Pitchfork Music Festival preview

Pitchfork Music Festival
Union Park, Chicago
Friday, July 13 – Sunday, July 15, 2007

Wal-Mart has everything you could possibly want or need, right? Still, it’s nice sometimes to go to the local grocery mart instead. The choices may be fewer and parking might be tougher, but you don’t have to give your hard-earned cash to corporate America, or deal with the screaming kids. Kind of like Lollapalooza vs. Pitchfork, without the kids.

This isn’t meant to slam Lollapalooza, a festival that has planted its stakes in our Midwestern home and made Chicago an annual destination for music fans across the world. But the truth is, Lolla lost its “alternative” credentials (“delivered by AT&T; the Citi, Bud Light, and Playstation stages) long ago, can be a chore (walk between main stages is a doozy; shouldn’t complain about too many bands, but 130?), and ain’t cheap ($195 for a three-day pass plus severely overpriced food and drink). Compare this to Pitchfork, which has no corporate sponsors, has a more intimate three-stage setup in Union Park, will give concert-goers an impressive (but not overwhelming) 39-band roster, and appear genuine in its (promoter At Pluto) goal of providing a comfortable, reasonably priced experience.

We can’t vouch for Pitchfork, yet, though. IE will make its first trip to the three-year-old festival (the first was technically Intonation curated by Pitchfork) this weekend and will give you the details with an online round-up next week. Musically, there should be at least a little something for everyone with choices ranging from Cat Power, Iron & Wine, Mastodon (the only metal band of the weekend – one more than Lollapalooza), and Clipse to headliner Yoko Ono Saturday. The New Pornographers, The Sea And Cake, Of Montreal, and The Klaxons are a few of the acts that will play Sunday, which is headlined by De La Soul, but Friday might provide the biggest treats, given you’re a Slint, GZA, or Sonic Youth Fan. Those three acts will perform their “classic) records (Spiderland, Liquid Swords, and Daydream Nation, respectively) in their entirety. Click here for the weekend’s full lineup, including set times.

FYI: If you don’t already have tickets, you might want to start scouring Craigslist, find a good broker, or practice scaling fences, ’cause this baby is sold out.

– Trevor Fisher

Category: Stage Buzz, Weekly