- Will Westbrook
- Neutral Milk Hotel
Pitchfork’s second day of wall-to-wall entertainment presents festivalgoers with a lot of tough choices. Two Reader staffers and Fake Shore Drive deputy editor Ty Howard make their calls below—and while I’d never suggest that you follow any of these people around, their schedules sound pretty fun. —Philip Montoro
Ty Howard
Deputy editor, Fake Shore Drive
3:00 PM Arrive; find beer and begin people watching.
4:15 PM Rap along to every song in Pusha T‘s set.
5:45 PM Pray that Tink joins Kelela onstage for “Want It.”
6:15 PM Danny Brown.
7:00 PM Beer and bathroom time. Not together, but you get the picture.
7:45 PM Think of ways to confess my love to FKA Twigs without being creepy.
8:00 PM More beer.
J.R. Nelson
Reader writer
1:00 PM Local garage-pop quartet Twin Peaks are ace songwriters despite being as young as college sophomores, and weirdly they’re bigger in England than stateside. Not for long.
1:45 PM Speaking of nuclear waste, it’s superior to most 2014 Brooklyn rap. But you can expect Ka to turn the Red Stage into Brownsville West and me to not be mad about it.
3:15 PM Seeking out the friendly dude who looks like a Vietnam vet and hooked me up with cheap George Jones tapes at the CHIRP Record Fair last year. Will the circle be unbroken?
4:00 PM Chicago press Kill Hatsumomo is my main stop at Flatstock—Erin Page’s gig posters are instant classics.
5:45 PM With any luck, Kelela‘s very grown music—a sort of hybrid between R&B and droney electronica—will be the perfect soundtrack to meeting my future wife on the Blue Stage lawn.
6:15 PM Danny Brown makes toast out of his jam “Wonderbread,” and we all turn to jelly.
7:25 PM Speaking of bread: St. Vincent is the greatest thing since the loaf got sliced—the must-see act of the entire festival.
8:05 PM Catch a bit of FKA Twigs, then get to my bike before Neutral Milk Hotel’s aeroplane comes back to earth and disgorges its annoying passengers.
Brianna Wellen
Reader editorial assistant
1:00 PM I’ll kick off the day with Twin Peaks. There’s nothing like seeing talented 20-year-olds rock a huge crowd to really make you feel bad about your own accomplishments.
2:00 PM Reapply sunscreen. My fair skin is not made for these harsh summer rays.
3:20 PM The lead singer of Cloud Nothings isn’t much older than the Twin Peaks guys, but hey, at least the bassist is in his 30s.
4:30 PM Reapply sunscreen.
5:15 PM Time to throw on some pastel face paint and dance around to Tune-Yards. These are the moments outdoor music festivals were made for.
6:14 PM A moment of silence for the Julie Ruin, who would’ve played about now had they not been forced to cancel their tour by Kathleen Hanna’s Lyme disease. Get well soon, Kathleen.
6:15 PM Might as well enjoy Danny Brown instead!
6:45 PM Reapply sunscreen. Those rays are gonna keep beating down for at least another hour.
7:25 PM I wouldn’t dare miss a chance to see celestial being St. Vincent in person.
8:30 PM Jeff Mangum has one of the most powerful voices I’ve ever heard live, and I can’t think of a more magical way to end the day than singing along with Neutral Milk Hotel as the sun goes down.