Pitchfork Music Festival – Sunday – Red Stage 5:15pm

Noname released her debut mixtape, “Telefone”, back in 2016, but started her set with the new music. Last month she tweeted the new project would be called "Room 25”, but nothing else is known about the project. Through out the set she made playing to such a large crowd feel more intimate through joke and comments.

The first cords of “Diddy Bop” received a huge pop for the crowd, and sound great live despite not having Raury or Cam O’bi to contribute their verses. When fans heard the first cords of “Forever” there was an anticipation of Ravyn Lenae coming back out to sing the chorus and she did to huge applause. However, Joseph Chilliams may have received an even bigger roar when he hit the stage. The crowd calmed after that performance and Noname performed a few more fragments of what may become “Room 25”. She even performed a cover when she was surprised she had so much more left on stage.

Everything in her set seemed to building to the finally, and drink in hand she seemed a little eager to get off the stage. None of that matter as she launched into “Shadow Man”. The Phoelix portion of the track was removed, but as she built to verse two SABA erupted on to the stage and the crowd followed suit. Then Smino, who had just performed on the Green stage before Noname’s set, came running out. It was truly one of the best moments of day and strong showing for Chicago Hip Hop.

Pitchfork Music Festival – Sunday – Red Stage 3:20pm

What you may not know about Ravyn Lenae from listing to her 2018 EP, “Crush", is how poised and polished of a live performer she is. This is even more magnified when you factor in that she is just 19. From the red boa wrapped mic stand and mic to the shimmering clothing to the genuine and emotional storytelling between songs, Lenae really has is at all.

Lenae performed all of five songs from “Crush” and several songs from her 2016 & 2017 EPs “Midnight Moonlight” and “Moon Shoe". She whipped the crowd into a mini-frenzy when she intro’d “Computer Luv” by saying it was a song she had written with Steve Lacy. Lacy has been at the fest on Friday when he made a surprise appearance during his bandmate Syd’s set. However, he did not appear today, but Lenae still performed great version of “Computer Luv” and “4 Leaf Clover”.

When the opening notes of “Free Room” went up, I thought for a moment that Appleby might take the stage, but he did not. The set was just Lenae and that was all this incredibly hyped crowd needed. The highlight was of course “Sticky”, and there was not a person in the crowd left not moving to the beat.

Pitchfork Music Festival – Sunday – Green Stage 2:30pm

Kweku Collins may be only 21 but he has been on the rise for several years. The Evanston-based rapper made clear the distinction between Chicago and Evanston, but shared the love and acceptance he has received from Chicago musicians and fans.

His set was one of the most energetic of the day and the crowd followed suit. The excitement peaked twice throughout the set, first when Collins was joined on stage by Milwaukee’s WebsterX to perform a new song called “Banz”. The second was when Chicago’s Anaji Jones took the stage to perform Kweku’s latest single, “Sisko and Kasidy” with him.

Kweku closed by saying he had been coming to Pitchfork for the last five years and was so gratefully to be performing. Showing he is and always will be a fan, he was later seen dancing with his girlfriend and Jones in the crowd during Chaka Khan’s set.

Pitchfork Music Festival – Sunday – Green Stage 1:00pm

When Ms. Lauryn Hill requests a closed sound check, and needs more then her alotted time, you allow her to have it without question. She is Lauryn Hill after at all. Even if you are a label owner and one of most promising new artists in Chicago.

By the time Nnamdi and his full band, which included Sen Morimoto on Sax, were allowed to take the stage they were already 15 minutes past their start time. They quickly ran through sound check and launched into “Hop Off” from Nnamdi’s latest album, Drool, at a full 25 minutes into their set time.

Despite having to cut their set short the band and Nnamdi performed with energy and excitement. The set ranged from straight hip hop to funk to soul to an all out rock onslaught. After thirty-five minutes the band graciously left the stage and left the modest sized crowd wanting more.

Listening back through the catalog of Haley Fohr (aka Circuit des Yeux) you can appreciate the vocal range and the emotional nature of her songwriting. However, until you witness her live performance you don’t realize the magnitude of both of those factors. As she prepared to let the opening song, “Brainshift” (also the opening song from her 2017 album Reaching For Indigo), she approaches the mic, eyes closed, arms extended, perfectly still. Is she centering herself or is she channeling some force deep within herself?

Throughout the set, the five members of the Circuit des Yeux stage band which included violin, cello, Taylor Damon on Drums, Cooper Crain (Cave, Bitchin Bajas) on keys and Bass and Rob Frye (Cave, Bitchin Bajas) on Percussion, matched Haley’s vocal dynamics perfectly bring the energy up and down as needed. Each member seemed to almost entranced as they performed the cinematic set that was equal parts beautiful, intense, and scary. The entire set was beautiful and powerful and one of the standout moments of Day two of Pitchfork Music Festival.

