Recap: Pitchfork Music Festival CDMX
Mexico City exists in a state of multiplicities: it offers a vibrant food and art scene, a metropolitan mix of cultures, and an acclaimed music scene that draws artists of different genres to the city. Therefore, it seemed only logical that Pitchfork announced a music festival in Mexico City, adding to its roster of successful festivals held in Chicago, Berlin, Paris, and London.
The festival took place from March 6 to March 9, 2024 across various venues within the city, primarily in the popular Roma and Condesa neighbourhoods. Venue Frontón Bucareli hosted the headliners: JPEGMAFIA, Sky Ferreira, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and King Krule while the smaller venues spotlighted rising and local artists such as Mabe Fratti, Noa Sainz, and Vyctoria.
Walking to the different venues gave us a chance to explore the city at night; we saw late-night taquerias, large lines at a churro place, and people entering hidden speakeasies. When we got to each venue, it was clear that they each attracted unique aesthetics and crowds. At Frontón Bucareli, where the headliners played, there was a mix of international and local attendees, casual and excited. We could hear the different accents as we weaved through the crowd. At Yuyu, there was a much more sophisticated vibe as we entered a much smaller area bathed in orange light. The rooms were hazy from cigarette smoke as the bass boomed downstairs. Our favourite acts at the festival are as follows:
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Godspeed You! Black Emperor is a post-rock, instrumental band from Montreal, Quebec, with ten members. Standing in a crowded room, we were buzzing with anticipation for the epic, ambient songs we had come to know. Accompanying their music was a series of films and images, evoking dystopian and political messages. They had several people manually loading film into projectors, an orchestrated display that was impressively coordinated to the songs.
On night three of the festival, an image popped up on the stage projection asking for the crowd to help Sky Ferreira sing. With a bit of stirring in the crowd, Ferreira took to the stage apologising for an illness. She gave a passionate performance to an adoring and ravenous crowd. Singing hits from her only album released, Night Time, My Time, the audience was more than willing to help Ferreira as she occasionally paused from singing.
Ferreira has a new album, Masochism, due to release but has experienced various delays; Ferreira has had a long, public battle with her label, Capitol Records, discussing creative differences in multiple interviews. With Masochism reportedly having been finished in 2015, it seems to be a battle of wills between the artist and label now for when the final product will be released. Her fans have even taken to action, projecting #FreeSky over Capitol Records in Los Angeles. Ferreira is currently on her first headliner tour since 2014, so it seems like good news is on the way. We look forward to hearing the long awaited album.
Mabe Fratti is an experimental musician and cellist that was born in Guatemala and is now based in Mexico City. Her ensemble included one other person on the tenor saxophone while she sang and played the cello. Her cello was mic’d up through a handful of sound manipulating pedals that she used liberally to create layers of sound. She closed her set by turning up the gain and completely letting loose. Together they shredded and created a face-melting, electrifying cacophony. It was awesome.
Andy Shauf has a demeanour as gentle as the songs he sings. Performing solo this time around, he casually walked on stage, picked up his guitar and started on his soothing conversation-style song repertoire. Andy paused only a couple times to tune his guitar and kept the quick pace that made his set fly by. Andy’s most recent album, Norm, is a concept album that follows a stalker. While the subject is certainly unusual, it is a respectable piece of art that is worth listening to.
King Krule is one of the most exciting bands in the indie rock scene. The band walked on stage to huge fanfare, with chants of “Archy, Archy, Archy,” ringing throughout Frontón Bucareli, the lead singer's first name. Archy Marshall seemed to be unphased by the calls, until the music started and he slapped the floor and seemingly turned into a new, ecstatic performer.. The band was as tight as ever and there was a palpable comradery felt between the bandmates as they started to pick up steam. The energy of King Krule is unparalleled and Marshall literally bled to put on this bombastic show, just look at his fingers! King Krule couldn’t have rounded out the festival any better.
Pitchfork Music Festival will be taking over Union Park in Chicago from July 21 to July 23, 2024. The stacked lineup includes Jaime XX, Black Pumas, 100 Gecs, Carly Rae Jepsen, MUNA and Alanis Morisette as some of their headliners. Up and coming artists such as Water From Your Eyes, Kara Jackson, and Angry Blackmen fill out the days.
To get more information and to purchase tickets, go here.