Some people simply can't wait for Lollapalooza in early August for their fix of music festival mania, and Pitchfork was created for those people. No, this is not in fact a festival for farmers to showcase their snazziest agricultural tools, as many may believe at first glance. It is the concentration of Pitchfork Media's musical elitism into one short weekend. For a festival in only its fifth year, Pitchfork has brought together quite an impressive lineup, complete with indie superstars and many more artists who are on their way there.
Friday's lineup is decisively smaller than Saturday or Sunday because the festival doesn't start until much later in the day. Broken Social Scene is sure to be one of Friday's highlights. The Canadian collective is one characterized by fluctuation. The number of members in the group fluctuates and can include as many as 19 people. They are sure to bring in a large crowd of loyal followers, and may in fact be the reason people buy tickets for Friday to begin with.
That's in fact one of the things unique to Pitchfork. Three-day tickets are not as popular and festival goers tend to buy tickets for Saturday and Sunday alone. At a fraction of the cost of Chicago's other notable festival, however, it still brings at least 50,000 visitors to Union Park each year.
One of the best things to come out of Jersey lately is, without a doubt, Real Estate. The band released its self-titled debut album earlier this year and was embraced with open arms by the folks at Pitchfork. Real Estate was awarded one of the coveted "Best New Album" titles and was deemed worthy of this summer's festival. One of the best tracks off the album is "Beach Comber" because it is exemplary of the rest of the sound Real Estate is going for. It isn't too busy and has a smooth melody that promises to be just as great live as it is on the album.
One of the unquestionable highlights of Saturday's spread is LCD Soundsystem. Best known for his 2007 album "Sound of Silver," James Murphy is sure to draw a crowd. The album, as well as the rest of his work as LCD Soundsystem, has a warm, electronic feel to it. It's not so much dancing music, but it's more something that must be sung along with. "Someone Great" is the best example of this. It could be accurately described as "bopping around" music. His popularity will no doubt bring hipsters in from every corner of Chicago and beyond, like moths to a flame.
The booking of Pavement was a big win for the festival. The Flaming Lips headlined last year's Sunday show, so Pitchfork certainly had to pull out all the stops to be able to top that this year. After 10 years apart, the members of Pavement announced earlier this year that they would reunite for a tour this year. Since the band's last show in 1999, quite a bit has changed in the music industry, but Pavement still remains relevant. It promises to be an amazing concert experience and will most likely be the highlight of the entire weekend.
The rest of the weekend is just as good as the aforementioned bands. It turns out that Pitchfork has once again brought together the cream of the indie crop so to speak. Also performing will be Wolf Parade, Panda Bear, Why?, St. Vincent, Beach House, Here We Go Magic, Surfer Blood, and many others.
So get yourself a ticket to Pitchfork and save yourself the money you'll spend seeing them at Lollapalooza in two years.
