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Live Recap: Yoke Lore with Girlhouse at Metro

This past Tuesday night, Yoke Lore returned to Chicago to play his biggest headline show here yet—with a sold out gig at the iconic Metro.

girlhouse, the project of musician and songwriter Lauren Luiz, warmed up the crowd first. Luiz was joined by a full live band, and she told the audience she’d released four EPs this last year, so she had plenty of material to perform during her thirty-minute set. Early on in the set, a fan in the front asked if she’d be playing her single “the fatalist,” and Luiz coyly responded they’d have to wait and see. Towards the end of the set, the song was delivered and the singer told the fan “that was just for you.” girlhouse’s set wrapped up with “concussion,” which is a favorite of mine and has racked up over 10 million streams. I’d recommend adding girlhouse to your playlists if you’re a fan of Wallice, Samia, or Annie DiRusso.

Next up, the scene was set for Yoke Lore, the moniker of musician Adrian Galvin. Galvin and his band had been in Chicago earlier this year to open for Goth Babe at Salt Shed, but it was great to see him as the main event this time. All around the stage, lamps and light bulbs added a cozy vibe, which was fitting because Yoke Lore songs have such a comforting feeling about them. These light bulbs would end up changing colors and setting the tone throughout the night, adding different auras to different songs.

Galvin played through his first few songs, alternating between his signature banjo and acoustic guitar, but after performing his 2019 single “Chin Up,” Galvin took a break to speak to the crowd with a poetic introduction. He told the crowd “Hi, I’m Yoke Lore. I want to tell you what that means.” Galvin then defined the mission behind his musical project, ending the introductory speech by saying, “And music is how I use the personal to conjure the infinite.”

Galvin addressed the crowd in a similar style a few times throughout the evening, which really added a special touch to the live performance in between the songs. In addition to some of his tried and true material and fan favorites, like “Seeds” and his cover of “Truly Madly Deeply,” Galvin sprinkled in some newer music. The new songs included singles like “Hallucinate” and “Shake,” which were both released this year, as well as some unreleased songs from his upcoming debut album Toward A Never Ending New Beginning, which will be released this month. The new music had more of an electronic backbone to it, and Galvin took some time to show off his dance moves in those moments.

The main part of Yoke Lore’s set wrapped with his hit “Beige,” which was truly a beautiful moment. Galvin began standing at the edge of the stage playing the banjo, with the crowd kicking off the song in a choir-like fashion before he eventually moved back to the microphone to join them in singing.

After a very loud demand for an encore, Yoke Lore returned to the stage to perform Tom Robbins, which Galvin told the crowd is a song he only performs live and was inspired by his favorite book. The evening wrapped up with another full-venue singalong to “Goodpain.”

As I left the Metro that night, I found out the Cubs had a massive win, as I was greeted by “Go Cubs Go” cheers from Wrigley Field down the block. The victorious chants matched the euphoric energy I felt leaving the Yoke Lore show.

Check out photos from the evening below and see where you can catch Yoke Lore next here.

PHOTOS: Bastille's Bad Blood X Finale at The Wiltern

Bastille wrapped up their 10-year anniversary tour of their debut album, dubbed the Bad Blood X tour, on Friday night at The Wiltern in Los Angeles. Check out the photo gallery of the evening below, and see where you can catch the band next here.

Live Recap: The Goo Goo Dolls with O.A.R. at Northerly Island

While Summer may be winding down, there’s nothing better than an outdoor concert in Chicago (assuming the weather is cooperating). This past Tuesday night, The Goo Goo Dolls and O.A.R performed to a packed house at the Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island—one of the last handful of shows at this venue for the season.

