Pitchfork Music Festival is a go for this year. Event planners recently confirmed this by announcing the lineup for the upcoming July 21 to 23 festival. However, this year’s festival, which will be in Chicago’s Union Park, has had a slight retooling of the Sunday schedule of performers. In years past, the Sunday lineup tilted more toward Urban Alternative music featuring such bands as Noname, Flying Lotus, and Toro y Moi. Sunday will now be headlined by Bon Iver.
A Bit O’ History
The Pitchfork Music Festival grew out of the Intonation Music Festival held at Union Park in 2005. That was when Pitchfork Media was hired by Skyline Chicago to curate the Intonation Music Festival. The following year saw the first official Pitchfork Music Festival organized and fully run by Pitchfork Media. The event attracted 35,000 music fans and featured a total of 41 different bands over two days. In 2007, the Pitchfork Music Festival was moved to mid-July in Union Park. The event sold out to a capacity crowd of 48,000 and expanded to a three-day format.
Three-day passes for the 2008 event sold out two months before the festival started. The next year, the Friday night list of bands performing sets of songs requested online by ticket holders. In 2010, three-day passes sold out in less than a week, and was the only year that a stand-up comedy stage was part of the event. Three-day passes for the 2011 event sold out in a single day, they sold out in three weeks in 2012, and in 2013, the headliners were R. Kelly, Bjork, and Belle & Sebastian. In 2014, three-day passes sold out three months before the event and headliners included Beck, Kendrick Lamar, and Neutral Milk Hotel.
The event got canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19 and in 2021, the Pitchfork Music Festival moved on the calendar to September but returned to the historic July dates last year.
There Are Other Changes To The Event
Another variation from the normal schedule of performers at this year’s Pitchfork Music Festival is that there will not be a lot of throwback acts on stage. Typically, these performers gave the event nostalgic bookmarks. For example, Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys was the 2016 throwback act and George Clinton filled that spot the following year. Although this year’s lineup does include acts like The Smile, and Panda Bear + Sonic Boom, they are not as notable as Wilson or Clinton in comparison.
A Look At The Schedule of Performers
This year’s Pitchfork Music Festival features a handful of local acts along with plenty of femme-identified led groups. Plus, several newcomers will keep music fans entertained for the full weekend. The daily lineups include:
Friday, July 21
The first day of the festival features two local acts. Ric Wilson, a perennial favorite, will appear. He is currently working on a new project with Chromeo and A-Trak. The project is called Clusterfunk and is set for release at the end of this month. Another local, Sen Morimoto, will also perform Friday. He is a well-known multi-instrumentalist and the co-owner of Sooper Records. Rounding out the list of local musicians is Jlin from Gary, Indiana. Known for electronic music, expect to see some of his monastic and often footwork-infused work.
The full lineup for Friday looks like this:
The Smile
Alvvays
Perfume Genius
Leikeli47
Nation of Language
Roc Marciano & The Alchemist
Youth Lagoon
Ric Wilson
Grace Ives
Jlin
Axel Boman
Mavi
Sen Morimoto
Contour
Saturday, July 22
The Saturday lineup provides two very distinct flavors. If you are a fan of edgy new wave disco sprinkled with a sense of humor and a touch of soul, you will find Charlotte Adigery & Bolis Pupul to your liking. However, if you prefer lo-fi soul, jazz, and a chunk of reggae added to the mix, you are sure to enjoy Yaya Bey. That being said, if you are a big fan of the Beach Boys and their Pet Sounds album, then you won’t want to miss Panda Bear + Sonic Boom or Black Belt Eagle Scout. For something in-between all of this, singer-songwriter Vagabon from Cameroon may give you what you are looking for.
Here is the Saturday lineup:
Big Thief
Weyes Blood
King Krule
Snail Mail
Panda Bear + Sonic Boom
Julia Jacklin
Charlotte Adigery & Bolis Pupul
Vagabon
MJ Lenderman
Yaya Bey
Black Belt Eagle Scout
700 Bliss
Palm
Deeper
Sunday, July 23
The final day of the music festival at this venue has a nice cross-section of choices including local artist Ariel Zetina and her hypnotic acid-house flavor. Other notable options include Soul Glo, a perfect pick for hardcore Afropunk fans. Jamaican pop singer Koffee is an indie alt-r&b songstress that occupies space on many must-see lists. For indie hip-hop, you will dig the vibe from Killer Mike or JPEGMafia. On the other end of the scale, there’s Mdou Moctar with psychedelic Tuareg desert blues.
Here’s a closer look at the Sunday lineup:
Bon Iver
Kelela
Koffee
Killer Mike
JPEGMafia
Hurray For The Riff Raff
Mdou Moctar
Illuminati Hotties
Jockstrap
Soul Glo
Florist
Lucrecia Dalt
Rachika Nayar
Ariel Zetina
How To Get To The Festival
There are a few considerations to keep in mind if you plan to attend this year’s Pitchfork Music Festival. First, getting there by car is going to be difficult simply because there are no parking spaces at the site for festival attendees nor are there any sanctioned parking lots in Union Park. You can get to the venue by train if you take it to the Ashland stop on either the Green or Pink line. This stop is at the northwest corner of Union Park and an accessible entrance can be found there. Two buses stop near the park. Ashland #9 runs north/south and stops at the Western edge of the park. The Madison #20 bus runs east/west and stops just south of Union Park. If you have a bicycle, there are plenty of bike parking options and the festival organizers provide a safe lot for bike parking.
