{"id":1048904,"date":"2016-06-09T16:18:00","date_gmt":"2016-06-09T13:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1048904"},"modified":"2016-06-09T16:18:00","modified_gmt":"2016-06-09T13:18:00","slug":"14-great-pitchfork-fest-performances-from-artists-before-they-blew-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1048904","title":{"rendered":"14 Great Pitchfork Fest Performances from Artists Before They Blew Up"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
Columns<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

14 Great Pitchfork Fest Performances from Artists Before They Blew Up<\/h1>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
Kendrick Lamar, Vampire Weekend, Grimes, Fleet Foxes, St. Vincent, and more<\/div>\n
\n
\n
By <\/span>Jane Bua<\/span>, Heven Haile<\/span>, and Kevin Lozano<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

St. Vincent, Kendrick Lamar, and Grimes performing at Pitchfork Music Festival (Getty Images)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

It\u2019s hard to believe it\u2019s been 16 years since the first Pitchfork Music Festival in 2006. Throughout the last decade-and-a-half of weekends at Chicago\u2019s Union Park, we\u2019ve been lucky enough to host plenty of artists before their careers ascended to the next level. So with this year\u2019s fest right around the corner (it takes place this weekend, July 15-17\u2013 tickets are on sale now!), let\u2019s take a quick stroll down memory lane. Here are 14 right-place, right-time videos from past Pitchfork Fests, including Kendrick Lamar, Fleet Foxes, St. Vincent, Beach House, Japanese Breakfast, and more.<\/p>\n

Vampire Weekend \u2014 \u201cA-Punk\u201d (2008)<\/h2>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

It\u2019s strange to think about, but the boys from Vampire Weekend are now elder statesmen in indie rock. Their self-titled debut came out only a few months prior to their performance at the festival in 2008, and as promising as that LP was, it seemed possible that Vampire Weekend could dissolve back into the aether of the buzz that produced them. It was just that kind of era. But watching them cram all that energy into two minutes of pop magic should prove\u2014even before all the success that would come their way\u2014that they meant business.<\/p>\n

Fleet Foxes \u2014 \u201cEnglish House\u201d (2008)<\/h2>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

In 2008, Fleet Foxes\u2019 self-titled album wasn\u2019t yet a beloved soundtrack for autumnal comfort; \u201cWhite Winter Hymnal\u201d hadn\u2019t even been covered by Pentatonix for one of their seven thousand Christmas albums. Enjoy a Pitchfork Fest performance of \u201cEnglish House\u201d from their then-new Sun Giant<\/em> EP. Ten years later, the band would headline Pitchfork festival.<\/p>\n

Daytripping with Bradford Cox (2008)<\/h2>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Bradford Cox, sporting a pair of white Wayfarers, stares straight into the camera with a sense of bemused wickedness and deadpans: \u201cWe\u2019re here at the Pitchfork Music Festival\u2026 tripping.\u201d He doesn\u2019t play with Deerhunter in this clip, instead leading viewers on a tour of the day\u2019s festivities. He trolls Justin Vernon by mispronouncing \u201cBon Iver,” plays a set with Spoon, watches King Khan, cozies up with No Age\u2019s Dean Spunt, and generally schmoozes with festival-goers. It\u2019s all high comedy and tender fun, showing a side of Cox you might not suspect by simply listening to Deerhunter.<\/p>\n

Beach House \u2014 \u201cZebra\u201d (2009)<\/h2>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

Beach House\u2019s big breakthrough, 2010\u2019s Teen Dream<\/em>, was more than six months away at this point, so \u201cZebra\u201d\u2014a standout from that LP and a future BH standard\u2014was still in its nascent stages. Guitarist Alex Scally is still sitting down (as he used to do in early Beach House shows), they\u2019re still playing live as a duo (as opposed to the larger band they tour with now), and it feels a little funny seeing such moody music performed in stark daylight, but they effectively tease the dreamy magic they had in store.<\/p>\n

Hannibal Buress and Wyatt Cenac (2010)<\/h2>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

In 2010, Pitchfork Fest had a comedy stage hosted by Les Savy Fav\u2019s Tim Harrington. Among the performers were Hannibal Burress and Wyatt Cenac. (They both ended up being interviewed by a puppet named Ratso for the beloved cult Chicago children\u2019s TV show Chic-A-Go-Go.) A couple days before the festival, Burress scored a spot on Variety\u2019s \u201cTen Comics to Watch in 2010\u201d list; he\u2019d also just left SNL<\/em> and started writing for NBC\u2019s 30 Rock<\/em>. Since then, he\u2019s found his absurdist comedic groove on The Eric Andre Show<\/em>, starred in the iconic Broad City<\/em>, and also initiated the domino effect that put the final nail in the coffin for Bill Cosby. In 2010, Wyatt Cenac was just getting known as a correspondent on \u201cThe Daily Show.\u201d He would go on to host the shows Wyatt Cenac\u2019s Problem Areas<\/em> and aka Wyatt Cenac<\/em> and garner Grammy and Emmy nominations for his comedy specials and web series.<\/p>\n

Kurt Vile \u2014 \u201cJesus Fever\u201d (2011)<\/h2>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

Head down, long curly hair whipping in the wind, ripping a gorgeous guitar solo, Vile just about confirms Sean Yeaton\u2019s (of Parquet Courts) words of praise from 2016: \u201cHe\u2019s one of the last examples of a rock\u2018n\u2019roll frontiersman who’s just going to be famous. He’s like the Mars 1 mission.\u201d There is an awe-inducing calm that comes with watching Vile perform then as a younger man, the sort who would never suspect that he\u2019d be famous enough to be an answer on Jeopardy just a few years later.<\/p>\n

