My two days at Pitchfork 2023

For all the years I've gone to the Pitchfork Festival, only in the past two years have I done (near) full days on the opening day. And I've come to really like them. First off, because it's a work day, the early hours are not nearly as crowded as comparable hours on the weekend. Second, while I love going to the festival with Jenn, there's something nice about being able to wander around on your own. Especially on a day like Friday, where there were some things I really wanted to see, but so much more to just check out.

And that's where I started, checking out electronic R & B artist Nourished by Time. Marcus Brown of Baltimore came out with a laptop and keyboard, and his beats and melodies were a nice kick off for the afternoon. He's a solid singer, and he really connected with the audience between songs. He talked for a bit about how he was back from some shows in London, and how he hopes to someday be able to be a full-time artist. I enjoyed his set, but he would definitely benefit from a band, to flesh out the sound.

That goes even more for Contour, who was next up on the Red Stage. He was also laptop and voice, but his slower songs just didn't quite connect at that time of day, in that spacious area.

We finally got a band with Sen Morimoto, the Japanese singer/songwriter/producer/saxophone player/record mogul who noted that he's about to celebrate 10 years in Chicago. He has been a blessing for Chicago. It's probably no coincidence that his broadbased music, which blends R & B, jazz, hip hop, rock, and pop to varying degrees is combined with his innate gifts as a connector and collaborator. This was reflected in his multi-cultural band, with guitar, bass, drums, keys, and two horn players. One of the folks on a keyboard was Kaina (Castillo), another one of Chicago's bright talents. 

Morimoto has such a winning personality. I think his weakest talent is his singing and rapping, and he's still solid with that, but when you put that over his songs and the grooves he and his collaborators create, it made for a perfect summer soundtrack. The inventive rearrangement of Cher's "Believe" was one of a number of highlight.

I had seen Grace Ives do the laptop and singing thing at Schuba's last year, and wondered how that would translate to an afternoon festival setting. Fairly well, I'd say. Her punch electro-pop makes that a bit easier, combined with her distinctive stage persona. Here's a twenty-something women making super catchy tunes with lyrics that seem pretty reflective of her cohort. She doesn't have classic pop star looks, and that may play into her onstage persona, which is somehow both confident and self-conscious, as she often pulls faces, like "how am I up on this stage." But she's a fine singer, and near the end, played a new demo track, and pulled off an electronic cover of Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop" with made up lyrics that were very cool.

I just caught a bit of Gary, Indiana footwork artist Jlin's Pitchfork debut. She drew a crowd that was into the dense electronics, and if only I could do footwork dancing...

Then I caught most of Nation of Language's set on the Red Stage. They do a darned good job of updating '80s synth pop. I was hit by Depeche Mode, New Order, and Duran Duran vibes. My friend Miles noted to me on Facebook that OMD was what he was catching, and you know, that's spot on.

Ric Wilson took the Blue Stage. He's another Chicago product. He is a rapper whose music is hip hop rooted in smooth funk and pop, who can also sing a little bit. It's like he evolved a couple steps from Chance the Rapper. His band was in the pocket, he had a great female backing vocalist, and my gosh, he has so much charisma. At one point, he got the audience to do dance steps. This was so fun. Wilson just needs that one great song to make him the star he deserves to be.

I ended my Friday with Alvvays. I own all three of their albums, and really dig their stuff. I figured they'd be good. Oh, they were good and then some. They definitely are at that point in their career where they have tremendous confidence, and their melodic guitar rock has just the right amount of sonic space to breathe and take the audience to a better place. Molly Rankin has such a clear voice, and she only shows off once in a while, serving the song. Everyone is in place, and drummer Sheridan Riley is particularly impressive. There was a great energy from the crowd, and the band fed off the crowd and vice versa. It was so nice.

On Saturday, I did my CHIRP Radio show and then my wife Jenn and I headed down to the festival. Black Belt Eagle Scout was the first thing I saw. It's the rock band lead by Native American Katherine Paul, and I was impressed with the 20 minutes or so of the BBES set. Just good old melodic guitar rock, with one song really bringing to mind Belly, which is never a bad thing.

Jenn really wanted to see MJ Lenderman, and the Asheville, NCer is quite good. He brought to mind someone who grew up listening to '90s slacker and alt rock, old country music, and Son Volt. One song repurposed Neil Young's "Cinnamon Girl" riff to great effect. 

I left before MJ ended to catch Vagabon on the Blue Stage. Alas, two songs in, they shut it down. She sounded like she was getting her groove during her second song, so it's bummer it ended there. The festival runners kind of slow walked the evacuation, which ended up scrapping four or five sets.

But not Julia Jacklin. Although Yaya Bey was up on the Blue Stage at 6:30 and Jacklin's set was scheduled to end at 6, the Aussie singer-songwriter got up and did some tunes solo. Jenn learned of this first, and eventually called me (I was kibitzing at the CHIRP Record Fair tent) and I made it in time to see Jacklin perform two spirited tunes. I have to catch her next time she's in town. I liked what I heard (and really dug her past two albums).

Jenn and I stayed at the Blue Stage for Yaya Bey (as the choice was King Krule on a main stage, and he doesn't do much for me). I had played Bey on CHIRP, but had never delved further. Let me tell you, she was terrific. She brings neo-soul chops, with a voice that's comfortable with R & B and jazz, to songs that have a hip hop attitude, with lyrics that at times are shockingly direct and in tension (in a good way) with the supple grooves she's singing over. On top of that, she had so much personality, turning a nip slip into comic gold. Her band was fantastic too.

Then came the culmination of my Pitchfork Festival, Charlotte Adigery and Bolis Pupul. I had seen the Belgian duo, who made my favorite album of 2022, at The Empty Bottle last fall, so I knew how potent they were. Pupul is an encyclopedia of electro-pop grooves, from R & B to techno to synth pop and beyond, and Adigery is somewhat akin to Donna Summer (not quite the range, but that's true of most everyone), an singer and actress at the same time. Moreover, she is one of the most charismatic performers around. 

Their music is made for dancing, and the more in the audience grooving, the better. And if everyone's dancing, what's a little rain. For part of the set, it was pouring a little bit, but everyone had a blast. Pete Townshend has that famous quote about rock and roll allowing you to dance all over your problems, and that fits Adigery and Pupul's techno pop too, with so much social commentary delivered with so much wit. 

We lingered watching Big Thief until they played Jenn's personal favorite song, and then called it a night. Thumbs up to Pitchfork 2023.