This past weekend we were lucky enough to attend our very first Pitchfork Music Festival, which was celebrating its tenth year in operation. To commemorate the major mark, P4kFest assembled a lineup that other festivals could envy, which included instant standouts in their headliners Wilco, Sleater-Kinney, and Chance The Rapper. We guided our experience at the fest by following our list of artists we couldn’t miss at this edition of the festival, but of course we didn’t confine ourselves to just those sets. The result was a weekend filled with performances that can easily challenge for a spot on our list of the best shows we’ll see throughout the year.
*View the full picture galleries of each day of Pitchfork Fest 2015 on our Facebook.
So hit the jump and take a look at the 10 best performances of the 10th anniversary of the Pitchfork Music Festival along with a gallery of our favorite things we saw all weekend.
Tobias Jesso Jr.
This dude was really something else. The Blue Stage was packed with fans that danced and swayed to the soulful stylings of the latest it piano man. TJJ treated this show like he was just playing some lounge gig, engaging fans one second with funny small-talk in between songs; joking about the heat, sound levels messing up, and the fact people may think he only plays piano; and then the next he’d turn it on to play the beautiful and emotive music of his catalogue. What a pro, and what an entertaining set.
Wilco
Would it be a good idea to release an album (for FREE!!) a day before a headlining festival gig and then proceed to play that new album in full at said headlining festival gig?? For most bands, that’s a big “hell no,” but not for this storied band! Wilco killed it and the crowd responded with enthusiasm as if they were listening to these songs for decades!
Parquet Courts
Parquet Courts were the best surprise for me at P4kFest. I’d heard plenty of buzz around them for a while now but I had never put aside the time to actually listen to them. Just a song or two into their set and I instantly regretted not having discovered their music sooner. Their energy was raw and these boys just really rocked the whole way through.
Future Islands
Future Islands have made quite a name for themselves over the past year or so and their sub-headlining set was the perfect way to showcase their talent/growth. And those sweet, sweet dance moves are even better in person! There’s no crazy elaborate lighting, or overuse of smoke machines, or special effects, just good music being driven by one outstanding frontman. When all of us who were taking pictures exited the photo pit after the permitted 3 songs were over, lead singer Samuel T. Herring said “man, these photographers have mad FOMO right now.” He couldn’t have been more right about that.
Vic Mensa
Vic’s headlining slot in his hometown at this particular festival was already notable news considering it’s the highly heralded Pitchfork Music Festival, but the fact that he drew such a passionate and massive crowd at the same time that riot grrrl legends Sleater-Kinney were performing just yards away was no small feat. The Save Money leader turned into a real superstar this Saturday night, showing why someone like Kanye would desire to jump on a song for a feature and proving just why Jay needed to get his signature on a record deal. This isn’t the pinnacle of his career, but it was a huge step towards reaching the top of Hip Hop.
Sleater-Kinney
My, my was I one lucky man to finally get to witness a Sleater-Kinney performance. While there was no chance I wasn’t going to see my dude Vic perform, a part of me was sort of glad that his set finished 15 minutes earlier than what was listed and now I was able to catch about 30 minutes of S-K. Their stage presence was mighty and I couldn’t help but notice everyone around me had their feet stomping, their hands pumping in the air, and their eyes fixated on the almost-legendary trio. At one point they said “this stuff isn’t pretty, but we don’t want it to be,” and it was funny to me because it was at about this moment that I was falling in love with the sounds coming from Corin Tucker, Carrie Brownstein, and Janet Weiss.
Freddie Gibbs & Madlib
No lie, Gangsta Gibbs looked like a headliner on Sunday afternoon! Hitting the stage with Madlib on the ones and twos, Freddie Gibbs looked like a commander on the mic with the crowd feeding off his every word during his weed-laced performance. Gibbs would leave the stage time and again during the tail end of his set but the fans demanded more, and the Indiana rapper came back time and again to give the fans what they wanted. During the dragging walk to the exit at the end of a festival date that featured performances from Courtney Barnett, Run The Jewels, and Chance The Rapper, it was Gibbs that was getting a lot of the praise from the fans around me discussing their favorites for the day. As one of the onlookers that day of all of these, I can definitely understand their arguments.
Courtney Barnett
Courtney Barnett’s rise to fame was no accident and her performance at Pitchfork Fest 2015 was yet another example of why she’s an artist that we must pay close attention to for a very long time. My comparisons to Nirvana were further proven to be true (at least to me), with Barnett playing that guitar like Cobain minus the demons, and bouncing around with grit while singing her witty lyrics.
Run The Jewels
Long live Run The Jewels! These Hip Hoppers were straight killers on the mic while delivering their stellar performance. The victory lap continues for the veteran rappers following the release of their excellent 2014 album RTJ2, but El-P and Killer Mike aren’t coasting and they’re definitely not showing any signs of slowing down. The charisma pouring out of these two is undeniable and every performance was worthy of inclusion on any highlight reel. The appearance of Zach De La Rocha only made things that much better for an already brilliant set.
Chance The Rapper
It’s very easy to say now that Chance The Rapper was simply magnificent closing out Pitchfork Fest 2015. The stage production; including elaborate animation, dancers, multiple costume changes; showed the young Chicago rapper has graduated to a whole new level as an artist and his stage presence is like that of any veteran who’s been at the top for decades. The setlist included cuts from 10 Day and Acid Rap, along with some of his features like his verse and hook on Action Bronson’s “Baby Blue,” and he even set aside some time for Donnie Trumpet to lead the show for performances of tracks off Surf. Guest appearances from the Chicago Bulls Bucket Boys offered a view at Chitown grit and Kirk Franklin timely brought some Gospel to the Sunday night show. But it was The Social Experiment reimagining the sounds of Chano’s solo work that put the icing on the cake. Nate Fox, Stix, Peter Cottontale and Donnie played those mixtape tracks in forms that were completely original and made them sound with a particular flair that we’d never really heard from them before.
Chano kept pumping up the crowd telling us this show was strictly for us and that this experience depended as much on us as it did on him. No matter how hype the crowd of thousands got, Chance had a way to top that. He referenced canceling the live-stream to make it that much more special for the lucky few in attendance. The way he put on for his city won’t soon be topped and this performance further cemented his status as a true hometown hero. It was all a real spectacle and it was the perfect way to close the weekend. Chance for mayor!!
