After a year without live music and festivals, Pitchfork is finally back. The annual festival is planned to take place September 10th-12th at Chicago’s Union Park. The festival already sold out of three-day passes, and it comes as no surprise. This year the festival has huge headliners such as Phoebe Bridgers, Thundercat, Animal Collective, and Angel Olsen on the lineup.
The festival has recently updated its COVID guidelines and will now require a photo ID and proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test. Pitchfork is also recommending that attendees wear a mask.
In anticipation for the big weekend, we’ve asked the staff over here at WLUW who they’re most excited to see, and they’ve answered:
“Personally, I am most excited to see Ty Segall & The Freedom Band at Pitchfork Fest this year. Simply based on the genre-bending tendencies that Segall demonstrates in his albums over various different projects, I am excited to see which direction he will take his performance at Pitchfork! Ty Segall, upon the release of his first Self Titled album in 2008, has consistently released a variety of different albums, each with a unique sound. Whether he plays his surfy-garage rock sounds found in Melted or Twins, the more doomy, fuzzy sounds found in Manipulator or Fudge Sandwich, or the folky-inspired pieces in Ty Rex and Sleeper. The best part about listening to Segall is you get a bit of everything, so I am really looking forward to his Pitchfork performance, to see just how much musical diversity we can get within one set!” – Emily Schwarz
“I had the pleasure of seeing Oso Oso for the first time in May of 2019 and am very excited to see them again at Pitchfork. They are one of the more upbeat bands performing at the festival and I think someone with any music taste would enjoy their songs. Their latest album ‘basking in the glow’ has many positive tracks that are sure to put listeners in a good mood. Fans of bands like Charmer, Heart Attack Man, and Origami Angel are sure to enjoy the more indie sounding vibe of Oso Oso.” – Gwendolyn Brown
“I’m so stoked to see black midi at Pitchfork. Their newest release, Cavalcade, is easily my album of the year so far. I could go on and on trying to make comparisons to other artists- maybe some funky Primus vibes, some Zappa or King Crimson energies here and there…. At the end of the day though, black midi can’t be compared to anyone else. They are one of the most innovative groups out there right now. They certainly have established a signature sound through their two albums but fans still never quite know what to expect. Listening to black midi is an eclectic and adventurous sonic journey, and I’m so excited to see how that translates to a live performance.
(also they have a horn section now, which is really exciting)” – Makenzie Creden
“Angel Olsen’s 2020 album, Whole New Mess, encompasses a collection of our favorite songs of hers in a whole new light. While living in a year where everything and anything has changed, it only makes sense to listen to our favorite Angel Olsen songs from a whole new perspective. The renditioned songs including (We Are All Mirrors), Whole New Mess, (New Love) Cassette, and Waving, Smiling gently expose the raw wounds that inspired Olsen to create these songs in the first place.
2020 was a year of surprises, pain, love, heartbreak, endearment, anger, and most of all, change. Angel Olsen offers this album to witness the trauma and discomfort of the pandemic in a raw form. The unvarnished versions of the songs Waving, Smiling and Tonight (Without You) in the middle of the album make the listener step back and listen more carefully to Olsen’s ethereal voice and pensive lyrics. The gentle riffs and calming hum of her voice come together into a bare, simple form of melancholic tunes.
The album concludes with her previously recorded song, Chance (Forever Love), played in a much more acoustic way than the original version. The listener can get a better idea of what this song sounded like when Olsen first wrote, played, and sung the beautifully written song. The first version of this song presents a cinematic perspective of the words, while the raw version offers a more realistic playfulness and imagination.” -Milo Keranen
“Cat Power’s 1998 album Moon Pix entails, brilliantly, haunting songs that transmit you into a dream of Chan Marshall’s inner demons. Marshall is able to make her lyrics come alive with the eruptions of guitars and drums, putting you into a trance. The story being told through this album is a feeling like no other. Songs like “Metal Heart” explore the inescapable darkness Marshall is singing to herself. Out of the various albums Chan has released, Moon Pix’s spellbinding charm makes it one of my favorite records. I cannot wait to see what kind of witchiness Cat Power brings to the stage at Pitchfork this year!” -Jess Dominguez
Who are you most excited to see? Let us know!