Photo by Christopher Alvarez of Pitchfork 2016 for The Scenestar
The 2017 edition of the Pitchfork Music Festival will be held at Union Park in Chicago from Friday, July 14, to Sunday, July 16. This year’s headliners are LCD Soundsystem, A Tribe Called Quest, and Solange. Others scheduled to perform include The Avalanches, Danny Brown, Dirty Projectors, Francis and the Lights, Thurston Moore Group, PJ Harvey, Angel Olsen, Arab Strap, Nicolas Jaar, Ride, Hamilton Leithauser, Hiss Golden Messenger, Vince Staples, American Football, Cherry Glazerr, Isaiah Rashad, and many more. Three-day, single-day, and VIP tickets are still available. Here are five artists one should not miss over the weekend. — Christopher Alvarez
Having been slated to perform at last year’s Pitchfork Music Festival (their name was on the official 2016 merchandise), The Avalanches were unable to perform due to logistical issues. But the saying “better late than never” seems to fit here. The Australian DJ duo just released Wildflower, 16 years after their debut LP Since I Left You, and it picks up right where they left off. Rich in samples, upbeat lyrics, and arrangements, it has the ability to transport you to a tropical island or a theme park within seconds. Union Park will now be their next playground to perhaps bring everyone out of the summer heat and dance.
The privilege of closing out this year’s festival goes to none other than Solange, who will perform songs off of A Seat at the Table, one of 2016’s best albums. With themes of empowerment, family, loneliness, and love embedded in her lyrics, a sort of catharsis looks to be the end result of witnessing her performance. And perhaps “presenting” would be the most fitting word to describe her live shows, as Solange turns them into a living and breathing art piece. Also, Solange and her record label Saint Heron have collaborated with Pitchfork to bring another element to the weekend’s festivities. Late-night aftershows, art installations, film screenings, and live poetry are among the offerings that will encompass Saint Heron House.
Gaining a significant profile in the last few years from his song producing prowess (Drake, Kanye West, Chance the Rapper), Francis Farewell Starlite truly looks primed to break out this year. Having released his latest offering Farewell, Starlite! to critical praise, this one-man dance party will make you think of Phil Collins’s voice mixed with Prince’s swag. Will his set end with a guest appearance or two? It seems likely. But one thing is for certain, you will not want to miss out on what should be a dynamic performance.
Detroit-born rapper Danny Brown returns to Union Park for the third time, with his new record, Atrocity Exhibition, in tow. With his boundary-pushing style of staccato rapping and bombastic music production, Brown contributes a breath of fresh air into a sometimes stale genre. This same energy is delivered to the live stage as well, where he is known to do the absurd to please himself as well as the audience. The rapper also has kept himself busy with guest vocals on tracks by Gorillaz and The Avalanches. Hopefully he pays a visit to the latter on Sunday to sing “Frankie Sinatra.”
Avant garde electronic producer and DJ Nicolas Jaar has grown by leaps and bounds since releasing his debut album Space Is Only Noise in 2011 and the follow-up Sirens in 2016. In his current iteration, he is a one-man multi-instrumentalist. Surrounded by guitars, computers, keyboards, and anything he feels might be required, Jaar paints a landscape of the world in its current state, filled with political unrest, injustice, and hopelessness. Jaar is trying to send a message in every beat and synth loop he plays, giving the audience a glimpse of better times ahead.
BUY TICKETS: July 14th: Pitchfork Music Festival 2017 at Union Park (CHICAGO, IL)
BUY TICKETS: July 15th: Pitchfork Music Festival 2017 at Union Park (CHICAGO, IL)
BUY TICKETS: July 16th: Pitchfork Music Festival 2017 at Union Park (CHICAGO, IL)
BUY TICKETS (3-DAY PASS): July 14th – 16th: Pitchfork Music Festival 2017 at Union Park (CHICAGO, IL)
BUY TICKETS (3-DAY PLUS PASS): July 14th – 16th: Pitchfork Music Festival 2017 at Union Park (CHICAGO, IL)
PITCHFORK 2017 LINEUP
Leave a Reply