Ho-hum–another summer weekend in Chicago, another festival that shouldn’t be missed.
The inaugural Pitchfork Music Festival offers a madhouse of 41 bands and artists ranging across the worlds of rock, jazz, hip-hop, electronic and experimental music. It’s expected that as many as 34,000 fans will attend the two-day event.
It’s getting to be old hat for a city that went from virtually ignoring cutting-edge culture during its outdoor season to filling its summer calendar with events that music fans from around the world are talking about: Intonation, Move! Lollapalooza and Pitchfork.
Mike Reed, a veteran jazz drummer who had a history of booking smart but small local shows for a decade, couldn’t have predicted such a windfall of music two years ago. Back then, he took aim at creating a festival in Chicago patterned after huge European musical gatherings such as Reading and Glastonbury, which showcased artists who cut across genres and generations. “I thought we needed a better display of music than we’d been getting,” he says.
With his partners Jon Singer and Mike Simons, Reed enlisted Pitchfork, the potent Chicago-based Internet magazine devoted to independent music, to curate what would become known as the Intonation Music Festival last summer.
The festival drew 30,000 fans from around the world to Union Park. When Reed split with his partners afterward, Singer and Simons brought back Intonation a few weeks ago to Union Park with a new curator, the New York-based Vice record label. The two-day event again left its mark, with a comeback show by psychedelic rock pioneer Roky Erickson, a rare appearance by producer extraordinaire Jon Brion, and showcases for rising hip-hop stars Rhymefest and Lupe Fiasco.
Now it’s Reed and Pitchfork’s turn. Once again the e-zine has handpicked a who’s who of its favorite artists, ranging from relative newcomers such as Art Brut and Tapes ‘N Tapes to reunited ’60s cult favorites Os Mutantes. Tickets are $20, up five dollars from last year’s Intonation. That’s still a bargain; to see Os Mutantes in New York recently, fans would’ve had to pay more than double that price. Weeks before the event, the festival had already sold more than 12,000 two-day passes.
“It’s going to be a great event,” says Chicago Park District Supt. Tim Mitchell. “It’s not a big organization like [Lollapalooza promoters Capital Sports and Entertainment], so it’s not about the dollars they bring in, but about helping us bring programs that we can do in other parks, like day camps. Intonation and Pitchfork are helping us attract a whole different crowd than the park district normally touches.”
Reed also helped book art, film and music events throughout the city in the days preceding the festival. Afterward, he’ll bring musical events to other parks in the city.
“If we’re going to put on a national or international event, we have to make it about more than 41 bands in two days in a park,” Reed says. Ultimately, however, the festival will be judged on the quality of its music. If anything, Reed and Pitchfork have upped the ante over last year, with more artists across a wider spectrum of music, and a genuine coup in Os Mutantes.
“We kept in mind what our audience wants to see,” says Pitchfork managing editor Scott Plagenhoef. “The festival is an extension of our dialogue with the music fans on our site.”
Whereas Intonation booked more heavy metal and hip-hop, Pitchfork dug a little deeper for a wider array of noteworthy underground acts. But the festivals share more aesthetic similarities than differences.
That’s not a major concern for the promoters. “We’re not worried whether the festivals do some of the same things,” Plagenhoef says. “We’re focused on doing our festival, and making sure we represent all the artists in the best light.”
Ultimately, the winners are music fans, who now have two well-planned festivals to enjoy in Union Park this summer instead of just one, as in 2005, or none, as in all the years previous. Mitchell is glad to have the business. “I see them both coming back next year,” he says.
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Pitchfork Music Festival
When: 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
Where: Union Park, 1501 W. Randolph St.
Price: $30 for two-day pass (sold out), $20 per day (Sunday sold out); 866-468-3401 or www.pitchforkmusicfestival.co
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More Pitchfork fun
Several Pitchfork-related activities are taking place throughout the weekend, in addition to the music fest at Union Park.
Rock documentary: The Gene Siskel Film Center (164 N. State St.) will screen D.A. Pennebaker’s “Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars,” documenting David Bowie’s final show as Ziggy in 1973. 8 p.m. Saturday, 5:30 p.m. Sunday, 8 p.m. Wednesday; 312-846-2800.
Lunch tunes: The Chicago Cultural Center (78 E. Washington St.) will play host to “A Tribute to Curtis Mayfield,” presented by the Hideout and featuring Nora O’Connor, Steve Frisbie, Max Crawford and more. 12:15 p.m. Friday; 312-744-6630.
Opening bash: Metro (3730 N. Clark St.) is throwing an opening night party with Sunset Rubdown, Voxtrot, Joggers, Life During Wartime DJs and more. 9 p.m. Friday; 773-549-0203.
After parties: Empty Bottle (1035 N. Western Ave.), the Hideout (1354 W. Wabansia Ave.), Martyrs’ (3855 N. Lincoln Ave.), Metro and Schubas (3159 N. Southport Ave.) are all hosting post-Pitchfork parties Saturday and Sunday. Present your festival ticket stub and get in any of the clubs free (one club per night).
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gregkot@aol.com
