Photos and Words by Riley Beggin 

Hundred Waters

Florida-based digital folk group Hundred Waters opened up the festival with a short but lovely set. Their austere sounds and unassuming presence combined with beautiful instrumentation was a perfect soundtrack for the weekend’s first moments. 

Factory Floor

It was to the sounds of Factory Floor’s industrial, hyptonic dance music that we saw the kids really get going. The trio’s stoic live show was expected for a minimalist post-punk group, but the moshers hardly took notice. 

Sharon Van Etten

It’s been four years since Sharon Van Etten took the stage at Union Park, and the change is evident. Her voice dripped with heartbreak, anger, and a surprising amount of joy at her Friday evening set. 

SZA

The new TDE signee turned out a live show that left her recent album in the dust. Her visceral, charismatic stage presence matched her impressive vocals step for step. 

Avey Tare’s Slasher Flicks

Another show marked by the crowd getting strangely hyphy, the Animal Collective frontman pulled together a show that was lackluster but nothing atrocious. 

Giorgio Moroder

The veteran artist known as the “father of electronic music” was by far one of the most charming acts of the whole festival, filling the screens with word art in case you forgot the lyrics to “Hot Stuff.” 

Wild Beasts

Kicking off the day-to-end-all-days (Saturday at Pitchfork), these UK boys brought one of the best shows of the weekend. Frontman Hayden Thorpe once said, “Don’t confuse me with someone who gives a fuck.” Oh, but Hayden, we do. 

Cloud Nothings

Cloud Nothings returned to its rightful place at the center of the hearts and minds of Pitchfork-goers, shredding and just generally exploding our brains on Saturday afternoon. 

Pusha T

One of the biggest grumble-fests of the weekend centered around Pusha T’s DJ, who ate up over half of the rapper’s set with his insane tardiness. What was left, though, made for an excellent glimpse into Pusha’s insane stage performance—worth catching a full set of. 

Kelela

Kelela once told Pitchfork, “I’ve wanted to interrupt the space—more than sounding like anything, my commitment has just been to fuck it up.” On Saturday, she did just that. Her consummate vocal range, her intoxicating beats, and her sweetly familiar stage presence turned things upside down in all the right ways. 

St. Vincent

St. Vincent’s show was like a badass mix of a Chuckie Cheese animatronic stage performance and a Pete Townshend guitar-smashing downward spiral. Don’t get me wrong—this was one of my favorite acts of the whole festival. Bashing her head against the kickdrum was a superb highlight to the already smashing set. 

Speedy Ortiz

The Massachusetts-based rock group is a picture of versatility: Since the release of their critically acclaimed album Major Arcana, they’ve been filling stages in venues as varied as basements to international festivals. Speedy’s ’90s-influenced rock was a perfectly contrasting opener to a hip-hop heavy Sunday. 

Perfect Pussy

Much like the frontwoman of Screaming Females, when Meredith Graves takes the stage—with a cute blonde bob cut, a ’40s-era sailor dress, and bright red lips—she seems harmless enough. And then she and her crew rip your eyeballs out through the back of your head. 

Deafheaven

Deafheaven was an outlier on the indie- and hip-hop-heavy mainstages at this year’s festival. Sunbather raked in the positive reviews, and their stage performance showcased their shoegaze-meets-death-metal sound. It was terrifying. 

Isaiah Rashad

Isaiah Rashad joined TDE labelmates this year, mounting the blue stage and showing Union Park his rehashed Dirty South up-and-coming talent. The highlight: SZA showed up and graced us with one of the only guest appearances of the whole festival. 

Earl Sweatshirt

Despite the cancellation of his remaining tour dates, the youngest Odd Future member decided to show up to Pitchfork. Crowds thanked him and Domo Genesis as they played through a set that spanned Earl’s career. 

Majical Cloudz

Majical Cloudz had the artist version of a naked-in-school nightmare on Sunday evening with the breakdown of their only keyboard. However, the ambient electro duo managed to pull together a set that was heavy on a cappella and high on crowd reverence—a surprisingly pleasant ending to a festival mishap. 

Just for fun pics

Beer from Goose Island was flowing freely. 

In case you were wondering what Beck would look like as a grandma. 

Crowd surfers abound for Factory Floor’s Friday afternoon set. 

Public art installations by Johalla Projects create a “geometric village” filled with good vibes. 

A festival classic—condom balloons. 

Guest appearance from Whoville. 

The most amazing fashion piece of the whole festival. 

An adoring fan in the front row of the St. Vincent concert.