As a teenager in the early aughts, I remember loving O.A.R.’s hit “Love and Memories,” but I went into their show not knowing too much more of their material. While I wasn’t able to sing along to the unfamiliar parts of their setlist, I seemed to be the odd man out, as I saw many of the people around me enthusiastically singing and dancing along to most of the band’s songs. O.A.R’s lineup also included Jerry DePizzo on the saxophone, which added some fun texture to their live sound. Lead vocalist Marc Roberge introduced fan favorite “This Town” as being a “celebration of our travels.” Other fan favorites included “Hey Girl” and “Shattered (Turn the Car Around).”

The Goo Goo Dolls took the stage next, after the sun had set. Their introduction featured a flurry of news reports that appeared on “televisions” on their background screen. The backdrop morphed throughout the night, flickering to different colors and graphics depending on the song—sometimes depicting stars and other times fire.

The setlist kicked off with “Broadway” from the band’s 1998 hit album Dizzy up the Girl, immediately setting the energy on high. We also heard “Slide” and “Black Balloon” from the same album in the early part of the set, which kept up the tone of nostalgia. For the latter of those songs, actual black balloons bounced around throughout the crowd, creating a tangible effect to accompany the song.

Johnny Rzeznik sang the majority of the songs on their 24-song set, but occasionally Rzeznik swapped the lead vocals duty with bassist/vocalist Robby Takac for songs like “Bringing On the Light” and “Life’s a Message.” Throughout the show, the band also introduced some refreshed arrangements on their popular songs; Rzeznik sang their song “Sympathy” sans guitar, accompanied only by the piano and he also sprinkled in some A capella moments during the performance of “Name.” Before playing that song, Rzeznik also introduced it as the first song The Goo Goo Dolls had played on the radio, saying “that’s when all the trouble started.”

Another highlight of the night included a cover of the late, great Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down,” which featured Marc Roberge as a guest performer. The icing on the cake for the evening was the group therapy vibes of singing along the lyrics to “Iris” as the band’s closing song—there’s just something cathartic about screaming “And you bleed just to know you’re alive” along with a crowd full of strangers.

Check out photos of the evening below, and see where you can catch The Goo Goo Dolls next here.

Live Recap: Noah Kahan and Richy Mitch & The Coal Miners at The Vic

On the eve of Lollapalooza, I headed to The Vic Theatre to see a Lolla “after” show from Noah Kahan and Richy Mitch & The Coal Miners. Even though some of them take place ahead of the festival, Lolla aftershows are a great chance to catch artists from the festival’s lineup in a much more intimate environment than their fest sets, or even their own tour sets in most cases. Noah Kahan easily could have sold out The Aragon Ballroom or The Salt Shed, but we lucked out seeing him play the smaller Vic Theatre.

Richy Mitch & The Coal Miners warmed up the sold out crowd first with their folk-rock sound that complemented Kahan’s sound very well. The group was also slated to perform at Lolla over the weekend, and the lead singer Mitch Cutts told the crowd this was their first time in Chicago. Cutts also mentioned the band had just moved to Seattle from Montana, which is very fitting because their sounds feels heavily influenced by nature and would make for a great hiking soundtrack. Fan favorites from the 45-minute setlist included “Evergreen,” which has become very popular on Tik Tok and Cutts’ described as being “a large part of the reason we’re here,” as well as “Lake Missoula,” which has a version that features Mt.Joy.

After a quick changeover, it was nearly time for Noah Kahan and his bandmates to take the stage, and the venue was packed to the brim with eager fans. His bandmates entered the stage first, taking their places on stage and beginning to play before Kahan ran onstage himself to a greeting of excited cheers. As the band launched into “All My Love” from Kahan’s 2022 album Stick Season, it sounded as if Kahan had hired a choir with a built-in surround sound system because everyone instantly began to sing along. At every concert there’s usually one or two hits where every single person knows the words, but it’s incredibly special when there’s an artist that has an entire set of sing-along songs. The fact that The Vic reverberated with fans singing Kahan’s lyrics back to him is a testament to his songwriting craft—he can not only do an excellent job at storytelling, but his stories are so compelling that they resonate with so many people.

