[RH Photos] Pitchfork Music Festival 2015
Photos by Vanessa Bly, recap by Vanessa Bly and Geoff Henao
Pitchfork Music Festival 2015 has come and gone! Despite the sometimes muddy, sometimes rainy, and sometimes scorching hot day (sometimes all in the same day), fun was to be had at Pitchfork this year. Admittedly, there was an overall sense of something missing from this year's festival. Nevertheless, Chicagoans were the highlight this year, anchored by Chance the Rapper's outstanding performance to close Pitchfork out. Check out our recaps and photos from the festival over the next few pages!
Pitchfork Music Festival 2015 - Day 1
CHVRCHES
CHVRCHES' performance at Pitchfork was the band's first in the United States since April, and you could sense the excitement and energy among the three. Notably, singer Lauren Mayberry's stage presence was at an all-time high as the crowd sang and danced along. Given this was my first time seeing CHVRCHES (outside of videos online), I didn't know what to expect, but I'm glad to say they were the perfect end to Day 1 of Pitchfork 2015. - Geoff Henao
RYLEY WALKER
Ryley Walker was a jam band that kicked off Pitchfork Music Festival 2015. Given their opener status, the crowd already at Pitchfork really vibed to their music. - Vanessa Bly
JESSICA PRATT
Jessica Pratt's performance was super chill... perhaps a bit too super chill. The crowd was still during her performance, which isn't what you'd typically find at a music festival. - Vanessa Bly
STEVE GUNN
Steve Gunn looked like he wasn't having too much fun during their set. Granted, musicians enter a different attitude and embody on-stage personas when performing, but his seriousness turned me off. - Vanessa Bly
MAC DEMARCO
Mac DeMarco's set was FUN! His gap-toothed smile was hilarious, and the crowd really responded to them. Overall, the best way to describe their set was just simple, great fun. - Vanessa Bly
PANDA BEAR
Panda Bear's sound transcends all musical interests - whether you love hip hop or swear by rock, Panda Bear's appeal is enough to bring all types of different people together. The crowd for his set was vibing extra hard to his music, despite his relatively chill beats. I'd love to catch him at a venue one day. - Geoff Henao
Pitchfork Music Festival 2015 - Day 2
SLEATER-KINNEY
Finally, Sleater-Kinney made their triumphant return to Chicago after a years-long hiatus. The band co-headlined Pitchfork's Day 2, supporting their latest album, No Cities to Love. Their performance made it seem like the band didn't take an extended break from one another as their set was tight and one of the major highlights of an otherwise dreary day ruined by the rain. - Geoff Henao
FUTURE BROWN
Future Brown's set was a lot different when compared to live performances I've become used to over the years. They're a production group, but brought out a plethora of guests to round out their set, including Lil Durk. The crowd was really into their set and weren't swayed when the rain began to pour down. - Vanessa Bly
EX HEX
Ex Hex's set was unfortunately cut short after a few songs due to the rain, which sucked because they were rocking the stage. Even as the rain began to downpour heavier, the crowd stuck around in hopes the band would return before the festival was officially postponed. - Vanessa Bly
SHAMIR
I love Shamir's personality when he performs, but I don't think he brought it for his Pitchfork set; I was really looking forward to it, actually. "This is me on the regular," he sings, but I was hoping he'd bring more than just the regular. - Vanessa Bly
Pitchfork Music Festival 2015 - Day 3
CHANCE THE RAPPER
What can be said about Chance's set? It means a lot for a Chicagoan to close out Pitchfork alone, but Chance brought everything he had to commemorate the event. Backed by The Social Experiment, Chance ran through all of the hits during his night cap, and surprised the crowd by bringing out gospel singer Kirk Franklin! It felt like, for just one moment, the entire city was united together during his set, and it's moments like these that both Chicagoans and music fans alike can truly appreciate. - Vanessa Bly
RUN THE JEWELS
As a surprise to nobody, Run the Jewels' set was wild and fucking crazy. It's hard not to truly enjoy yourselves while Killer Mike and El-P are on stage. They even brought out Rage Against the Machine's Zach de la Rocha, which put the crowd into even more of a frenzy. Rappers take note: RTJ's sets are exactly what you ought to strive for when fleshing out your live performances. - Vanessa Bly
FREDDIE GIBBS AND MADLIB
DOPE! The crowd was wild for Freddie Gibbs and Madlib's set, rapping along to every one of Freddie Gibbs' lyrics. By my count, a large number of the crowd waited nearly three hours for their set, and their patience was truly rewarded. - Vanessa Bly
WAXAHATCHEE
Waxahatchee were cute and fun, and a great start for Pitchfork's final day. I definitely need an indie-rock fix, and they I (and the crowd!) loved what they had to offer. - Vanessa Bly
COURTNEY BARNETT
Courtney Barnett's style of rock and roll was super cool and infectious. The crowd was made up of dedicated fans that not only loved her, but sang along to every song. I just might find myself learning all of her songs for the next time she's in Chicago. - Vanessa Bly
JAMIE XX
Jamie XX's set was wild and nothing what I expected. The crowd went berserk for them, and even partook in some crowd surfing. Can you believe that, crowd surfing during a DJ's set?! That alone should be enough to summarize Jamie XX. - Vanessa Bly
Riot Fest Chicago 2015 Day Lineups Available
The day lineup for Riot Fest Chicago 2015 is now available! You can find out which artists are playing on which day so you can begin to tentatively prepare your schedules. In addition, Riot Fest will be releasing single day passes, VIP passes, and 2-day passes on Thursday, July 23rd at 10am CT here. In addition, Groupon is currently running a special pre-sale on single day passes for $69.98 here.
