The tenth annual Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago’s beautiful Union Park started off with a bang yesterday with OVO Sound’s iLoveMakonnen getting the crowd going with his hip hop bangers. Even before he came on, the crowd was singing along to the hits Pitchfork was playing as we waited about ten minutes past his scheduled time slot. We spotted Chance the Rapper turning up side stage during his set as well.
After grabbing a few of Chance The Rapper’s exclusive Goose Island beer No Collar in the VIP area we headed back out to catch our Canadian homies Mac DeMarco for a little sunset antics. Mac played with his usual quirkiness to a hot humid crowd, while his shirtless guitarist tried to scam beers of his band mates to stay cool. Good times.
Later on, over at the blue stage we caught some chill vibes from North Vancouver’s Tobias Jesso Jr. under the shady trees. As they were about to start we spotted all three Haim sisters running backstage through the crowd to watch the set. It seems like everyone is loving Tobias these days.
After that mellow, laid-back set we head over to the Red stage to catch Glaswegian electro pop band Chvrches perform their high tempo set. This was the second time the band has performed together since November, and the energy and enthusiasm came pouring out of them super-charged the audience. They treated the audience to a decent peppering of tracks from their forthcoming new record Every Open Eye, showing the crowd they still have their magic touch. Their performance reminded us just how much we love and missed them. Be sure to watch our interview with the band over on Hustle TV.
Closing out day 1 of the tenth annual festival was a special performance from Chicago’s own alternative rock band Wilco. The band performed their brand new album Star Wars, which was released by surprise to all fans on Thursday evening. After performing the new album in its entirety, the band continued on to play 55 minutes of older favorites. It definitely was a night to remember.
Take a look at all our day 1 pictures below and stay tuned for day 2!
Wilco
CHVRCHES
Tobias Jesso Jr.
Mac DeMarco
iLoveMakonnen
