Photo by Matt Lief Anderson, courtesy of Pitchfork.
Ok, we all are thinking the same thing – why the heck is Allston Pudding covering Pitchfork Festival? Isn’t this a hyper local blog? Aren’t we more ~indie~ than that?
To be fair, it’s a valid critique. Pitchfork Fest isn’t in Boston, there aren’t any local acts this year, and the outlet doesn’t exactly need us hyping it. If anything, Boston has a contentious relationship with the publication at best. Remember when someone tried to make a petition for Pitchfork to re-review Horse Jumper of Love’s album after their staff gave it a bad rating? Hilarious and pointless, but nevertheless demonstrative of Boston’s passionate DIY community. But hear us out while we make our case: we don’t care. Good music is good music, and this year’s Pitchfork Fest has some of the best active musicians on their stages. The chance to see Chaka Khan and Ms. Lauryn Hill back to back does not come around often.
Pitchfork deserves props where they are due: they don’t book the same stale lineup as every other fest, and they make sure of diversity and quality. Many of their performers have been featured on our blog and we look forward to catching up with them in a new context. The festival also features a record/poster fair, book shop, talks, and involves multiple non-profit organizations including Beats>Bullets and this year’s partner, RAINN. Given many of the events of the past year, it is incredibly refreshing to see prominent issues in music spaces being given proper support and education while also servings as a reminder of the work to be done in our communities. We look forward to celebrating the successes of other cities and outlets and to use them as inspiration for our own work… while roasting them where it’s due.
Read below for some acts you should get familiar with and look out for when they come to town.
Friday will be a battle between Syd and Julien Baker for my incredibly gay soul. Syd’s Odd Future cohort, Earl Sweatshirt, dropped off of the fest earlier this week, only raising the stakes. Big Thief, Saba, and Julie Byrne are not to be missed and I look forward to seeing Courtney Barnett’s set again. She and Vagabon brought a roaring crowd to MASS MOCA this month and delivered a standout performance despite many hits coming off of Barnett’s previous album. Tame Impala will headline the night; the band closed out Boston Calling in 2015, a few months before releasing their vibe-driven album, Currents. Despite highly creative visuals, the performance was a slightly lackluster experience. Hopefully the new songs will inject the set with more life and serve as an ambient send-off for the first night of the fest.
Zola Jesus is going to be the first act I cry to on Saturday – her last album, Okovi, was one of my top albums of 2017 and her performance at the ICA in October of last year has haunted me. The festival setting will test of her ability to command a more diverse crowd in a less intimate atmosphere. It’s a stacked line-up for the rest of the day including Kelela, whose breakup album contains as much joy and closure as it does reflection and pain, and our indie faves forever, Girlpool. Fleet Foxes will end the night with even more tears, if their performance at Boston Calling was any indication.
Nnamdi Ogbonnaya, Noname, Ravyn Lenae, and Japanese Breakfast lead up to Sunday’s legendary headliners (the previously mentioned Chaka Khan and Ms. Lauryn Hill). While these acts are still building up their national presence, it’s quite refreshing to see the prioritization of POC voices without any sort of tokenization. After the sour taste of Eminem headlining far too many festivals for comfort, it will be refreshing to see diversity and talent, paired.
Be sure to check back to see a post-fest recap of all the performances that impressed us most.