At his Lollapalooza aftershow, Kahan was just a few days out from having to cancel his appearance at Newport Folk Festival the weekend prior due to being ill and vocal strain, but the energy he put into the show wasn’t indicative of a recent illness at all. He not only sounded incredible, but he ran and jumped around the stage, displaying great camaraderie with his bandmates and reciprocating the energy that the audience was radiating.

Singing along to Kahan’s songs is definitely therapeutic in its own way, but the singer also took some time to tell the audience about his own experience with going to therapy between his songs. Before performing “Growing Sideways,” he talked about his first experiences with therapy, saying he used to lie in therapy to try to convince the people around him and himself that he was feeling better. “It wasn’t until I was in my 20’s—I’m only 26, and I know I look like I’ve been divorced— but I’m 26 years old and when I was 23 I started telling the truth and now I’m happier. I wrote a song about the years I spent lying, and it’s called "‘Growing Sideways’” he added. I think it takes a lot of courage to be honest with yourself about your feelings and therapy, but Kahan has been able to share part of his journey with the world and inspire others to continue to take care of their own mental health, which is even more admirable.

As I mentioned, the remainder of the set continued to be sing-along after sing-along, but there were a few moments, during the performance of “Northern Attitude” for example, where the venue literally shook from everyone clapping and singing along. Other highlights of the set included “Dial Drunk” and “Homesick,” which have been all over Tik Tok in the last year. The main part of the set wrapped with the latter, before Kahan and the band returned to play a 3-song encore that ended with the title track from his last album Stick Season.

If you get the chance to see Noah Kahan on tour this year, don’t miss it. It’s good for the soul.

Check out photos of the Lollapalooza aftershow below, and see where you can catch Noah on tour next here.


Live Recap: Andrew Bird with Nora O'Connor and Uwade at Out of Space

Out of Space Festival continued on Sunday with Andrew Bird, Nora O’Connor and Uwade. 

Evanston’s own Nora O’Connor kicked off the evening, describing herself as the “warmy upy girl”—which, to be fair, is in fact what she was doing, but her boundless talent deserves more credit than that! Most of her set featured songs from her latest album, 2022’s My Heart, but she did throw in some songs from further back in her discography like 2004’s “Nightingale.” O’Connor also shared with the crowd that she used to tour around in a van with Andrew Bird, and (spoiler alert) we got to witness a more collaboration between the two later on in the evening. 

Singer songwriter Uwade was up next, and it was nice to see her again after I’d first been introduced to her supporting Fleet Foxes at Salt Shed last year.  She started her set out solo before eventually being joined by her bassist. Before playing her touching song “The Man Who Sees Tomorrow,” the singer dedicated it to her late father and shared that he used to call himself “the man who sees tomorrow.” Another highlight of Uwade’s set included her cover of “Tiger Mountain Peasant Song” by Fleet Foxes, who she has collaborated with in the past.

Next up, Andrew Bird took the stage for the main event, joined by his bassist and drummer. His set began with an instrumental introduction, which also featured Bird’s signature whistling (I mean, it makes sense if your last name is “Bird” that you’d whistle a lot!) Bird also started on the violin for the first part of his set for songs like “Make a Picture” and “Lone Didion,” but he switched over to playing guitar for other parts of the set.

Before performing a cover of “Harvest” by Neil Young, Bird welcomed Nora O’Connor back to the stage and their vocals meshed incredibly well together. O’Connor leant her vocals to several other songs in the set, including “Lusitania” and fan-favorite “Sisyphus”—which features more melodic whistling. Just before the encore, Bird began to wind down the set with “Armchairs” from the 2007 album Armchair Apocrypha, introducing it by saying, “We’re gonna do a song I haven’t done in quite a while but I thought of it today.” The song transitioned seamlessly into another fan favorite “Pulaski at Night,” which is a hometown anthem for Chicagoans.

See photos from the evening below, and see where you can catch Andrew Bird on tour next here.

