Last weekend, Ariel Zetina kicked off the Pitchfork Music Festival’s Sunday program. Instead of simply spinning a DJ set, Zetina worked with a Chicago-based team to put on a theatrical and “cunt” live performance focused on her 2022 album, Cyclorama. A week before the festival, I went behind the curtain to get an inside look […]
Category: Pitchfork
A journey into the unknown at Pitchfork
“Free Space: Weather Delay” is a four-word story I didn’t expect to write this past weekend, even though I’d put those words in the center square of a Pitchfork bingo card on my second trip to the festival as the Chicago Reader’s official bingo correspondent. Aside from a flurry of alarm that the dreadful Canadian […]
A guide to Pitchfork for the resonant body
Since 2015, my first year living full-time in Chicago, the Pitchfork Music Festival has been a watershed moment in my summer. In its regular July slot, the fest has created a fulcrum point in the season—it’s a place to unexpectedly bump into forgotten friends and rest in the leafy tranquility of the Blue Stage, where […]
Pitchfork fashion ‘rules’
Festivalgoers share their tips for looking stylish in extreme weather.
PHOTOS: Behind the Scenes with Grapetooth at Pitchfork
Photographer Tim Nagle went behind the scenes with Grapetooth at their Pitchfork 2019 performance.
PHOTOS: Behind the Scenes with Ric Wilson at Pitchfork
Photographer Tim Nagle went behind the scenes with Ric Wilson at his Pitchfork 2019 performance.
PHOTOS: Behind the Scenes with Tasha at Pitchfork
Photographer Tim Nagle went behind the scenes with Tasha at her Pitchfork 2019 performance.
Charli XCX claimed her pop crown at Pitchfork
She’s long been an expert collaborator, but she’s finally ready for stardom on her own terms.
The quest to be Pitchfork’s perfect consumer
What happens if you indulge every corporate sponsor at Pitchfork? Does the Chase Sapphire Lounge have to let you in?
Mavis Staples sanctified Friday night at Pitchfork
Even when Mavis Staples wasn’t singing gospel at Pitchfork, her powerful spiritual voice could bring together generations.
Here’s who is on the Pitchfork/Silver Room Block Party/ComplexCon cover (and the winner of our contest!)
How many did you guess correctly?
Why haven’t the Isley Brothers conquered the rock market?
The legendary R&B band can rock hard too, but they’ve never crossed over like Sly Stone or Prince.
The Reader’s guide to the 2019 Pitchfork Music Festival
Even on a weekend it shares with the Silver Room Block Party and the debut of ComplexCon Chicago, Pitchfork stands out for its far-sighted, eclectic bookings.
What happens to the trash at Pitchfork?
And how does the festival stack up against its peers on the sustainability front?
A streamable mixtape of Pitchfork’s Chicago sounds
This year Pitchfork booked enough acts from in and around Chicago to fill one side of a 90-minute cassette.