The music of Paul Cherry is intristically romantic, but as he kicked off day two of Pitchfork Music Fest it felt like he was singing right to me. I mean he kept looking over, smiling, I think he even winked once. I soon realized I was standing next to his girlfriend!

Despite the small crowd partially filled with family members (and girlfriends), Paul Cherry and band were genuinely thrilled to be performing and set the tone for a day filled with funk, soul, and R&B. Cherry’s take on soul is tinged with a little Yacht Rock, a little ’80’s Pop, and a lot of fun. The band treated the crowd by performing their latest LP, Flavour, in full for the first time. They even threw in a cover of “Couldn’t Love You More” by John Martyn which fit their set perfectly.

Overall, the mellow nature of his music was the perfect way to ease into a great day of music.

Since the release of his latest EP, “Care For Me”, back in April Saba has been touring the country making yesterday’s performance at Pitchfork his first Chicago show of 2018. He started it off by vowing to make it a special show and he certainly did. The first half of the set featured songs from “Care For Me” which are emotional for Saba to perform and helped him to connect with the massive crowd.

As the set built to his older material the energy level of crowd built and clearly feed Saba’s energy level. By the time he got to “Church/Liquor Store”, from his 2017 "Bucket List EP", the crowd was bouncing and Saba was going wild on stage. Chicago hip hop was done proud today, and folks all around the fest were left buzzing about Saba.

It is the contrast of loud and quiet that some band’s use show dynamics, but for Melkbelly that is only found in their stage banter. For Miranda Winter’s that contrast is sharp as she shyly announces that they are Melkbelly and they are from Chicago. The four-piece then launches into an explosive song and you see a whole new side the remarkable lead singer. There is an angry energy that bleeds through as screams and snarls through a fast paced set in front of an ever growing crowd.

Rain continued to fall, but Miranda told the crowd “Welcome to the Midwest” as chants of “No Coast” rolled through the crowd. The band blazed through the highlights of 2017 album No Valley with forcefulness that could not be captured by even the best engineer. What shown through the strongest in this set is the powerful drumming of James Wetzel. His steady but driving backbone was like a helping hand through the chaos that Winters’ create. This is a band that needs be seen live and what better a place than Pitchfork Music Festival.

Day One opening act is never easy, but for The Curls it was complicated even more with moments of heavy rain. The local group with a core of five members expanded to 11 at times as they quickly got the growing crowd moving. It was fun to Maria Jacobson of Fran join the band on stage to sing backing vocals and dance. Every one on stage wore shirts support the local non-profit No Cop Academy and their message was well received by the crowd.

As they hit the first few cords of their latest single, “Tidal Wave”, the dark gray clouds opened up. Despite the rain and their instruments getting wetter and wetter they played on.

The entire band played with extreme energy, but Jenny Marshall really stood out as she played synth, trumpet, sax, and rarely stopped dancing.

Their set included “Slice of Life”, “Prickly Feelings”, “Do It Right” and more, but closed perfectly with chants of “fame, fame, fame”. The Curls definitely gained hundreds of more fans today.

Polyvinyl announced yesterday that they had signed Grapetooth (aka Clay Frankel and Chris Bailoni of Twin Peaks). In a released statement the duo said that they are"very stirred and excited to be a part of the honorable Polyvinyl family”. They have been building hype for nearly year with the release of two infectious singles, “Violent” and “Trouble”, and according to the label we should be expecting a debut album this fall.

You can catch Grapetooth on July 21st at Lincoln Hall with Rookie and James Swanberg.

Smug Joe is the electro-pop solo project from Joey Lieberman of Bad Bad Meow. This week he released his latest EP, “Surface Level Feelings”. The EP’s lead single is called “Faker” and has a crazy bounce castle based video below. The is a departure from his work with Bad Bad Meow being much more beat driven and synth-laden.

There are always a few slots on any music festival for local acts, but this year Pitchfork has really gone above and beyond. Not only have they put together diverse line-up, they have crafted a line-up that will truly showcase the diversity of Chicago music today.

You have an array of Hip Hop and R&B, with SABA, Rayvn Lenae, Nnamdi Ogbonnaya, Kweku Collins, Noname, and Open Mike Eagle, that the city on a larger scale has become known for. However, you have a strong presence of the DIY scene represented by Melkbelly, The Curls, Circuit Des Yeux and Paul Cherry.

While there are so many more acts from the city that could fit perfectly with the sound and feel of this Fest, they have done a remarkable job pulling National touring acts, obscure Avant-Jazz group, and talented Chicago musicians to create what should be the best festival this Summer.

Pitchfork Music Fest is this weekend, July 20th to the 22nd, at Union Park in Chicago.