Live Recap: Regina Spektor with Allison Russell and Elizabeth Moen at Out of Space

The annual Out of Space festival returned to Canal Shores Golf Course in Evanston, IL and ANCHR attended the third day of the fest with headliner Regina Spektor. 

Chicagoan, via Iowa, Elizabeth Moen warmed up the Saturday crowd with a solo set. Moen gave me a little bit of Stevie Nicks vibes. Maybe even Riley Keough as Daisy Jones, who was inspired by Nicks. She dedicated her third song of her set “Songbird” to Allison Russell, who Moen told the crowd inspired her to start writing and performing. 

Speaking of Allison Russell, she and her band—or “goddess circle” as she called them, played the second support set. Russell had a very zen, meditative introduction but the pace quickly picked up and Russell got to show off her soulful, powerhouse vocals. Her vocals gave me full body goosebumps, and I was so impressed with the chemistry between her and her bandmates. They truly seemed like they were having the best time on stage, which was infectious and put a smile on my face.

For the main event, Regina Spektor took the stage just as the sun had gone down. The night prior, there had been a torrential downpour, so Regina told the crowd she had an urge from “Jewish grandmothers” to tell the crowd to wear good shoes that day to deal with the mud. 

Another joy of the show taking place outdoors was that there were lots of trees. Spektor joked about that as well, saying she’d asked for less reverb during sound check and was told it was “treeverb.” Still, her vocals sounded incredible and the golf course had surprisingly good acoustics to show off her expansive vocal range. Spektor’s vocal talent remained on display for the entirety of the show, but she played her song “Baby Jesus” early on in the show, which highlighted her ability to go from deep, low vocals to quippy falsettos in just one song.

Spektor is obviously known for her spectacular talent as a pianist, but she was able to mix in percussive elements for some of her songs as well. For the song “Better,” she used a drumstick and a chair as makeshift drums. From start to finish, Spektor kept us all completely enthralled, which is quite the feat for a fully solo performance. Towards the end of the show, Spektor followed up her hit “Fidelity” with a dedication to the late Sinéad O’Connor and a performance of “One More Time With Feeling” before wrapping up with the song “Samson.”

See photos of the entire show below, and stay tuned for coverage of Andrew Bird at Out of Space the following night.

Live Recap: Kurt Vile with Finom at Millennium Park

Following a fun, music-packed weekend at Pitchfork Music Festival, I kept the good times rolling with a show from Kurt Vile and Finom at Millennium Park.

The Millennium Park free summer concert series is always a great time to take in the sights of the city and soak in some excellent music. The Chicago based duo Finom (FKA Ohmme), featuring Sima Cunningham and Macie Stewart, took the stage first. This was my first time seeing them since the name change, but they sounded as great as ever. Stewart and Cunningham were joined onstage by fellow Chicago musicians V.V. Lightbody and Spencer Tweedy. Cunningham told the crowd that they were working on some new music and previewed it for the crowd that night. In addition to the unreleased material, we also got to hear some Finom familiar favorites like “Icon” and “Water,” which features stunning, harmonized vocalizations that showcase the musical compatibility between Stewart and Cunningham.

Kurt Vile and his bandmates hit the stage after a quick changeover, with the first half of the setlist heavily featuring songs from the 2022 album (watch my moves) like “Palace of OKV in Reverse” and “Hey Like A Child.” After performing a couple of songs, Kurt told the crowd they were beautiful and started singing the throwback “You’re Beautiful” by James Blunt. He also told the crowd he was happy to be there playing the park for a free show, adding “But I feel like I should have done it years before.” The singer introduced another song from his 2022 record “Mount Airy Hill (Way Gone),” saying he was going to take us to his house now.

