Despite being over half done with the year, it never really feels like a Chicago summer until festival season. And this year, summer started with Pitchfork Music Festival 2023. Returning to its usual July time slot, Pitchfork takes over an entire weekend in the city’s beautiful Union Park. That’s just south of the Cobra Lounge and northeast of the United Center for you outta-towners.
And as a lifelong Chicago resident, I could easily gate-keep all the hot spots around town, especially the fans of The Bear. But I won’t. That would disrespect the inclusive vibe Pitchfork has maintained during its 17-year reign as the city’s premier indie music festival. But for what it’s worth, parsley does not belong on a beef sandwich, ya jag.
Neighborhoods and giardiniera aside, Pitchfork Music Festival 2023 had a lineup as diverse as Chicago’s inhabitants. And everyone was invited.
With my usual coverage, this is where I typically present my angle – be it a celebration of genres, diverse discovery, or the communal appeal of a small festival. However, I went in blind this year on purpose. I could’ve focused on local acts such as Deeper, Ariel Zentina, or Sen Morimoto, or the emotionally sentimental ones like Youth Lagoon and Florist. I thought about discussing sonically ambitious acts such as 700 Bliss or King Krule or maybe even the atmospheric experimentalism of Lucrecia Dalt and Rachika Nayar. Instead, I realized that a singular perspective would undercut the beauty of Pitchfork Music Festival’s almost-scatterbrained lineup. I honestly don’t know where to start!
However, as Day 3 of Pitchfork Music Festival 2023 drew to a close, I realized that not having an angle meant the current state of music was in the middle of a long-awaited evolution.
Each guitar-driven outfit of the weekend had a satisfying sense of wholesomeness. MJ Lenderman’s southern-fried power-pop felt like a bro hug. There was Alvvays who were relaxed and nonchalant while maintaining a sense of vulnerability. Meanwhile, Black Belt Eagle Scout’s songs of longing mutated into a wall of arena rock-esque guitar wizardry. Country-flavored acts such as Hurray For The Riff Raff and the acoustic-core dream pop of Florist, as well as Day 2 headliners, Big Thief, managed to feel comfortable and non-confrontational. The Smile, completely untouchable and poised, closed out Day 1 by accounting for every single note of their performance.
The evolution didn’t stop there either. Dance and electronic artists at Pitchfork Music Festival have gone from bleeps and bloops from a laptop into full-on parties. Between Charlotte Adigery & Bolis Pupul’s modern disco and Jockstrap, as party girl personified, electronic dance music has grown far beyond cookie-cutter dance tropes. I mean, when could a DJ act such as Ariel Zentina have the audacity to open the 3rd day of an indie rock festival?
Yes, the guitar was heartfelt and dance music ambitious, but soul and hip-hop dominated Pitchfork Music Festival the way rock did in its prime.
Brooklyn-based songstress Yaya Bey ruled the blue stage on Day 2 as a modern-day Dianna Ross. Meanwhile, indie-soul Vagabon’s vocals could soothe Lake Michigan into submission. Killer Mike brought Day 3 to church with a visceral rap fueled by equal parts confidence and brutal self-awareness. In the same breath, there wasn’t a single artist the entire weekend who commanded the stage like JPEGMafia! As my very first time shooting photography along with my usual festival coverage, I nearly had a heart attack when JPEG opened his set by jumping from the stage to the very speaker I was standing in front of!
With another Pitchfork Music Festival in the books, I’m glad I didn’t use a predetermined angle in my coverage.
Everything single thing in life is experiencing some sort of trauma-induced evolution. Whether it’s society’s civil unrest, the political landscape, or even our favorite social media apps, it’s all just up in the air, isn’t it? The last thing we should be doing is trying to put our music genres in some sort of projected box.
It’s been a rough few years, and whether we care to admit it or not, it has changed how we consume pop culture and who we are as people. Even more, the music itself and the musicians creating it are on their trajectories, one that defies gatekeeping and genres alike. Music needs to evolve to stay fresh and that much more interesting, so it was great to be in that atmosphere all weekend long.
All photography by Aaron Cooper
