As Twitter land explained to the world on Sunday night, Chicago’s PITCHFORK MUSIC FESTIVAL closed on a legendary note. The half religious experience, half flirtatious hot flash that was R. KELLY’s headlining performance lasted for a total of 38 songs, sliding between high counts of forgotten tunes (“Ignition”, “Fiesta”) and crate-digging gems (“Half On A Baby”. “Thoia Thoing”) before the R&B maestro hit his peak with that Space Jam single. All of that intensity however couldn’t have been made possible if Union Park wasn’t banging on the dashboard all day long.
Sunday’s acts bore your traditional alternative but flipped the script and rang heads with a well-documented mix of pure-bred vocalists (SKY FERREIRA, CHAIRLIFT), the urban side of indie (LIL B, TORO Y MOI) and modern electro monarchs (M.I.A., TNGHT). Bros were out in full force and a few sets got way too real, but witnessing high-profile artists choke up, let alone break it down to their Billboard Hot 100 hits, shed light on the festival’s strength. Pitchfork sketches memories that last a lifetime, and if that’s pretty hard to believe, you may want to skim Chicago’s Missed Connections section on Craigslist. Scroll below for more of Courtney Dondelinger’s photos from Sunday.
YO LA TENGO at GREEN STAGE
SKY FERREIRA at BLUE STAGE
LIL B at RED STAGE
CHAIRLIFT at BLUE STAGE
TORO Y MOI at GREEN STAGE
M.I.A. at RED STAGE
TNGHT at BLUE STAGE
R. KELLY at GREEN STAGE