As we got into the latter part of Kurt Vile’s set, a heartbreaking yet very touching moment happened; a young fan came up to the front with a poster that read “Yesterday Was The Anniversary of My Dad’s Death. You Were His Favorite.” Kurt acknowledged the sign while performing and the audience applauded loudly in support of her. This moment was a great reminder not to take life for granted, and that music can create such a special bond and help with healing from grief. After finishing the set, Kurt even came down from the stage to talk to the girl, and take a photo with her. I hope the concert was a special way for her to honor and celebrate her dad’s memory.

Check out photos from the concert below, and see where you can catch Kurt Vile next here.

Sunday Recap: Pitchfork Music Festival 2023

Pitchfork Fest wrapped up on Sunday, July 23rd, starting with Ariel Zetina and closing with Bon Iver on the Green Stage. We lucked out with the weather on day 3, but read on below for more highlights and the full photo gallery

I arrived to Union Park around 2:00 PM on the third day of Pitchfork Fest to a sleepy, Sunday atmosphere. As Rachika Nayar performed her ambient, experimental music, I saw festival-goers relishing in a lazy kick off—some even dozing off on the field, gently easing into another full day of music.

The gentleness of the music continued with Lucrecia Dalt, another experimental musician, over on the Green stage. Dalt was joined by a percussionist who helped bring her songs to the stage with a multitude of instruments, including bongos and a cowbell. Dalt currently lives in Berlin, but she originally hails from Columbia, so her lyrics are sung in Spanish. Although I didn’t catch the meaning of the words (my high school Spanish is rusty), I still very much appreciated the ambience of her music.

Florist, the project of Emily Sprague and bandmates Rick Spataro, Jonnie Baker, and Felix Walworth, took the Blue stage next. The band continued the mellow vibes as they played their songs like “Red Bird Pt. 2(Morning)” and “Feathers.” As I was watching their set, I noticed a couple of people in the crowd sitting in a meditative pose, and honestly, Florist makes great music to meditate to.

Emily Sprague of Florist

The festival line up seemed to go from zero to sixty next when English duo Jockstrap hit the stage. In stark contrast to the earlier performances, Georgia Ellery and Taylor Skye brought massive energy along with their electro-pop and glitch sounds. Ellery glided around the stage and the crowd danced along with her, as the music was so loud and full of chest-shattering bass. Jockstrap’s show was exactly the surge that the crowd needed to make it past the Pitchfork Fest finish line.

Georgia Ellery of Jockstrap

If Jockstrap’s set was like getting woken up by an alarm clack, then JPEGmafia’s set was like getting a bucket of ice cold water dumped on you when you’re dead asleep (in the best way possible). Every time I’ve seen JPEGmafia, the massive energy that he is able to bring as one performer is matched tenfold by the crowd, making his sets something really special to witness. The crowd welcomed him with the usual “Peggy!” chant, and before the first song was even done, JPEG had jumped onto the speakers to get closer to the audience. Throughout the set, JPEG never remained in one place for too long— he was either zipping around the stage, leaping from speaker to speaker, or running down the center barricade to be face to face with fans. Another highlight of his performance was his cover of Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe.”

JPEGmafia, or “Peggy” as is fans call him, performing

Soul Glo played over on the Blue stage around the same time, and similar to the previous two sets, they really amped up the energy. From the moment the bandmates Pierce Jordan, GG Guerra, and TJ Stevenson took the stage and Jordan started screaming, the first mosh pit I’d seen that weekend commenced. I’d say Soul Glo was definitely the set that surprised me the most this weekend, as I originally expected them to be soulful R&B and was instead smacked in the face with the most hardcore punk band of the festival. Yet again, it was a great way to keep the energy soaring high towards the end of the weekend.

Illuminati Hotties also rocked the Blue Stage a little later that afternoon, performing their cheeky and carefree punk music. Illuminati Hotties is the project of musician, songwriter, and producer Sarah Tudzin, and Tudzin was joined by bandmates Tim Kmet, Sapphire Jewell, Zach Bilson. The bandmates had great chemistry together, which made their show even more entertaining to watch.

