Pitchfork 2010 kicks off in Union Park
UPDATED: Friday 6:50 p.m.
Besides sunscreen, the one requirement for the approximately 18,000 fans who attend the Pitchfork Music Festival each day this weekend in Union Park will be a discerning taste in music.
The heat was the story as Pitchfork opened Friday and within three hours of the festival opening, promoters cut the price of water in half to $1 to mitigate the effects.
"We're trying to be pro-active about it," said festival staffer Anders Smith-Lindall, noting that a few fans had already been pulled from the audience with heat exhaustion. Pitchfork had three nurses, three paramedics and two ambulances on site to deal with medical issues.
With few exceptions, most of the 45 bands and artists performing on three stages at the festival were hardly mainstream entertainers. But most had a devoted following, cultivated by the Chicago-based e-zine pitchfork.com. Here was the one place in Chicago, if not the entire Midwest, this weekend where one was most likely to run into someone who knows a Tallest Man on Earth song by heart. In blurring the line between critic and promoter, Pitchfork organizers are now in their fifth year of staging what has become one of the world's key festivals. As in past years, this year's gathering of the independent-music tribes has already sold out, with 54,000 fans expected to attend from 45 states and 11 countries.Sharon Van Etten (above) kicked off the weekend Friday under an unforgiving sun in an unforgiving midafternoon slot with little more than an electric guitar. But her hypnotic strumming and lacerating lyrics about trainwreck relationships hit the mark. Though modest in presentation, her set exemplified what this festival does best: give just-below-the-radar artists their first high-profile platform. If Van Etten becomes the indie-folk star some critics predict she will become, Pitchfork will be her coming-out party.
The day also brought one of the festival's new features, a brief diversion from the usual nonstop parade of music with several comedians scheduled to perform.
The weekend's headliners include Modest Mouse, which capped Friday's festivities, LCD Soundsystem and a reunion of ‘90s alternative-rockers Pavement, who will bring the festival to a close Sunday.
View a guide to every band at Pitchfork 2010 and check out 17 must-see acts.
greg@gregkot.com
Photo: Sharon Van Etten performs at Pitchfork on Friday. (Mike Rich, RedEye)
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