I had a pretty good time at last year’s Pitchfork Music Festival–it had a solid lineup, cheap water, and gorgeous weather–and the initial announcement for this year’s festival, which is taking place July 18-20, is making me excited to head back to Chicago this summer. Vampire Weekend’s presence ensures that there will be a ton of heated arguments by the beer stalls; Animal Collective’s participation will probably not satiate Jim DeRogatis’ wariness over Pitchfork’s similarities to Rolling Stone, so we’ll be treated to another year of seeing him sitting around the press area with a surly look; and most importantly, Public Enemy is performing It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back in its entirety as part of the festival’s annual “Don’t Look Back” series. Full list of announced artists after the jump.
• The Pitchfork Music Festival and All Tomorrow’s Parties present “Don’t Look Back” featuring PUBLIC ENEMY performing “It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back”
• ANIMAL COLLECTIVE
• SPIRITUALIZED
• !!!
• M. WARD
• BORIS
• VAMPIRE WEEKEND
• DIZZEE RASCAL
• NO AGE
• ATLAS SOUND
• FLEET FOXES
• EXTRA GOLDEN
• EL GUINCHO
wow. a level of mediocrity not seen since the rocklahoma lineup.
@cstmr srvc: Yes, PE, Spiritualized and AC are really known for towing that line firmly in the middle of the road!
Isn’t “Don’t Look Back” precisely the opposite of what they’ll be doing?
@Camp Tiger Claw: Not to mention Boris, who are well known as being the Hinder of Japan.
Will Chuck let Flav perform his lines in “She Watch Channel Zero,” or is the irony just too apparent?
@extracrispy: He’s smart enough to know that the irony makes it AWESOME.
Are y’all (not you extracrispy but the commenters above) really so cynical as to say Spirutalized, Public Enemy,!!! and Boris on the same day is a bad thing?
I can sum up this whole festival in one word: Unfortunate.
@noamjamski: Yes. I am completely sincere in comparing one of our time’s premier noise/psych/stoner/metal bands to Wal-Mart Nickelback.
@natepatrin: Oh the agony.
Wait! Nobody’s decried Vampire Weekend yet! Hang on, let me get my Indie Blogger Playbook…
“Blah blah blah overated, blah blah blah blah stupid rich kids, blah blah blah blah big scarf, blah blah blah blah blah blah Graceland.”
Phew!
@Chris N.: Are we familiar with the meaning of verbal irony?
Like all fests, this will be bad.
But even if it wasn’t. !!! ruins everything.
@noamjamski: Agreed. I would pay 65 bucks just to see PE and Spiritualized alone.
“sitting around the press area with a surly look”
Hey — I resent that! I mean, I tend to be a little cranky in the sun and the 100-degree heat. But I have for the most part glowingly lauded the last three P’fork fests and had a fine time out there, sunburn aside.
Great. Now I don’t have to stowaway on British Airlines to see PE in London doing It Takes A Nation…
a) this will be a great festival, that the internet will continue to shit on.
b) Dizzee Rascal will be amazing.
c) I’m getting there early, because listening to people argue over who thought Vampire Weekend was overrated first will be even more excruciating than last year’s in-line debate about Yoko Ono’s relevance.
OH gawd. Public Enemy performing one of the greatest records of the last thirty years. YAWN. I’m so tired of being bored with everything exciting and good in this world.
Oh! Spare me! Sad, silly, fest-dissin loosers.
Don’t you realise that ALL gigs suck, fesival or not, when you stand arms folded up the back and yap about how and why and if only. Just stay home with your exclusive vinyl collection and spare the rest of the festival the eye-sore.
(I’m going to see PE in Brixton with Kool Keith support + more, so maybe you are just a pinch sour? There there poor kittens! bless. But I’ll swap my ticket for a P4K one… + return flight UK - USA…and..)
Did someone say vampire weekend? arrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggghhhhhhhhhh
@StuntKockSteeev:
Dizzee Rascal IS amazing live. But at an outdoor festival? I don’t know.
To be fair, I haven’t seen him in a few years. Maybe his stage show is better suited to the outdoor venue these days.
@JZ13: Yes, and oh so weary of it.