Illuminati Hotties

Keeping up with the theme of fun and carefree, Hurray for the Riff Raff performed next on the Blue stage. As you’d expect for a band with “Hurray” in the title, the band’s set felt like a feel-good celebration. Songwriter, musician, and lead vocalist Alynda Segarra and her bandmates all had glitter highlighter on their face in the place of war paint. What’s not to love about glitter war paint?!

I caught a few minutes of Kelela closing out the Red stage for the weekend with her silky vocals and flowing dance moves before jumping over to the Blue stage again for Mdou Moctar. Moctar and his bandmates brought cheerful vibes and facilitated such a community setting as they absolutely shredded on guitar. Moctar often looked out into the audience with so much appreciation, and the audience returned the admiration by clapping in time to the beat or raising their hands together in synchronization.

Mdou Moctar performing

Bon Iver ended the fest on a high note, putting on my favorite set of the weekend. Justin Vernon was joined by a full band, including a backup vocalist, to perform songs from across Bon Iver’s catalog. Vernon’s vocals sounded incredible, and during some of the older songs like “Blood Bank” (my personal favorite), they did some minor change ups on the arrangements, refreshing the song from the recorded version. Unsurprisingly, the crowd favorite was the massive hit “Skinny Love” from 2008’s For Emma, Forever Ago, but we also heard tracks from every Bon Iver era through 2019’s i,i. The musical performance was also complemented by stunning light design.

Check out photos from day three below, and be sure to read coverage of day 1 and day 2 of Pitchfork Fest 2023.

Saturday Recap: Pitchfork Music Festival 2023

Pitchfork Day 2 kicked off Saturday, July 22nd with Chicago’s own Deeper and wrapped up with Big Thief on the main stage. The day began with a perfect forecast, but the weather had a change of plans that affected some of the performances. Still, the day provided many incredible performances. Read on for the highlights and see the full photo gallery of the day below.

The day began with members of Deeper Nic Gohl, Shiraz Bhatti, Drew McBride, and Kevin Fairbairn taking the Green stage playing an atmospheric, distorted introduction that faded into their first song, “This Heat” from their 2020 album Auto-Pain. The hometown band had a good crowd show up despite it being early in the day, and their setlist featured some of their newer singles like “Build a Bridge” and “Tele” from their upcoming third album.

Nic Gohl of Deeper

Next up, Palm was the first victim of the unexpected lightening storm that day. Just as they were about to take the Red stage for their last Chicago show ever (they’re currently on their farewell tour), security made the announcement that everyone had to get away from the stage and barricade due to lightening in the area. The music finally resumed at 2:30PM with 700 Bliss, and Palm were able to be rescheduled to play 1:15PM on the Blue stage Sunday.

Speaking of the Blue stage, Black Belt Eagle Scout gave an incredible performance there shortly after the weather delay. Black Belt Eagle Scout is the project of singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Katherine Paul, and Paul was joined by two bandmates to bring her songs to the stage. Paul told the audience that this was her first time playing Pitchfork Fest as she dove into her performance. Her set was beautifully dynamic, ebbing and flowing between softer moments and crescendoing guitar solos from Paul. Paul wrapped up her set with “Indians Never Die,” a song rooted in her Swinomish culture and commentary on the harsh reality that the government doesn’t respect Indigenous land. About this song, Paul has said “Indians never die because this is our land that we will forever protect in the present and the afterlife.”

Katherine Paul of Black Belt Eagle Scout

Next up, MJ Lenderman and his live band performed on the Red stage as it began to drizzle rain. Forget about rock n’ roll—Lenderman’s set was rain n’ twang! Lenderman’s set was one of my favorite of the day as it evoked those feel-good festival vibes. His live band featured a slide guitarist and two drummers, including Spencer Tweedy on one of the kits— we even got to hear some cowbell from Tweedy. More cowbell! An extended jam at the end of Lenderman’s song “Rudolph” showcased the intricate musicality he and his bandmates have.

