Put it in the books, sink your teeth into those neighborhood festivals and get ready for Lollapalooza—Pitchfork 2012 is through. Don’t go diving off the live-music deep end just yet, though, as we’ve got you covered with recaps, essays, photos and all the absurd music-festival banter you were too drunk to remember or too shocked to ever forget:

“Show us your tits!” at “Overheard at Pitchfork 2012″

Satisfy your critical appetite by trying “Single Servings: Bite-Sized Reviews of Pitchfork 2012″ Read the rest of this entry »

Outer Minds/Photo: Maddie Rehayem

By Maddie Rehayem

Showing up on time for Pitchfork each day was rewarding because of the lesser-known local acts in the lineup this year. Of course it’s exciting to have bands, DJs and rappers come in from around the United States, Canada and overseas, but having a few Chicago acts on the bill keeps the festival grounded and proves to festivalgoers as diverse as the artists on the bill that our city can hold its own in the world of music.

The first local band I saw was the first band to play at Pitchfork this year, Outer Minds. They play that kind of garage rock that I find impossible not to enjoy, no matter how well or how poorly it is executed. A fun band, refreshing and just too cool, their set was perfect for ringing in this year’s fest. Read the rest of this entry »

We saw a lot of weird stuff at Pitchfork this year, not including Lady Gaga checking out Kendrick Lamar. Mostly, though, we heard a lot of weird stuff—and that’s not even counting the music playing on stage. These are a few of those highlights, coming from the people on stage, in the crowd and by the fifty-odd  Porta-Potties in the middle of the park.

Photo: Maddie Rehayem

“Don’t want to hear no digital shit!” –Shirtless guy emotionally preparing for Olivia Tremor Control to start

“Y’all have been very nice watching me be self-indulgent.” –Willis Earl Beal

“Wow there is a massive crowd here.” –Security guard at Japandroids, just before pulling out a dozen crowd surfers

“Let’s first pee a little and then let’s eat something.”

“It’s getting Feisty.” –Walking toward the Green Stage to see Feist

“Show us your tits!” –Yelled at Feist, as people slow dance in crowd

“Hey look, Daddy’s on that screen over there. I gave birth to all of you. It took twelve hours under the sign of Saturn.” –Atlas Sound talking to crowd, pointing toward video screen Read the rest of this entry »

Bite-sized reviews of the shows we caught this weekend. Dig in.

Dirty Projectors/Photo: Maddie Rehayem

FRIDAY

Outer Minds. The band opened Pitchfork 2012 with sunny-day garage rock in their hometown Chicago after a rain delay.

Lower Dens. Few people heard of them before Friday, but Jana Hunter and Co. showed they could rock and were one of the best early afternoon bands of the weekend.

Willis Earl Beal. Whiskey bottle in hand, Willis Earl Beal performed in front of the street he told the crowd he used to ride his bike down. Key word: “performed,” swinging his mike and jumping around stage—until the last song—with nothing but a tape deck to back him up. Read the rest of this entry »

Beach House/Photo: Maddie Rehayem

By Alli Carlisle

I was already tired by the time I got to Pitchfork. Coming down the stairs from the Green Line at Ashland, we music-seekers had already been assaulted by the first wave of hawkers and scalpers crowded at the base of the stairs yelling about tickets and ice-cold water. These people looked serious—this was supposed to be fun, not some kind of death-march I wasn’t prepared for, right? I thought of the heat, the crowds, the no re-entry, and I felt old.

Right after entering, a kid made a dash through the ticket line. A pack of security guards was on him like excited lions after a lone gazelle on the savanna. When they caught him, they walked him back to the entrance and gutted his backpack piece by piece before sending him on his way. This scene repeated itself about five times that day. Read the rest of this entry »

Willis Earl Beal/Photo: Jamie-James Medina

Before heading to Union Park this weekend for the seventh incarnation of the Pitchfork Music Festival, check out our guide to all the acts you may have never heard of, forgotten about, or already know and love. We can’t guarantee they’ll sound as good on stage as they do in our memories and in our record collections, but hey, we can hope.

While you’re at it, be sure and check out our Pitchfork playlist on Spotify and Dave Cantor’s preview of Flying Lotus, who hits the Green Stage at 4:15pm on Saturday. You can find the festival’s full schedule online here. Read the rest of this entry »

RECOMMENDED

With the Pitchfork Festival looking increasingly like a summertime fleecing as opposed to any sort of grand exposure to new and important music and the digital criticism machine moving its headquarters to Brooklyn, who knows how much longer this shindig will (or should) last. More importantly, how many times a year do Chicago audiences need to see Ty Segall? Apparently, at least once more. Granted, digging up acts like Olivia Tremor Control, Godspeed You! Black Emperor and exposing concert-goers to Olympia’s Milk Music is a worthwhile endeavor, but apart from those folks and A$AP Rocky, standing around hoping not to pass out from a booze-induced coma or heat exhaustion doesn’t seem like a good way to spend a day. Read the rest of this entry »

RECOMMENDED

One of the Pitchfork Festival’s best features is its ability to create ancillary events in the community. Of course, all these resulting shows and parties are just as packed as the festival, so hitting up any sort of entertainment can be burdensome. Pairing once-local comedian Hannibal Buress—yes, his parents named him that—with some of underground hip-hop’s most innovative producers rivals any grouping of performers at this year’s proper festivities. After a day filled with A$AP Rocky and BIG K.R.I.T., an instrumental interlude from the fingertips of former Chicagoan Jel should come in handy. Read the rest of this entry »

As the summer music festival season begins to wind down, Newcity takes a look back at one of the biggest of the summer: Pitchfork Music Festival.

Check out these features:

 Pitchforked: Bite-Sized Reviews of Pitchfork Music Festival’s 2011 Performances

Overheard and Overseen at Pitchfork

Pitchfork Fever: Newcity’s 2011 Pitchfork Podcast Read the rest of this entry »

Thurston Moore

“My favorite Wes Anderson line?”

“Five bucks for a beer? That’s pretty good.”

“Everyone’s wearing them these days. Umbrella hats, hats for the heat. One size fits all” —Old man in suit and rainbow umbrella hat standing outside of the festival gate.  Read the rest of this entry »