Requiem for: Pitchfork Music Festival (in) Chicago
Pitchfork Festival leaves Chicago (for good?), but could something beautiful and new spring up in its wake?
Any iconic festival that features many unheralded, up-and-coming bands will receive it's share of eulogies when it ends.
But it's safe to say the main Pitchfork Music Festival, which grace Chicago with its presence every single time, received an especially plaintive wail.
To be clear, it is not the festival itself that is closing down, but rather its taking place in Chicago. As the city was morning the news, Pitchfork was triumphantly tweeting on main about its London festival just wrapping up.
Its demise comes at a transformative and fragile time for the music website that bears its name. After a surprising and perhaps ill-advised acquisition by Conde Nast and a mass layoff last year, some of us are surprised either made it this long.
History is littered with acquisitions that were shuttered shortly thereafter. There's certainly no consensus on whether Pitchfork as an arbiter of music's worth was a force for good or for evil. But it seems even the most ardent P-fork critic acknowledge the hole in the scene left in its wake.
Why?
Most importantly, those who went and worked it swore it was truly unlike any other festival
pitchfork festival was such a community gathering. for the years i worked at the site, it was 100% a family reunion. corporations, of course, forget the community aspect of festivals and focus instead on the sponsorship opportunities. rip to a real one.
— brandonstosuy (@brandonstosuy) November 11, 2024
AND... the aforementioned slow dissolve of Pitchfork reminds those who have dedicated their live to music journalism about is precarious nature.
really insane to watch music journalism, an entire world i dreamed about being a part of since i was tiny, dissolve into nothing. feeling very bad https://t.co/MWZ0EXAVlm
— arielle (@reallygordon) November 11, 2024
But - as with every thing related to music - it seems the pining is for the early days, when it was real DIY, as this quote from WBEZ demonstrates
In recent years, the ticket prices rose, the stature and ubiquity of the acts increased and the crowds swelled. While it can feel like the death of something unique; it could potentially be the rebirth of something new and exciting.
In the words of a man who also got something exciting in Chicago's home state of Illinois and then shut down his adventurous project, "All things go... All things go."