Pitchfork 2024 Day 2: Lifeguard, Kara Jackson, De La Soul, and More
Day 2 of Pitchfork Festival saw an even more diverse list of alternative artists hit the stage than yesterday, including pop singers Jessie Ware and Carly Rae Jepsen, hip hop group De La Soul, and electronic maestro Jamie xx. Follow along as we recap the highlights of today’s acts.
Lifeguard energizes the crowd with frenetic post-punk
Lifeguard live at Pitchfork, 7/20/2024 | Photo by Owen Cushing
Owen - As a Chicago music festival, Pitchfork does not disappoint when bringing in the best local bands, and Lifeguard is no exception. Lifeguard is a huge name in the Chicago youth punk scene. As I looked around the crowd filled with countless young fans, I could tell this local band had a cult following.
With their angular, energetic and biting sound, the band certainly delivered on the energetic tone defined in their heavy and mesmerizing studio recordings. I was amazed by their bold performances of their songs “I know I know” and “Alarm”. But along with their recognizable tunes, the band also teased three unreleased songs, all of which had very hypnotic rhythms, fascinating electronic drones, and fierce vocals.
While Kai was sitting down during the performance due to injury, he still had a ton of presence and delivered a ton of physical energy to his performance. During a fiery and noisy guitar solo, Kai picked up one of his crutches and started wildly sliding it around the fretboard, creating a grating sound that blended in perfectly with their punk sound.
While the elements that make up their sound are quite recognizable, they have a particularly experimental, fresh, and authentic energy that is extremely fun to experience live. This is certainly a band to keep an eye on.
Check out their two EPs Crowd Can Talk and Dressed In Trenches, recently released as a joint 12” on Matador Records.
De La Soul puts on an unbelievable party, rising above their struggles
De La Soul live at Pitchfork, 7/20/2024. Pictured: Posdnuos (left), Pharohae Monch (center left), Talib Kweli (center right), and Maseo (right). | Photo by Ian Doherty
Ian - When I first listened to De La Soul last year, I was immediately struck by their sense of togetherness as a group, a feat rarely achieved in hip hop, let alone the 35+ year span for which it’s lasted. Despite the trials and tribulations of a turbulent 1990s music industry, rappers Posdnuos, Trugoy the Dove, and Maseo always stayed true to themselves, finding refuge in the brotherhood of De La Soul. It’s not often that art can transcend the individualism and egotism that it so heavily depends on, but music is different, and De La Soul found a way. And when tragedy struck with the loss of Trugoy in 2023, the group continued to maintain these ideals, making them the driving force behind their Pitchfork appearance this year.
With a stellar lineup consisting of all the hits from their dense discography as well as homages to J Dilla, Mos Def, and other fellow greats, De La Soul killed it. Maseo and Posdnuos poured their hearts and souls into every word, bar, and verse, delivering a stunning rap performance. The energy in the crowd was palpable— everyone had their hands up, everyone was moving, everyone was excited. Pos kept things going with his frequent and impelling audience interaction, which only amplified the vibe in the crowd. And just when you thought the performance couldn’t get any better, none other than Talib Kweli (one half of Black Star alongside Mos Def) and Pharoahe Monch (“Simon Says“) walk on stage. In that moment, I felt the very love that Pos talked about at the beginning of the show. Despite decades of music industry exploitation, lengthy catalog disputes, and the loss of a core member, De La Soul still stands, fueled by the reciprocal love between the group and its fans.
At the very end of the show, Pos emphasized this very point. He said that De La Soul was about us— the fans. But what they have made for us— the hours and hours of their beautiful, influential music— needs to be recognized and commended. And it’s for this reason that I will be thinking about this performance for many, many more months.
De La Soul is far from dead. De La Soul is alive and well.
Listen to De La Soul on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1Z8ODXyhEBi3WynYw0Rya6
Kara Jackson blends touching, heart-wrenching lyrics with an innate folk sound
Kara Jackson live at Pitchfork, 7/20/2024 | Photo by Ian Doherty
Ian - Kara Jackson proved to be a new and surprising artist for me. Having known nothing about her nor her music before the festival, I was pleasantly surprised when I heard her beautiful melodies streaming across Union Park, apparently beckoning for me to come over and listen. Intrigued, I diverted my course from Hotline TNT to listen in, and I’m so glad I did.
Jackson writes some of the most thoughtful and insightful music I’ve heard in this current iteration of indie folk. Diverging from more of the modern yet tired indie folk trends of her contemporaries, Jackson maintains a strong acoustic core, pulling clear influence from folk revivalists of the 20th century. Despite this, she doesn’t shy away from genre fusion or rule breaking either— there are clear allusions to jazz and blues in her music (see “d******d blues“), and she includes a lot of experimental motifs (such as rhythmic breaks, choir vocals, and ambient elements). All of these elements combined to create an ethereal and enthralling performance, one that makes me itching to hear more from her. I plan to keep my eyes on her music, and you should, too.
Check out her latest single on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/4GzPDfegMPeM94iMsghfQn?si=VqOr_GQQS8OqjAC7xeAvaw
More info on day 2 artists is forthcoming! Check back later.
Tickets are still available for Pitchfork's last day. Get them while you can. https://pitchforkmusicfestival.com/