MJ Lenderman performing

Vagabon took the Blue stage next, but only got part way into her second song before the weather struck again. The audience was upset about the delay and ultimate cancellation of the singer’s set, but they applauded in support of her brief performance.

With the pause in music, I made my way over to the DoorDash Backstage interview stage and got to hear a brief part of Weyes Blood’s interview before the entire fest ended up being put on hold. After a short on-site weather delay, the festival eventually announced an evacuation the grounds.

The hour and a half break in the performances unfortunately meant that Panda Bear’s and Snail Mail’s sets were also cancelled for the day. Originally, there had been a devastating lineup conflict between Julia Jacklin and Snail Mail performing at the same time on the Blue and Red stages, respectively, but the 5:15PM slot was part of the evacuation. Jacklin got to perform a delayed and brief solo set over on the Blue stage when the gates reopened around 6:00 PM, but the main stage performance had to carry on with King Krule at his original time slot.

King Krule, the project of English musician Archy Ivan Marshall, made for a great official welcome back to the festival grounds. The front row was full of dedicated fans, who screamed in joy when they saw the musician appear on stage. I think they would have been equally excited if the weather delay hadn’t happened, but they seemed even more happy that one of their most anticipated sets was able to go on as planned.

Archy Ivan Marshall AKA King Krule

Later that evening, I caught a few minutes of Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul closing out the Blue stage for the evening. They brought the dancy, care-free vibes along with so much bass that you could feel it in your chest.

Natalie Laura Mering, AKA Weyes Blood, closed out the Red stage simultaneously, donning a flowing white gown and cape that complemented her ethereal vocals. Towards the end of her set, rain began to fall again, drizzling at first and then rapidly picking up. Still, the show went on, and dedicated fans remained smiling and singing along to her songs like “Everyday” and “Do You Need My Love.” During her second to last song, “Twin Flame,” Mering’s dress lit up like her heart was glowing, as in the title of her most recent album And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow.” Her dress featured more visual projections for the final song “Movies,” this time mimicking waves of water.

Weyes Blood performing in the rain

Saturday wrapped up with Adrianne Lenker, Buck Meek, Max Oleartchik, and James Krivchenia of Big Thief returning to the Pitchfork Fest stage, this time as headliners. The band made quite the entrance, with Oleartchik being carried onto the stage in a mermaid (or merman?) tail. Krivchenia also wore a bright orange, bedazzled outfit that contrasted with Lenker’s more casual flannel and Meek’s button down and blazer combo, but once they started playing, everyone honed in on the music. Big Thief’s setlist heavily featured songs from their most recent album, 2022’s Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You, as well as their brand new single “Vampire Empire.”

The infamous mermaid tail


You can see more photos of all of these performances below, and stay tuned for coverage of day 3!

Friday Recap: Pitchfork Music Festival 2023

Pitchfork Music Festival kicked off Friday, July 21st in Union Park, with the day beginning with Nourished By Time on the Green stage and closing with The Smile on that same stage. Check out some highlights of day one of the festival below, as well as the full photo gallery.

Chicago’s own Sen Morimoto performed in the early afternoon on the Green stage. Although he’s a solo artist and typically records all of his own records, his live band had a slew of talented musicians to help bring his songs to life. In addition to playing the saxophone himself during some songs, Morimoto also had more horns with a trombone player and second saxophonist, backing vocals from Chicago artist Kaina, and more traditional live instruments like drums and guitar. Plenty of fans withstood the harsh beaming sun to see Morimoto’s set, and the crowd was having a great time. Morimoto dedicated his song “Woof” to dogs, and asked the audience to give him their best howl (which everyone happily obliged). Another highlight of the set included a cover of Cher’s song “Believe.”

