For seemingly the first time in quite a while, Pitchfork Music Festival went off without a sudden cancellation or downpour! The weather stayed perfectly pleasant, letting the aforementioned lineup perform to their fervent fans!
In a weekend of highlights, Day Three had it's fair share with riveting performances from the likes of Akenya, Muna, Mannequin Pussy, and more!
Checkout our recaps of Day Three as well as our reviews of Day One and Day Two!
Akenya
Making her way on the stage Vogueing for the crowd before letting her incredible songs burst forth, Akenya was another in a long line of great opening sets for the final day of Pitchfork Music Festival. Akenya came backed with a full band to give her neo-soul sound it's full due as she jumped between keys and vocals with ease. Here's hoping Akenya returns with a later time slot to give even more of the Pitchfork audience a taste of her magnificent voice.
- Julian Ramirez
Joanna Sternberg
Joanna Sternberg's music is sincerity personified. Delving into the idiosyncrasies of life with a poignant and often heartbreaking point of view, Sternberg was easily the sweetest and gentlest set of the weekend. While it may not have been for those seeking guitar riffs and bombastic performances (those would come later and be plentiful), it was a nice moment to soak in the song and enjoy Sternberg's prime songwriting. Opening with the damning "People Are Toys to You", sprinkling in devastating tracks like "This Is Not Who I Want to Be" and "The Love I Give", and capping it all off with ambiguous sentiments behind "I’ll Make You Mine", Sternberg's green stage set let an emotional mark.
-Julian Ramirez
The too tall VIP stands that block the view for a good portion of the audiences at the Green and Red Stages
...they never left. Neither did my dislike of them.
- Julian Ramirez
Model/Actriz
And right on cue a completely off the wall performance followed on the green stage from Model /Actriz. Vocalist Cole Haden led the band and the crowd in one hell of a performance. Haden started off on stage with more poses than you can imagine as he deeply crooning as the band (consisting of Ruben Radlauer, Aaron Shapiro, and Jack Wetmore) laid down post punk instrumentation. But the stage would not hold him as quickly after the first song Haden jumped off stage and bee-lined right into the crowd. Haden sang into audience members faces, implored the entire stage right section to sit down with him as he wonderfully bellowed, and even was bestowed with a pair of sunglasess (which he eventually returned to their rightful; owner). It was certianly a performance to remember!
-Julian Ramirez
Jessica Pratt
The soothing singer and songwriter that is Jessica Pratt performed what was probably one of the best midday sets this entire weekend! Pratt is known for her unique sounding voice that almost gives off a similar sound as an old record. Her crowd size was rather hefty as she welcomed in the late afternoon with her ambient and minimal tunes. All of Union Park basically had the most lovely siesta as she commenced the show with her beautiful tune “World On A String.” It was a phenomenal yet short set that left me as a brand new fan of hers!
- Andrew Lagunas
Mannequin Pussy
When you hear the band name “Mannequin Pussy” you may think to yourself “what in the world?” Until you listen to them and then think, “Yes I get it now!” This seemed to be the energy amongst a lot of festival attendees this weekend and I am so impressed that despite all of their technical difficulties on stage just before they went on; they persevered and managed to still pull off an electrifying set on the blue stage! Philadelphia punk rock band Mannequin Pussy has been playing shows left and right; this being their second time in Chicago this year alone! The band is known for their high energy on stage and transient performances that get their crowds extremely rowdy and feeling the music. Although it did seem as though a lot of people attending the festival went specifically for them, I could tell from being in the crowd that there were definitely a lot of newly converted fans. I do hope that lead singer Marisa Dabice gets the rest she needs in order to come back better and stronger than ever before!
- Andrew Lagunas
Muna
At this point Muna's hold on their audience is not surprising. Their fans are as feverish as they come and they came out in droves to see the trio take yet another victory lap. Katie Gavin, Josette Maskin, and Naomi McPherson are a force to be reckon with whether they're preforming songs like "What I Want" and "Kind Of Girl" or playing around with the crowd. "I could have sworn this was a dress" Gavin jokinluy lamented about her long sheer top and later on the trio joked that Gavin upcoming solo album broke up the band (I must reiterate, it was a joke!). There set was nonstop fun as as every song passed one obvious omission seemed to be held back for the very and. And so it was as "Silk Chiffon" closed out one of the best sets of the weekend!
- Julian Ramirez
Crumb
As the sun began setting over Union Park and the impending conclusion of the festival sadly loomed over everyone’s heads; Crumb saved the day on the blue stage as one of the last performers of the weekend. The psychedelic rock band put on a marvelous set in support of their latest album, AMAMA. The band hypnotized the audience with their layered songs and drew in a very impressive crowd that seemed to be really digging it. Lead singer Lila Ramani has such a soft yet powerful voice that vibrated beautifully throughout the blue stage grounds. Crumb has been a band I can never seem to catch so this was definitely a highlight moment of the weekend!
- Andrew Lagunas
Les Savy Sav
Tim Harrington rode into the performance on a Lime Scooter (I think, it was green), sang/screamed into audience remembers faces, and eventually made it on stage for the set. It's exactly what you would expect from the mad front-man of Les Savy Sav.
- Julian Ramirez