Check out the day lineups below!
FRIDAY
No Doubt, Faith No More, Motörhead, Ice Cube & Special Guests (performing Straight Outta Compton Remix), Alkaline Trio, Coheed and Cambria, Flogging Molly, Slightly Stoopid, Thrice, Dirty Heads, Anthrax, Eagles of Death Metal, Against Me!, Bayside, MEST, Atreyu, Lee Scratch Perry, The Expendables, Living Colour, Fishbone, Death, Mariachi El Bronx, Civ, Every Time I Die, Real Friends, 88 Fingers Louie, Mustard Plug, Into It. Over It., Post Malone with FKI, Chef’Special, Marmozets, Barb Wire Dolls, The Coathangers, Prayers, Speedy Ortiz, White Mystery, Main Attrakionz, Ground Up, Skinny Lister, Alex Wiley, Heems, Psalm One, Dreamers, Faulkner
SATURDAY
System of a Down, Iggy Pop, Rancid (performing …And Out Come The Wolves), Billy Idol, Taking Back Sunday, Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Drive Like Jehu, Merle Haggard, Alexisonfire, The Academy Is… (performing Almost Here), The Lawrence Arms, Echo & the Bunnymen, Bootsy Collins’ Rubber Band, The Damned, Pennywise, The Devil Wears Prada, Mayday Parade, Babes in Toyland, Desaparecidos, The Joy Formidable, The Dead Milkmen, FIDLAR, Millencolin, American Nightmare, Swervedriver, GWAR, Lifetime, Joyce Manor, The Movielife, Steve Ignorant and Paranoid Visions, The Dear Hunter, The Ataris, Modern Life Is War (performing Witness), Fit For Rivals, Flatfoot 56, Teenage Bottlerocket, Chon, Counterpunch, Direct Hit!, Dirty Fences, Sleep On It, The Brokedowns, Meat Wave, Elway, Indian Handcrafts, PEARS, Gateway Drugs, Clowns
SUNDAY
Modest Mouse, The Prodigy, Snoop Dogg (performing Doggystyle), Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley, Tenacious D, L7, Stephen “Ragga” Marley, Kongos, Cypress Hill, Yelawolf, The Airborne Toxic Event, Manchester Orchestra, De La Soul, Andrew McMahon In The Wilderness, New Politics, Jimmy Cliff, Andrew W.K., Less Than Jake, The Thurston Moore Band, Morgan Heritage, Doomtree, Hum, Tarrus Riley, The Dwarves, Tommy Stinson, Kevin Devine, Jo Mersa, Alvvays, The White Buffalo, Black-Am-I, Skip Marley, Knuckle Puck, Jazz Cartier, Have Mercy, Superheaven, Foxing, Beach Slang, Cayetana, Blis, Northern Faces, Souvenirs, Skating Polly, Signals Midwest, Modern Chemistry, Tasha The Amazon, Foxtrott, Twin River, Indian School
[The Weekly Swarm] 7/13 - 7/19
Welcome to the latest installment of The Weekly Swarm! We had an amazing and eclectic week of content at Ruby Hornet last week, so if you missed out on anything, The Weekly Swarm is you solution! We shared our photos and recap from Erykah Badu's performance at this year's Taste of Chicago, wrote a memorial to Nintendo's late CEO, Satoru Iwata, recounted our visit to a Korean bathhouse, shared Marvel Comics' amazing hip hop variant covers, shared our photos from Melt-Banana's latest visit to Chicago, reviewed Amy, Ant-Man, Minions, Mr. Holmes, The Stanford Prison Experiment, Ted 2, and the latest episode of MTV's Scream, and shared an editorial on 33 1/3's latest books on Dead Kennedys, Devo, and Super Mario Bros.