Sen Morimoto performing

Next up, I caught another solo act, Grace Ives on the Red stage. This time around, the solo artist put on a complete one-person show—as Ives gave us her all with just a microphone and her programmed synthesizer. Ives’ performance kind of felt like she’d invited us all over for a living room dance party—even though she was up there owning the stage, she had a casual, inviting demeanor that made it feel like we were just a massive group on friends dancing and singing along.

Grace Ives performing

Youth Lagoon, the project of musician Trevor Powers, performed on the Green Stage next. It was nice to see Powers back performing as Youth Lagoon, since he had announced his retirement of the project back in 2016. Just last year, Powers announced a comeback was on the way, and he released Youth Lagoon’s latest album Heaven Is a Junkyard in June 2023. Youth Lagoon’s Pitchfork Fest set heavily featured songs from this new record, like “Rabbit” and “Idaho Alien,” but I was happy to also hear a comfort song of mine from 2011, “Afternoon,” from the album The Year of Hibernation. Youth Lagoon’s dreamy soundscape was the perfect soundtrack for an afternoon at a music fest.

Trevor Powers of Youth Lagoon

Nation of Language put on one of my favorite sets of the day over on the Red stage. The Brooklyn-based trio, featuring Ian Richard Devaney (lead vocals, guitar, synths), Aidan Noell (vocals and synths), and Alex MacKay (bass), already had a large fanbase at the fest, but they quickly won over newcomers in the crowd when they performed their song “I’ve Thought About Chicago” (who doesn’t love a hometown shout out?) The trio had the audience dancing along to their refreshing take on New Wave influences and synth-pop driven melodies, despite the sun that continued to blaze through the afternoon. Noell acknowledged the crowd’s dedication, saying “Thanks for sweating for us.” Nation of Language’s Pitchfork Fest set also featured some new, unreleased material from their upcoming album Strange Disciple.

Ian Richard Devaney of Nation of Language

The project of musician and songwriter Michael Alden Hadreas, better known as Perfume Genius, kept the dancing and high energy going during his performance. Hadreas was joined by a full band, but he really stole the show with his commanding stage presence and impeccable style. Donning full arm’s length red gloves, Hadreas glided around the stage performing songs like “Slip Away” and “Otherside.” Perfume Genius’s evening set wrapped up with the epic fan favorite “Queen.” Hadreas asks the question “Don’t you know you queen?” in the song and the crowd royally adored the performance.

Michael Alden Hadreas AKA Perfume Genius

Next, I went over to the Blue stage for the first time on Friday to catch another beloved Chicago act, Ric Wilson. Living up to his Instagram handle “Disco Ric,” Wilson brought all the great disco vibes to his Pitchfork performance. Not only did his music elicit pure happiness, but Wilson also made sure his set felt like a safe place for all when he asked everyone to put their fist up and repeat an inclusive chant after him, including “no racist, no sexist, no homophobic, and no transphobic!” Wilson shined with his vocal performance and charismatic dance moves, and he also had an incredible live band to help bring his music to life. Every time I’ve seen Ric Wilson, his shows have been an instant serotonin boost, and this time was no different.

Ric Wilson and his bandmates

Alvvays closed out the Red Stage on Friday, bringing their cheerful and dreamy music to an adoring crowd. As the band opened their set with the song “Pharmacist” from their 2022 album Blue Rev, I noticed so many fans in the front smiling and singing along—one fan even held up a signed copy of Alvvays’ album Antisocialites. Alvvays’ setlist contained many songs from their latest album, but they also mixed in plenty of their older material, including the fan favorite “Archie, Marry Me”—which had everyone belting the anthemic chorus along. Alvvays’ Pitchfork Fest performance made the best soundtrack to the Friday sunset.

Molly Rankin of Alvvays


You can see more photos of all of these performances below, also including interviews with Alvvays, Perfume Genius and The Smile’s Jonny Greenwood done at the Door Dash Backstage DashPass experience. Stay tuned for coverage of days 2 and 3!