A Perfect Day for Music

Whatever was causing Friday's entry hold-up seems to have been resolved: it took mere minutes to enter the fest today. Plus, Saturday's weather might have been the festival’s best ever: not too hot and definitely not too cold, making it easy to drink, dance, and spend all day soaking up good vibes.

 

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Jeff Rosenstock

A veteran of the ska, punk, and indie rock scenes, Rosenstock is used to playing (as he proclaimed several times) "tiny, shitty rooms." The festival crowd clearly appreciated that intimate energy, despite Rosenstock's love-hate relationship with fests: His latest album Worry, has a song called "Festival Song" that skewers (you guessed it) big festival anthems, and before kicking off the song, he announced how much money Pitchfork paid him to play ($7,500, for the curious).

PJ Harvey

PJ Harvey (who strode onstage playing a saxophone, followed by a drum regiment) gave fans and newbies a showstopping performance traversing the eras of her musical career, from the more fast-paced and sax-laden later years to the art-rock of her mid-'90s starmaking albums.

Mitski

Why was Mitski on the smaller Blue Stage? Her 4 p.m. set was likely the most packed of any performer this weekend by far. The indie rock savior had fans giddy with favorites like “Your Best American Girl,” plus cuts from earlier albums like Bury Me at Makeout Creek. 

Pricey Reading Spot

Pitchfork is apparently a great place to get caught up on your reading. So far this weekend, we've seen people paging through Donna Tartt's The Secret History and Alex Garland's The Beach, as well as several festgoers leafing through the New Yorker in the shade.

Best Booze Award

The Lost Lake booth in the Pitchfork+ area serves perhaps the best booze deal of the fest: for the same price as a beer at the main beverage tents, festival-goers can sip on a tipple from one of the best bars in Chicago.

Should We Be Worried?

It wouldn’t be a Pitchfork Festival without sound issues and unfortunately, the festival’s largest stage appears to have major ones this year. If you’re standing anywhere but front and center, the music sounds muffled, as if listening to it in another room or out of tinny earbuds. Despite the energy of George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic, sound issues made it not as spectacular as it should have been. Things didn’t sound much better during A Tribe Called Quest’s headlining slot, a bad sign for Solange, who headlines the last day of the festival. 

Hmm…

Overheard at A Tribe Called Quest: "I like them! They sound kind of like Will Smith."