You can find all of this and more in The Weekly Swarm!
[RH Photos] Erykah Badu Headlines Taste of Chicago
Remembering Nintendo's Satoru Iwata, The CEO Who Made The World Smile
Highlights from San Diego Comic Con 2015
Girl in a Jimjilbang: Acting Natural Au Naturel in a Korean Bathhouse
New 33 1/3 Books on Devo, Dead Kennedys, and Super Mario Bros Are Criticism Done Right
Marvel Comics' Hip Hop Variant Covers
[RH Photos] Melt-Banana Returns to Chicago
[Review] Amy
Official First Look at DC's Suicide Squad
Hayao Miyazaki Making CG Short Film
Fantastic Four Flex Their Powers in Final Trailer
[Review] Ted 2
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler Reunite in Sisters Trailer
[Review] Minions
Amazon to Release Spike Lee's Chicago Film in Late 2015
[Weekly Netflix Fix] Mid-July 2015 Update
[Review] Ant-Man
John Francis Daley, Jonathan M. Goldstein to Write Spider-Man Reboot
[Review] Mr. Holmes
[Review] The Stanford Prison Experiment
[RH Photos] Erykah Badu Headlines Taste of Chicago
New 33 1/3 Books on Devo, Dead Kennedys, and Super Mario Bros Are Criticism Done Right
Marvel Comics' Hip Hop Variant Covers
[RH Photos] Melt-Banana Returns to Chicago
Top 12 Bands to See at Pitchfork Music Festival 2015
[Review] MTV's Scream: Wanna Play a Game?
[Weekly Netflix Fix] Mid-July 2015 Update
Top 12 Bands to See at Pitchfork Music Festival 2015
Once again, Pitchfork Music Festival has returned to Chicago's Union Park. The lineup is as eclectic as ever, featuring some of the music industry's top rappers and electronic artists. With help from Ruby Hornet contributor Vanessa Bly, we've come up with a list of the top 12 bands to see at Pitchfork this weekend. Take a look through the following pages!
[RH Photos] Melt-Banana Returns to Chicago
Photos by Geoff Henao
On Tuesday, July 14th, Japanese noise-core band Melt-Banana returned to Chicago's Empty Bottle for the first time in 15 years. Touring across the country with them is stoner metal band, and genre-defying Hot Nerds opened the show.
For months since the show was announced, my expectations were extremely high. 2015 marks the 10-year anniversary since my first Melt-Banana show at the Abbey Pub on May 5th, 2005. And considering Melt-Banana only comes to America every other year (their last show at the Double Door back in October 2013), I was ready for my bi-annual ritual. The Empty Bottle is also my favorite venue in the city, thanks to its dive bar aesthetic and acoustics that especially benefit loud, punk rock-esque bands like Melt-Banana.
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Prior to the show, I had never hear nor heard of Hot Nerds. Their eccentric style of hardcore vocals (modified through a vocoder), mixed with noise-core-influenced sampling played through a keyboard and mixer, and backed by metal drums accentuated with a double kick pedal. They were reminiscent of a young Melt-Banana and got the crowd hyped and energized.
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Unfortunately, all of the energy coursing throughout the venue was lost as Torche came on to play. My prior knowledge of the band came from Ruby Hornet's own Travis Marmon's praise of the band's style of slow-burning stoner metal. However, the drastically low tempo and lack of high energy severely lowered the audience's excitement. At one point, I had begun falling asleep... standing up and directly next to one of the stage's main monitors.
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Nearing midnight, Melt-Banana took to the stage, backed by an enormous wall of speakers intended to replicate the duo's loud volume of noise when they originally toured as a band. However, as singer Yako and guitarist Agata grow increasingly comfortable playing as a duo (with Yako controlling a drum machine and samples with a device), so too do their shows share similarities to years past. However, their live performances have changed to reflect their adapted style of power-pop/noise-core, shedding the more extreme hardcore elements that represented their earlier years. Despite some technical difficulties with one of Agata's guitar cables and a crowd that, surprisingly, wasn't as excited for the band that I've seen in years past. Nevertheless, the crowd eventually warmed up to them as their set drew to a close.
Check out my photos from the show below!
New 33 1/3 Books on Devo, Dead Kennedys, and Super Mario Bros Are Criticism Done Right
There's an old, dismissive joke about music criticism: "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture--it's a really stupid thing to want to do."
That's funny, sure, but good music critics can dance like motherfuckers. Dancing is fun, it's stimulating, it's potentially generative. When people can dance as well as they do in the 33 1/3 series, that's something that should be celebrated. (Here I am, dancing about dancing.)