James Blake \u2014 \u201cCMYK\u201d (2011)<\/h2>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

At the 2011 festival, a 22-year-old James Blake performed the electronic-instrumental single \u201cCMYK\u201d off his second EP of the same name. The sunglasses resting on his head are at risk of falling off with every involuntary head shake, but that doesn\u2019t stop him from rightfully jamming out. Blake would grow into a musical force, releasing several acclaimed records and eventually co-writing and producing on Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s Lemonade,<\/em> Kendrick Lamar\u2019s DAMN.<\/em>, and the Black Panther<\/em> soundtrack.<\/p>\n

Kendrick Lamar\u2019s Radio Run mini-doc (2012)<\/h2>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Kendrick Lamar was still a budding talent with a Dre co-sign in the summer of 2012. Who could have known then that he was going to become one of the most important rappers of the 21st century? Nevertheless, before Kendrick\u2019s performance at Pitchfork Fest that summer, we filmed this mini-doc where we followed him around his promo tour of Chicago. He discusses his upcoming album (the still untitled good kid, m.A.A.d city<\/em>), a Kendrick Lamar and J.Cole collab (which is still unreleased), among other things. Then Lady Gaga shows up for his Pitchfork set, where he performs the freshly minted \u201cSwimming Pools (Drank)\u201d and \u201cADHD.\u201d By the fall, he\u2019d release good kid,<\/em> and after that it, well, the rest is history.<\/p>\n

Grimes \u2014 \u201cGenesis\u201d (2012)<\/h2>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

Claire Boucher is the architect for an entire set of aesthetics that influenced pop music throughout the 2010s. But in 2012, she had just released her breakthrough Visions<\/em>. Her performance of \u201cGenesis\u201d speaks to what is absolutely incomparable about Grimes: She expresses a totally unexplainable bliss that grows more pleasurable and more head-scratching the longer you keep listening and looking.<\/p>\n

King Krule \u2014 \u201cPortrait in Black and Blue\u201d (2012)<\/h2>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

It would be another year before Archy Marshall released his debut LP\u00a06 Feet Beneath the Moon,<\/em> and at this point, he was perhaps best\u00a0known as Zoo Kid, the moniker he used to drop \u201cOut Getting Ribs\u201d in late 2010. It was hard to know what a body of work would look like from him, because at this point he was still coming into his own, revising his musical personality on the fly. In this clip, Marshall plays \u201cPortrait in Black and Blue,\u201d from his self-titled EP, and it\u2019s the kind of casual perfection that feels tailor-made for sunny afternoons at summer fests.<\/p>\n

DJ Rashad (2013)<\/h2>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

Deeply woven into the fabric of Chicago\u2019s recent musical history is the effect of DJ Rashad\u2019s footwork genius. He may not have started the genre (credit goes to RP Boo), but he wrote its New Testament. Rashad\u2019s crowning achievement, Double Cup<\/em>, was set to be released in the fall of 2013; before that, footwork was by and large a niche but fanatically followed genre of dance music. In this performance, he played a medley of songs, including \u201cFeelin\u201d months before it was released. The next year, Rashad passed away, so the Teklife family honored him in DJ Spinn\u2019s performance at Pitchfork Fest 2014.<\/p>\n

St. Vincent – \u201cCheerleader\u201d (2014)<\/h2>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

Fresh off the release of her self-titled fourth studio album, St. Vincent sang \u201cCheerleader\u201d on top of a wedding cake podium at the 2014 festival. The years to come would bring Taylor Swift collaborations, Grammy wins, and forays into film acting and directing. (As a bonus, in this video, a teenage Lindsey Jordan, aka Snail Mail can be spotted in the audience\u2014glasses donned and braces bared, she screams along to the chorus as if she herself was performing. In 2019, she did.)<\/p>\n

Perfume Genius \u2014 \u201cQueen\u201d (2015)<\/h2>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

This stunning performance from Mike Hadreas makes the case that his performances will be the stuff of legend in the not-so-distant future. He plays \u201cQueen\u201d from his third album, Too Bright,<\/em> and the force of his stage presence is undeniable.<\/p>\n

Japanese Breakfast (2018)<\/h2>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Before securing two Grammy nominations in 2022, performing on SNL<\/em>, and ripping our hearts out with her 2021 memoir Crying in H Mart<\/em>, Michelle Zauner, also known as the frontwoman of Japanese Breakfast, was energetically jumping around with her electric guitar on the Pitchfork stage. In this clip, she gifts the audience with a selection of songs from her second studio album Soft Sounds From Another Planet<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\n

This year\u2019s<\/em>Pitchfork Music Festival<\/em>takes place July 15-17 at Chicago\u2019s Union Park.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

Source URL: https:\/\/pitchfork.com\/thepitch\/1181-10-great-pitchfork-fest-performances-from-artists-before-they-blew-up\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Columns 14 Great Pitchfork Fest Performances from Artists Before They Blew Up Kendrick Lamar, Vampire Weekend, Grimes, Fleet Foxes, St. Vincent, and more By Jane Bua, Heven Haile, and Kevin Lozano July 12, 2022 St. Vincent, Kendrick Lamar, and Grimes performing at Pitchfork Music Festival (Getty Images) It\u2019s hard to believe it\u2019s been 16 years […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[54],"class_list":["post-1048904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-pitchfork-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1048904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1048904"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1048904\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1048904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1048904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1048904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}