Pitchfork Music Festival

2015

By Ellie Pritts

July 23^rd, 2015

10 years strong

I’ve finally recovered from last weekend, so it’s time for my annual Pitchfork review! This year was particularly cool because it was their 10 year anniversary. They gave out cute pins and everything. I was just an angsty teenager the first year Pitchfork Festival happened in 2005, and now I freelance for them. When did I get so old?!

A solid lineup

I was personally super excited about this year’s lineup. Chance The Rapper! Mac DeMarco! Jamie XX! Caribou! Really, I was pumped for just about every act. I felt like this year was one of the best in recent memory and I was really happy to be joining the Pitchfork team again.

Below: Shamir, Sleater-Kinney, Jamie XX, Run The Jewels (with special guest Zack de la Rocha)

saturday storms

Day two of the festival called for rain, but so had day one. It looked optimistically clear early Saturday, thus prompting me to ditch my rain cover for my gear and other rain-related stuff. Less is more, right?
So when the clouds started rolling in mid-afternoon, I think we all thought it would just pass us by. Then it down poured but it still seemed pretty transient. As Ex Hex began their set, things started getting a little scary for me. I’m not a huge fan (I’m terrified) of lightning, or being on elevated structures in lightning. I’d overheard security the day before saying that if there was lightning at any point during the fest, they were to evacuate. So I snapped some quick photos of Ex Hex and said a little prayer that everything would blow over. A few minutes later a recorded announcement came on announcing that the festival was being evacuated, and so the mass exodus began!

Above: Future Islands

Below: Iceage, Jamie XX, Courtney Barnett, Parquet Courts and Wilco

4:20

Shortly after the evacuation was ordered, a huge storm cell hit the area and dumped tons and tons of rain onto Union Park. I took shelter in the gymnasium and waited it out while park district kids played basketball among Pitchfork bands, staff and volunteers. It was kind of cool but short lived, and pretty soon an announcement was made that the fest would re-open at 4:20 p.m, to the amusement of many attendees.

Obviously it was total mud pit out there after the rain, you can see some great pics of that whole mess up on Noisey.

Above: A$AP Ferg

Below: Killer Mike, Bully, the fab Blue Stage crew, Mac DeMarco, Courtney Barnett and Future Islands

"who was your favorite?"

I get asked this question a lot and I always struggle to answer it. My favorite as a fan? My favorite as a photographer? How can I pick a favorite when there are so many amazing acts? Well this year it was pretty easy, Future Islands wins for favorite act to photograph. Sam Herring is one of the most captivating and emotive performers I’ve ever photographed, hands down.

Below: Chance The Rapper, Caribou, Iceage, Mac DeMarco, Perfume Genius, and A$AP Ferg

the DL on my gear

It seemed like almost everyone I ran into at Pitchfork wanted to know what I thought of the Sony a7 I rented and how my hunt for a new mirrorless camera was coming along. Honestly I was pretty surprised that some of you read all this! So here are my thoughts.

As you know, I wasn’t floored by the Fuji X-T1 I rented for Alaska. So this time I decided to try a Sony. I was a little overwhelmed at all the mirrorless options Sony has, so I picked the a7 just to start with (but when that a7RII comes out…) I was mega impressed with the Sony a7 I rented. I got an extra battery just in case since that was an issue with the Fuji, but I never once needed it. I was shooting with this thing constantly and taking advantage of the swivel display on back, so it’s really great that the battery wasn’t an issue.

The image quality was fantastic and ridiculously sharp. I rented an FE 16-35mm f/4 lens and it was perfect. I was also super impressed with the color and contrast right off the camera. As a primary Canon shooter, I’m used to duller photos that need lots of level adjustments later. I appreciated the a7’s ability to make my job a little easier. My only criticism is that when I was using the it in *light* rain, it quickly started acting up. I read that it was weather sealed, it definitely is not. The Canon 6D I had was totally fine, though.

Below: Chance the Rapper, Ex Hex, Caribou and Iceage

Here's to next year

I’m really lucky to have been able to shoot Pitchfork like this for the past few years. It’s one of my favorite times of the year and I hope to continue the tradition for many years to come!

In Memory

Justin David Villar | August 25, 1988 - July 11, 2015

Justin was a wonderful human being, musician and overall badass. He was one of the first people I took portraits of when I started photo classes at age 14. We were high school sweethearts and remained friends throughout the years since. He was incredibly wise and he helped me make some of the biggest decisions in my life thus far. There are countless ways in which he shaped who I am today and it’s a tragedy that he’s gone so soon. He was foremost on my mind during Pitchfork this year and I want to dedicate this post to his memory.