The 33 1/3 series began publishing pocket-sized books of music criticism in 2003, each focused on a single album, each a sustained work of long-form criticism. The best entries in the series are exceptional culture writing. Some of the standouts include Celine Dion's Let's Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste by Carl Wilson, James Brown's Live at the Apollo by Douglas Wolk, David Bowie's Low by Hugo Wilcken, Public Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back by Christopher R. Weingarten, and Television's Marquee Moon by Bryan Waterman. (Waiting on my shelf to be read: Big Star's Radio City by Bruce Eaton and a novella about Black Sabbath's Master of Reality by Mountain Goats frontman John Darnielle.)
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Three of the recent 33 1/3 books focus on seminal works of the early '80s: Devo’s Freedom of Choice by Evie Nagy, Dead Kennedys’ Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables by Michael Stewart Foley, and, the first entry on videogame music in the series, Koji Kondo’s Super Mario Bros. by Andrew Schartmann. Each of the books are fine additions to 33 1/3. In other words, they dance like motherfuckers.
Form and content are the most basic aspects of aesthetic criticism, and while that's part of the discussion in each of these three new books, the authors also find ways of exploring the time and the place that gave birth to each album. If it's questions of form and content that determine the relative success of individual works of art, it's questions of time and place that help fashion the form and the content, and it's the intersection between the elements of form, content, time, and place that help determine the enduring legacy of the art.
Let's give each of these new 33 1/3 books a quick look. For more information on the books and the series, visit the 33 1/3 site.
[The Weekly Swarm] 7/6 - 7/12
It's yet another rain-filled, gloomy Monday morning in Chicago. The forecast for the week isn't looking too good, and with Pitchfork later this weekend, all I can think of is how muddy and wet we're gonna be. Nevertheless, I'm finally excited for Pitchfork and for the clouds to open up and give us the proper summer we needed after this past winter's dreadful cold.
Last week was a great one here at Ruby Hornet. In case you missed any of our articles, check everything out below in The Weekly Swarm! Some of my personal highlights include Danielle's trip to a Russian bathhouse, Oswald's very personal essay on how The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air changed his life, Hubert's editorial on Cartel Land and how it illustrates the War on Drugs will never end, Angela's photos and recap from Weezer's set at the Taste of Chicago, and the triumphant return of BattleBots!
Warren Ellis To Write New James Bond 007 Comic Series
To Beat or Not to Beat: Sweating in a Russian Bathhouse
America and Japan Are Going to Have a Giant Robot Duel
How the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Spearheaded My Sexual Awakening
[Review] Terminator: Genisys
New Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Photos
Marisa Tomei Cast as Aunt May in Spider-Man Reboot
Ben Affleck Directing and Starring in Solo Batman Film Written by Geoff Johns
Cartel Land Shows Why the War on Drugs May Be Unwinnable
Rihanna's "Bitch Better Have My Money" Video is Bananas
[Playlist of the Week] 10 Songs for America
[RH Photos] Weezer Headlines at the 35th Annual Taste of Chicago
Harry Shearer Returns to The Simpsons
Did This Week's UnREAL Go Too Far?
Marvel's Daredevil Finds Its Elektra In Elodie Yung
[Review] MTV's Scream: Hello, Emma
Pure Mechanized Carnage: The Return of BattleBots
How the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Spearheaded My Sexual Awakening
[RH Photos] Weezer Headlines at the 35th Annual Taste of Chicago
Photos by AngieStar Photo
The 35th annual Taste of Chicago kicked off yesterday in Grant Park's Petrillo Music Shell, with Weezer as their first headlining band. The 2015 Taste of Chicago is featuring over 100 menu items from 60 food trucks, pop-ups and restaurants representing Chicago’s diverse culinary community. But of course, the food isn't the only thing, the live music has been well known at the festival and this year is no different.
From beginning to end, Weezer performed smash hit after hit such as "Say it Ain't So", "Beverly Hills", "Hash Pipe", and many more. They even introduced a newer track titled, "Go Away", from their fourth album Everything Will Be Alright In The End. As it began to rain, the night ended with an encore performance of "Buddy Holly" that turned the crowd way up.
Yesterday was only beginning as Petrillo Music Shell still has a few more headliners still to go:
July 9, 5:30 p.m. ERYKAH BADU, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue
July 10, 5:30 p.m. THE CHIEFTAINS, Special Consensus
July 11, 4:30 p.m. SPOON, Houndmoth, Madisen Ward & The Mama Bear
July 12 4:30 p.m. MAZE featuring Frankie Beverly, DJ Duane Powell
Reserved seating starts at $15 and the lawn is FREE. To purchase tickets visit the Taste of Chicago website.
In case you missed their set, be sure to check out these photos:
